Glancing around the table, she found all eyes on her. ‘What?’ Had she missed something? Something monumental? Like there was yoghurt on her chin?
Oh, no. It had to do with Grady. She just knew it. Worse, Grady and her. What crazy scheme were the doctors hatching? She flicked Jess a ‘what’s going on?’ look, got a shrug in return. Traitor. Friends stuck together through everything. Break-ups, reunions, uninvited babies, family crises.
Grady cut in. ‘There’s a patient on your house call list that Roz wants seen by a doctor as well as you. Mary Stanners. Are you aware of her case?’
‘She had a car accident last month and spent four weeks in hospital with a fractured femur and hips, a ruptured spleen and both lungs punctured. She’s now at home under the care of her elderly mother.’
Roz added her bit. ‘The situation worries me, Sasha. Mary should’ve been kept in hospital for at least another week but they were short of beds. I think it’s wise to keep an eye on her. I’d also prefer it if we didn’t ask her to make that long and uncomfortable drive in here until her pain level has improved.’
‘Makes sense.’ And keeps Grady in my vehicle. Why didn’t I do midwifery instead of stopping at general nursing?
Mike added, ‘We’re making use of Grady while he’s here. For either Roz or I to take a couple of hours to do the round trip visiting Mary takes a huge chunk out of the clinic schedule. Since Mary is already on your list of patients, it makes sense for Grady to accompany you.’
‘And this has absolutely nothing to do with my worry over lifting Josh up yesterday and hurting my back. Nothing to do with my mad dash over to Nelson last night.’
‘Of course not.’
‘Not at all.’
Sasha felt her brow wrinkling, and forced it smooth again. They were babysitting her because of yesterday’s drama. It was kind of nice, if Grady wasn’t going to be her constant companion. Her hormones were in for a long, exhausting day. But arguing with these guys wouldn’t get her anywhere. She’d accept the deal for today, get on with her patient list, come up with a solution to get rid of Grady by tomorrow.
‘Not a problem. We’ll go and see Mary first and then I’ll drop Grady back here before heading to the Cobb.’ Didn’t have to give in gracefully, did she?
*
Grady wanted to throttle Sasha and laugh out loud all at the same time. She absolutely hated to be bested, and she knew that’s exactly what had happened. Mary Stanners lived less than thirty minutes from the farmlet Roz and Mike lived on. It would be no problem for one of them to call in on the way home at the end of the day. Roz had apparently been doing that every day anyway.
‘I’ll go get my files and kit. See you in ten.’ Sasha gave him an ‘I’m still in charge’ glare as she rinsed her mug under the tap and placed it in the dishwasher. ‘The car needs fuelling on the way out.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ He resisted throwing a salute. They had to spend the day together.
‘Being smug doesn’t suit you,’ she muttered as she pushed past him on her way out.
‘Still always have to get the last word in.’ His grin wavered as his nostrils filled with honeysuckle scent. Closing his eyes, he watched a rerun of the image in his mind of Sasha curled up in the front seat of his car, sound asleep. Then, bang, that kiss flashed across his brain, filled his body with heat and need. Snapping his eyes open, he strode resolutely to the office where he would find Mary Stanners’s complete medical records. Anything to keep his mind on the job and off Nurse Wilson.
‘Sheree, can I please have a printout of all the hospital reports on Mary Stanners?’ he asked the receptionist the moment she put the phone down after taking an appointment booking.
‘Sure.’ Her fingers began clicking away on the keyboard of her computer, and the phone began ringing again.
‘Sheree, has the courier dropped off a package from the medical supplies company?’ Sasha bounced into the office.
Damn it, woman, give me some space here. It’s bad enough I’m going to be sitting in your vehicle, sucking up all that honeysuckle smell, for hours on end, not to have you following me around the medical centre as well.
Grady watched the computer screen over the receptionist’s shoulder, refusing his body’s command to turn and look at Sash. But he knew the instant she came to stand on the other side of Sheree. Why had he put his hand up to go on the rounds with her? What little devil had been playing havoc inside his skull this morning? He should be at home, preparing the lounge for painting, doing sensible, sane jobs that would get him out of town quickly. If he was still leaving. Focus on the screen, stop thinking about—anything.
Sheree glanced at Sasha and pointed a pen in the direction of a bench on the back wall of her office while talking to someone on the phone and printing off the notes he wanted. Wonder woman. Who said medical centres relied on their doctors and nurses to keep things on an even keel? Without Sheree this place would fall apart before the first tea break.
Without her he’d be negotiating his way around the alien program on the computer in the staffroom, trying to extract the notes he needed, and wouldn’t be losing his mind over Sasha.
They hit the road five minutes later than Sasha had intended and headed for the petrol station. The moment she pulled up to the pump Grady hopped out and made to fill up the vehicle’s tank.
‘You don’t have to mollycoddle me. Refuelling my vehicle is very simple. Baby brain can still manage that.’
