The Doctor's Wife for Keeps

by Alison Roberts

  On his side, anyway.

  On her side, too, after she’d got over that silly crush. And it hadn’t been that hard, had it?

  Humiliating, maybe, when she’d felt invisible as anything more than a friend, but they had been very good friends and that was something special. Something that often lasted way longer than any romantic relationships. They’d studied together, competed fiercely to see could get better marks in exams and had supported each other in those first, nerve-racking encounters with real patients in real hospitals.

  They’d kept in touch all through those early years of their careers after medical school, even though they’d ended up in different cities and she’d convinced herself that she was genuinely delighted when he’d fallen head over heels in love with the gorgeous Nadia—a nurse he’d met in his first year as a surgical registrar. She hadn’t been the one for Luke but she’d cared enough about him to wish him complete happiness with the woman who’d been lucky enough to be chosen.

  Okay, it had been more than a little hurtful when contact had ceased but she’d always hoped that, one day, when Nadia felt more secure, the friendship would somehow be rekindled. A hope that had been slowly evaporating over the years, however. She hadn’t even thought about Luke for quite a long time. Until she’d thought she’d spotted him...

  Maybe, when she got home, she’d find out where he was working these days. Drop him an email, even, and just say hi.

  The plan was satisfying enough to enable her to put the distraction firmly to one side and tune in properly to the conversation around her. New Zealand was a place that had always fascinated her and she was keen to hear about what it was like to live and work there.

  By the time she followed the others to get to the welcome ceremony and briefing, she had completely forgotten about Luke Anderson. It was taking more than enough concentration not to lose sight of Georgia or their new friends as they squeezed into a very crowded room.

  ‘Excuse me...’ She had to turn sideways to get past a group of medics wearing heavy coats with fluorescent stripes and rescue insignia. They were big men and maybe they hadn’t heard her because one of them stepped back and pushed Kate into the person on the other side of the space she’d been trying to get through. She felt hands grip her arms as someone tried to prevent her falling.

  ‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ Kate could feel her face reddening as she regained her balance.

  ‘No problem. It’s a bit of a squeeze in here, isn’t it?’

  Kate’s jaw dropped as she lifted her head. She knew that voice so well...

  ‘Oh, my God... Kate?’

  A huge, dumb grin was spreading over her face but words had deserted her. Not that she needed them for a moment because Luke had enveloped her in a hug that was making it difficult to take a breath.

  ‘Kate?’

  The voice came from behind her and she turned as the tight hold loosened.

  ‘Oh, thank goodness. I thought I’d lost you.’

  ‘Georgie...this is my friend, Luke...’

  Someone was tapping on a microphone, which triggered a screech of feedback that made people groan.

  ‘Sorry about that but welcome, everybody... If we could have a bit of quiet, please?’

  Kate shut up immediately but Luke didn’t appear to have heard the request.

  ‘What on earth are you doing here?’

  ‘It was a birthday present,’ she muttered. ‘Long story...’

  ‘Shh,’ someone behind her hissed. ‘We’re trying to listen.’

  Luke made an apologetic grimace but then winked at Kate.

  ‘Later,’ he mouthed, turning to peer over the heads of others to see who was speaking.

  Kate started listening, too. After the welcome speech and a list of how many countries were participating, another speaker got up to share important information.

  ‘Between eleven-thirty and midnight tonight, you will all receive your list of events. You will be given the GPS coordinates of the scenario and a start time. Please be there at least ten minutes before that time. If you are late, you will not be admitted and you will not be marked in that section of the competition.’

  Georgia elbowed Kate. ‘No chance of that happening,’ she whispered. ‘Not when I’m with you.’

  The dig at her compulsion to follow directions to the letter failed to bother Kate. How could it when she was feeling so unexpectedly good?

  She had Luke standing on her other side and, every so often, they glanced sideways—apparently at the exact same moment—to catch each other’s gaze. And every time it happened, the feeling got stronger.

