Falling for the Brooding Doc

by Annie Claydon

  ‘That’s my thing. Don’t show what you’re thinking. One of the things I learned from my father.’

  It was the first time that Laurie had ever said it. Maybe that was the most solid piece of evidence that last night had happened. She was finally breaking out of the isolation that her troubled childhood had imposed on her life.

  ‘It’s not the way you have to be, Laurie. You can decide for yourself.’

  She nodded. ‘That’s still under consideration. But it doesn’t do any harm to keep this quiet. No one here needs to know that I slept with the boss, do they?’

  ‘No, they don’t. As long as you remember it...’ Ross’s words were only half in jest. He knew that their relationship couldn’t last but he didn’t want it to be swallowed up in her single-minded determination. Lost for ever behind her impassive eyes.

  ‘I remember.’ She laughed suddenly, scrunching a loose piece of paper from her pad into a tight ball and throwing at him. Ross batted it away, smiling.

  ‘How was your hip this morning?’

  ‘Official answer?’

  He nodded. ‘If you like. Then I’ll take the real one.’

  ‘The official answer is that it’s improving steadily. The real one is that I noticed you were careful last night, and...you were perfect. It doesn’t hurt at all this morning.’ The red of her cheeks deepened slightly. ‘You were perfect in every other way as well.’

  ‘You make me want to be perfect. It’s what you deserve.’

  He wasn’t perfect, not by a very long way. He couldn’t give Laurie a home or a family, because his home was the clinic, and that was the only family he’d ever have. It was a good life, but Laurie had a whole world out there and a whole life of her own. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t take a little time out of their lives for each other and move on a little richer for it.

  ‘Would you like to come to me tonight?’ She gave him an impish grin. ‘Just so that I don’t start to feel I’m stalking you.’

  ‘I’ll be there.’

  Laurie nodded. There was a moment of shared warmth when her gaze caught his, and then she stood. No kiss but, then, it was a little inappropriate in this setting. Here they were just temporary colleagues, and they’d closeted themselves in his office to talk about their patients.

  But tonight... When the sun began to go down, Ross took the bottle of champagne from the refrigerator, putting it into a shopping bag in case anyone should see him. But he was alone in the quiet warmth of the evening as he hurried down the steps from the balcony, tapping on the French doors of Laurie’s apartment. She was waiting for him, unlatching the door and beckoning him in, and he stepped inside and took her into his arms.

  * * *

  ‘You’re sure about this.’ Ross looked around the foyer of the hotel.

  ‘Positive. Ann’s all for it.’

  ‘Yeah, but...did she know about the costumes?’

  ‘Of course she does. Everyone wears costumes to video game events.’

  ‘I wasn’t expecting them to be quite so revealing, though.’ Ross nodded towards a young woman dressed up as some kind of warrior with a sword. Her body armour could only be described as skimpy.

  ‘Oh! She’s my avatar!’

  ‘Really? You wander around on the screen dressed like that, do you?’ He couldn’t help grinning.

  ‘Excuse me. I do not wander, I stalk. Anyway, she’s wearing body paint.’ Laurie narrowed her eyes. ‘Let’s hope it’s non-allergenic or we’ll be picking her up off the floor.’

  ‘But Ann does know what kind of costumes....’

  ‘She knows. She’s taken Adam to these things before. He’s sixteen.’ She pursed her lips. ‘You really did have a sheltered childhood, didn’t you?’

  ‘Yeah. Suppose I did.’ Ross looked over to where Adam was sitting in his wheelchair, perusing the different programmes for the event. He seemed to be taking it all in his stride and had accepted a leaflet from the woman warrior without giving her a second glance.

  He followed Laurie over to the stand, watching as she took the standard programme out of Adam’s hands and picked up the thicker collector’s copy, passing a note from her purse over to the young man behind the counter.

  ‘These are the ones I want to go to.’ Adam flipped carefully through the pages of the programme.

  ‘Okay.’ Laurie looked over his shoulder. ‘Yes, we have to go to that one, it’s our game. Should we mark the ones you want?’

