A Consultant's Special Care. Joanna Neil

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СКАЧАТЬ you’re still here, Dr Curtis,’ he murmured. ‘Worried about what you might have done to that young man, are you?’

      Her green eyes sparked fitfully and then narrowed on him. ‘Of course I’m concerned about how he is. Isn’t that only natural?’ There was a hint of tension in her voice as she went on, ‘I did what I could for him. I did my best, but if I made a mistake, I feel really badly about that.’

      ‘Do you? And have you been waiting here, all this time, going over everything that might have gone wrong?’

      Abby bit her lip and put her coffee cup down. ‘I don’t know why you’re giving me such a hard time over this,’ she said, her chin lifting. ‘I was looking for support from you, since you’re about to become my mentor. I hadn’t bargained for outright condemnation.’

      He lifted a dark brow. ‘You think I was harsh in my judgement of you?’

      She had probably already burned her boats, so she went for the truth. ‘I do.’

      His mouth quirked momentarily, and she thought she saw a glint of humour in his eyes, but it passed so suddenly that she decided she must have imagined it. ‘Well, at least you speak your mind,’ he said abruptly, frowning at her. ‘That’s something, I suppose.’

      Had she gone too far? Doubts suddenly crowded in on her. ‘I’ve not had a lot of experience in emergency medicine,’ she said, backing down a little. ‘And some of what I did was what I had only learned in theory. I didn’t know that I would be thrown into things at the deep end, so to speak. I was rather hoping that my next few months as a senior house officer would help me to improve my skills. ‘

      ‘Being thrown in at the deep end is what happens in A and E,’ he remarked brusquely. ‘None of us can know every type of incident that will come our way, but we have to learn how to deal with it.’ He sent her a hard blue stare. ‘If you’re going to be part of my team, you’re going to have to learn to be a lot more confident about the decisions you make, and not be forever looking back on yourself to see where you went wrong.’

      ‘I realise that…I thought—I hoped that would come with time.’

      ‘I hope so, too, Dr Curtis. For all our sakes.’ His glance seared her. ‘In fact, you should know that you saved the man’s life. His injuries caused a haemothorax, which led to him losing a lot of blood, and you did what you could to compensate for that. The surgeon has dealt with the tear and managed to stem the bleeding. He’ll be all right.’

      A surge of relief flooded through her. ‘Oh, I’m so glad about that.’

      ‘Of course. We all are.’ His glance ran fleetingly over her, making her conscious all over again of her beach clothes. ‘Are you expected somewhere, or do you have time to take a look at him?’

      ‘I don’t have to rush back just yet. I’ve a few things that I must see to at home, and I’ll need to go and pick up my car fairly soon—I left it on the clifftop—but, yes, I’d like to go and see him, if that’s all right.’

      He nodded. ‘You had better come with me, then, and take a look at the results of your handiwork.’ Without any more preamble, he moved briskly away.

      Abby blinked, feeling somehow as though she had just been in collision with a juggernaut. Then, seeing his tall figure rapidly disappearing along the corridor, she got a grip on herself and hurried after him.

      She had never before come across anyone who was such a peculiar mixture of abrasiveness and compelling vigour…except perhaps for her ex-boyfriend, Richard. He had certainly been one to make decisions and sweep her along with him, hadn’t he?

      He hadn’t started out that way, though. To begin with, he had simply been kind and considerate, wanting only to please her. It had only been later that his strength of will had emerged and eventually turned to something infinitely more disquieting.

      Catching up with the consultant, Abby went with him into the intensive-care unit. Kieran was asleep, his body needing rest after the trauma he had gone through. His vital signs were being monitored, and there were tubes and drips of various sorts attached to him to support his recovery. Vicky sat beside his bed, and she looked up and smiled as the two of them came into the room.

      ‘The nurses said they think he’s going to be all right.’

      ‘I know,’ Abby said softly. ‘I’m glad.’

      ‘He’s still drowsy from the anaesthetic,’ Jordan put in, ‘but his vital signs have improved, and he seems to be doing well enough. The tubes can probably come out in a day or so.’

      They stayed by his bedside for a moment or two, while Jordan explained to Vicky about Kieran’s condition and told her what was likely to happen next. Then he signalled to Abby that it was time to leave, and they said goodbye and quietly left the room.

      Out in the corridor, Jordan looked down at the gold watch on his wrist. ‘I have to go. That’s my stint finished for the day, and I’m due at a charity function within the hour.’ He threw her a quick look. ‘You said you have to pick up your car—where is it?’

      ‘By Blue Ridge Cove. I was spending the afternoon there, taking some time out to get to know the area.’

      ‘That’s more or less on my way home. I’ll give you a lift.’

      The unexpected offer threw her off balance. ‘I don’t want to put you out…’

      ‘You won’t. Let’s go, shall we?’ Briskly, without giving her any more chance to discuss the matter, he led the way down to the car park and across to a gleaming midnight blue saloon.

      He appeared to be in a hurry, and as soon as she was settled in the luxuriously upholstered seat beside him, he started the engine and drove smoothly out onto the main highway.

      ‘You said that you were getting to know the area…you’re new to Cornwall, then?’ he queried as they left the town and headed towards the cove. He glanced at her obliquely, and when she nodded, he asked, ‘Where have you come from?’

      ‘London. I’ve lived there for a number of years, because that’s where I did most of my medical training, but I decided that I wanted a change, the chance to come and live by the coast for a while and breathe in some fresh sea air.’

      Abby wasn’t going to tell him that part of her reasoning in coming here was that she had hoped to escape from her ex-boyfriend. She was determined to make a new start, free from the worries of Richard’s persistent refusal to accept that the relationship was over.

      ‘That’s a big change,’ he murmured. ‘Have you left your family behind? Friends?’

      ‘Friends, yes—I shall miss them. My brother lives down here, though, and my mother lives fairly nearby, in Devon, so I shall be able to see more of her than I did before.’

      ‘And your father?’

      She might have known that he would pick up on that omission. She was saddened, thinking about her father. ‘He died some years ago,’ she said quietly.

      ‘I’m sorry.’ He flicked her another brief glance. ‘At least you’ll have your brother close by.’

      She СКАЧАТЬ