what she expected.
‘I’ve been involved in organising the staff Christmas function,’ Charlotte said with a smile. ‘It’s in the canteen on the twenty-second, seven p.m., in case you haven’t seen the flyers. There’s going to be lots of nice food and plenty of non-alcoholic drinks if you’re unlucky enough to be on duty. It’s a chance for everybody to get together in the spirit of the season, so I hope you can all make it. Partners and families are welcome. There’s going to be a Secret Santa. Bring a small gift and put it under the tree and then you’ll get one yourself at the end of the night. Or just bring one for any children that might be there and if they’re not needed they can go to the children’s ward.’
Anna looked away from Charlotte. Towards Luke. Their senior cardiology registrar should be talking about her upcoming maternity leave, not a Christmas party. Luke had an odd expression on his face. As if he couldn’t believe that something so trivial was being announced in a departmental meeting.
As though a party or celebrating Christmas was absolutely the last possible thing he would have any desire to do.
Did he ever relax? Let his guard down and enjoy something social?
Something intimate?
She gathered up her folder of papers and stepped around the table. Towards Luke. She couldn’t stop herself. The wanderings of her mind during the meeting might be under control now, thank goodness, but they’d left an odd kind of physical yearning and it was like a magnet, pulling her towards Luke. She did her best to disguise it. Her professional mask was quite intact, on the outside at least.
‘Good presentation,’ she offered. ‘I think we’ll have full co-operation in the trial period.’
‘Yes.’ Luke was shutting down the program in his laptop. ‘I’m hoping so.’
Anna’s thoughts were tripping over each other. She had a strong urge to engineer a way to spend some time with Luke and it would be easy enough if she asked to discuss something professional, like the planned research project she was taking on to analyse post-operative infection rates in cardiac patients.
But something new and rather disturbing was happening. She could actually feel the war going on between her head and her heart. She didn’t want a professional kind of interaction. She wanted …
Oh, help … Was she actually thinking of asking him for some kind of a date?
No, of course not. She didn’t do work relationships. Of any kind. This was Anna getting rebellious, trying to claw her way through Dr Bartlett’s armour. It simply wouldn’t do.
Her thoughts might be running with the speed of light but she had been standing there for a shade too long judging by the quizzical set of Luke’s eyebrows when he glanced up at her.
Anna was aware of the final staff members exiting the meeting room, including Charlotte. She hoped her smile was offhand.
‘You planning to go to the Christmas party?’
‘No. Are you?’
Anna couldn’t look away. Her mouth wasn’t going to wait for her brain to mull over what seemed to be a perfect compromise between professional and personal. It just widened its smile and opened to say something extraordinary.
‘I will if you will.’
Something flickered in Luke’s eyes. Astonishment? Interest?
‘I don’t like parties,’ he said.
‘Neither do I,’ Anna agreed. She could have left it there. What was wrong with her today? ‘But this is a staff function. It’s polite to put in an appearance. Especially for HODs.’
Luke was frowning now. ‘You think I should go?’
‘I think there must be a lot of people in St Piran’s who would enjoy the chance to welcome you back. Good relations both within and between departments are useful.’
Luke grunted. He looked up as the meeting door swung shut behind the last person. ‘Did you know Charlotte Alexander’s pregnant?’
Was he trying to change the subject? ‘I guessed. How did you know?’
‘She told me. We need to look at possible replacements amongst the registrars we have available. Or get in a locum.’
‘Yes. How much time have we got?’
‘We should look at getting it sorted next month.’
‘It’s going to be a busy start for the New Year. Which reminds me.’ The rebellious part of Anna had finally been quelled. Maybe it was just as well Luke was so good at sticking to professional. ‘I wanted to have a chat to you about the parameters for this infection study. How retrospective do you think we should make it? I’ve got my registrar primed to start digging through records.’
‘Let’s have a look at our diaries. We should be able to squeeze in a meeting. You can bring anyone else you want involved along as well.’
‘I will.’
Not that it was likely to help, Anna thought, her heart sinking. If she was capable of having totally inappropriate thoughts about her boss when there were a dozen or more members of the department around her, what hope did she have by flanking herself with a couple of junior doctors?
She needed to escape. To get home and get a grip. Heading purposefully away from work, Anna barely registered the huge Christmas tree in the hospital foyer with its twinkling, coloured lights but she thought of it again as she turned her car towards her cottage.
This was the silly season, she reminded herself. Everything would settle down, including whatever it was that making her feel so … unsettled.
The Christmas party was well under way by the time Anna managed to get there.
The canteen was noisy and crowded, warm with the inviting aroma of hot, savoury food and people determined to enjoy themselves. There were bright balloons and streamers and huge, shiny silver stars hanging from light fittings. There were flashes of even brighter colours as well. Where on earth had people found their accessories?
A trio of nurses wore headbands with big yellow plastic stars that flashed on and off. Steffie, the staff nurse from the cardiology ward, had earrings and a matching necklace that had red and green twinkling lights. Anna spotted a set of glowing reindeer horns and Santa hats made of shiny red sequins. She passed a registrar who wore a large badge. Rudolph’s nose was flashing and a tinny version of a Christmas song could be heard competing with the background carol music in the room. More than one person rolled their eyes as the owner of the badge reached to push the nose as the song finished.
‘Not again, Peter. Please.’
A very young-looking nurse was dressed in a naughty Santa costume, the rim of white fluff on the bottom of her dress barely reaching her thighs. Anna groaned inwardly. This really wasn’t her scene at all. She knew she must look as out of place as she felt. Prim, in her skirt and jacket. It was getting harder to respond to the smiles and greetings of people when she was completely sober and they were clearly making the most of the party drinks available to those not on duty.
She felt like an island. A rather barren, rocky