  ‘No!’ Adam looked at her as if she’d suggested defacing the Mona Lisa. ‘If you have the collector’s copy of the programme, the idea is that you get autographs from people on the pages. See, the paper’s different, for signing.’

  ‘Seems I’ve got a bit to learn. Shall we take one of those free ones for marking where we want to go, then?’

  Adam nodded. ‘Yes, that’s a good idea. We should have one each.’

  ‘Great plan. I definitely think Ross could do with one, he’s got no idea what’s going on.’ She shot Ross a smile, as if expecting him to protest.

  ‘You’re right. Not a clue.’ But he trusted Laurie. If she thought that this was going to work, he’d give it a shot. If it didn’t work then at least it was a nice day out for Adam.

  The stack of free programmes was at the end of the counter and Laurie waited a moment to see whether Adam would reach for them, before pushing the wheelchair a little closer. It was a good try, and if Ross knew Laurie she’d have a few more up her sleeve.

  He pushed the wheelchair and Laurie walked by the side of it. They visited stands, got autographs and Adam chatted to people in costumes about strange other worlds. The other visitors to the event were all good-humoured, if sometimes rather garishly dressed, and the enormous hall meant that the crowd wasn’t too densely packed.

  ‘This is so great. The one that Mum and I went to in London was really crowded and we could hardly see anything. Here you can get to the stalls and see stuff.’

  ‘You’d see a bit more if you stood up.’ Laurie floated the idea.

  ‘No.’ Adam shook his head quickly. ‘It’s fine, I can see. Thanks for bringing me.’

  ‘I’m really enjoying myself. Ooh, look!’ Laurie pointed to a large circular stand at the centre of the hall. ‘There’s our game. We have to go there.’

  ‘Yeah. Look, there’s your avatar.’ Adam grinned. ‘It would be really cool to get her signature, along with one from mine.’

  Ross wheeled the chair over to the stand. Six steep steps led up to the central space where there was a landscape of trees with a backdrop showing an ancient castle, with various people in costumes engaged in swordfights. The woman he’d seen in the armour and body paint seemed to be making short work of her rather lumbering opponent.

  ‘Just be a minute.’ Laurie left Ross and Adam watching the fights, disappearing around the side of the stand. She reappeared again, smiling.

  ‘What?’ Ross murmured to her.

  ‘No ramps. That means that Adam’s going to have to walk up the steps. I know he can do it...’ She turned the corners of her mouth down. ‘Although I’ll still be giving the organisers a piece of my mind. They should have made everything wheelchair accessible.’

  ‘Yeah, I’ll join you. Although we don’t need to go up there, do we?’ Adam had already collected the freebies that were available on other stalls from costumed characters who were wandering around the sides of the stall, and tucked them carefully into the backpack he’d brought.

  ‘Photographs. I spotted them taking photographs up there a while ago. I think they’re doing it between fights.’

  ‘Has it occurred to you that they’ll probably see the wheelchair and come down here? No one’s going to let a kid in a wheelchair miss out.’

  Laurie frowned. ‘I’ll think of something.’

  When the fights finished, and people started to go up the steps to the
podium, she left Adam’s side, walking straight up to her avatar and speaking to her. The woman listened and nodded, then turned to Adam and waved. But she didn’t come down the steps. Then Laurie re-joined them.

  ‘They can’t come down. Something to do with having their photos taken with the proper backdrops. We’ll have to go up to them.’

  Adam looked at the steps speculatively. If this didn’t work, Ross wasn’t sure what would.

  ‘I’ll help you, Adam. It’ll be just like the way you do it in the gym.’

  ‘I don’t know...’ Adam was looking up at the podium.

  Ross felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a man dressed as an intergalactic warrior. ‘Excuse me? I’ll go and get my mates, and if the lad wants to go up there, we’ll carry him. Bloody outrageous they don’t have a ramp.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Ross ushered the man away from Adam so he couldn’t hear the conversation. ‘Thing is, this is his favourite video game and walking up there himself would mean a lot to him...’

