Winning the Surgeon's Heart

by Annie Claydon

  ‘The little boy you were with last week. He’s your son?’ Maybe talking would calm her a little.

  ‘Yes.’ She smiled suddenly, that wide open, joyful smile that he’d seen last week. ‘His name’s Sam.’

  ‘How old is he?’

  ‘Six.’

  That got the basics over. ‘Where is he today? With his father?’

  Hannah’s smile slid from her face. That clearly hadn’t been the right thing to say, and Matt wondered why on earth he’d made the assumption. He should have just come out and asked if Hannah had a partner, if he’d wanted to know so much.

  ‘No, with my mum. She’s going to bring him along here later to hear the results announced. It’s just me and Sam. His father isn’t on the scene.’

  ‘I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to pry.’

  ‘That’s all right.’ Mischief kindled suddenly in her eyes. ‘If we’re going to be a team we should get to know each other.’

  Matt laughed. ‘Okay. Matthew Robin Lawson. Thirty-six years old, born in Newcastle, single. I’ve been here for a year, and before that I was working in Glasgow.’

  ‘You’ve moved around a bit?’ Matt shot Hannah a questioning look and she smiled. ‘You don’t have a Newcastle accent.’

  ‘Yeah. The only family I’m in touch with is my mother, and she lives in Devon. I go wherever there’s a great job that will challenge me.’

  It sounded suddenly as if the life he’d made for himself was missing something. The vital ingredient that Hannah seemed to possess, a family and good friends. But this was what he knew. He’d grown up as an outsider, and that was how he felt comfortable now.

  ‘And you watch people.’ It came unerringly out of the blue, and combined with the warmth in Hannah’s eyes it carried a momentum that almost knocked him backwards.

  ‘I guess so. We used to move around a lot, and I found it pays to sit and watch for a while when you’re the new kid in school.’

  She seemed to see more in that then he’d said. It felt good to be accepted, but Matt knew that being accepted wasn’t everything. Being safe was everything, and he didn’t want Hannah to know about that.

  ‘And you?’

  ‘Ah. Hannah... Do I have to tell you my middle name?’

  ‘You do now. How bad can it be?’

  She grinned. ‘Hannah Eloise Greene.’

  ‘What’s wrong with Eloise?’ It suited her softer side perfectly.

  ‘It’s...well it’s a bit girly, isn’t it? I’d prefer something a bit more...’ She waved her hand, as if she were groping for the right word. ‘Adventurous, maybe.’

  ‘Flash? Jet?’

  Hannah laughed, and Matt warmed to his theme. ‘How about Olympia, if you want to go classical? Or Juno?’

  ‘No! Olympia and Juno are far too elegant for me. And one of my friends called her little boy Jet.’

  Matt chuckled. ‘Flash it is, then.’

  ‘Okay. Hannah Flash Greene...it’s got a ring to it. Twenty-six years old, born right here in this hospital. My father died six years ago, and Sam’s father and I split up before he was born. My mum and I bought a house together, and she looks after Sam when I’m at work. I’m lucky, because it’s a good arrangement for both of us.’

  ‘I imagine it’s great for her to be able to spend time with her grandson.’ Matt hadn’t had too much contact with his family. Staying below the radar had meant that his mother had considered it unwise to visit either set of grandparents, and his aunts and uncles had been just names to him.

  ‘Yes. She didn’t know what to do with herself when Dad died. I was away, and...’ Hannah shrugged. There was something she didn’t want to say, and Matt didn’t intend to press her. This had just been something to talk about, he hadn’t meant to share any secrets.

  ‘Contestants! This way, please.’ One of the production assistants called out suddenly and they both jumped.

  They’d been told that there would be cameras in the tent, and that they should do their best to ignore them. Inside, there were four sections, each screened off from the others. A smiling woman handed Matt an envelope.

  ‘Everything you need is in here. Follow the red markers.’ She gestured towards the canvas door that bore a red flash. ‘You can go now.’

