Dr Langley: Protector or Playboy?

‘This is Ben,’ Jade said. ‘He’s a friend of Matt’s, a foundation-year doctor on placement with me. We met up today, and I was just going to offer him coffee.’

‘Good idea.’ Lucy held out her hand to him. ‘It’s great to meet you, Ben. I’m afraid Matt isn’t here right now. He’s gone to the all-night store to see if he can grab some pasties for supper.’ She winced, and even that didn’t mar her beauty. ‘I forgot to get any food in, but …’ she turned to look at Jade ‘… I’ll do a full shop tomorrow, I promise.’

‘That’s okay. I managed to get something to eat at the café.’ Jade frowned. ‘I suppose you’re still struggling with the cardiology project your consultant gave you?’

‘Oh, that wretched thing! Tell me about it! I could almost wish Mr Sheldon hadn’t decided I was to be his protégée. It’s almost more work than I can handle. Along with the fact that I’m still trying to find someone to fill Caroline’s boots.’

‘The girl who left?’ From his expression, it was clear Ben’s interest had been tweaked. ‘Are you looking for someone else to move in here?’

Lucy nodded. ‘That’s right. I have to try and keep the rooms fully occupied. It’s my father’s house and he likes to keep things on a business footing.’

Ben smiled. ‘Would I do as a tenant? It just so happens that I’m looking to move. I’ve been renting a place across the river for the last six months, but the lease is up, and now that I’m based at the hospital over here, I’d rather be close by.’

‘Oh … really? Well, I’m certainly looking for someone, and you are a friend of Matt’s after all …’ Lucy was thinking, talking to herself, but Jade could see that she was taken with the idea. ‘You’d need to supply references.’

‘That’s not a problem.’

Lucy brightened, and it was as if the sun had come out. ‘Perhaps I should show you around?’ she suggested, heading towards the door. ‘Each room’s pretty much self-contained, with a toilet and wash-basin, and there are a couple of bathrooms, which we have to share. You’ll also find that there’s a table and chair in your room so that you’ll be able to study in peace whenever you like.’

‘That sounds like just what I’m looking for.’ Ben half turned and glanced at Jade, and she guessed he was uncomfortable at following Lucy out of the room and leaving her alone.

‘It’s okay, you go ahead,’ Jade murmured. ‘I’ll make the coffee.’

‘If you’re sure?’

‘I am.’

She gazed at the door for a while after they had gone. She frowned. It was disturbing to think that he might very soon be coming here to live with them. It wasn’t at all what she had expected, and somehow it troubled her. It was one thing to be working alongside him, but having him stay here in such close proximity was quite another. The very idea had knocked her off balance, and now all of her defences were suddenly on standby.

CHAPTER TWO

‘HE’S not bad at all, is he?’ Lucy dropped hot crumpets onto a plate and began to toast another batch.

‘Um—who’s this we’re talking about?’ Jade dragged her attention away from the magazine she was reading, and was rewarded with a sharp hiss of breath and a shake of the head.

‘Ben, of course. Our soon-to-be housemate.’ Lucy frowned at her. ‘You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you?’

‘I have …’ Jade pulled herself up with a guilty start. ‘You were talking about him moving in here.’ She tried to recall what Lucy had said. ‘He won’t be making the move straight away because he has a few loose ends to tie up … and he needs a day or two to pack up his bits and pieces, especially his new leather reclining chair that he absolutely won’t do without and a desk with drawers that are crammed full of his paperwork.’ Her brows knitted together. Obviously, he wasn’t a great believer in saving the trees.

‘That was ten minutes ago,’ Lucy said crossly. ‘I’ve moved on since then.’ She jabbed a finger at the plate. ‘And these crumpets are meant to be eaten while they’re hot.’ She looked over Jade’s shoulder at the magazine. ‘What’s that you’re reading, anyway? It seems to be keeping you pretty well absorbed.’

‘It’s the student paper.’ Jade put the magazine to one side and started to butter crumpets. She passed a couple of them to Matt, who was sitting across the other side of the table, checking web pages.

‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know the new edition had come out yet.’

She smiled. ‘I got it hot off the press from a friend who works in the print room. Guess who’s editing the mag now that the union rep has stepped down?’

‘Who?’

‘Your friend, Ben.’

She passed the magazine to him. ‘He’s introduced a new cartoon feature in there—it has his signature on it, so I guess he designed it himself. He’s called the series Med-life Crises—I’m sure it’s based on the goings on of some of the fifth-year medical students. This month’s storyline is very like something that happened in lectures a few weeks ago … only he’s made it seem much funnier somehow.’

Matt turned the page, and Lucy abandoned the crumpets to lean over and read the cartoon with him. She began to laugh. ‘Oh, that’s clever. I like that!’ She shot a glance at Jade. ‘He has a wicked sense of humour. I remember those lectures.’

