And if they did achieve a degree of harmony, then wouldn’t it be a shame to stop there? After all, Grace was a beautiful woman and he’d never denied that, so wouldn’t it be great if they could establish a more intimate relationship…
The wail of a siren came as a blessing in more ways than one. As he flagged down the ambulance, Harry felt like a condemned man must feel on receiving a last-minute pardon. He had no idea what was prompting all these crazy thoughts but one thing was certain: he and Grace would never have that kind of a relationship.
‘WHY doesn’t someone come and tell us what’s happening?’
‘These things take time, Penny, so try not to worry. They’ll let us know how Miles is just as soon as they can.’
Grace put a comforting arm around Penny’s shoulders but the long wait was taking its toll on her, too. She glanced at her watch and sighed when she realised that over an hour had passed since Miles had been admitted to the emergency department of their local hospital. She’d travelled in the ambulance with him while Harry had gone to fetch Penny. He’d seemed to take it for granted that he would stay with them, and Grace had to admit that she’d been glad of his support. Harry seemed to have the knack of knowing the right thing to say to calm Penny down so now she glanced at him and raised her brows.
‘Grace is right, sweetheart. You must try not to worry.’ Harry obviously took the hint because he got up and came over to them. ‘You know how long it takes to get a heart tracing and do all the bloods and everything else.’
‘I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s just so hard to sit here when I don’t even know if Miles…If he’s…he’s….’ Penny stopped and gulped, unable to give voice to her very worst fears.
‘If anything awful had happened to Miles, they’d have come and told you.’ Harry crouched down and took hold of Penny’s hands. ‘You remember the drill, don’t you? You should do because you were an A and E nurse for long enough. You inform the relatives immediately if it’s bad news. It’s one of the unwritten rules.’
‘I remember,’ Penny whispered, dredging up a smile. ‘It’s just so different when you’re the one waiting to hear something.’
‘I know, sweetheart, but you must try to be strong for Miles and for your baby.’
He leant forward and kissed Penny’s cheek. Grace felt a lump come to her throat. This wasn’t Harry Shaw using his legendary charm to his own ends but a bona fide show of concern, and there was no denying that it had touched her deeply to witness it.
‘I’ll try. Thank you, Harry. And you, too, Grace.’ Penny took hold of Grace’s hand and placed it on top of Harry’s. ‘You two are the best. I don’t know what I’d have done without you both tonight.’
Grace’s heartbeat quickened when she felt the warmth of Harry’s hand beneath her palm. She desperately wanted to pull away but she didn’t want to risk upsetting Penny. She sat quite still, praying that Harry couldn’t feel how fast her pulse was racing. This is just a moment of friendship, she told herself firmly. Penny needs it to help her through this difficult time. However, it was hard to focus on that thought when she was so conscious of the warmth of Harry’s flesh beneath her own. It was a relief when a nurse appeared because it meant that she could quite legitimately break the contact.
‘Mrs Farrington?’ The nurse smiled as Penny hastily identified herself. ‘You can see your husband now.’
‘Is he all right?’ Penny demanded, jumping to her feet.
‘He’s fine. Dr Williams will explain everything if you’ll just follow me.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Penny hurried to the door then paused and looked back. ‘Will you stay? I know it’s late but I don’t think I can face being here on my own.’
‘We’ll be right here, waiting for you, Penny,’ Grace assured her. She let out a sigh of relief after the door closed. ‘Doesn’t sound as though the prognosis is too grim. Do you think Miles really did have an infarc?’
‘It’s hard to say for certain without seeing the ECG tracings,’ Harry replied, going over to the coffee-machine. ‘It could have been an angina attack, I suppose. The symptoms are very similar.’
‘Mmm, you could be right.’ Grace frowned as she considered that possibility. ‘Miles is rather young to be suffering from angina, although it’s not unknown. Most patients are in their fifties when they first exhibit any symptoms but there are cases of men as young as thirty being diagnosed with angina.’
‘It’s not just confined to men either. More and more women are presenting with angina nowadays,’ Harry observed, feeding coins into the machine.
