Dr Blake's Angel

‘Your dog,’ he said with a glower, hunkering down in a chair on the other side of the table, ‘is currently sleeping in my bed. My bed!’

‘Whoops,’ she said contritely. ‘I couldn’t have pulled the door fully shut when I switched off your alarm.’

‘Now, about that—’

‘Eat your breakfast before it gets cold,’ she told him, popping another bacon rasher between her teeth. ‘This is yummy.’

Blake ate a bacon rasher. And then another. And he glowered all the time.

‘The wind’ll change,’ she said kindly.

‘Excuse me?’

‘If you keep that horrid expression on your face you could be in real trouble. I’m sure you don’t mean to look bad-tempered, but if the wind changes while you look that way then you’re stuck with it for life.’

‘That’s superstitious nonsense.’

‘Oh, no. My best friend told me that when I was five so I’m sure it must be right.’

‘Dr McKenzie—’

‘Nell.’

‘Dr McKenzie,’ he repeated through clenched teeth.

‘I suppose it’s better than Miss McKenzie.’ She sighed. ‘What?’

‘You had no business turning off my alarm clock.’

‘But you were tired and I’m your Christmas present.’ She said it as if it made everything fine.

‘You still had no business interfering, and as for taking my calls in the night…’

‘That’s what I’m here for—and they’re not your calls. They’re our calls. The hospital board’s employing me, so you have no right to act as if everything medical is yours. Now, this morning—’

‘You’ve done enough already. This morning you can take yourself off.’

‘Nope. I’ve organised it all with Marion.’

‘You’ve what?’

‘Organised with our receptionist,’ she told him sweetly. ‘She’s pulled out all the patient files and I thought I’d run through them with you now. Before I see patients.’

‘But I’ll be seeing patients.’

‘You’ll see patients this afternoon.’ She smiled again. ‘I expect I’ll be feeling a bit weary by this afternoon so I imagine I might take an afternoon nap, so you can take over all you want. Then.’