‘The tutors roped in volunteers from around the medical school,’ Jade explained to Matt, ‘and were trying to teach us about patient-doctor communication skills through role playing. One of the students told her patient he needed to go on a fitness regime and lose some weight. He wasn’t too pleased, and she found out later that he’s her new consultant.’ She was still chuckling. ‘I wouldn’t have dared print that, just in case either of them saw it and took offence.’

‘It doesn’t seem as if Ben has any qualms about that.’ Matt bit into a crumpet, licking the melted butter off his lips.

‘No. As I was saying …’ Lucy looked pointedly at Jade ‘… I think he’ll fit in here really well. He seems to be quite easygoing and keen to get on with his studies. None of this clattering about of an evening with guitars and fiddling about with amplifiers.’ She sent Matt an accusing stare.

He lifted his shoulders and raised his flattened palms in a dismissive gesture. ‘So I practise my music occasionally—it’s not as though I’m working on it till all hours, every day of the week.’

‘Just as well, or one of these days you might get ready to rock and find your amplifier has been disconnected.’

They scowled at one another, and Jade sighed. She bit into a crumpet. It was hard to imagine Ben sitting with them at the breakfast table. Truth to tell, she was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he was actually going to be living there. It didn’t sit right with her somehow, and she couldn’t quite work out what was wrong.

Maybe it was a vague feeling that he was out of her league. He and his friends all seemed so much more confident than she was, and perhaps that was because their backgrounds were very different from hers in the main. Her family had always worked and struggled to get by, whereas Ben’s parents were in business and were comparatively rich, by all accounts. From what Matt had told her, the business was doing extremely well, with offshoots in Europe and Scandinavia.

There was no point dwelling on any of it, though. It was going to happen whether she wanted it or not.

She wiped her fingers on a paper towel and looked at Matt. ‘Are you back in A and E this morning?’

He nodded. ‘In the trauma unit to begin with, and then I’ll be working in the fracture clinic this afternoon.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘In fact, I’d better head off now. I’m due at a meeting to go over the details of yesterday’s cases.’

‘Me, too. I’m supposed to be at the hospital for eight o’clock.’

Matt left the house, and Jade set about clearing the table, carefully stacking the dishes in the sink and filling the washing-up bowl with hot, soapy water. She glanced at Lucy. ‘I get the feeling you’re looking forward to having Ben here with us. He must have made quite an impression on you.’ Lucy didn’t normally react with any great enthusiasm to newcomers—at least, not the male variety. She was too used to fending them off, though perhaps she’d made an exception in Ben’s case.

‘Yeah, he’s all right.’ Lucy grinned. ‘It turned out to be a lucky move all round, you bringing him home with you the other day.’

‘Hmm. Maybe.’

Perhaps there was something in the way she said it that caught Lucy’s attention, because her expression sobered. ‘Do you have some misgivings?’ She threw Jade a cautious glance. ‘It’s just that it seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity after Caroline’s room was left empty.’

Jade smiled. ‘I’m sure things will work out just fine. It all happened so quickly. I only asked him in because he’d helped me and he was thoughtful enough to walk me home afterwards, and the next thing he’s going to be living with us. It takes a bit of getting used to.’

They finished tidying the kitchen and set off to walk to the hospital. The sky was a cloudless blue, and the City looked fresh and sparkling in the morning sunshine. Jade made up her mind to put all her doubts behind her and instead give her concentration to the work ahead. In the weeks coming up to her final exams, things were going to be pretty hectic and she needed to be on the ball the whole time.

‘Good luck in Cardiology,’ she told Lucy as they parted company. Lucy was having a difficult time in her placement, and if yesterday was anything to go by Jade couldn’t expect to fare much better. It looked as though her consultant was given to asking searching questions whenever they met up for patient reviews or ward rounds, and it seemed she would have to get used to thinking on her feet.

The first hour or so of the morning was spent in going over the case notes of patients who had been admitted to the paediatric ward the previous day, followed by a visit to the neonatal unit.

‘How are we going to assess this child?’ Professor Farnham wanted to know as they stopped by a cot. He was in his fifties, tall and dark haired, slimly built, a man whose whole body and manner hinted at ceaseless energy and a thirst for knowledge. ‘What are we looking for?’

Jade drew in a deep breath and checked the baby’s file. The baby was only three days old, a tiny, preterm infant who whimpered softly in his crib. His arms flailed weakly and his mouth quivered as he gave a helpless cry. More than anything, she wanted to pick him up and hold him to her, to feel his warm, soft body in her arms.

Instead, she tried to dredge up all she had learned about neonatal problems. ‘The history shows that he has had several seizures,’ she said. ‘He’s been vomiting and he isn’t feeding well, according to his mother.’ The mother wasn’t around to hear their discussion, thankfully. The nurse had taken her into the office so that she could talk to her about any worries that might be weighing her down.