‘That’s true. Women are having more heart attacks than they used to. It’s all down to a change in lifestyle and the fact that people are eating more convenience food and not taking enough exercise.’ She sighed. ‘I try to drum it into our patients that they need to exercise and watch their diet, but they just think I’m nagging.’
‘Until they have a heart attack and realise that you were telling them the truth all along.’ Harry handed her a cup of tepid coffee and sat down. ‘Then they’re desperate to undo all the years of neglect.’
‘Something like that,’ she agreed, sipping the coffee and grimacing at the powdery aftertaste it left on her tongue. She put the cup on the table and looked at him. ‘How come you’re so clued up about heart disease?’
‘Because it’s all part and parcel of being a physician.’ Harry took a swallow of his coffee then sighed. ‘If I had a pound for every man and woman I’ve seen heading for a heart attack, I’d be able to retire. What is it about people that makes them ignore all the advice we give them and carry on doing the wrong things?’
‘Stubbornness?’ she suggested with a grin because he sounded so frustrated. ‘Folk hate to be told what to do. They want to live their lives the way they chose to.’
‘And to hell with the consequences.’ His tone was wry. ‘Only, when something does go wrong, they expect us to come up with a solution.’
‘I don’t know why you sound so surprised. Didn’t you realise that we’re supposed to perform miracles? It’s part of our remit, along with all the other things a doctor is supposed to do.’
‘Well, I for one am right out of miracles,’ Harry declared, swinging his feet onto the coffee-table. ‘I’m only a humble physician, don’t forget, not a surgeon. It’s the surgeons who are closest to God, not the likes of you and me.’
Grace burst out laughing. ‘I never thought I’d hear you admit that. I thought you believed that you had a direct line to heaven.’
‘Sorry to disappoint you but I’m under no illusions.’ He lifted the cup to his lips, watching her over the rim. ‘I’m just a guy who wants to help people, Grace. That’s all I’ve ever been.’
Grace felt a shiver run down her spine and quickly looked away. She couldn’t explain it, but there was something about the way Harry had said it that convinced her he’d been telling the truth. Harry didn’t see himself as some sort of all-powerful being but as a man who wanted to help others less fortunate than himself, and it was a revelation to realise it.
She’d had Harry summed up from the moment she’d met him: a rich playboy whose only aim in life was to have a good time and cover himself in glory. Now that image had started to go all fuzzy around the edges and it was alarming to realise that she might have been wrong about him all this time. It was a relief when he changed the subject.
‘Anyway, getting back to Miles. Even if he hasn’t had an infarc, it’s doubtful he’ll be fit enough to return to work for some time, so what are you going to do? My offer still stands, if you’re interested.’
‘I’ll bear it in mind.’ Grace flushed when his brows rose. It was obvious that her less-than-enthusiastic response hadn’t been lost on him. However, she didn’t intend to apologise because she had reservations about him working at the surgery.
‘I’d prefer to wait and see what the verdict is on Miles first before I decide what to do,’ she told him coolly.
‘Fine. It’s up to you, of course.’ Harry drained his cup then swung his feet off the table and stood up. ‘I think I’ll go outside for a bit of fresh air. It’s stifling in here. I won’t be long—ten minutes max.’
‘You don’t have to stay,’ she said quickly, hoping he couldn’t tell how eager she was all of a sudden for him to leave. Oh, it had been fine while Penny had been there, she’d been very glad of Harry’s company then. However, it was different now they were on their own. In the past half-hour she’d learned things about him that she’d never dreamed might be true, and it had unsettled her to have to adjust her view of him. How much more unsettling would it be if they continued the conversation throughout the night?
‘Why do I have a feeling that you’re trying to get rid of me?’ Harry turned to look at her and Grace’s heart missed a beat when she saw the speculation in his eyes.
‘I’ve no idea.’ She shrugged, hoping he couldn’t tell how desperate she was for him to leave. ‘Maybe it’s because you find it hard to believe that I’ll be able to manage without your manly shoulder to lean on? Well, don’t worry, Harry. I’ll be perfectly fine on my own so you can leave with a clear conscience. I’m sure you must have more interesting things to do with your evening than spend it hanging around a hospital waiting room.’