  Hannah unzipped the doorway, and Matt saw trestle tables, piled high with medical equipment. He watched as another canvas door at the far end of the tent was opened, revealing a carport with a small red car parked in it. They stepped inside and someone zipped the doorway closed behind them. It was an odd feeling, being completely alone with Hannah, but knowing that they were being watched by cameras. He opened the envelope, sorting through its contents.

  ‘Car keys and a map... Phone... Ah. Instructions.’ He handed the sheets of paper to Hannah, craning over her shoulder to see.

  ‘Okay...’ She scanned the paper quickly. ‘We’ve got to take the things we think we might need, and wait for the phone to ring. The red car’s ours, and we’ll use it to get to a medical emergency that’s happening somewhere inside the red ring on the map. We don’t know where yet, or what kind of emergency...’

  ‘Sounds like a normal day for you.’ Matt grinned at her, spreading the map out on top of one the boxes that were heaped on the trestles.

  Hannah studied the map, frowning. ‘The red ring’s a good thirty miles from here.’

  ‘Which means we have to make a decision. We can’t get everything here into the car, so we either take what we think we’ll need and make a start, or we wait here for the phone call and risk being delayed in traffic.’

  Hannah nodded, looking up at him. Perhaps she was waiting for him to make the call.

  ‘What do you say, then, Flash? This is your area of expertise, not mine.’

  She grinned suddenly. ‘I say we go. We can open up the boxes and take just the amount we might need from them.’ She pointed at the large box of dressings. ‘Even if we need all that, there are only two of us and two people can’t apply that many dressings.’

  ‘Agreed. Why don’t you make a selection and I’ll put everything into the car.’

  She raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re sure about that?’

  ‘Positive. I’m used to having whatever I could possibly need within reach. I’ll go with your best guess over mine.’

  ‘All right, Robin...’ He raised his eyebrows and Hannah chuckled. ‘You asked for that. You can start with the defibrillator and the oxygen kit—we should definitely take those.’

  Fifteen minutes’ concentrated work, and they were ready to go. Hannah had used plastic bags and torn wrappers to contain reasonable amounts of as many different things as possible, repacking boxes and labelling them with a marker pen. She’d added a couple of large zipped bags to their provisions, commenting that they were obviously there for a reason, and picked up the bag of sandwiches and the six-pack of water bottles, stowing them in the footwell of the car.

  ‘Can you see what the others are doing?’ Matt drove out of the carport, and he caught an enticing trace of her scent as she craned round in the passenger seat, trying to see what was going on behind them.

  ‘Yep. Yellows have gone already. Since they’re an ambulance crew I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t done the same as us. Blues and greens look as if they might be staying put.’ She twisted back round in her seat, surveying the road in front of them. ‘I hope we’ve done the right thing.’

  ‘We’ve done it now. We look forward, not back.’ Matt could feel a tightening excitement in his chest. This wasn’t just about winning, not even just about bringing home the cash prize for their hospital. Suddenly, it was Flash and Robin, on the road together. Ready to face whatever was thrown at them.

  CHAPTER THREE

  HANNAH HAD PICKED a spot that gave easy access to main roads in all directions, and was approximately at the centre of the circle. They got out of
the car, stretching their legs, and even though it was only ten thirty, she broke open one of the packets of sandwiches. Who knew when they’d get a chance to eat later on? After ten minutes, the phone rang. Matt answered it, listening carefully and scribbling notes on the back of the map.

  ‘It’s at Lloyd Court. Apparently there’s someone who’s collapsed. No further details at the moment.’

  Hannah rolled her eyes, spinning the crust of her sandwich into a nearby waste bin. ‘What, like where he is or what might be wrong with him?’

  ‘I suppose they think that’s far too easy. They’ll pass further information through to us in the next half-hour. Do you know Lloyd Court?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes, it’s a country park. And it’s huge, it’ll take us all day to find someone there.’

