by Lucy Clark
He returned her smile. ‘Can’t blame a guy for trying.’ He was a handsome man—tall and blond with brown eyes. A lot of the female staff liked him but his reserved manner was what put most women off. Natalie had known Richard since medical school but they’d only been dating for the past six months. She’d chosen him because he’d been ‘safe’. He was career orientated and didn’t seem to want anything too permanent from her. Since he’d qualified, however, she had to admit he’d changed a lot and the things they’d had in common were becoming few and far between. She frowned as she picked up the X-ray packet and headed for the door. ‘Have a good afternoon, Richard.’
She headed out of the orthopaedic department, shaking her head at his continuing insistence that she move in with him. That was something she wasn’t even willing to contemplate. She was traditional at heart even though her parents’ marriage had ended in divorce and she still wasn’t willing or even ready to commit to another person on such a deep and intimate level.
Natalie checked her watch and realised she had a whole ten minutes before afternoon clinic began. She raced to the cafeteria in the hope of finding something left over from the lunch rush. Marty was standing in line, his tray piled high with a plate full of food. ‘Surely you’ve stopped growing by now and don’t really need to eat that much,’ she said softly from behind him.
He turned and looked over his shoulder. ‘My darling Nat, I may have stopped growing but I still need to fuel this gorgeous body of mine.’
Natalie laughed. ‘Still as vain as ever.’
‘And just as cute.’
‘I’ll say.’
‘Really?’ He seemed surprised.
‘Oh, sure. I’ve already heard two women gushing about you, wanting me to spill every little detail.’
‘O…K,’ he drawled slowly, as though he was grasping what she meant. ‘Hungry?’
‘That’s why I’m here.’
‘Salad roll still the favourite?’
‘Oh, my gosh. Am I that predictable?’ She watched as Marty grabbed the last salad roll from the tray and placed it with his own food. ‘Have I honestly been eating the same lunch since the ninth grade?’ She followed him to the cashier where, to her surprise, he paid for her food. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome and, yes, I guess you are that predictable—but only to those who know you so well.’ They went over to a table and sat down.
‘I have actually changed in the last fifteen years or so, Marty,’ she said firmly as she put the X-rays down.
‘We all have, Nat, but some things stay the same. Your hair, for instance. I’m so glad you haven’t cut it short.’ As usual for work, she wore it tied in a bun at the nape of her neck. ‘How long is it now?’
‘Halfway down my back.’ She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘Exactly as it was in the ninth grade.’ She quickly opened her eyes and unwrapped her roll. ‘I have changed it but I seem to have come full circle. I’ve had it coloured, streaked, cut up past my shoulders, even curled.’
‘Curled? Did it actually stay in?’
Natalie shook her head, thinking how her dead straight hair had refused to curl. ‘For about two weeks. It was bliss. I paid a fortune to have curls for two weeks but haven’t done it again. Actually, I had it curled not long after I returned from Fiji.’
‘Felt like a change, eh?’
‘Yeah.’ She met his gaze and nodded. They’d had some serious discussions during their brief meeting in Fiji, as well as some of the best fun she’d had in years.
‘I’m glad you don’t have a colour through it now,’ he murmured. ‘Chocolate brown suits you—matches your eyes.’ He forked in another mouthful and she was surprised to realise he was close to finishing the mound of food he’d heaped onto his plate. She bit into her roll, realising there was no way she was going to finish before clinic started but something in her stomach was better than nothing.
‘How are your parents?’ she asked.
‘Good. They’ve moved back to Sydney, which is part of the reason why I’ve come back.’
‘They’re both well?’
‘Yes, and still as blissfully as happy.’ He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. Before Natalie could say anything, he continued, ‘They have a hectic social life and spend a lot of time with my aunt and uncle. Remember my cousin Ryan?’
‘Vaguely.’
‘His parents live down the road from them so my mum can spend lots of time with her sister.’
‘That’s great. I’m happy they’re still together and doing well.’
‘What about your folks?’ Marty asked softly.
Natalie sighed and shrugged. ‘My dad has remarried twice and the last time he even had a couple of kids.’