‘The only plans I have for this evening involve bed.’ He laughed when he saw her mouth purse. ‘Tut, tut, Grace, what are you thinking? I meant that I was planning on having an early night—alone.’ He opened the door and winked at her. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. You can count on it.’
Grace ground her teeth, wishing that she’d never said anything. All she’d succeeded in doing had been to make herself look foolish—not that it was the first time, of course. Where Harry was concerned she invariably found herself saying the wrong thing, which was why she usually resorted to squabbling with him. It was easier to fight with him than run the risk of falling under his spell.
The thought alarmed her so much that she leapt to her feet. Her heart was pounding as she left the waiting room to go and find Penny because there was no way that she could deny the truth. In the past ten years she’d done everything in her power to shut Harry out of her life. That was why she’d lobbed insults at him, goaded him and accused him of all manner of things. She’d seen how charming he could be, how witty and how much fun, and she’d been afraid that he would somehow…well, seduce her.
That was the last thing she wanted to happen. She’d witnessed at first hand how destructive love could be, had watched as her mother’s life had been torn apart as her father had indulged in one affair after another, and she’d sworn it would never happen to her. That’s why she rarely dated and never went out with any man who reminded her of her father—a man exactly like Harry, in fact. But tonight she’d lowered her guard and Harry had been every bit as charming as she’d feared he would be. Now she was unable to think of him simply as a womanising Lothario. There were depths to Harry that she’d never suspected.
‘I get off at eleven so why don’t you give me a call? I’m a real night-owl and never go to bed until after midnight…unless I have a really good reason, of course.’
Grace stopped dead when she heard voices up ahead. She peered along the dimly lit corridor and spotted a couple tucked into the alcove next to the pay-phone. She recognised Harry immediately, although it took a moment longer before she realised that the young woman with him was the nurse who’d come to fetch Penny. There were no prizes for guessing what they were up to, however.
Grace’s eyes narrowed as she studied their body language which, quite frankly, should have been X-rated. The way that young nurse was simpering up at Harry was positively obscene. As for Harry—well, he seemed to be lapping it up as though it was his due. Had he used the excuse that he’d needed some fresh air so he could track down the nurse and make his move on her? Grace wondered in disgust. Well, if that was the case, she certainly wasn’t going to cramp his style.
She spun round and marched back to the waiting room, slamming the door behind her with enough force to make the window rattle in its frame. She couldn’t believe what a fool she’d been. For a few minutes she’d actually believed that she’d been wrong about Harry, and the thought of how easily he had duped her made her want to spit tacks. Leopards never changed their spots. Harry Shaw had been a womanising Lothario when she’d first met him, and he was exactly the same now.
‘I’m not really sure what’s happening tonight.’
Harry tried to edge away but the nurse had effectively trapped him in the alcove. He glanced along the corridor when he heard a door slam, hoping that someone would come along and rescue him. However, his hopes were dashed when nobody appeared. He sighed under his breath. He would just have to extricate himself.
‘I’ll probably end up staying here until all hours of the morning and I couldn’t possibly expect you to wait up for my call.’
He treated the girl to his most charming smile, desperately wishing that he didn’t have this effect on women. Although it sounded arrogant to say so, it had always been the same—they fell for his looks and the fact that he was wealthy. While it had been fun when he had been younger, he’d grown weary of being viewed merely as an object of their lust.
He wanted a proper relationship now, not the kind of shallow alliance that was based solely on sex. He wanted a relationship in which he could share his innermost thoughts and feelings. The kind of rapport, in fact, that he’d enjoyed tonight with Grace before she’d gone all prickly on him again.
The thought caught him completely off guard. Harry found himself floundering when the nurse asked if he had a pen so she could write down her telephone number for him. He gave it to her then waited in silence while she scribbled the number on a bit of paper and tucked it in his top pocket. Mercifully, the ward sister appeared at that point and summoned her back to work so he was able to make his escape, but he couldn’t deny that he felt completely out of kilter as he made his way back to the waiting room.
Why did he keep having all these strange thoughts about Grace? Was it just the fact that she’d treated him differently that night—talked to him, laughed with him, behaved as though he wasn’t the lowest form of pond life? He wasn’t convinced that was the reason why he was behaving so strangely, but he felt unusually nervous as he went into the room.