  It was like going home. Or back to a beloved place, like where you’d had your summer holidays all through childhood. A feeling of something so familiar you could relax completely. Of something that had the promise of delivering the same good things it always had.

  And, yes...there was something more.

  A flicker of that initial crush, perhaps? A realisation that none of her own relationships had ever worked well enough because that flicker had never been fanned into something that had felt as meaningful as even her friendship with Luke had been?

  ‘The rally covers a period of twenty-four hours and you will have both a daytime and a night-time section. There will be twelve tasks for you to complete but there will be breaks in your schedule during which you can take meals or have a rest.

  Time to catch up properly with an old friend, perhaps? The feeling of anticipation took on a softer edge for Kate. A warm glow, even.

  There were pictures on a big screen on the wall now. There was a map of the local area as an official explained how far they might have to travel to get to some of the scenarios and what local landmarks and hazards to watch out for.

  Finally, there were reminders of the rules.

  ‘The competition is held in English. All instructions will be in this language and your patients are fluent enough to answer any relevant questions. The officials grading your performance will also be doing this in English and teams will be marked down for communication in any other language.’

  Kate caught Luke’s eye again. Surely that gave them a distinct advantage over many of the teams here? For the first time, she could feel a kick of a desire to do well. To win, even?

  Maybe that was down to the gleam she’d caught in Luke’s gaze. They’d always set out to see who could better the other. And then they would always celebrate the winner without any suggestion of animosity. With a dollop of pride, even...

  ‘And while we’re on the subject of communication,’ the official continued, ‘it is forbidden for any team to discuss the scenarios with other teams until the competition is finished so please be careful. Anyone found to be using information they have received in advance will be eliminated.’

  ‘What section are you in?’ she asked as soon as the formalities were over. ‘All doctors? Doctors and med students?’

  ‘Doctor/paramedic.’ Luke put his arm around the man standing beside him. ‘This is Matteo Martini. Italian paramedic extraordinaire.’

  ‘Ooh...’ Georgia had moved closer. ‘A martini? Yes, please... Extra-dry—with an olive.’

  They all laughed. ‘This is Georgie,’ Kate said. ‘My paramedic partner.’

  She caught Luke’s gaze again and this time the gleam took her right back to her student days. Standing in line outside an examination room with both of them knowing how hard they’d studied and both of them determined to be top of the class.

  It had become a joke amongst their fellow students about whose turn it was to come first because they were such an equal match. There was never much of a gap between their marks.

  ‘My turn, I think.’ Kate grinned.

  ‘I don’t think so.’ But then Luke frowned. ‘Who got first last time? Good grief...it’s so long ago, I can’t even remember.’

  ‘Finals,’
Kate growled. ‘And it was you.’ She was scowling at him now. ‘You don’t need to look so smug about it.’

  Luke adjusted his face. ‘It was a long time ago.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Kate held his gaze. ‘Too long.’

  They were being herded out of the room now. A glance over her shoulder showed Kate that Georgia and Matteo were following so they went with the flow. It seemed that everybody was heading for the bar to wait until their scenario list and start times were handed out.

  ‘So how are you?’ Kate had to raise her voice to be heard over the babble of so many languages around them. ‘I haven’t seen you since your wedding.’

  ‘I know. I’m sorry...’ There was something in Luke’s expression that suggested he was sorry for more than the lack of contact. ‘Can I get you a drink?’

  ‘Just a soda water,’ Kate said. ‘I need to keep a clear head for tomorrow.’

  ‘Beer for me,’ Matteo said. ‘Georgie?’

  The mischievous expression on Georgia’s face made Kate suppress a sigh. It was clear she was enjoying the handsome Italian’s company but surely she wasn’t going to be obvious enough ask for a martini? The sigh came out as one of relief as Georgia spoke.

  ‘White wine,’ she said. ‘Sparkling, if they’ve got it. I do love a bit of sparkle.’

