Medic on Approval

by Laura MacDonald

  How had this happiness happened? How had it crept up on her without her being aware of it?

  Surely it couldn’t have anything to do with Aidan?

  Opening her eyes, she saw that he had come out of the cottage and, with a glass of Coke in each hand, was crossing the courtyard towards her. Quite suddenly, she knew with profound certainty that her newly found sense of happiness had everything to do with Aidan.

  CHAPTER TEN

  AIDAN handed Lindsay one of the glasses then perched on the edge of the low wall that separated the courtyard from the rest of the garden. Jess cocked one ear and lifted her head to see what was going on. Satisfied that all was well in the life of her master, she rested her head on her paws once more. Skipper was already snoring.

  Aidan lifted his glass. ‘Cheers,’ he said.

  ‘Cheers.’ Lindsay joined him, taking a sip while he took a long draught of his drink.

  ‘Ah,’ he said in obvious satisfaction. ‘I needed that—almost as good as a pint.’

  ‘I’m surprised you haven’t got a pint,’ observed Lindsay.

  ‘Can’t take any chances,’ he replied, setting his glass down on the flagstones. ‘Never know if you might need some help when you’re on call then I’d need to drive. Speaking of which…’ He paused and threw her a sidelong glance. ‘You have something to tell me?’

  ‘I have. And I’ll doubt if you’ll believe this.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, there’s very little that surprises me in this game. That’s one thing I have learnt over the years.’

  ‘OK. So what would you say if I were to tell you that at this very moment both Douglas and Milly Morgan are in hospital?’

  Aidan had picked up his glass again, but without as much as taking a sip he lowered it and stared at her.

  ‘There you are,’ she said. ‘You are surprised, aren’t you? I said you would be.’

  ‘What happened?’ The blue eyes had narrowed and the tone of his voice had changed.

  Lindsay found herself nervously licking her lips and hated herself for it. She’d coped, hadn’t she, for heaven’s sake? So why should she feel nervous at explaining her actions? Aidan Lennox was why. And the fact that he was sitting there in the sunshine, looking incredibly sexy, didn’t help either. But he was waiting, and the narrowed gaze had turned into a frown.

  ‘Milly’s had a stroke,’ she said.

  He continued to stare at her in the same disconcerting manner. ‘So who called you in?’ he said at last.

  ‘Actually, no one called me in. It was the most incredible coincidence. I just happened to be passing—I’d been called up to the camping site and on my way back I thought I’d just look in—’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ She frowned. This wasn’t going as she’d hoped. She’d imagined he would be pleased that she’d decided to call on the Morgans at such an opportune moment, instead of which he seemed annoyed if his expression was anything to go by.

  ‘Why did you feel the need to call in? Did you think you’d go in the hopes that Milly would offer you coffee and some of her oatcakes?’

  ‘Of course not.’ Lindsay felt the colour rush to her cheeks.

  ‘So what, then?’ he persisted.

  ‘Just to see them. To see how they were.’

  ‘A professional visit, then?’

  ‘I suppose so. If you like.’

  ‘But you know I do that. You know I call in each week to keep an eye on them.’

  ‘Yes, I know you do.’ Lindsay was holding onto her temper with difficulty now. ‘But it was purely an impulse thing. And as it turned out, it was a jolly good job I did. If I hadn’t, Milly would probably still be lying there on the floor—’

  ‘Just a minute.’ He cut her short again then, carefully setting his glass down once more, he went on, ‘Now, let’s get this straight. You called on the Morgans purely on impulse and you say Milly was on the floor? So whereabouts was this?’

  ‘In the living room…’

  ‘How did you get in?’ he asked.

  ‘I had to break a window.’

  ‘You did what?’ He stared at her incredulously.

  ‘A window…I had to break one. But don’t worry. Hew Griffiths—he lives next door to the Morgans—’

  ‘I know where Hew Griffiths lives.’ Aidan’s voice was bleak now.

