A Heart Worth Mending

by Amanda Canham

  ‘I mean it this time,’ she insisted, and he backed off, giving his sister some respite—for the moment, at least.

  ‘Hmm, well I guess you’ll be heading back to our house for a sleep then. Are you going to have dinner waiting for me when I get home, like a good little woman?’ He asked with a dead-pan face.

  ‘Dream on!’ She retorted, batting him across the head with her curled up jumper.

  ‘You do know I have work to do, right?’ He said ducking out of the jumper’s path. ‘Rather important work,’ he continued pointedly looking towards the long line of unread emails.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, message received,’ she said, throwing the jumper over her shoulder. But she lingered in the doorway, a little hesitant as she looked back at him.

  ‘What is it?’ He asked with a sigh.

  ‘You don’t have any plans for Friday, do you?’

  ‘No,’ he answered without having to think about the question.

  ‘Good. Because I was thinking of having a party,’ she informed him cheerfully.

  ‘At my house? I don’t think so.’

  ‘It’s just a little party, Trav. Don’t get your knickers in a knot. Besides, you said you’re not busy,’ she dismissed with a quick wave of her hand.

  ‘That doesn’t mean I want a group of strangers invading my home.’

  ‘Oh, booey to you. They’re not strangers, they’re my friends. Anyway, you need to have more of a life. What better way to start?’ She smiled at him winningly for the second time in as many minutes, and he felt the fight drain out of him. How did she always manage to do this?

  ‘It’ll be a bit of a welcome party: welcoming me to your house, welcoming you back from holidays, and…ah…welcoming Kelli to the team,’ she continued.

  ‘Totally unnec—. Wait, who’s Kelli?’

  ‘Kelli Maloney, the new doc who’s just finished her fellowship. You know…Oh, that’s right, you’ve been away for a month, you haven’t met her yet,’ she said, her eyes twinkling. ‘A lot can happen in a month.’

  ‘Clearly.’

  A knot formed in Travis’ stomach— a fist-sized lump of suspicion.

  Surely Ana wasn’t up to her matchmaking ways again? He’d flat out refused to be set up since the last disastrous blind date. And yet, here she was...

  ‘She should be around here somewhere,’ Ana poked her head out the door and looked down the corridor. ‘She’s always in early. She likes to beat the traffic, since she’s still commuting from the Gold Coast. Anyway, you’ll meet her today sometime,’ she shrugged dismissively before turning back to him. ‘So, you’re in then?’

  ‘For what?’ Maybe if he played dumb, she’d forget the whole crazy scheme.

  ‘The party, of course!’

  ‘Sorry. I just…You’re not trying to set me up, are you Ana?’

  ‘Would I do that?’ She asked, widening her eyes into the picture of perfect innocence. Too perfect for his liking.

  ‘I’m just saying—’

  ‘Oh geez, Travis, I just want to have a party. I need a little fun, something to distract me since everything that happened with Carl.’ Her gaze dropped to the ground and he felt like a total heel when he saw her blinking rapidly to stem the shimmer of tears in her eyes.

  ‘Damn, I’m sorry girl. I didn’t realise.’ He should have. She’d only just told him about the break up. ‘I think I’m having trouble getting out of holiday mode,’ he shrugged, pushing the paranoia away.

  ‘So that’s a yes for the party, then? It won’t be anything too formal, BYO booze and we’ll supply some nibbles.’

  ‘Yeah sure, whatever you want,’ he answered.

  ‘Yay! That’s awesome,’ she exclaimed, racing back into the room to give him a hug. ‘You won’t regret it!’

  Kelli stifled a yawn as she settled behind the desk in her allocated consulting room at St Mary’s Hospital, waiting for her first patient to take a seat. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to cope with the early morning commute from the Gold Coast. She was at a loss about what to do, though, because the alternative— moving out of the apartment she’d shared with Jimmy— was not an option.

  It didn’t really help matters that she had barely slept the night before. For weeks now, she’d been staying up late, only dropping into bed when she was completely exhausted. It had helped keep the memories of Jimmy, the images from Condamine Gorge, at bay, and allowed her to achieve solid sleep before her early mornings.