‘How do you and your brother feel about that?’
‘Dad’s in Perth so I don’t get to see them that often but we’re in contact via email. Davey sees them now and then and tells me what’s going on.’
‘And your mum?’
‘She became a career-woman and is living in Melbourne, running some giant corporation. Again, email contact but that’s about it. I think she’s happy.’
‘I guess that’s what counts in the end.’ He paused. ‘What about you? Are you happy?’
She thought about the question for a moment and Marty laughed. ‘If you have to think about it, Nat, what does that tell you?’
‘Hey, I was just trying to come up with the right words.’ She took a bite of her roll, chewed and swallowed. ‘I’m…content.’
He nodded slowly. ‘Content. Right.’
‘Hey, just because you like to live life in the fast lane, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the rest of us settling for contentment, Martin.’
‘I never said there was, Natalie.’
She saw the barely veiled pain in his eyes and reached over to take his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.’ Her words were soft and she remembered the pain he’d felt when his marriage had ended in divorce. ‘It’s been about nine years since your divorce. Are you still not willing to chance a long-term relationship?’
He squeezed her hand back then let go, picking up his drink and taking a sip. The subject of his ex-wife had been off-limits to everyone—except Natalie, who had been there when his depression over his failed marriage had been at its worst. He glanced around at their surroundings, indicating it wasn’t the time or place to get into a deep and meaningful discussion. ‘I guess not.’
She checked her watch. ‘Two minutes until clinic. You know you can’t play the field for ever, Marty.’
‘Want to make a bet?’
She shook her head. ‘The last time we bet on something, I ended up carrying your schoolbag to school for a fortnight. No bets.’
He grinned, the seriousness gone. ‘Ah, that was the life. I should have upped the stakes and made you my personal slave for the fortnight.’
Natalie’s eyes widened at his words. The vision of being Marty’s personal slave was something she didn’t find at all unappealing. She took another bite of her roll.
‘We should pick another time to catchup and also a different place.’ He glanced around the cafeteria once more.
Natalie swallowed. ‘How about tomorrow night?’ The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. ‘We could have dinner. Catch up some more. I can patronise you. You can tease me.’
He grinned. ‘Just like old times, eh? You have no plans for Friday night? What about your orthopod?’
‘He has surgery.’
‘All night?’ Marty shook his head. ‘He’d rather spend time at the hospital than with you? Don’t tell me you’re still dating losers. The guy you told me about in Fiji sounded like a loser as well. I mean, who’d prefer to work rather than accompany their girlfriend to Fiji?’
Natalie glowered at him. ‘Richard’s not a loser,’ she stated.
‘Break the cycle, Nat. Since high school you’ve chosen one wrong guy after another.’
&n
bsp; ‘They weren’t wrong. Just because you didn’t give your stamp of approval to any of them—’
‘Hey,’ he interrupted. ‘I was just trying to protect you because that’s what friends do. Those jerks either made you think you were beneath them or didn’t pay enough attention to you. They made you feel as though you weren’t as smart as they were and they took you for granted. And you let them!’
‘You don’t even know Richard.’
‘He sounds like the same sort of man you’ve been dating for the past sixteen years, Nat. Honestly, it’s time to break the cycle and find a man who treats you the way you deserve to be treated. If this Richard guy wants to spend his hours in Theatre rather than with you, the guy needs his head read.’ Marty held her gaze for a moment and Natalie knew his words made complete sense.
Why had she been going out with the same sort of man since her schooldays? The answer—she was too scared to take a chance on someone good. If someone she really cared about broke her heart, would she ever recover? She’d seen it happen to her parents and they’d taken a long time to get over that lost love.
‘Sorry to come down so hard,’ he said by way of an apology. He grinned and raised his eyebrows in the teasing gesture she remembered so well. ‘Besides, won’t your orthopod think I’m encroaching on his territory?’
Natalie laughed, her previous uneasiness gone. ‘You and I are colleagues and friends, Marty. We’re not going to tumble into bed the instant we’re alone.’
