down over his forehead as he leaned over her, gave him a rumpled, little-boy look, something she’d never seen before as he worked efficiently on his patients. But it was those sexy dark brown eyes that were impossibly attractive. How come they hadn’t registered with her until this morning?
‘Sister, I’ll be back later in the day. Reapply the pack for fifteen minutes every two hours. In about four days we’ll be able to put the ankle in a tubular compression bandage and get the physiotherapist to introduce massage, ultrasound therapy and gentle joint movement.’
Chantal raise her head. ‘Michel, when can I go back to my room in the medics’ quarters?’
‘That will depend on your progress. Hopefully in a few days we should be able to get you up on crutches. Once you can move around with the use of a stick I might let you go back to your room so long as you don’t take any weight on the right ankle. You may even spend an hour or so in Emergency doing paperwork or something non-strenuous. We’ll have to see how you get on.’
She couldn’t help noticing that he’d reverted to his totally professional manner with her. She was just another patient requiring attention on his day off. Fine. He was just another medical colleague. When these unusual flights of fancy left her she would revert to type as well.
He was glancing at his watch. ‘Any questions before I have to go?’
She suddenly felt a moment of panic. ‘When will you be coming back?’ As soon as she’d asked the pathetic question she regretted it. What was the matter with her? The pain gave her an excuse perhaps but she hoped he didn’t read anything into it.
Sidonie was smiling at her in a reassuring, almost maternal way. ‘It’s OK, Chantal, we’ll take care of you.’
‘I’ll be back this evening. Don’t worry. A month from now you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.’
She certainly would. As she watched the lithe, athletic figure disappear through the door she was experiencing mixed emotions. Somehow she felt she was getting to know the real person beneath the dour façade Michel presented to his professional colleagues. Her emotions this morning were dangerously out of order. She too had always elected to present a façade to her colleagues to cover up the agony she’d been through before she’d started working here.
Sidonie applied more pressure with the ice pack. ‘Quite a charmer, isn’t he?’
Chantal hesitated. ‘Well, I wouldn’t say that. He’s good at his job.’
‘Oh, he’s devoted to his job. You know his wife died don’t you? Over three years ago, I believe. Apparently, she died of cancer and he’s never got over it. We all fancied him when he arrived to be Director of Emergency, over a year ago now.’
Sidonie gave an expressive sigh. ‘Well, who wouldn’t fancy him? Tall, dark and handsome and built like an athlete. But he made it quite clear to all of us that he wasn’t interested in relationships. He’s the sort of man who obviously adored his wife and will never take a long-term girlfriend. Definitely not remarry, that’s for sure! She must have been a very special woman to deserve such loyalty from him.’
Sidonie paused in her observations and gave another sigh. ‘That’s unfortunate for all the unmarried staff who lavish attention on him. If I wasn’t a forty-year-old married woman with two children I’d fancy him myself.’
She removed the ice pack and smiled down at her patient. ‘You’ve been working in Emergency since February, haven’t you? I heard you were on the medical staff of a hospital in Paris before you came here. How does the Hôpital de la Plage compare to your previous hospital?’
Chantal hesitated. ‘Well, it’s different. Actually, it’s like coming home for me. You see, I was born just a few miles away in Montreuil. My English father died when I was seven. My French mother resumed her teaching career after that and she took me to live in Paris where she’d got a job. That’s where she brought me up, although we always used to return to this area and stay here during the long summer vacation.
‘This coastline feels like my second home because I know it so well. When I was old enough I did my medical training in Paris and took a staff position when I qualified.’
Sidonie put the ice pack down on a trolley and sat down beside her patient. ‘Was it because you regard this area as your second home that you chose to leave Paris?’
Chantal looked at the figure of the kindly woman and found her experienced presence very comforting. She welcomed a girly chat to take her mind off the pain and the unexpected turn of events today.
She lay back against her pillows. ‘It was a sudden decision. Very sudden.’
She drew in her breath as the awful memory of that fateful day flooded back to her.
‘One minute I was on cloud nine, in love with the man of my dreams, three months pregnant with his much-wanted baby.’
She hesitated. Should she, indeed could she, go on? What did she have to lose?
‘Then the phone rang and everything changed.’
Her voice was quavering as she gathered her thoughts. Was it really a good idea to unload the sordid details onto someone who was a colleague?
The orthopaedic sister was watching her with a deeply sympathetic expression on her face, as if anticipating what was to come. Oh, it would be good for her to get it off her chest. She’d bottled it up ever since she arrived at the Hôpital de la Plage. It was about time she relaxed and socialised a bit more. It wasn’t her fault she’d been totally hoodwinked by a despicable, two-timing scoundrel.
She could hear the sound of a heavy trolley being pushed past her door through the swing doors into the ward and the murmur of the nurses and patients as the doors opened.
A nurse knocked, before opening her door. ‘Dr Winstone, would you like some lunch?’
Chantal shook her head. ‘No, thank you, Nurse.’
Sidonie turned her head. ‘Is everything OK in the ward, Sylvie?’
The young nurse smiled. ‘Fine, Sister. A nice quiet Sunday for once.’
‘I’ll be back to check the medicines after you’ve served the lunch. Pay attention to the patients on extra fluids, won’t you?’
‘Of course, Sister.’ She turned back to her patient. ‘So what happened after the phone rang?’
Chantal moved her good foot into a more comfortable position at the side of the cushions supporting her injured ankle as that fateful evening last September came flooding back.
‘I was in the kitchen in my apartment, roasting a chicken for our supper, I remember. My boyfriend had phoned earlier to invite himself round that evening so I’d picked up a chicken at the supermarket on my way home from hospital.’
She swallowed hard. ‘The phone rang. I answered it. It was a woman’s voice. She asked if Jacques was there. I called him over and went on preparing the meal. I assumed it was probably one of his private patients. He seemed to have lots of those. He was such a charming person. Unpredictable, though. I never knew when he was going to turn up.’
Already she could feel the bitterness welling up inside her. ‘He took