  None of her usual tricks had worked last night, though. No matter what she did, she couldn’t push the thoughts aside. She couldn’t push away the doubts, the guilt. Eventually she’d drifted into a fitful sleep, only to be woken hours later by an absolutely horrendous dream that involved Jimmy, the sexy man from the beach and Kelli chasing them down with an axe and a bloodhound. There’d been no hint of realism to the dream, but the sense of pervading evil had haunted her and made any more sleep impossible.

  Pushing away from the thoughts before the dream could take hold of her again, Kelli forced a friendly smile towards her patient.

  ‘Hi Brianna, Dr Muller has told me you’re having some problems sleeping. Can you tell me about them?’

  The young woman clenched and unclenched the hands she had folded in her lap, as though she was figuring out where to start.

  ‘It’s not that I have any problem sleeping. The opposite, in fact.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s just…I seem to fall asleep all the time. It was a bit embarrassing when I was at school or at the movies with my friends. But now I’m working it’s become a real problem. I think I’m going to get fired over it. I can’t afford to get fired!’

  ‘That’s what I’m here to help with,’ Kelli told her. Over the past year, Kelli had come to realise this was a very common concern for sleep patients. It was often the only stimulus to start investigations into a health problem they’d been living with for years.

  Uncapping her pen, Kelli opened the patient’s file and started documenting her notes. ‘Have you always been this sleepy?’

  ‘It feels like it, but Mum reckons it’s only been the last couple of years. I thought it was normal—that I was just bored at school. Mum thought I was partying too much but I swear I never took any drugs. I wouldn’t do anything like that.’ The girl’s words were coming faster, her voice becoming more high-pitched as she became more distressed.

  ‘It’s okay, I’m not here to interrogate you.’ Kelli assured her. ‘But I do need honesty to be able to get to the bottom of this.’

  Kelli waited until Brianna had forcibly calmed herself down before continuing.

  ‘So, this started two years ago?’

  ‘Yeah, around then.’

  ‘Were there any particular times when you would fall asleep?’

  ‘During class, mostly English. My teacher was a b-i-t-c-h. Sorry.’

  ‘That’s okay,’ Kelli chuckled; pleased the patient was at least starting to relax. ‘I imagine she wasn’t too impressed with you falling asleep in her class.’

  ‘That would be an understatement. But I’d take her over my boss any day.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I’ve fallen asleep a couple of times on the job. Not like when there are customers or anything. Just, you know, when it’s really quiet. I sit down for a minute and the next thing I know, the manager’s shaking my shoulder and yelling at me,’ Brianna’s voice started to catch, tears welling in her eyes. ‘I’ve told her it’s not my fault, but she doesn’t believe me. And this last time she said if it happened again, I’d be—’

  Her words cut off mid-sentence, the only sound in the room a loud crack as Brianna slumped forward, her head banging on the edge of the desk.

  Heart in her throat, Kelli leapt from her seat and was kneeling beside the patient in an instant.

  ‘Brianna?’ She called, her hand automatically hovering in front of the patient’s face, hoping to detect a breath. It was there, steadily passing in and out of her lungs, an
d Kelli let out a sigh of relief.

  ‘Brianna?’ She called again but the girl didn’t respond.

  Kelli looked down to see blood dripping from Brianna’s head, landing on her own dark blue pleated skirt. Kelli tried to shift Brianna back in the seat so she could examine the cut, but the dead weight was too much for her to move on her own. Keeping one hand on the young woman’s shoulder to prevent her sliding to the ground, Kelli reached across the desk and buzzed Jan on reception.

  ‘My patient has collapsed and I need to move her. Can you send someone in to help?’

  ‘I’ll send someone in straight away,’ Jan answered in her usual, uber-efficient manner. Kelli had only been working here a few weeks, but she’d already come to rely on Jan’s unflappable nature. ‘Do you need—?’

  ‘Someone with muscles. I can’t lift her off the desk by myself.’

  ‘Dr Reed’s just popped out of his room. I’ll send him in.’

  Brianna started to slip and Kelli dropped the phone to grab her with both arms. She sank to her knees, propping a shoulder beneath the woman’s chest to try to push her back up in the seat.

