City Surgeon, Small Town Miracle

CHAPTER NINE

THE next day, Terri hung her white coat on the hook on the clinic-room door and turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. She smoothed her hair, straightened her shirt and ran a quick eye over the profile of her lower half in the new black jeans.

Then she looked herself in the eye and wrinkled her nose. How much more comfortable it was to fuss with her appearance than to think about the thing that was really bothering her.

Luke.

She didn’t want to run into him yet. Last night he’d seen her at her worst. She’d been so vulnerable, so needy.

She didn’t want to remember that he had the strength to resist her advances. He did a charming line in rejection, very gentle but firm. She grimaced. Too much self-respect to allow himself to be used. She should appreciate that…she did appreciate that. But a tiny part of her couldn’t help but think it would be nice to have someone lose their head over her…just a little.

At least she’d slept well last night and for that she was grateful to Luke, his insight, his pushing. It had helped rather than harmed to talk about Peter. She’d expected to relive the explosion in vivid, torturous nightmares after Luke had gone. But she hadn’t. Her sleep had been dreamless and refreshing.

She moved across to the desk and stacked the patient records she’d used that morning. Scooping them up into her arms, she walked to the door.

With her hand on the knob, she paused and took a deep breath. No point skulking in the office. Seeing Luke was unavoidable as they were both on duty for the day. Her only hope was that he’d been called out for an emergency case but that seemed unlikely as she hadn’t been notified that she’d need to take cases from the second list.

She marched out of the room and was nearly at the front desk when surprise had her halting in mid-stride.

‘Uncle Mick.’ Perhaps she wasn’t finished after all. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Tee.’ His smile was quick and nervous, almost guilty.

‘Have you got an appointment now?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t see you on my list but I can see you now if you like.’

‘Um, no. Didn’t want to trouble you, love. So, I, um, well, you know…should be running along.’ Colour ran into his cheeks and he shuffled his feet.

‘Are you sure? You seem upset.’ Terri was perplexed.

‘Fine, I’m fine, love. I just…’ Her uncle cleared his throat and then his gaze slid past her. His expression was a mixture of relief and consternation. ‘Um, thanks, Luke. I’ll, er, catch up with you about those results.’ His face turned even redder. ‘See you at the track, Tee.’

Frowning, she watched him hurry away. She turned to see Luke slide his used files into the tray. He added a couple of blood tubes to the laboratory test basket. She glanced at the name on the top file.

‘Uncle Mick’s been to see you?’

‘Yes.’ Luke looked a little uncomfortable. ‘Look, let’s grab a cuppa and have a chat.’

‘Is there a problem?’

‘No, of course not.’

Her spirits plummeted. ‘There must be if he’s asked to see you. It’s just that I thought after I’d diagnosed his diabetes…he’s been feeling so much better…Oh, dear, this is such a backward step-I thought he finally believed that I knew what I was doing after all.’

‘He does. Your uncle has nothing but praise for you.’ Luke leaned across and wrapped his hands around the records she held. She released them quickly as his fingers brushed the skin on her forearm. He placed the files into the tray and said, ‘On second thoughts, let’s have lunch. We’ve got some other things to discuss as well and-’

‘But he can’t be happy with me if he’s come to see you.’

‘Terri, there are some things that make a man draw a line.’

‘Oh. Is he still embarrassed about the incident the other night?’ She frowned. ‘I thought we’d got past that. I told him it wasn’t his fault. That he only behaved that way because he was so ill.’

‘Yes, but that’s not why he didn’t want to come to see you.’

‘Then there was another reason?’ She suppressed a squeak of surprise when Luke took her by the elbow and ushered her towards the door.

‘Nina, we’re going for a bite of lunch at home. Page us if you need us.’

‘Sure thing, boss.’

‘I’m…I don’t know if I want to eat lunch with you.’ Feet still moving in the direction he was guiding her, Terri looked back over her shoulder at the grinning nurse.

‘Sure you do. I make a mean cheese omelette and we’ve got the kitchen to ourselves today as Mum’s taken Dad into Melbourne for a check-up. And besides, you want to know why Mick’s been to see me.’

‘Yes, I do, but will you please stop making a spectacle of us by dragging me around the hospital?’

He muttered something under his breath and released her. He stopped when she did, a muscle in his jaw rippled giving the impression of tightly leashed emotion. They stood alone on the pavement between the hospital and his parents’ house.

‘Terri, Mick is fifty five years old.’

‘I know.’

‘So don’t you think that he might be a little uncomfortable getting his first routine prostate check from someone who used to run around in the backyard with his own children?’

‘Oh.’ She swallowed, feeling like an idiot. She was dimly aware of his hand in the small of her back ushering her down the path. ‘Of course. How stupid of me.’

‘It’s thanks to you that Mick was in here getting the check-up today,’ Luke said evenly. ‘He said, apart from the hiccup after the races the other night, he’s never felt better. There might be something in this prevention is better than cure rubbish.’ He opened the back door of the house and gently steered her into the kitchen. ‘That’s a direct quote.’

‘Oh.’

‘His coming to see me had nothing to do with lack of faith in your ability, Terri.’

A quick expression flitted across her face. If he’d had to define it he’d have said it was pain. Her vulnerability punched him again.

‘Well, that’s…good, then.’

He saw the faint frown on her face as she stood in the kitchen, looking around. She looked lost, almost as though she wasn’t sure how she’d got there. God, he wanted to look after her, protect her, smooth out the bumps in her life for her. He’d set himself a hard task. Terri Mitchell was fiercely independent.

At least, with the surprise of Mick’s visit, there hadn’t been a chance for her to feel any awkwardness after last night. He’d wondered how their first meeting would go this morning. One bump had been avoided but it had created another that he didn’t understand.

‘Now, cheese, onion, mushroom?’ He turned to the fridge and put the items on the bench as the reeled them off.

‘I’m sorry?’

‘For the omelette I’m making you for lunch.’

‘You don’t have to make me lunch.’

‘Here’s the grater for the cheese. We don’t need much,’ he said, pleased when her hands automatically began the task he’d set for her. He started breaking eggs into a bowl. ‘This is a good opportunity for us to talk.’

‘Actually, you’re right. We do need to talk.’ She stopped grating. ‘What on earth were you thinking when you told Nina you were taking me home for lunch? She was grinning like the Cheshire cat. Heaven only knows what rumours will have started circulating by the time we get back to work.’

‘I don’t care.’ He wiped the mushroom caps then sliced them thinly with a sharp knife.

‘What do you mean, you don’t care. This isn’t London,’ she said tartly. ‘We’re doctors in a small community. You have to care.’

‘Nope. Do you want to cut up the onion for me?’ He looked at her hopefully.