  He assured the man that his offer was much appreciated but that they didn’t need any help, and agreed that they should complain that there was no ramp for wheelchairs. When he turned back towards the stall, he saw Laurie bending down to release the brakes on the wheelchair. She gave him a smile that clearly concealed disappointment.

  ‘Let’s go for some lunch, shall we?’

  She was a little subdued as she filled the cafeteria tray with sandwiches and drinks, then led the way out into a large open-air seating area. Laurie found a table and sat down. Adam was leafing through his catalogue, the disappointment over the photos seemingly forgotten.

  ‘Here’s the thing, Adam.’ Laurie gently caught his attention. ‘I know exactly what you can and can’t do. I know that you need a wheelchair to come here, because it’s too much for you to walk around the exhibition. But I also know that you could make those steps, if you wanted to.’

  Adam shrugged. ‘It’s okay. No big deal.’

  ‘Well, it’s a big deal to me, because I want to see you get better. I know that you wanted to go up and have your photo taken.’

  Laurie had decided to confront Adam. She’d worked hard to make a relationship with the boy, and he trusted her. If she thought this was the right time, then it was.

  ‘Suppose I fall.’

  ‘You won’t. Ross and I won’t let you.’

  ‘My foot...it isn’t better yet.’

  ‘No, it isn’t, that’s going to take a while. But you can do this, we’ve climbed steps in the gym together.’

  Adam sat silently, shaking his head.

  ‘I think I know why you won’t.’ Ross saw a glint of determination in Laurie’s eye, which told him she wasn’t giving up now.

  ‘No, you really don’t.’ The boy reached for his drink, opening it and putting one of the straws from the tray into the bottle.

  ‘I know how hard sport can be sometimes. But one thing I’ve learned is that you can’t not try things because you might fail. If you can’t run again, that’s going to be difficult to deal with. But if you don’t do the things you can do, it’ll be even worse.’

  Ross felt a tickle of embarrassment at the back of his neck. Was Laurie talking about him, too? He dismissed the thought. She knew how he felt and she accepted it.

  ‘Let me tell you something. I came close to giving up at one point and ruining all my chances of ever getting back into competition rowing. But there’s one thing I know for sure.’

  The chatter of the seating area suddenly receded into the background. If Laurie didn’t have Adam’s attention, she had Ross’s. She was using her own hopes and fears to reach the boy, and that took nerve and commitment.

  ‘What?’

  Laurie smiled, leaning towards Adam. ‘I know that whatever I can and can’t do in the future, I’ll have tried for my dreams. If I fail, that’s just as much a badge of courage as if I succeed.’

  Ross swallowed down the lump in his throat. Maybe if someone had said something like that to him during the dark days after Alice had left, he might have felt a little better. Not great, he still would have felt the failure keenly. But somehow justified in having allowed himself to hope.

  ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t get back to running. I’m not much good at anything else.’

  ‘You’ll find something. I know a winner when I see one.’ Laurie gave him a smile.

  ‘Okay. We’ll give it a go.’

  ‘Great. Then you can sign my programme, eh?’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  LAURIE HAD WHEELED Adam back to the podium, and he’d got unsteadily to his feet. Then something had happened that she clearly hadn’t planned for. The woman playing her avatar strode over to the edge of the stage and held her sword aloft in a salute. The other characters had seen what she was doing and followed her lead.

  ‘I’ve got to do it now.’ Adam’s brow creased.

  ‘You’ve already done it, mate.’ Ross grinned at him and the boy’s back straightened a little.

  Slowly, carefully they walked up the steps. Adam was holding onto his arm but he didn’t need the support. Just the confidence. And his attention was all on the top of the steps, where the group of costumed performers was waiting for him.

  As he reached the top, the woman knelt, holding the hilt of her sword out towards Adam. It was a little over-theatrical, but Adam flushed red with pleasure, looking up at Ross.

  ‘I’d take it if she offered it to me,’ Ross murmured to him.

  ‘Wait!’ Laurie was ahead of them, her phone in her hand, and when she rapped out the word the performers froze into warlike poses, used to people wanting photographs. It was perfect. Adam smiled, and Laurie took as many photographs as she could.

