Return of the Maverick by Sue MacKay

Author:Sue MacKay [Sue MacKay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781460377741
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘SO HOW did the hot date go?

‘Annie, what are you doing at work on a Monday?’ Slowly Erin lifted her head from reading the patient file on her desk, trying to avoid waking up the headache she’d finally quietened with a dose of Panadol.

‘Brad phoned and told me about David, asked me to cover for today.’

‘David? What’s happened?’

Brad appeared in the doorway to her office. ‘Meeting in the staffroom for everyone. Now.’

‘What’s this about David? Is he all right?’ Had the Parkinson’s suddenly got a whole lot worse?

‘I’ll tell everyone at the meeting.’

‘Brad, David is my friend and neighbour, too. Why didn’t you call me?’ It shouldn’t have been that difficult. We were on very good terms when you left me to go home while I went cycling. ‘I might’ve been able to do something for him. For you.’ Hurt crept under her ribs. Why hadn’t he turned to her? ‘You phoned Annie.’

‘I need her to cover some of my hours today.’

So Annie was a doctor, she merely a nurse. But she was his friend, and his lover. However temporarily. ‘I see.’

‘David’s my responsibility,’ Brad told her in no uncertain terms.

Erin opened her mouth then saw the bleakness in his eyes and shut it again. Blast his stubborn pride. David was everyone’s concern, not just his. ‘You’re not on your own,’ she muttered.

Brad turned on his heel and strode away.

Annie said, ‘David’s in hospital with a broken leg. You can hear the rest at the meeting.’ She touched Erin on the shoulder. ‘So was it a hot date?’

Saturday afternoon seemed a lifetime ago. She dragged out the words. ‘Very hot.’ And now the spark between her and Brad appeared to have gone cold. Icy cold.

‘David slipped in the shower and broke his femur and ribs. He had surgery late yesterday afternoon but of course with his other condition he’s taken a bigger hit than most. This morning he was awake and talking, so that’s a start.’ Brad’s voice was clipped, flat, as he reported to all the staff. His gaze was firmly on a spot on the wall somewhere above Erin’s head. ‘Annie has agreed to cover any hours that I’m up at the hospital, and Ngaire from Redwood Centre is available if needed. As I’ve already taken over most of David’s patients it should be business as usual. Try not to spend too much time talking about this with patients.’

‘You haven’t got a hope,’ Marilyn said. ‘Everyone loves David and will want to know how he’s getting on.’

Annie added, ‘It’s not as if people won’t have heard. You’re forgetting what small towns are like.’

‘When did David fall?’ Erin asked Brad. There was something he wasn’t saying.

His expression hardened, as though keeping his emotions at bay. He headed for the door. ‘Saturday night.’

Erin gasped. When Brad had been at her house, enjoying himself, David had been lying there all that time, in pain, helpless.

Brad was blaming himself. It was written all over his face now that she knew what to look for.

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