‘We’re not?’ He feigned disappointment. ‘And here I thought my luck was changing.’
She laughed, her previous heaviness lifting instantly. ‘It is so good to see you again. Anyway, tomorrow night. Come around for dinner. Beth and I live in a town house two blocks from here.’
‘Beth?’
‘Orthopaedic registrar. Come around. We can have dinner, chat and maybe even catch a rugby game on TV.’
‘It’s cricket season,’ he said automatically as he ate the last of his lunch and swallowed. ‘Hang on a minute. You like rugby?’
‘Ah-ha. So you haven’t remembered everything about me. Of course I like rugby. You’re the one who taught me how the game was played.’
‘I did?’
‘Sure.’ Her pager beeped and she checked her watch again. ‘Oh, man! We’re late for clinic. Andrew and Sister will have a hissy fit.’ She rewrapped her roll and stood.
Marty stood and pushed his chair in, snagged the X-rays she’d left behind and followed her out of the cafeteria. ‘Her name isn’t Missy, is it?’
‘Missy the Hissy? No. You’re safe.’ She laughed again and took the X-rays he held. ‘Oops. Thanks for grabbing them. So, tomorrow night?’ she pressed. Now that she’d voiced the idea, she really wanted him to come. ‘You can choose what we talk about,’ she ventured, so he’d know she wasn’t going to pressure him into a deep and meaningful conversation.
‘Really? Interesting. OK.’
‘Good.’
‘Wait a minute.’ Marty stopped in the middle of the corridor, pulled a Christmas hat from his pocket and put it on. ‘Let me straighten yours. It’s starting to slip—like your halo.’
‘Hey!’
He grinned. ‘There. Now Santa’s helpers are ready to go to work.’ Then, to her surprise, Marty linked his arm in hers and they set off down the corridor towards clinic. Natalie desperately tried to ignore the way his friendly and hardly intimate touch made her feel weaker in the knees than she’d ever felt before.
CHAPTER TWO
THE outpatients clinic was decorated with tinsel and had a smallish Christmas tree in the patient waiting area. Andrew, who was the senior registrar on the paediatric ward, was a stickler for red tape and liked the clinics to run on time. In some ways he reminded her of Richard but as Richard had pointed out on previous occasions, in a hospital as big as St Gregory’s it was usually best to do things by the book.
She finished writing up a set of notes and went to call in her next patient. ‘Jaiden. Come through.’ She held the door and waited for the seven-year-old boy and his mother. ‘You’re managing those crutches like a pro.’
‘It didn’t take me long,’ Jaiden told her as he manoeuvred to a chair and sat down. ‘My big brother couldn’t even do it. He got the end stuck in the chairs and he fell over. It was so funny.’
Natalie looked at Jaiden’s mother. ‘Sounds as though there’s been a lot of…er…extra noise in your house over the past two weeks.’
‘And then some,’ his mother groaned.
‘All right, Jaiden. Have you had X-rays taken today?’
‘Yes. They cut my cast right off with a saw and it didn’t even hurt! And then I sat very still for my X-ray. See. I got a sticker that says “I sat still for my X-ray”. And then they wanted to put me in the wheelchair but I’m super on my crutches so they put this splint thing on so I could come and see you. See, Mum, I remembered it was called a splint.’
Natalie listened patiently to the child, admiring his sticker and oohing and aahing at the appropriate places and praising him for a good memory. ‘OK. Do you have the X-rays?’
‘They said they’d send them up,’ Jaiden’s mother said.
Natalie nodded. That meant Radiology was running behind but she couldn’t do much for Jaiden until she’d seen the X-rays. She called Radiology but was told the films had been sent to the clinic. ‘I’ll be back in a moment,’ she told mother and son as she headed for the door.
The instant she opened it, she was faced with a hard, muscled chest. She glanced up into Marty’s sparkling blue eyes. ‘Hello. You scared me.’
‘Sorry. Was just about to knock. I have some X-rays here for you.’
‘Delivery boy?’
‘No. Our packets were mixed up. I pulled out an X-ray of an arm only to find it had changed to a leg.’