  ‘Need a hand?’

  Kelli jumped, her own head banging against the underside of the desk. The question came from somewhere above her, but that voice…It sent a tingle down her spine. The memory it brought—of sun, sand and hideous embarrassment—couldn’t possibly be right. It had to be a false memory. It had to be!

  ‘Yes, please,’ she answered, tilting her head to catch a glimpse of her would-be rescuer, to no avail. ‘If you can hold her until I get back out we can move her onto the -’

  She hadn’t even finished the sentence when the entirety of the young woman’s weight was lifted from her.

  ‘Just here?’ the man asked, turning his back on her and carrying Brianna towards the consult bed.

  ‘Yes, thanks.’

  Kelli stood up from her crouched position and moved towards the bed to examine Brianna, brushing past the tall, dark haired man in the process. She couldn’t tell who he was from behind, but as curious as she was, the man’s identity was less important than the welfare of her patient. Without looking at the man she leaned over the patient to assess the damage to the girl’s forehead. The cut appeared to be a surface wound and had already stopped bleeding, thankfully. The young woman’s eyes were open and Kelli thought she could see some life in them.

  ‘Brianna,’ she called again, looking directly into the young woman’s eyes. Her pupils contracted, her eyes swivelling slightly. ‘She’s conscious,’ she whispered more relieved than was probably normal for a doctor examining a patient. She really was going to have to exert more control over her emotions, but for now she was pleased the girl wasn’t seriously injured.

  ‘But no muscle tone,’ the man beside her observed, bringing Kelli’s awareness back to him. ‘Maybe cataplexy?’

  ‘That’s what I was thinking,’ Kelli agreed, turning towards her saviour. ‘Look, thanks for this…’ Her words trailed off as her gaze collided with his electric blue one. Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped open in shock, her pulse racing.

  It’s him! The man from the beach!

  And by the looks of the stethoscope swinging around his neck, he was a doctor.

  Here!

  Her eyes swung back up to his equally surprised face.

  ‘Doctor…’ A weak, thready voice called below her and Kelli tore her gaze from his to focus on her patient. She needed to concentrate. Brianna was slowly beginning to stir, twisting her head so her eyes connected with Kelli’s.

  ‘I’m fine,’ the young woman assured her, pushing herself up on one elbow. ‘It was just one of my moments.’

  There was a light tap at the door. Jan, the steely-haired receptionist was standing there. ‘Travis, your next patient is here. Will you be long?’

  ‘No,’ he replied from beside her. ‘I think Dr Maloney has this under control.’

  He knew her name! How did he know her name? Had he— no, wait, Jan had probably told him it when she’d sent him in here. Man, sometimes she could be a real idiot.

  Suppressing the thought, Kelli pasted a professional smile on her face. ‘I do. Thank you, again,’ she said as he walked to the door. He turned, lingering a moment, his eyes searching her face for…something. Or maybe she was imagining it.

  ‘No worries. If you need any more help, just let me know. Extension 534.’

  As soon as he’d closed the door behind him her thoughts exploded, chasing each other around and around in her head.

  Holy crap! Holy crap! HOLY CRAP!

  What was he doing here? How could he work at the same hospital? Was he going to report her misdiagnosis yesterday?

  Okay, she really needed to stop stressing.

  He was the guy from the beach. So what? It didn’t mean anything. She hadn’t actually done anything wrong. Not really.

  Only completely embarrassed herself on a professional level!

  Not the best way to start her career as a respiratory and sleep physician.

  ‘Doctor Maloney?’

  Her patient!

  With supreme effort, Kelli shovelled her racing thoughts to the back of her mind and concentrated on the young woman in front of her. Satisfied the knock to the head would leave no lasting damage, Kelli allowed the young woman to sit back in the consult chair as she continued documenting her symptomatic history.

  Once she was confident her suspicions of narcolepsy were well founded, Kelli led Brianna through the rapidly filling waiting room to the reception desk to organise the tests that would confirm the diagnosis.

  ‘Hi Jan, can we book Brianna in for a DSS and MSLT as soon as possible?’