  Matt handed her the car keys. ‘We’d better get a start, then.’

  As Hannah turned into the wide avenue that led to the heart of the country park, he got another call. He listened carefully and then turned to her.

  ‘Apparently our patient’s had a heart attack. There was one phone call from him, he couldn’t give his exact location but he said he’d been walking on the estate here for around half an hour, and that he was surrounded by trees. His name’s Justin Travers and they’ve given me a phone number for him, but apparently he’s not answering.’

  The spike of adrenalin made a clear summer’s day move into even sharper focus. ‘Why give it to us, then?’

  ‘That’s what I’m wondering...’ Matt was fiddling with the phone as she drove, and Hannah concentrated on the road ahead, turning into the car park that sprawled to one side of the visitors’ centre. She got out of the car, opening the hatchback.

  ‘What are you doing?’ She started to unload the boxes, sorting out what they would need for the walk ahead of them.

  ‘Just looking...ah! Got him!’

  ‘What?’ Matt didn’t seem to appreciate that this was an emergency situation. Okay, so it was a fake emergency situation, but they had to pretend it was real.

  ‘I did an internet search for the number. There’s a business connections page for a Justin Travers and he’s obviously a walker. Look...’ Matt held out the phone and Hannah glanced at it, then went back to unloading the boxes from the car. She grabbed the two rucksacks and started to fill them with the things they might need.

  ‘He’s a made-up person, Matt. He’s not going to have social media.’

  ‘Or they’re testing us. What would you do if you were in this situation for real? You’d try to find out who he was if you could.’ He handed her the phone and Hannah scrolled through the page that was displayed. The guy was a self-employed computer consultant, and his hobby was walking. He’d been on a recent expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro, and his contact number was clearly shown. When she scrolled down a little, his other hobby was listed as ‘Watching Hospital Challenge’. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

  ‘I was wrong...’ She suddenly felt very small. Matt hadn’t underestimated the complexity of the challenge the way she had. He hadn’t dismissed her experience either. She hadn’t shown him that respect.

  He shook his head. ‘No, we were both right. We need to get moving now and expand our search area, because someone like this is going to be able to walk further in half an hour than most people could.’

  ‘What do you suggest?’

  ‘Serious walkers tend to travel in a straight line and if that’s what he did, then there’s just one area of woodland that’s approximately two and a half miles from here.’ Matt indicated an area to the west.

  ‘And we go there first?’ There was woodland to the east as well, but that was only a mile away. Further on was an area of grassland.

  ‘It’s a risk. Under normal circumstances there would be search parties out, going in every direction, but we have to choose. We can’t split up, the instructions say that we both have to be at the scene together.’

  Think. Think!

  Hannah turned, staring at the hill that led away to the west. This was the challenge that any experienced walker would set themselves. When she faced Matt again, he was regarding her steadily.

  ‘Okay. I agree, we go west.’

  Matt shouldered the heavier of the two bags, and added two bottles of water to its weight. He set off at a fast walk, and Hannah wondered if she should remind him that they needed to pace themselves. He probably was pacing himself. She watched his back, gritting her teeth. It was a matter of pride that she could keep up.

  But after a mile her head started to swim, and the muscles in her legs and shoulders were screaming. She stopped, letting her bag fall to the ground. Matt turned.

  ‘Perhaps we should have some water...’ Just a few minutes’ rest, and she’d be ready to go again. He nodded, handing her one of the water bottles.

  He was waiting for her. Matt made a show of consulting the map, but they both knew exactly which way they were going as the woodland at the top of the hill stood starkly on the horizon. One minute. Just one minute and she’d be ready to pick up the bag and go again.

  ‘Drink a little more.’ He picked up the half-empty water bottle that she’d put down on the grass, handing it to her. Then he caught the strap of her bag, shouldering it with his.

  ‘No... Matt, I’ll be okay...’

  ‘We have to get there together. If I get tired, you can take the bag back.’

