complicate things by taking individual orders. ‘Chicken Jalfrezi with saffron rice and Kashmiri naan are the go tonight.’
‘Sounds great. When do we get to eat?’
‘When you get rid of all the patients.’
* * *
Whether the delicious fragrance of curry proved an incentive, or whether it was merely the fact that Declan was a good worker, by three a.m. most of the patients had been moved up to the wards or stitched and sent home. A couple of patients remained, awaiting X-rays and bloods, and two or three of the city’s homeless slept soundly on trolleys.
‘I don’t know what it is about you,’ Sue said, laughing as she tucked a blanket around Henry, one of their regular tramps, ‘but all the down-and-outs seem to congregate here the nights you’re on. Could it have something to do with the breakfast you order them from the kitchen?’
Lila shrugged. ‘They don’t do any harm. I mean, they’re happy to wait in the waiting room until the place is quieter, and they all have ulcers and the like that do need to be treated. A few hours’ sleep on a warm trolley and breakfast is hardly a big deal.’
‘It would be if the Horse found out.’
‘I’ll deal with that when it happens. Come on, Sue, I’m starving.’
The curry was set up in the small relatives’ room at the entrance to the department. The position was ideal for confused and anxious relatives while their loved one was whizzed on to Resus. During quiet times it served also as an extra staffroom for the night crew. From here they had a full view of any new patients, could hear the tyre screeches of a car pulling up, and if the need arose any curries or pizzas were cleared away more hastily than if one’s mother-in-law had just descended for a surprise visit.
Peeling the cardboard lids off the foil containers, Lila managed a grimace at the rather unkempt plates.
‘Get your hands off me, you horrible man!’ Vera’s far from dulcet tones carried the length and breadth of the department.
‘I think Declan just tried to dress Vera’s ulcer.’ Lila laughed.
‘You never let him go without warning him about Vera?’ Sue choked. ‘The poor guy! What did he ever do to you?’
Spooning the rice onto plates, Lila kept her face hidden from Sue’s scrutiny.
‘He did plenty,’ Lila muttered, more to herself than to Sue. ‘He did plenty.’
‘She loves me really.’ Declan’s face appeared round the door and Lila flushed unbecomingly. How much had he heard?
She stopped furiously spooning curry as she realised one plate was receiving rather more than its fair share of chicken Jalfrezi.
‘The only person Vera loves is Lila,’ Sue said matter-of-factly, and with relief Lila realised Declan’s comments had been purely about the patient.
‘I told you I’d get round to her,’ Lila said tartly, handing Declan an overloaded plate.
‘Four hours ago,’ he said pointedly. ‘Look, I know you’ve been busy, and that her leg ulcer’s not serious, but it just seemed a shame that she was still waiting. I was only trying to help.’
‘Vera’s happy to wait,’ she explained with a cheeky grin. ‘More than happy. Normally I get around to her about six a.m.—about the time early breakfasts are served. The last thing she wants is to be seen and discharged.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me that?’ He gave a wry laugh. ‘But then that would have spoiled your fun, wouldn’t it?’
Lila scuffed at the floor with her foot. Hell, it had only been a bit of fun—so why was she suddenly feeling so guilty?
‘New boy’s tease,’ she said finally, knowing how hollow her words sounded.
Picking up his supper, he gave her a bemused look. ‘Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the cabaret.’
* * *
‘That,’ said Declan scraping his plate, ‘would have to be the best curry I’ve had in years. Is it always as busy as this here?’
‘Always,’ Lila said truthfully. ‘You wait for the weekend. Where were you working before?’
‘In a lovely county hospital in bonny Scotland. Mind you, I was in London before then—and that was an eye-opener, I can assure you.’
Lila deliberately didn’t look impressed. ‘I remember visiting an emergency room in New York when I was a flight attendant—it made here look like a picnic in the park.’
‘New York’s busy,’ Declan agreed. ‘Or at least it was when I was there. But you want to see the emergency rooms in Chicago—they’re constantly full-on.’
Lila picked up the last of the naan bread. ‘I’m not going to win, am I? So what brought you back to good old Melbourne?’
He was saved from answering as Jez appeared at the door, carrying flowers.
‘Lila, I come in peace.’ Handing her the bouquet, Jez gave her an embarrassed smile. ‘I nicked them from Admin on my way back from Theatre.’
‘How’s Terry?’ Lila asked, accepting the rather wilted offering.
‘Bled out on the way up to Theatre—a nasty wound to his kidney. Thankfully we were able to repair it. He’s in Recovery now.’
‘Then it’s just as well he wasn’t stitched and sent home.’ Lila couldn’t resist stating the obvious, but she was smiling.
‘Lesson well and truly learnt,’ Jez said seriously, and, ignoring the crowd of staff gathered, carried on talking to Lila, undaunted by his audience. ‘I think I owe you a proper thank-you. How about dinner some time?’
The sniggers from Sue and Lucy didn’t go unnoticed.
‘Thanks, Jez, but it might get a bit expensive. I mean, there’s Declan and Diana to thank as well. The flowers will do nicely.’
As he left, Lila returned to her seat amid the howls of her colleagues. ‘How do you do it, Lila? Gorgeous men dropping at your feet and you just kick them away.’
The only one not joining in with the laughter was Declan. Suddenly his empty plate was being examined thoroughly.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Lila said softly. ‘Years of practice, I guess. I mean, it starts off with meals and flowers, but we all know how it ends up.’
Declan looked up, catching her eye as he did so. This time she held his gaze, her words directed at him alone. ‘And I’m never going to be let down again.’
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