‘Any news yet?’ he asked, striving for a measure of calm.
‘You tell me.’ Grace treated him to a smile so cold that it could have reversed the effects of global warming, and Harry frowned.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Work it out for yourself. It shouldn’t be that difficult for an intelligent man like you, Harry.’
She picked up a magazine and proceeded to ignore him as she flicked through its pages. Harry sighed because he really wasn’t in the mood to play games with her at the moment.
‘Look, Grace, I apologise if I’ve done something to upset you—’ he began, but she didn’t let him finish. Tossing the magazine onto the table, she glared at him.
‘I am not upset. If you want to chat up every single woman in this hospital then good luck to you. However, I do object to being told a pack of lies. If you wanted to go and find that nurse, why didn’t you say so? I’m hardly going to fall down in a heap because you’re chatting up some woman.’
So that was it. Harry felt a wave of relief wash over him. Grace must have seen him talking to that nurse and assumed he’d engineered the meeting. He hastened to reassure her, even though he wasn’t sure why it was so important that she knew what had really gone on.
‘I did go out for some fresh air. I just happened to bump into Cathy on my way back, that’s all.’
‘Oh, so it’s Cathy, is it? Obviously, you didn’t waste any time getting acquainted with her.’
Grace treated him to another of those icy smiles and he sighed again. It was obvious that she didn’t believe he was the innocent party.
‘Just because I know her name doesn’t mean that your allegations are true,’ he pointed out in his most reasonable tone. ‘It happened exactly as I told you. I was coming back inside when she stopped me.’ He shrugged. ‘I couldn’t just ignore her, could I?’
‘Of course not. I mean, it would have been unthinkable to tell her that you were far too worried about your friend to think about your…uh…other needs.’
Her voice dripped with scorn and Harry gritted his teeth. It took a massive effort of will to damp down his anger, but he really and truly didn’t want to fight with her right now.
Was that what she was trying to do? he wondered. Poke and prod at him until he retaliated? He sensed it was true yet he couldn’t understand why she would do such a thing. Unless she was afraid that if they didn’t argue, she might be forced to admit that she was jealous of the attention he’d been paying the other woman.
The thought was so mind-bogglingly complicated that he didn’t know how to handle it. He was still struggling, in fact, when the door opened and Penny appeared. Grace jumped up, ignoring him as she led Penny to a chair and sat her down.
‘How is Miles?’ she demanded, sitting beside her.
‘Much better than I feared.’ Penny gave them a wobbly smile. ‘They’re fairly sure that he suffered an angina attack rather than a full-blown myocardial infarction. The resting ECG tracing shows no sign of damage to his heart but they want to do more tests tomorrow—get Miles onto the treadmill to see how his heart responds during exercise. The consultant I spoke to seems fairly confident that it was a coronary artery spasm, though.’
‘Probably brought on by the pressure that Miles has been under recently,’ Harry observed, relieved to have something to focus on other than what Grace might or might not be thinking. ‘Let’s face it, Miles has been running himself ragged of late. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened.’
‘I know, and that’s why I’m determined that he’s going to have a complete rest.’ Penny took a deep breath then looked at him and Grace. ‘I know you two have had your differences in the past, but if you could just put them aside for now, you could actually be saving Miles’s life. He needs complete rest and the only way he’ll get it is if he knows the practice is being taken care of. I know it’s a lot to ask, but do you think you two could manage to work together for the next couple of weeks?’
HARRY knew that if Penny had asked him that question a couple of hours ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated. He would have told her quite emphatically that there wouldn’t be a problem. Now he was no longer sure if it was the truth. Could he really imagine himself working with Grace when just a few hours of her company had caused such an upheaval in his life?
‘I…um…well…’ he stumbled as his usual composure deserted him.
‘I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate.’ There were tears in Penny’s eyes now as she looked up at him. ‘I just can’t bear to think of anything happening to Miles, especially now.’
She laid her hand protectively on her stomach and Harry knew he was sunk. How could he turn his back on his two oldest friends when they needed his help so desperately? He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if anything happened to Miles or this precious baby, so he would have to agree and simply hope that he and Grace could get through the coming weeks relatively unscathed.