  His tone was quiet. Gentle, even. Not like the shouted exhortations to keep going that she’d trained with.

  ‘Don’t give me permission to give up...’

  He grinned suddenly. ‘You don’t have my permission to do anything other than keep walking. I’m going to need you when we get there, so let’s go.’ He turned, obviously slowed by the extra weight but still able to keep going.

  It was a lot easier without the bag. Hannah caught up with him, walking beside him.

  ‘You don’t believe in a little encouragement?’

  ‘What, you mean bullying you until you pick the bag up again and start walking? No, I don’t believe in that.’ He was suddenly tight-lipped.

  ‘Sometimes a bit of a push is what’s needed.’

  He nodded. ‘Yeah. But don’t ask me to do it.’

  Matt wasn’t wasting any words, and it wasn’t just the extra weight he was carrying. This was a line that he didn’t cross. His relaxed attitude to everything wasn’t a matter of laissez faire. It was more like a decision about how he was going to interact with the world.

  ‘I get it. If I need any shouting to get me back on my feet, I’ll do it myself.’

  ‘I’d appreciate that.’ He gave her one of his sudden smiles. Those deep blue eyes were enough to drag anyone to their feet, heart pumping faster and legs suddenly strong.

  ‘I’ll take my bag back in a little while.’

  He nodded. ‘All right. I can’t make it all the way like this.’

  He had his strengths, just as she did. And finding them, using them, was a challenge that was both daunting and delicious.

  * * *

  Matt knew what Hannah had been asking of him. He knew that getting her to her feet wouldn’t be a matter of real aggression, and more one of channelling her thoughts and reactions towards one clear aim. But he still couldn’t do it.

  It had been more than twenty-five years since he’d cowered before his father’s wrath. Everything he’d done and said had been calculated to please, because when his father had got angry it had been over the smallest things. This wasn’t the same, and pressuring Hannah back to her feet wouldn’t have been the same kind of aggression that his father had dispensed so freely, but he still couldn’t bring himself to do it. It wasn’t who he was. What he’d made himself be.

  When she took her bag back, he caught the scent of her sweat. Not stale or pungent, but an exciting sweetness, which spoke to his body on a level that he’d learned to ignore.
He should ignore her touch, too. Something about the way that she snatched her hand away from his when he gave her the bag told Matt that she felt something too, and he couldn’t help but smile.

  ‘We split up?’ They’d reached the edge of the woodland, and Hannah took the map from him, spreading it out on the ground. The trees formed a wide band that stretched out ahead of them.

  ‘I think so. I’ll walk along the ridge, there, and you take the path.’ Matt chose the more uneven, sloping terrain. Physical effort might take his mind off her auburn hair, glinting in the sunlight, and the way that her sweat-dampened T-shirt didn’t hide her curves as well as it had.

  ‘Giving me the easier route again?’ For a moment her expression told him that she might well argue with that.

  ‘Don’t worry. I reckon there are enough challenges ahead of us to go round.’

  Hannah grinned suddenly. ‘Probably. Thanks, I could do without climbing to the top of that ridge.’

  They walked more slowly now, keeping each other within sight and scanning carefully for any signs of the man they were looking for. Matt caught a glimpse of blue, between the trees on the other side of the ridge, but when he scrambled down towards it, he saw that it was an abandoned plastic carrier bag, fluttering in the breeze.

  ‘Anything...?’ He heard Hannah’s voice, calling to him.

  ‘No. Nothing.’ Matt shouted back, and she started walking again. As the woodland area started to narrow, the ridge wound down to meet the path.

  ‘Where is he? Suppose we’re wrong, Matt.’ She seemed suddenly exhausted from the effort it had taken to get here.

  ‘Suppose we’re right?’

  Hannah nodded, straightening suddenly. ‘We’ll walk through to the end of these trees, and then double back for a second look, shall we? When we’re sure he’s not here, we can think again.’