  ‘Yes, well, he heard the sound of the glass breaking, and after I’d climbed through the window he came round. He’s going to board up the window…so it’ll be perfectly all right.’

  ‘Did it not occur to you to contact the police before you started breaking into someone’s home? Isn’t that the usual procedure where you come from? Because it sure as hell is around here.’ At the change of tone Jess lifted her head and gave a short, single bark.

  Lindsay struggled to remain calm. ‘I know the procedure. Of course I do. I’m not a student, Aidan.’

  ‘So if you know the procedure why didn’t you apply it in this case?’

  ‘Because I didn’t actually have to break in.’

  ‘You said you smashed a window. That sounds like breaking in to me.’

  ‘Well, it wasn’t, actually.’ By this time Lindsay could really feel her hackles rising as she sought to defend her actions. She took a deep breath, more to steady her nerves than anything else, then went on to explain exactly how she’d found Milly. ‘I could see at once that she’d suffered a CVA,’ she concluded at last.

  ‘Was she conscious?’ Aidan demanded.

  ‘Barely.’

  ‘So how long do you think it was since it happened?’

  ‘Not too long. She’d brought Douglas his morning coffee but something had prevented him from drinking it. It had gone cold in the cup.’

  ‘What time was this?’

  ‘About eleven-thirty.’

  ‘So she probably had the stroke just after ten-thirty. That’s the time Milly makes morning coffee. What did you do next?’

  ‘I moved Milly into a more comfortable position,’ Lindsay replied. ‘Hew had arrived by then. He sat with Douglas while I listened to Milly’s heart and checked her blood pressure. There really wasn’t anything else I could do except wait for the ambulance. Hew then pointed out that Douglas wouldn’t be able to stay on his own because it was Milly who did everything for him.’

  ‘Had that not occurred to you?’

  ‘Well, yes, I knew that, of course, but I suppose I thought there might be family or someone who could help him, but when Hew said there was no one I decided to ring the medical ward and speak to the duty sister to see if Douglas could be admitted as well.’

  ‘You did what?’ Rising to his feet, Aidan glared down at her.

  ‘What else was I to do?’ she protested. ‘I could hardly leave him there on his own. As it happened, the duty sister was very understanding and said she would admit him to the ward where he could be looked after until an assessment could be made sometime tomorrow.’

  ‘That means Social Services will become involved and he’ll be put into Rhondda House—’

  ‘Yes, but you said yourself that was what would eventually happen, that Milly wouldn’t be able to cope for much longer.’

  ‘I’d promised Milly if the worst came to the worst I would try and get them both into the same home. Now Social Services are involved I can’t see that happening…And once Douglas is in Rhondda House that’s where he’ll stay…’

  ‘Maybe Milly will be able to go to Rhondda House eventually as well.’

  ‘They don’t take stroke victims,’ Aidan replied coldly.

  ‘I didn’t know that…But what else could I have done?’ Lindsay looked up at him, shielding her eyes against the sun.

  ‘Did it not occur to you to call me at any time during all this?’

  ‘Yes, it did, as it happens, but I then decided that you would expect me to use my initiative. I was on call, it was up to me to deal with any eventuality. I actually thought I’d coped with the whole thing rather well. That’s why I ca
me in here—to tell you. If I’d known how you were going to react I wouldn’t have bothered!’ With her eyes flashing, she, too, stood up and faced him across the small courtyard.

  Afterwards, if anyone had asked her what had happened next she would have been hard put to say. One moment they were facing each other like two protagonists about to enter into combat and the next he’d covered the short distance between them and she was in his arms and his mouth had come down hard onto hers, stifling any further protest she might have been able to make.

  The shock was so great that at first she did nothing, then, recovering slightly, she began to struggle. This, however, simply caused him to tighten his hold on her, leaving her helpless against that taut, powerful body.

  And it was then that she felt a red-hot shaft of desire somewhere deep inside her. Andrew had never kissed her like this. No one had ever kissed her like this before. Eventually she quite forgot to struggle as he totally overpowered her, until in the end she was responding to him with a fervour she hadn’t known she possessed, winding her arms around his neck, sinking her fingers into the short, crisp hair, her kisses every bit as passionate as his.