‘Go and sign for the petrol, Sasha. I’d be doing this for you no matter what your situation.’ Did he sound as tired as he felt? Probably. Sasha’s eyebrows had risen at his tone.
But at least she stomped inside after a curt, ‘Thanks.’
Back on the road the silence was deafening. Grady replayed the previous night and wondered where he’d gone wrong. He’d looked out for Sash all the way. Except for that kiss—which Sash had started. Oh, yeah, of course you hadn’t been thinking about kissing her, definitely didn’t want to. One step forward, ten back.
He’d concentrate on the calls they’d be making and hopefully soon Sash would relax enough to start talking freely with him. ‘Who’s your first patient?’
‘Janice and Julie Daniels, seven-year-old twins. They’ve had a severe vomiting bug and their mum’s keeping them in isolation. No point in spreading the bug to all their schoolmates.’
What about you? Shouldn’t you be staying away from them too? Dehydration due to vomiting is not good for your baby. He bit down on the words that would cause a greater rift between them and went for, ‘Has anyone else in the bay had this bug?’
The corner of her mouth lifted in a wry smile. So she’d known what he was thinking anyway. Might as well have said it.
‘Not so far. Kathy Daniels thinks the girls caught it while over in Nelson with their cousins.’
‘Let’s hope we keep it contained.’ He wasn’t thinking only of the twins’ schoolmates. The woman beside him was his number-one priority.
‘Thanks, mate,’ Sasha growled. Mud and muck splashed onto the windscreen, thrown up by the stock truck they were now following up a narrow, metal road. She flicked the wipers on and pressed the cleaning liquid button. Soapy water briefly turned the windscreen opaque and Sasha slowed, dropping back far enough not to collect any more mess. ‘There’s one call not on the list that we’ll make after the twins. I always drop in on Mr Harris whenever I’m out this way. He’s in his eighties and lives with his son and daughter-in-law. He’s got a history of cardiac failure.’
‘Are you talking Old Jack, the man my father used to go fishing with every Christmas Eve?’ When she nodded he continued. ‘They’d get blue cod for Christmas breakfast. Dad bought the beach house from Jack when he moved up to the farm with his family. They hit it off and that fishing trip became a ritual. I’d wondered if he was still around.’ The memories were warm, comfortable.
‘He’s as spry as a sixty-year-old. Refuses to let his heart condition dominate what he does, though I don’t thi
nk he gets out fishing any more. No one to go with, and his son’s always too busy with the farm.’
‘I could take him out if I get a chance to put the boat in working order.’
Sasha glanced his way. ‘Mr Harris would love that. So you’ve still got a boat?’
‘The same old aluminium runabout. I tested the motor the other day. Needs a bit of TLC but nothing major.’
‘At last.’ Sasha slowed to a stop as the stock truck negotiated the turn onto the farm they’d been driving beside. ‘Guess that’s a load of beef heading for market.’ She nodded towards the yards a hundred metres away by a cluster of sheds. ‘Sirloin on legs. Yum.’
‘Makes that chicken-and-salad-filled bread roll you bought at the service station seem lame.’ And the ham sandwiches he’d bought just as unappetising.
Ten minutes later they pulled up at a large old villa sitting in the middle of immaculate lawns and gardens that spoke of many hours of weeding and pruning. ‘That’s stunning.’
‘Isn’t it? Whenever I see this I think I’d love a garden to spend time in.’ Sasha laughed. ‘Then I remember the only time I tried growing radishes, which anyone can supposedly grow, and how they were the biggest flop ever. I was only five but my schoolmates all grew plump, delicious radishes. Got right up my nose, that did, and I never tried again.’
‘Bet they can’t fly a plane.’
‘True.’ She slid out of the vehicle and collected her pack of supplies. ‘Coming?’
Julie and Janice were very unwell little cuties who still had enough energy to sit up in their beds the moment Sasha entered their bedroom. Grady laughed when they told him knock, knock jokes, and chuckled as they kept finishing each other’s sentences, commiserated when they told Sasha how many times they’d puked.
Kids, eh? He’d not given having a family of his own much thought. Hadn’t seen the point when he was seriously single. But apparently a few days around Sash made a huge difference in his outlook. Having children would be kind of cool. With the right mother, of course. Funny how his gaze tracked immediately to Sash. Like that was going to happen, no matter how patient he was and how much he tried to fool himself she might give him a second chance. Not after her warning that morning.
Sasha took temperatures and listened to their chests when Kathy said they’d started coughing during the night. ‘Their temps are still a little high, but I think the worst of that bug is over.’
Grady also felt their tummies and listened to their chests. ‘I’ll write out prescriptions for antibiotics. I think they’re both presenting with the beginning of a chest infection. Double trouble,’ he said, as he handed the prescriptions over.
‘Double love,’ Kathy said, as she passed the prescriptions on to Sasha.