  He took the sword. Leaning on Ross’s arm, Adam was led around to the other side of the podium, which was a reconstruction of a scene inside a castle. Ross led him to the elaborate-looking throne and sat him down.

  Then more photographs. Laurie was recording this all as the performers gathered around the throne, taking up different poses, all obviously rehearsed. Adam was grinning now.

  As each of the performers took their turn to sign Adam’s programme, Ross held out his hand to Laurie to take her phone. ‘You go. He’ll want a few of you both with your avatars.’

  Laurie hesitated, and then nodded. ‘He’s having such a good time. I’m going to cry in a minute if I’m not careful...’

  This meant so much to her. And Ross was so proud of her.

  ‘I might join you. If you’re not careful.’

  She chuckled, wiping her hand vigorously across her face. ‘Don’t you dare. I’m relying on you to help me keep it all together.’

  The performers seemed in no hurry and everyone else was standing back to give Adam more than his allotted time for photographs. And the customary bravado of a sixteen-year-old was looking as if it was going to crack at any moment.

  ‘There are other people...’ Adam gave the sword back to the woman warrior. She bent and kissed him on the cheek and Ross saw Adam’s ears redden furiously.

  ‘You have all the photos you want?’ Her soft, Newcastle accent sounded slightly at odds with her warlike appearance.

  ‘Yes. Thank you.’ Adam watched her go, and then turned to Laurie. ‘I want to go back now.’

  ‘You’re sure? Isn’t there a bit more for us to see?’

  ‘I’ve done everything I wanted to do. More...’ Adam looked around the hall from his vantage point, perched on the throne.

  ‘Okay. Just one more photo. Shift up a bit.’ Laurie sat down on the wide seat, next to Adam, holding out her phone for a selfie. ‘Smile, Adam. This is what winning feels like.’

  * * *

  ‘Who knew those conventions were so hard on the feet?’ Laurie flopped down onto Ross’s bed.

  ‘Foot rub?’

&n
bsp; ‘Oh, Ross. You say the nicest things. I don’t suppose you could take your clothes off first, could you?’

  He chuckled. ‘No, I don’t suppose I could. One thing at a time.’

  ‘Really? I can do two things at once, I’ve been devouring you with my lustful gaze all day.’

  ‘Have you?’ Ross obviously liked the idea. ‘I wish you’d mentioned that. I thought you were a hundred percent focussed on getting Adam out of that wheelchair. You did a fine job of it, by the way.’

  Laurie smiled at the memory. ‘It was so good of the people on that stand, wasn’t it? All the sword-raising and the pictures.’

  ‘It was great. And I was so proud of you. You have a real talent for inspiring these kids, you know.’

  ‘I was thinking, I’d love to be able to do more of that kind of thing. Working at the emergency GP centre in London is great, and it fits in well with my schedules, but I don’t get to follow through on patients the way I have here.’

  ‘Isn’t that the problem, though?’ Ross sat down on the bed, propping one of her feet up on his leg. ‘Can you fit that kind of long-term care around your rowing schedule?’

  He started to massage her foot and Laurie sighed. ‘That’s so nice. You have wonderful fingers, Ross. And, no, I’m not sure that kind of job would be possible during the rowing season. But I won’t be competing for ever.’

  Maybe she was crazy to think like this. To wonder if there was a place for her here with Ross, doing a job that she loved. To think that he even wanted her to stay, he was so sure that nothing could ever change, and that a new relationship would end as badly as his last.

  ‘You’re competing now. You’ll have plenty of time when you retire and that might not be for another few years.’

  ‘Yes. I guess so. I should just make the most of it while I can.’

  ‘We both should. Every night and every day.’ He laid her foot back down on the bed, shifting forward to kiss her.

  If she could just make him believe that she would be happy without a family. But how could she do that when she didn’t even know whether it was true? Things had changed so much, in such a short time, and she needed time to catch up. Maybe Ross was right, and letting go was the only way to save them both from pain.