  There had been no one since Andrew. He had been subtle, sophisticated and, she’d thought, what she’d wanted. But this man was raw passion and Lindsay responded to him in a way she’d never responded before as beneath his hands and his mouth one by one her senses came alive.

  In the end it was Aidan who pulled away, holding her from him at arm’s length. ‘My God!’ he muttered. ‘That shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry,’ he said abruptly.

  ‘Don’t be,’ she whispered.

  ‘But I shouldn’t have let it happen.’ He spoke as if he was appalled at himself. ‘I’m your trainer, for God’s sake!’

  ‘I was as much to blame.’

  ‘It makes no difference.’ He shook his head, dropping his hands from her shoulders. ‘I’m supposed to be in a position of trust. Henry would flay me alive if he knew.’

  ‘Well, he’s not going to know, is he?’

  He shook his head but it was more a gesture of despair than anything else. Lindsay looked down and saw that both dogs had come up from the garden and were sitting expectantly at their feet. Jess had her head enquiringly on one side as she gazed up at Aidan.

  ‘They’re wondering what’s happened,’ Lindsay said with a shaky smile. ‘One moment we were shouting at each other and the next…’ She looked up and her gaze met his. He looked away as if he was so embarrassed by what had just happened that he couldn’t even look her in the eye.

  ‘Aidan…’ Stepping forward, she put her hand on the bare skin of his arm. He reacted sharply, pulling away. ‘You’d better go, Lindsay…There may be another call for you.’

  Because she carried a mobile phone they were both well aware of the fact that if she was needed she could be reached anywhere, just as they were both well aware that the reason he wanted her to go wasn’t because she might be called but because of what had just happened between them.

  Her mind was still in turmoil, but where he was covered in confusion and embarrassment she knew she would have been quite happy for him to repeat the whole episode. That, however, seemed most unlikely if the expression on his face was anything to go by, so Lindsay decided her best course of action was to beat a hasty retreat. Pausing only to pat the dogs, she made her way to the steps.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she said briefly, ‘unless, of course, anything else crops up that I think you should know about.’

  He followed her to the steps, and as she began to climb he said, ‘About Milly…’

  ‘Yes?’ She paused again and looked down at him. He was standing with one foot on the bottom step, one hand at the back of his neck—his attitude still one of acute embarrassment. ‘What about Milly?’

  ‘I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. You were quite right. There was nothing else you could have done.’

  She hesitated. ‘Would you have done the same?’ she asked curiously.

  ‘Probably,’ Aidan admitted. ‘I may have tried for somewhere else for Douglas…but you weren’t to know.’

  She left then, climbing into the Jeep and starting the engine. As she drew away she glanced in her rear-view mirror but he hadn’t followed her up the steps to the road.

  It was only then that Lindsay realised she was still trembling. If anyone had told her what was going to happen when she went to Aidan’s cottage she would never have believed them. Never in a million years would she have believed them. But what had got to her even more than the shock of it happening had been her reaction to it. Her face flamed as she thought of it. Whatever had he thought of her? She must have come across as some sort of hungry man-eater.

  How would she be able to face him in the surgery the next day? She should be ashamed of herself, she told herself sternly as she drove into the village.

  She should be, yes, but the truth was, she wasn’t ashamed of herself or her actions. Her response to Aidan had been completely spontaneous, as natural as breathing, and she knew, given the chance, she would do exactly the same again.

  But Aidan! Aidan of all people. Why, she hadn’t even liked him at first. She’d thought him rude, arrogant and self-opinionated, and she was certain he hadn’t liked her. He’d criticised everything about her—her clothes, her hair, her background, even her car. They’d argued about so many things. It was true that all that had changed a little in the time she’d been in Tregadfan, and after they’d called their truce things had got better between them, but certainly not to the point where she would have dreamed that he would wish for anything more.