  Matteo raised an eyebrow. ‘A taste for champagne, yes? Classy...’ He went to help Luke carry the drinks while the girls found a place to sit down.

  ‘You want me to take Matteo somewhere else?’ Georgia asked. ‘So that you and Luke can have some alone time?’

  ‘Don’t be daft.’ The words came out sounding more irritated than Kate had intended. ‘We’re friends. Or we were. It’s so long since I’ve seen him that we’re practically strangers now.’

  She averted her gaze as she finished her sentence. It was so far from the truth. But she couldn’t admit to Georgia how it made her feel to see Luke again. She hadn’t quite got her own head around it yet.

  It seemed that Luke had followed her example and got a non-alcoholic drink for himself as well. Clearly he wanted to be as competitive as possible tomorrow as well. Kate had to hide a smile as they touched glasses.

  Game on...

  ‘Cheers,’ she said. ‘I have to say, you’re probably the last person I would have expected to run into here. Have you changed specialties and gone into emergency medicine?’

  ‘No. I’m still a paediatric surgeon but I do specialise in trauma cases. It’s Matt’s fault I’m here.’

  ‘Snap,’ Kate told him. ‘Georgia entered me as a birthday present. She said I needed some adventure in my life.’

  ‘And do you?’ There was a question in Luke’s eyes that went far deeper than the amused query.

  Was her life going the way she had planned it out so carefully? Was she happy?

  She was saved having to find an answer by Georgia leaning closer. ‘So how do you two boys know each other?’

  ‘I did a stint in a hospital in Milan,’ Luke told her. ‘I got lost one day trying to find my apartment and this ambulance pulled up beside me. Matt was driving.’

  ‘I’d seen him in the emergency department of the hospital,’ Matteo put in. ‘I’d stayed with a child I’d brought in who’d been hit by a car and Luke had been called for a surgical consultation.’

  ‘He gave me a ride home,’ Luke continued. ‘And then he said he’d pick me up again after he finished his shift because he knew where the best beer in Milan was.’

  ‘Italy,’ Kate breathed. ‘How exciting. Did Nadia love living there?’

  Matteo was staring at Luke. ‘Who’s Nadia?’

  ‘My ex-wife.’

  ‘Ah...the cheating cow?’

  ‘That’s the one.’

  It was Kate’s turn to stare at Luke. ‘Oh, my God...you and Nadia split up?’

  Luke was eyeing Matteo’s beer as if he was regretting his decision on drinks. ‘Yep.’

  ‘But...’

  Everybody turned to stare at her and Kate bit her lip. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered. ‘It’s just that you guys were so in love...’

  Luke snorted. ‘Yeah...well, I won’t be making that mistake again, believe me.’

  ‘It kind of cures you,’ Matteo offered. ‘When the wife you love turns out to have been shagging every other man she met. I’m with Luke on this one. If someone cheated on me or lied to me like that, I would never let her name pass my lips again either.’

  Kate wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. Poor Luke... And she’d made things worse by opening her big mouth and reminding him of something it was obvious he would rather forget. Good grief...he hadn’t even told Matteo his wife’s name? Just referred to her as ‘the cheating cow’?

  And something else was trying to push its way into her consciousness.

  The fact that Luke was single again?

  No. She was too old and wise to allow any seed to grow in that long-ago abandoned space. She’d been romantically invisible back then. Why would that have changed?

  What needed to change was the subject. Fast.

  ‘How long were you in Milan?’

  ‘Two years. And then I won a consultancy position six months ago. In Edinburgh.’

  ‘No way...’

  Luke blinked. ‘What’s so surprising about that? Did you think I was going to stay a registrar for ever?’

  Kate shook her head. ‘It’s not that. I’m a consultant too. In Glasgow.’

  Luke laughed. ‘You mean we’ve been living fifty miles from each other and we had to travel halfway across Europe to catch up?’

