I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry——’
He waved the toast dismissively. That’s OK. It’s public knowledge. What about you?’
‘Me?’ Her voice rose, and she made an effort to bring it down. ‘What about me?’
His mouth curved appealingly. ‘Are you married? Engaged? Entangled?’
She swallowed, ‘I——’
The phone rang, its warble loud in the sudden silence.
‘Sister Lovejoy here. Oh, hello, Bron.’
As she dealt with the details of the new admission, Lizzi was aware of Ross’s eyes on her as he munched his way through the toast.
When she put the phone down, he asked the question again.
She stood up, straightening her skirt with a tug. ‘Mr Hamilton, I make it a point not to discuss my personal life or anybody else’s with anyone at work. I’m afraid I can’t see the relevance.’
She swept out of the room, collared the young houseman and instructed him to clerk the new admission coming up from A and E.
‘Acute appendix, man of twenty-four. We’ll put him in Bay One.’
For the next twenty minutes or so she supervised the admission of the new patient, training a student in the preparation of the charts and the taking of the first TPR and BP readings, the notice over the bed which read ‘Nil by Mouth’, the urine sample to be obtained if possible and the tests to be done on it, the checking of valuables and other possessions and so on down the endless list, while the houseman obtained the relevant medical information.
She had seen Oliver come on to the ward a few minutes earlier, and so she headed back to her office to find out whose list the patient would be put on. As she approached the door quietly in her soft-soled shoes, she heard Ross’s deep voice murmer a question, and then Oliver chuckled.
‘Lizzi? You’ve got to be joking! The junior staff call her the Ice Maiden—that or Sister Killjoy.’
‘She’s not that bad, surely?’
Oliver laughed again. ‘Save yourself the effort, Ross. You’d need a PhD in cryogenics to thaw our Lizzi. She doesn’t play—not ever, not with anyone!’
Ross laughed, soft and very masculine, and murmured something else that Lizzi couldn’t quite hear. She heard Oliver’s reply, though, and it chilled her.
‘Nobody knows. She wears a wedding-ring on a chain round her neck, but whether he’s dead or gone AWOL nobody knows. She may not even have been married. It could be her grandmother’s ring or something. She hasn’t ever mentioned anyone, though. Forget it, Ross. If it’s recreational sex you’re after, you need look no further than that young scrub nurse in Theatre with us last night—given a chance she’ll be all over you like a rash——’
Lizzi had had enough. She swept into the room, clicked the door shut behind her and glared at them both.
‘How dare you both discuss me behind my back? That is exactly the reason I tell no one anything! And as for your locker-room comments about recreational sex—what kind of a reputation do you think you’re giving the medical profession? You’re behaving like a couple of medical students! Now get out of my office so I can get some work done!’
As they stood up, looking severely chastened, Lizzi remembered the reason for her mission. Oliver, your wife has just admitted a patient for appendicectomy. Whose list is he going on?’
‘Mine. I came up to see him. Where is he?’
She glared at Oliver, her eyes furious. ‘In Bay One. Dr Haig is with him.’
‘Lizzi, I’m sorry——’
‘So you should be!’ She slapped the case file into his hands.
With a shrug, Oliver left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
Ross picked up his jacket and hooked it over his shoulder on one finger, running the other hand through his hair.
‘Lizzi, I’m sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have asked him about you, but I was curious——’
‘How dare you pry into my life? It is private—I won’t be discussed like some tacky pin-up just to satisfy your idle curiosity!’
Lizzi realised that she was flushed, her fists clenched, her chest rising and falling rapidly as her anger got the better of her. Forcing her hands to relax, she struggled for control of her temper and met Ross’s eyes challengingly. His lips firmed, and his eyes flashed angrily for a second, and then another emotion flared, just as strong but somehow more shocking, and Lizzi had to turn away.
She held her breath as his almost silent footsteps took him to the door, then he paused.
Thank you for the toast and coffee. It’s a long time since a beautiful woman’s cooked my breakfast—and, for the record, my curiosity wasn’t idle. I had every intention of acting on it.’
He left her rooted to the spot, speechless.
LIZZI had forgotten about her bump in the car park. By the time she got back to her car at the end of the day, the relentless routine of the busy surgical unit had driven everything else out of her mind. Now, though, she was reminded that there could be a nasty confrontation ahead later that night, and she sighed.
The confrontation wouldn’t be improved, she realised, by the fact that the offending car had also been wheel-clamped by the ground staff. She was surprised that it was still here. She was torn between smug self-satisfaction and pity, but her urge to take the note off the windscreen was snookered by the fact that it was already missing.
Perhaps the owner had been back already and was now trying to find a porter to release the wheel-clamp? Anxious to avoid a physical battle with the seething driver, Lizzi made her escape and drove home.
The bungalow was silent, with the sort of silence that meant emptiness. Her mother was out—Lizzi remembered that it was her watercolour class that afternoon, and she always went back to her friend’s house for the evening afterwards. Lizzi would be alone all evening, and in her present mood it was probably for the best.
She felt restless, disorientated and unaccountably depressed. No, not unaccountably, she thought bitterly. Michael Holden, the irresponsible young drunk driver, was largely to blame. Did Ross really believe she thought he had got his just deserts? Was she really so hard? Or just too vulnerable? It didn’t matter. There was nothing she could do to change things.
Lizzi went along to her bedroom and undressed, pulling on clean jeans and a soft sweater the same colour as her eyes. As she sat at the dressing-table to brush out her hair, her eyes strayed to the photo in the silver frame propped up beside the mirror.
A young man with laughing eyes looked out at her, his carefree smile showing a row of even white teeth. One of the top ones was chipped slightly—Lizzi remembered how he had