He turned to Grace, praying that she couldn’t tell how uneasy he felt at the thought of their forthcoming alliance. ‘I’m willing to give it a shot if you are.’ He held out his hand. ‘So, shall we call a truce?’
An expression which looked almost like panic crossed her face before she quickly stood up. ‘All right. I’m willing to meet you halfway, if it means we’re helping Miles and Penny.’
Harry smiled wryly. It hadn’t been panic at all, but Grace being her usual cautious self. It was typical of her to qualify her agreement like that, to make sure he knew that she was accepting his offer purely for the sake of their friends. She would never admit to any sign of weakness in front of him, never acknowledge that she, too, would benefit from his help in the surgery. She would never give an inch if it meant he might gain any ground, and maybe it was that thought that made him decide to seal their agreement with more than the customary handshake. The thought of getting a little further under Grace’s skin was oddly appealing.
He took her outstretched hand but instead of shaking it, as she’d expected him to do, he pulled her towards him and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Sealed with a kiss. There’s no going back on our pact now, Grace.’
He let her go, hoping she couldn’t tell the effect the kiss had had on him. It was his own fault for trying to goad her, but it had been ages since he’d felt this stirring in his blood, so long, in fact, that he’d begun to wonder if it would ever happen again. Yet all it had taken had been the touch of his lips against her skin and he was all fired up and raring to go. What was happening to him? Did he fancy Grace, or was he going completely crazy?
‘I wouldn’t dream of going back on a promise,’ Grace said stiffly. She turned to Penny, trying to resist the urge to run her hand over her cheek. She could feel the lingering warmth of Harry’s lips making her skin tingle and longed to erase it, but there was no way that she was going to let him think that the kiss had had any effect on her.
‘It looks as though your problem has been solved, Penny. Now there’s no excuse for Miles not to follow his consultant’s advice.’
‘And I intend to make sure he follows it to the letter.’ Penny stood up and hugged her. ‘Thank you so much, Grace. And you, too, Harry. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you both.’
‘Don’t mention it.’ Harry treated them to one of his most charming smiles, the kind of smile that normally made Grace grind her teeth. The fact that she didn’t feel like grinding them now just increased her anxiety. What on earth was going on? Why did she feel all warm and sort of…breathless just because Harry was smiling at her? She was still trying to work out the answer when he opened the waiting-room door.
‘I won’t be long. There’s something I need to do before we leave.’
‘Hmm, that something wouldn’t have anything to do with a pretty blonde nurse who’s been extolling your virtues to all and sundry, would it?’ Penny laughed when he looked suitably modest. ‘You never change, Harry. You’ll still have women queuing up outside your door when you’re ninety.’
‘With a bit of luck.’
He winked at them then left, and it was a good job he went when he did. Grace knew that if he’d stayed there even a second longer, she would have been tempted to throw something at him. Maybe Penny found his womanising antics amusing but she thought they were pathetic.
‘Grace, what’s wrong? Are you feeling all right?’
She jumped when Penny touched her on the arm, and dredged up a smile when she saw the concern on her friend’s face. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Are you sure?’ Penny looked increasingly worried despite the reassurance. ‘I shouldn’t have done that, should I? I know how you feel about Harry and it was wrong of me to force you into a corner like that.’
‘You didn’t force me, Penny. It was my decision and I’m perfectly happy with it.’ Grace held her smile, although it felt as though her face was about to split into two. However, she had to convince Penny that she was telling the truth, otherwise her friend would continue to worry.
‘Harry and I are both grown-ups and we can handle working together without World War Three breaking out. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to it.’
‘You are?’ Penny looked at her in surprise.
‘Mmm. Harry’s got bags of experience and I’ll learn a lot from him,’ Grace assured her, hoping the words wouldn’t choke her.
‘Yes, of course you will, although it won’t be all one-sided,’ Penny said loyally. ‘You’re a brilliant doctor in your own right, Grace, so I expect Harry will learn just as much from you.’
Grace didn’t say anything to that. However, as she followed Penny from the room so they could go and tell Miles the good news, she found herself wondering exactly what she had in her repertoire of skills which would be of interest to Harry. There certainly wasn’t anything on the romance front that she could teach him—he was an acknowledged expert in that field. As for her medical skills, well, he could probably match her any day of the week.