  ‘Of course,’ Jan said. ‘Let me just check the bookings.’ Jan clicked the mouse button a few times.

  ‘Peter Brenner.’

  Kelli almost jumped, her heart pumping a little faster at the sound of him, the deep-voiced doctor from the beach, calling out the name of his next patient. He was only a few steps behind her. Heat consumed her and she couldn’t help spinning on her heel and searching for him, but all she saw was his back as he bowed his head to speak to the elderly man walking beside him.

  ‘Was there anything else, Dr Maloney?’

  Kelli blinked, focusing on the receptionist in front of her. ‘Sorry, what was that?’

  ‘We’ve had a cancellation, so I’ve been able to book Ms Waters in for tomorrow night, with her MSLT on the Wednesday and a consult with you the following Monday.’

  ‘Okay, that’s excellent.’

  ‘Was there anything else?’ Jan repeated.

  ‘No. I’ll just— actually, who was the man who came in to help me earlier? The one who called a patient in just now. I don’t think I’ve met him.’

  ‘No, you wouldn’t have. That’s Travis Reed. He’s been with us a few years now. It’s his first day back from holidays today.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Kelli was dying to ask more questions about him, but Jan had already turned back to her computer. Clamping her lips shut, Kelli went back to her office to dictate a letter to Brianna’s G.P.

  Several hours later, Kelli signed the prescription and handed it to Mrs Elliot, her final patient for the morning. It had been a busy session. She’d had back-to-back appointments since eight-thirty this morning, but now she could take a welcome scheduled break.

  ‘I’ll see you in a month’s time,’ she told the woman, opening the door to let her out. ‘Jan will book it in for you.’

  ‘Thank you, Doctor Maloney. You’re a lovely girl,’ the patient said, patting Kelli on the arm with her wrinkled, age-spotted hand. Kelli smiled at the woman, watching her walk to the reception desk before turning back into her room to dictate her final letter of the morning.

  Or she would have, if the door at the end of the corridor hadn’t swung open at precisely that moment. Pulse pounding just that little bit faster, Kelli’s eyes flew towards it, colliding with the now familiar electric blue eyes of Doctor Travis Reed. Even from this
distance, she could see the same warmth, the same desire in them that had been there yesterday.

  Unbidden, images of him, lying on the beach half-naked, flashed into her mind. All she could see were his lips coming towards hers, all she could feel was his smooth skin beneath hers.

  Heat suffused her, a mix of embarrassment and desire, and she spun round, retreating to the relative safety of her office. She sank into her chair, automatically reaching for the Dictaphone on her desk. But she didn’t start the letter yet. She couldn’t. Not when her mind was all aflutter like this.

  Maybe he hadn’t recognised her. Maybe the way he’d looked at her wasn’t a special “I-remember-almost-kissing-you-at-the-beach” look, but a highly offensive player-look he gave to every woman.

  Okay, so if she was honest, the chances he hadn’t recognised her were pretty slim. And if she was being super honest, she’d admit she was more turned on than offended by the way he’d been looking at her.

  But who wanted to be that honest?

  Pushing the thoughts aside—they were getting her nowhere—she focused on the patient she’d just finished consulting, clicking on the machine in her hands and dictating the required GP letter.

  There was movement at her door and she looked up.

  Damn! He was even hotter than she remembered. Maybe it was the suit, defining his shoulders, making him seem broader than before. Or maybe it was the blue of his tie, bringing out the darker hues in his eyes. Or maybe the hint of confidence, as he leaned against the door jamb, one shoulder pressed against it, the beginnings of a smile playing around his lips, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

  A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, tumbling over themselves to take precedence.

  Was he going to say something about her misdiagnosis? Was he going to report her to Dr Carsen, their boss? She’d only finished her fellowship a few weeks ago. Something like this could really damage her career. With that smirk he had going, was he going to make a crack about her physical examination of him?

  And, of course, the one thought she couldn’t seem to shake: why did he have to be so freaking hot?

  Her voice started to waver, and she turned away, concentrating on the letter she was dictating. She could feel his eyes on her, burning into her the way they had yesterday at the beach, but she pretended not to notice, refusing to stop until she’d finished— even if her insides were turning to goo.