  And maybe he didn’t want anything more now either. Perhaps he was already regretting his actions. After all, he’d made it perfectly plain that he felt he’d abused Henry’s trust in some way. And maybe that would be true if she were some vulnerable young girl who’d been placed in his care. But she wasn’t, for heaven’s sake! She was a grown woman, with thoughts and feelings of her own.

  Lindsay had no idea what would happen next, she only knew that as that fateful weekend drew to a close she found herself awaiting the following day not only with trepidation but also with a delicious sense of anticipation.

  ‘So tell me, what would you be doing this evening if you were in London?’ Gwynneth sighed and, with her elbows on the reception desk and her face in her hands, gazed dreamily up at Lindsay.

  ‘You mean if I wasn’t working?’ said Lindsay drily.

  ‘Oh, yes, of course.’ Gwynneth giggled.

  ‘Well…’ Lindsay considered. ‘If I wasn’t working, I would probably take the opportunity of catching up on some sleep.’

  ‘No, I mean if you weren’t doing that. If you were going out, where would you go to?’ Gwynneth persisted.

  ‘Hmm, let me see. Well, probably I would meet some friends in a wine bar—’

  ‘A wine bar,’ breathed Gwynneth. ‘I’ve never been to a wine bar.’ She made it sound like some exotic temple and Lindsay couldn’t help but smile as she recalled the overcrowded establishments where she and her friends would meet, only to fight for a place at the bar, waiting to be served, followed by the near impossibility of finding a table. ‘Afterwards we would perhaps go for a meal—usually Italian or Indian. Sometimes,’ she went on, ‘we would go to the theatre, or maybe the ballet, or the opera. And occasionally we might go on to a nightclub. But, having said that, I doubt if any of that would have happened on a Monday night.’

  ‘You make it all sound so exciting and so glamorous,’ sighed Gwynneth, ‘doesn’t she, Bronwen? Don’t you think it sounds exciting?’

  ‘It’s all right if you like that sort of thing,’ Bronwen replied waspishly. ‘I prefer the quiet life myself. While you, young woman…’ She glared at Gwynneth over the half-glasses she wore for close work. ‘A few nights of that would finish you. You don’t have either the stamina or the constitution for it. One evening of line-dancing in the community hall is about your limit.’

  Deflated, G
wynneth fell silent and began filing the last of the morning’s medical records, and Lindsay turned to go back to her room. As she did so the door of Aidan’s consulting room opened and her heart skipped a beat as he came out into Reception. She’d seen him on a couple of occasions that morning—when he’d first arrived and again in Reception when they’d both been searching for records. Each time she had been intensely aware of him but with the exception of once in Reception when she’d briefly caught his eye and he’d looked quickly away, he’d given no indication that anything untoward had happened between them.

  Now she was just as aware of him as he followed her into the staffroom for morning coffee. Henry and Judith were already there. Henry looked up as they came into the room.

  ‘So, how did your first Sunday on call go?’ asked Henry as Lindsay poured coffee for herself.

  ‘Fine,’ she replied brightly, too brightly probably, aware as she was of Aidan’s uncompromising back as he stood at the machine and poured his own coffee.

  ‘No difficult ones?’

  ‘Well, there was one, but I think I coped all right.’

  ‘Was that Mrs Morgan?’ asked Judith, looking up from the magazine she was reading and joining in the conversation.

  ‘Yes, it was.’ Lindsay nodded.

  ‘I heard about that from Bronwen,’ said Henry. Turning to Lindsay, he said, ‘Who called you out, Lindsay?’

  ‘Actually, no one did. It was the most incredible coincidence.’ She threw a glance at Aidan but he still had his back to her, then she flicked her tongue over her lips which suddenly felt very dry. ‘I was on my way back from another call,’ she went on, ‘and I decided to call at the Morgans’ quite by chance—I’d been there before with Aidan and I knew he liked to keep an eye on them.’

  ‘And you mean you found that Milly had had a stroke?’ Judith stared at her in amazement.