‘No, no,’ Marcus assured her. ‘I don’t think we should tire her out.’
‘Yes, I am a little weary.’ Mrs Sanders admitted.
‘Righto, we’ll be off, then.’ Marcus covered the older woman’s hands with his own. ‘If there is ever anything I can do for you, Mrs Sanders, please, don’t hesitate.’ He pulled a business card out of his back pocket and placed it on her bedside table.
Madeline stared at him, gobsmacked! She fumed silently as she stalked out of the unit. OK, she’d made up her mind to tolerate him but how dared he try and poach her patient? Once they had pushed through the swinging doors and were out in the corridor, Madeline let fly.
‘What the hell was that?’ she demanded.
‘Shh, Maddy...it’s a hospital.’ He wagged his finger at her playfully.
He looked so fresh and vital and she still felt tired and irritable. She wasn’t in the mood for his teasing. ‘I don’t give a damn,’ she hissed.
‘Maddy!’ He feigned a shocked expression.
‘How dare you try and steal one of my patients? How...how...unethical!’ she snapped. ‘You’re not doing a very good job of convincing me of your professionalism.’
Annoyed, she strode off. Unfortunately, he caught her up.
‘Conventional medicine doesn’t seem to have done her much good.’
Madeline halted and whipped around, cheeks flushed and eyes glittering. ‘Don’t you dare preach to me, Doctor. You know nothing about this case. It just so happens that conventional methods only work if you follow your doctor’s advice! Mrs Sanders is notoriously uncompliant.’
And she stormed ahead again.
The final straw was discovering some idiot had parked her in. Her dismay grew to anger when she realised it was Marcus’s MG. She gritted her teeth. She was going to need thousands of dollars’ worth of dental work done in the not too distant future if this kept up!
She kicked one of his car’s tyres out of pure pique and leant impatiently against her boot, foot tapping. When he finally swaggered toward her, she was ropable.
‘I hope you’re better at your hocus-pocus than you are at parking.’
He laughed and she shivered despite the thirty-degree day. ‘Someone got out of bed on the wrong side.’
‘Just shift your car, Dr Hunt.’ She just wanted to go. Get out of his radius. His presence was too unsettling.
He halted in front of her. ‘Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot this morning which is a shame because I thought we’d called a truce last night? I’m really a great guy when you get to know me.’
Maybe. But he was too close for Madeline’s sanity. He made her want things. Things she didn’t understand.
‘Your car,’ she repeated.
Marcus gave a frustrated sigh at her stonewalling. He’d never had to work this hard in his life. And it made him more intrigued. More sorry about the diamond on Maddy Harrington’s left hand.
He gave her a long, hard look then moved away, unlocking his car door. ‘Why don’t we go and have a coffee or something?’
‘Are you still here?’
He laughed. ‘Okay, Okay. I guess I’ll see you later.’
‘Don’t hold your breath,’ Madeline replied, and was pleased with just the right amounts of indifference and ice she’d injected into her voice as Marcus slid into his car seat.
Gunning the engine he shot her a confident grin. ‘It may be sooner than you think.’
Then he reversed, waving at her as he drove away.
As previously arranged, Madeline drove out to George and Mary’s acreage property for lunch. Mary handed her a nice cold Chardonnay as soon as she arrived and they sat out on the back deck in squatters’ chairs, looking out over the gorgeous mountain view. George joined them and she filled them in on London and the events of the previous day.
‘So you’ve met Marcus,’ George said.
Madeline rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, I have. Did you know he was a homeopath when you leased the premises to him?’
‘Of course,’ he said.
‘What were you thinking, George?’
He looked at her calmly. ‘I thought you might have a problem with it.’
‘I threatened to have him evicted,’ she said bluntly.
Mary gasped and held her hand to her mouth. ‘Oh, no, dear! I’ve invited him to lunch.’
‘What?’ demanded Madeline, staring at Mary like she’d just grown another head.
‘He’ll be here any time soon.’
Oh, great, she thought. Was it too late to leave? Then she became annoyed. Why should she have to? George and Mary had been nothing but wonderful since her parents had died and she hadn’t seen them for six weeks.
‘Why on earth would you threaten to evict him?’ asked a shocked George.
‘Because I expected you to be as outraged as me. I thought you’d been hoodwinked by the estate agents and were oblivious to the identity of the new leaseholder.’
‘Why would you think that?’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she said sarcastically. ‘How about all the botched-up patients we’ve seen? How about Abby?’
George looked at Madeline over the top of his glasses and sighed. ‘I know she was your sister and you know how much we cared for her, but Abby was a grown woman who made her own decisions about her health care, Madeline,’ he said, gently. ‘Yes, she was foolish but ultimately it was her choice who she consulted that day. You can’t brand the entire industry because of a few bad eggs. Abby must also share some of that responsibility.’
Madeline knew he was right but Abby had paid such a high price for her stupidity. ‘I know that. I’m just surprised that suddenly we appear to be endorsing this stuff.’
‘Madeline.’ George stood and came closer. ‘Marcus is one of Melbourne’s top people in alternative medicine. He’s even worked with elite athletes, helping them find alternative medicines to treat their ailments because so much conventional stuff is on the banned list. We had him thoroughly checked out. He holds a bona fide medical degree. He’s not some radical quack. Just a good doctor offering people choices based on sound medical and homoeopathic principles.