Jaiden giggled as he listened and Marty came into the room. ‘Hello, mate. Let’s get these films sorted out so Dr Natalie and I can look at the right ones.’
‘I didn’t break my arm.’ Jaiden laughed. ‘I broke my leg.’
‘I can see that.’ Marty gestured to the crutches as he and Natalie figured out which films went with each of their patients.
‘I was on my new skateboard that I got for my birthday and I was getting better and then I went over a bump and fell off and Mum said it was lucky I was wearing all my safety gear or I could have hit my head really hard.’
‘Your mum’s absolutely right. I remember falling off my skateboard all the time,’ Marty said.
‘You used to ride a skateboard?’ Jaiden was impressed.
‘Dr Marty,’ Natalie said, ‘is a great sportsman. Cricket, rugby and soccer are just a few of the sports he loves to play.’
‘Really?’ Jaiden’s eyes went wide with delight. ‘I’ve played soccer and cricket,’ the boy said proudly. ‘And I haven’t even hurt myself in those games.’
‘Thank goodness,’ his mother murmured, and both doctors smiled.
‘That’s the last one,’ Marty mumbled as they put the X-rays into their respective packets. He turned his attention to the seven-year-old. ‘Do you like playing soccer?’
‘You bet, and I love playing in the rain and getting all muddy. But Mum hates it.’
Marty grinned. ‘Playing in the rain and getting muddy is half the fun. Well, it was nice to meet you.’ He shook hands with the boy and then his mother. ‘I have to get back to my patient now that I have the correct X-rays.’ As Marty headed out of the room, he grinned and winked at Natalie.
‘Bye, Dr Marty.’ Jaiden waved then turned to look at Natalie. ‘Is he your husband?’
Natalie was taken aback by the question. ‘Er…no.’
‘Jaiden,’ his mother scolded.
‘It’s all right,’ Natalie insisted. ‘Actually, Dr Marty and I are very old friends. We went to high school together.’
‘Wow. You must be really old, then.’
Natalie laughed. ‘I guess we are. All right.’ She hooked the films up. ‘Let’s t
ake a look at these X-rays.’
‘Will I be on crutches at Christmas?’
‘Yes, I think you will,’ Natalie replied gravely, hoping Jaiden wouldn’t worry about being unable to run around on Christmas morning.
‘Awright!’ He pumped the air with his fist. ‘That’s so cool.’
‘Oh. Well…good.’ She glanced at Jaiden’s mother who just shrugged and smiled. ‘Let me turn your chair around so you can see how well your bones are behaving. Look. They’re starting to grow back together but they’re not quite done yet.’
Jaiden was amazed—for about thirty seconds—and then started asking questions about Dr Marty and what other sports he played and if he was any good at cricket and what his highest score was and whether he like to bowl or bat. Unfortunately, Natalie couldn’t provide many answers.
‘I’d like you to come back just after Christmas for me to review his leg,’ she told his mother, before turning her attention to Jaiden. ‘I’ll ask Dr Marty if he can come and see you when you’re here, and you can ask him all the questions you want.’
‘Cool.’
‘Would you like a candy cane?’ she asked as she took the jar from her desk and held it out to him.
‘Aw, yeah. These are the best.’ Jaiden took one and Natalie held the jar out to his mother, who also took one.
‘You weren’t the patient, Mum,’ Jaiden complained.
‘True,’ Natalie replied. ‘But I can see she’s been very patient.’ Both women smiled while Jaiden only frowned at them. She left Jaiden-the-chatterbox with the plaster orderly, who would put another cast on the boy’s leg.
Clinic continued to progress and just as she was writing out her last patient’s notes, the phone on the desk rang.
‘Hi, Natalie, it’s Cassie.’
‘What’s the problem?’
‘There’s only been a slight improvement in Alysha’s condition.’
‘I’m done here. I’ll be right down.’ She replaced the receiver and as she wrote the last few words in the notes she stood and edged around the desk.
‘Heading off?’
She looked up and smiled at Marty. ‘Only to the ward.’
