Nurse In A Million

‘Something to look forward to,’ he observed dryly, crossing one long leg over the other and treating her to a condescending smile.

‘It should be interesting,’ she said evenly, refusing to rise to the bait.

‘Hmm, I suppose it depends what you consider interesting.’

Natalie bit back her sharp retort although she knew the meeting was going to be a difficult one. It had been called by a member of the board who was strongly opposed to the support Palmer’s gave to Worlds Together as well as their other charitable ventures. It would need careful handling to convince everyone to continue funding the projects but she didn’t intend to explain that to him.

‘It does indeed. However, the board meeting isn’t until two o’clock so this morning I was planning on visiting the research lab. We may as well go straight up there now, in fact.’

‘I didn’t realise there was a laboratory in the building,’ he said in surprise as she stood up.

‘We do most of our major research here, although we do have other laboratories, of course. They’re used mainly for testing the various products we manufacture.’

She led the way from the office and went straight to the lift. ‘Security is always a major issue when you’re developing a new drug and we’ve found it best to keep everything under one roof. There’s less risk of any information leaking out this way.’

‘It makes sense. Are you working on something new at the moment?’ he asked, and she smiled faintly when she heard the curiosity in his voice. Despite his determination to view Palmer’s in the worst possible light, he couldn’t help being interested.

‘We’re developing a new drug to treat Hansen’s disease.’ The lift arrived and she stepped inside, pressing the button for the sixth floor, which was where the research laboratory was sited.

‘Because of the increased resistance to dapsone?’ he queried, and she nodded.

‘Yes. A lot of people don’t realise that leprosy is still a major health issue in many parts of the world, like Africa and Asia. They assume it was eradicated centuries ago but, sadly, that isn’t the case. As you know, the bacteria that cause the disease have become increasingly resistant to dapsone and it’s been standard practice for a number of years to prescribe a combination of dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine to treat the disease. Obviously, this increases the treatment cost per patient quite considerably and in turn puts an added burden on the health-care budgets of the countries involved. We’re hoping this new drug we’re developing will do the job on its own and cut costs.’

‘It would be a step in the right direction if it works, but surely it’s an extremely costly undertaking to develop a new drug? Clinical trials alone must cost a fortune and I can’t see Palmer’s or any other pharmaceutical company wanting to spend millions developing a product which might take years to pay for itself. Leprosy is a disease of the developing world so sales of the drug will be restricted to some of the poorest countries.’

‘It’s part of our charitable programme,’ she explained, exiting the lift when they reached their floor. She led him along the corridor and stopped outside the door to the lab, placing her palm on the screen set into the wall beside it. All the doors on this floor were opened by means of a sophisticated bio-scanning system and once the computer had confirmed that her palmprint matched the one stored in its database, they were admitted.

‘And do you develop many drugs through your charitable programme?’ Rafferty asked quietly, following her into the changing area. Conditions inside the lab were sterile and everyone entering had to wear a protective suit to prevent contamination. Natalie took one off a shelf and handed it to him before she answered the question.

‘As many as we can. Obviously, the firm has to make a profit before it can invest time and money in a new project such as this. Basically, it’s a question of finding the right balance.’

‘I hadn’t realised Palmer’s was so committed to its charitable work,’ he confessed, taking off his jacket and hanging it on a peg.

‘When my grandfather founded the company, he decided that a percentage of its profits should be used to help the least fortunate people in the world. My father has tried to uphold that principle since he took over.’

‘But it’s not always been an easy thing to do?’ he suggested astutely, stepping into the suit and zipping it up.

‘No. There are factions within the company that would like to see the system changed as soon as possible.’

She took off her shoes and slipped into a suit. There were paper bootees to wear with it so she found a large pair for Rafferty and gave them to him then found a smaller pair for herself.

‘And is that why you decided to stand in for your father while he recovered from his heart attack?’

‘Yes. I didn’t want Dad worrying that changes might be instigated in his absence. All it would take is a majority vote of no confidence from the board members and he could find himself overruled.’

‘You really think they would do that?’ he exclaimed.

‘Yes.’ She laughed shortly. ‘We’re talking about an awful lot of money, don’t forget. If you add up what Palmer’s invests in its charitable programme each year, it runs into millions. There are a lot of people who would like to see that money spent on something else.’

‘I had no idea the situation was so difficult. I can understand now why you were so anxious to return to London.’

‘I knew my father wouldn’t be able to rest if he was worrying about what was going on within the company and that certainly wouldn’t have helped his recovery.’

‘I wish you’d told me all this before.’

‘I didn’t see the point.’ She shrugged when he looked at her in surprise. ‘It wasn’t as though we were on the best of terms when it happened.’

She turned to enter the laboratory but Rafferty stopped her and she saw the regret in his eyes.

‘I never meant to hurt you, Natalie. I just wanted to do what was right.’

‘And telling me that we didn’t have a future was the right thing to do?’

‘I thought it was, but it wasn’t easy, if that’s what you imagine. I just knew that we couldn’t keep on tearing each other apart the way we’d been doing. We kept going round and round in circles and never getting anywhere.’

‘We didn’t have to get anywhere. That’s the whole point!’ She gripped his arms, desperate to make him understand. ‘The fact that my family has all this money doesn’t matter, Rafferty. It doesn’t change who we are or how we feel about each other.’

‘I wish I could believe that…’

‘You could if you wanted to but maybe it’s easier to blame the difference in our backgrounds than admit the truth.’

‘What truth?’

‘That you never really loved me enough to put aside your principles.’

She let him go and went to the door, repeating the procedure of scanning her palmprint. Rafferty didn’t say a word and his silence seemed to confirm that she’d been right about why they’d never been able to resolve their differences. It had had nothing to do with the lack of time they’d spent together or the constant pressure of their work, and she couldn’t believe why she hadn’t realised it before when it was so simple. If Rafferty had really loved her, he would have done everything in his power to keep her.

Rafferty knew he’d made a mistake by not denying the accusation but it had caught him flat-footed. How could Natalie think that he cared more about his principles than he did about her? He was determined to set her straight as he followed her into the lab but he was thwarted when one of the technicians spotted them and came hurrying over.

‘Dr Khan is in his office, Miss Palmer.’

‘Thank you, Rudi.’

Natalie turned to him and Rafferty felt his heart ache when he saw the pain in her eyes. It was obvious how hurt she was and the need to explain that she’d got things wrong was overwhelming.

‘Look, Natalie—’ he began, but she didn’t allow him to finish.

‘I’m sure you would like to meet the head of our research programme, wouldn’t you?’

She didn’t wait for him to answer as she led the way across the huge, open-plan room. Rafferty cursed under his breath but short of making a scene there was little he could do but follow her. She stopped outside a door at the far side of the laboratory and knocked before going into the office. There was a small, rather plump man sitting behind the desk, and he smiled in delight when he saw her.

‘Natalie! How lovely to see you, my dear!’ he exclaimed, leaping to his feet. ‘I was hoping you would find the time to call in today because I have some exciting news.’

‘Don’t tell me that you’ve made a breakthrough at last with the new drug?’

‘Let’s just say that it’s looking very promising.’

‘That’s wonderful news, Sanjay.’ She turned and Rafferty experienced a little spurt of irritation when he saw her smile fade as she looked at him. ‘Dr Khan has been working on that new drug I told you about.’