No, the only thing she could possibly teach him was humility, although it was a lesson the mighty Harry Shaw might not be keen to learn. When you’ve been at the top of the heap all your life, thinking that you are the same as everyone else wouldn’t come easily, although that wasn’t what Harry had claimed earlier that night. He’d described himself as a man who just wanted to help others, hadn’t he?
Grace shivered. She couldn’t explain it, certainly couldn’t understand it, but she knew the assertion had altered the way she thought about Harry. It was as though there was suddenly something in the plus column to weigh against all those minuses that had accumulated over the years. Although she hated to admit it, Harry might not be all bad after all.
‘I’ve done a printout of all the clinics we hold each month. I thought it would help if you had an idea of our schedule.’
‘Thanks.’
Harry took the list from Grace and glanced through it. His brows rose when he suddenly realised the extent of the work she and Miles had been doing. Nearly every single afternoon was filled with things like the mother-and-baby clinics, antenatal clinics and clinics for people who were trying to stop smoking or lose weight. Add all of those to the regular morning and evening surgeries and it seemed his life was going to be extremely full for the next few weeks.
‘You certainly offer a very complete service here,’ he observed, leaning back in his chair. It was just gone eight a.m. and they were in Miles’s office—the office Harry would be using while he was working there. Although it had been after midnight when he’d dropped Grace off at her house in the village, she had telephoned him before seven that morning to ask him if he would meet her at the surgery.
Harry had agreed immediately, even though he’d been fast asleep when she’d phoned. However, it had seemed like a point of honour not to let the side down so he had dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, and, by skipping breakfast, had managed to get to the surgery a couple of minutes before she’d arrived. He could have murdered for a cup of coffee but he’d be damned if he would show any sign of weakness by suggesting they should stop for a drink. If Grace could keep up this punishing schedule then so could he.
‘We do our best to fulfil all our patients’ needs,’ she said briskly, taking another sheet of paper out of her file. ‘This is a list of our contacts at the local hospital. Obviously, you can request an appointment for a patient through the usual channels, but we find it speeds things up if we approach the head of each department on a personal basis.’ She shrugged. ‘A phone call is all it usually takes so it doesn’t require that much extra effort.’
‘It must add up, though.’ Harry frowned as he took the sheet from her. ‘I know how difficult it is to get hold of people so I doubt one phone call would do it. You must have to phone back several times.’
‘Miles and I tend to make any phone calls after morning surgery finishes. That way we can catch people during their lunch-break and keep to our timetable.’
‘I see.’ Harry didn’t say anything else as he placed the list on top of the other one. He was there to help, not to question how the practice was run. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help thinking that it was no wonder Miles was so stressed when he was cramming so much into his day. Morning surgeries, evening surgeries, clinics, phone calls—he wouldn’t have time to draw breath.
‘How long do you allow for each consultation?’ he asked, opting for a less controversial topic.
‘We allocate ten minutes per patient, more if it’s someone we know we will have to spend extra time with.’
‘That’s quite generous,’ he observed, recalling what other GPs had told him recently. ‘Most practices allow six minutes per patient and try to get away with less than that if they can.’
‘We find it’s a false economy to cut corners. If you don’t spend time getting to the root of a problem, invariably the patient ends up having to come back to see you.’
‘It’s a valid point, although I suppose it depends on how many patients you book in for each surgery,’ he conceded, making a note to add it to his report. If more time was spent at the initial assessment stage then a second appointment might be avoided, and that was bound to be of help to an overworked GP. ‘What’s your maximum number of appointments per session?’
‘We don’t have a set limit. Both morning and evening surgeries are run on an open-door basis—in other words, if someone needs to see us they just turn up on the day.’
‘But that’s crazy. You could have the whole village turning up and have to see them.’
‘I doubt it. Most people around here are too busy to waste their time by making unnecessary trips to see the doctor.’ She shrugged. ‘We find it works so I see no reason to change the routine. But if you find the pace too much for you, you only have to say so. I can deal with any patients you aren’t able to see.’
Pulsuz fraqment bitdi.