  ‘Not even fifty miles. Georgia and I live in Brackenburn—halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. I work in the Eastern Infirmary in Glasgow and Georgie’s a paramedic at a rescue base in Edinburgh.’

  ‘Do you have helicopters?’ Matteo asked Georgia.

  ‘Yes. Two. I don’t get to go up in them very often, though. Only when they’re short of staff. You?’

  ‘I’ve been a flight paramedic for eight years now. I love it...’

  Kate and Luke weren’t listening to the conversation between their partners. People around them were starting to move, which meant that the time for finding out exactly what tomorrow would bring was getting close.

  But they were both sitting very still. So much had happened in the years since they’d last seen each other. Kate wanted to know more and she was saddened by more than a hint of bitterness in Luke’s tone when he’d confirmed that his marriage was over. How could that have happened to one of the nicest people she had ever known?

  Maybe something of what she was thinking was showing in her face.

  ‘What about you, Katy?’ Luke asked quietly. ‘You happily married now? Got a couple of kids at home? That was the plan, wasn’t it?’

  Kate dropped her gaze. There was something a little shameful about admitting that she had failed to achieve her most important personal goals. She didn’t say anything, simply shaking her head as she reached for her glass to finish her drink.

  ‘We’d better get going,’ Matteo said. ‘It’s time...’

  Kate stood up, more than happy to leave this conversation behind for the moment.

  But Luke stayed where he was for a moment, staring up at Kate.

  ‘It was your birthday in March,’ he said.

  ‘It always is.’ Kate grinned. ‘Two weeks after yours, in fact.’

  ‘Yeah...so we both turned thirty-five.’

  Was he trying to rub in the fact that she was still single? That parenthood was probably still years away? That she might get into her forties and get past the point where it might be even possible?

  She could feel defensive hackles begin to rise. Maybe, thanks to his own unfortunate experience, Luke had changed from being the nicest person in the world.

  But he was grinning. And he didn’t ha
ve to say a word for Kate to realise that he hadn’t been trying to remind her that time was ticking on.

  He was reminding her of something else. Something they’d agreed on after that legendary night of celebrating their final results as they’d graduated as fully fledged doctors. Something she hadn’t thought about in at least five years.

  Because it had become redundant the moment that Luke had got married.

  Surely he didn’t think it could be reinstated because he was single again?

  No. Kate turned away with a dismissive shake of her head.

  ‘The pact’ was no longer in existence.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‘I THINK WE’RE HERE.’

  Kate looked at the two-storeyed village house they were parked in front of. The door was shut and there was nobody to be seen trying to flag down medical assistance. She had programmed the satellite navigation system with all the GPS coordinates of their daytime tasks herself, however, so she was confident that no mistakes had been made.

  ‘We’ve got ten minutes. We’ll knock on the door at precisely seven forty-five. You might want to turn off the light.’ The portable flashing light on the top of the SUV was plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter. ‘We don’t want to flatten the battery while we’re on scene.’

  ‘Roger that.’ Georgia pulled the plug from the socket. She smiled at Kate but then her face scrunched into a grimace. ‘First scenario. You nervous?’

  ‘I wish we had some idea of what we’re going to. The name doesn’t give us much of a clue, does it? “Sweetheart”?’

  ‘Maybe it’s got something to do with sugar. A diabetic emergency, maybe?’

  ‘Good thinking.’

  ‘Or...’ Georgia wiggled her eyebrows. ‘Maybe it’s a young couple who are madly in love and they were having morning sex in the shower and one of them has slipped over and hit their head on the side of the bath.’

  Kate didn’t want to think about people who were so crazy in love they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. She’d never experienced that kind of love. Why was it that the balance always seemed to be tipped far too much in one direction? The people she fell in love with never felt the same way but if she was only mildly interested she could guarantee that the guy would fall head over heels for her and become suffocatingly attentive.