‘Then how do you suggest we do our jobs?’ he snapped, glaring at her as though he held her personally responsible for the state of the country’s medical facilities.
Claire made herself return his stare but the chill in his eyes was unnerving. She couldn’t stop her mind darting back to the way Andrew had looked at her whenever she had done something to annoy him. She had to make a determined effort to focus on the present moment. ‘The old-fashioned way—through good diagnosis. Isn’t that right, Bill?’
‘Harrumph, well, yes.’ Bill looked uncomfortable about being drawn into the decidedly frosty discussion. He sighed when Jude looked sharply at him. ‘I understand your concerns, of course, but in the absence of any modern technology, we just have to do the best we can.’
‘I see.’ Jude turned and glared at Claire again. ‘Well, I want it putting on record that I’m not happy with the situation. Is that clear?’
‘As crystal. I shall make a note of your comments in triplicate, Dr Slater, and ensure that the appropriate authorities are informed forthwith.’
Bill looked even more uncomfortable when he heard the sarcasm in Claire’s voice but Jude ignored it as he plucked a pair of gloves out of the box. He bent over the patient, his hands moving over the injured man’s skull with the same skill and dexterity which Claire had admired earlier. Maybe he was upset about the lack of modern aids, but he was able to contain his emotions while he got on with the job. And it was a salutary reminder of the way her former boyfriend had been able to emotionally detach himself as well.
Claire quickly excused herself and left. She knew it was unprofessional to leave in the middle of an examination but she simply had to get away. Fortunately one of the local nurses was standing in Reception, so Claire asked her if she would assist in triage then made her way to the office to sign in. Every member of staff had to sign in and out whenever they entered or left the building. Although it was a bit of a bind, they all understood how important it was to know where everyone was in case of an emergency. Now Claire sighed as she realised that she hadn’t explained the procedure to Dr Slater. It meant that she would have to speak to him again and that was something she had been hoping to avoid. She’d had more than enough of the man for one day!
Lola was sitting behind her desk when Claire opened the office door and she grinned at her. ‘I see you made it back safely, then, hon.’
‘Only just.’ Claire scrawled her name on the sheet then poured herself a cup of coffee. Walking over to the one and only easy chair, she flopped down onto its lumpy cushions. ‘We found the truck on our way back. And the driver.’
‘And?’ Lola prompted when she paused to sip some of the muddy brown brew that passed for coffee.
‘And we ended up starring in our very own version of the shoot-out at the OK Corral.’ She grimaced as she put the cup on a pile of medical journals which served as a coffee table in the absence of anything else. ‘That coffee is disgusting! How long has it been stewing in the pot?’
‘Who knows?’ Lola dismissed the coffee’s pedigree with a wave of her hand. Anxiety was etched all over her face as she looked at Claire in concern. ‘Are you sure you’re all right? It must have been real scary for you, so don’t think you have to pull that stiff-upper-lip routine you Brits are famous for. If you want to bawl your eyes out then go right ahead.’
‘I’m fine. Really,’ Claire assured her. ‘OK, so it was a bit hairy at the time, but I was too angry to be really scared.’
‘Angry?’ Lola repeated. ‘You mean with the guys who were shooting at you?’
‘No. With Dr Jude Tobias Slater!’
Claire stood up and started to pace the room, her temper rocketing as she thought about all the things he had done that day. Ignoring her instructions to stay with the motorbike had been his first offence and his second had been the high-handed way he had taken charge. Maybe they were only minor misdemeanours in most people’s eyes but they were far more than that to her. Jude Slater had tried his best to undermine her at every turn and she had too much experience of the harm it could cause to allow that to happen to her again.
She turned and glowered at Lola. ‘The guy is a liability! He’s pushy and overbearing and, what’s more, he seems to think that he knows everything about what it takes to survive out here when he knows nothing at all. Would you believe that he actually expected there would be an MRI scanner in the hospital?’
‘It’s his first mission, though, hon.’
Lola shrugged, obviously trying to defuse the situation, but Claire didn’t want it to be defused. She wanted there to be tension between her and Jude, and lots of it, too, because it would help to blot out everything else. The one thing she mustn’t allow herself to do was to like him.
‘So?’ she scoffed. ‘I remember when you arrived, Lola. It was your first mission as well, but you didn’t expect there to be all kinds of fancy equipment here, did you?’
‘Ah, but I came straight from an inner-city public hospital, so my expectations were already fairly low.’
‘I suppose so.’ Claire gave a grudging smile. ‘From what you’ve told me, conditions there weren’t all that much better than they are here.’
‘You got that right, hon.’
Lola laughed. However, Claire knew that her friend was wondering why she had taken such an obvious dislike to the newest member of their team. There was no way she could explain that Jude reminded her of Andrew, not when she had told nobody about her former partner, so she remained silent and, after a moment, Lola carried on.
‘Dr Slater doesn’t have my kind of background, Claire. I checked his file while you were out and discovered that he’s been working in some fancy private hospital in London for the past five years. How’s he going to have any experience of real life when he’s been mixing with rich folks like that?’
‘In other words, I should cut him some slack—is that what you’re saying?’
‘I guess so. OK, so maybe you two didn’t hit it off, but don’t let first impressions colour your judgement. You guys are going to have to work together and it’s going to make life extremely difficult if you’re at each other’s throats all the time.’
Claire knew that Lola was right. However, the thought of having to work with him was too disturbing to deal with right then. She bolted down the rest of her coffee, fixing a smile into place when Lola looked at her in concern.
‘Don’t worry. I’m not about to do anything rash. I forgot to tell Dr Slater that he needs to sign in, so I’d better go and do it before I forget.’
‘You do that, hon. And I bet you find that he isn’t nearly as bad as you thought he was.’
Claire didn’t say anything. It would serve no purpose to argue with Lola. However, as she left the office, she knew that the one thing she wouldn’t do was try to improve her opinion of Jude Slater. She intended to keep him at arm’s length and the more things she could find to dislike about him, the easier it would be.
* * *
‘I’ll remove this section of bone. Then we can see how extensive the bleeding is.’
Jude bent over the operating table as he carefully eased the shattered section of bone from the man’s skull. It was delicate work and even the tiniest slip could have the most horrendous consequences for the patient but he knew that he possessed the necessary skills. He was a first-rate surgeon despite the fact that he spent most of his time these days stripping out varicose veins.
The thought that he wasn’t utilising his talent as he should be doing was unsettling. He had always believed that opting for the private sector had been the right decision. The perks which came with the job were all too obvious: an excellent salary; working hours which allowed him a healthy social life; an environment in which to work where the very best facilities were always available. However, he had to admit that he had become increasingly bored of late. Most of the work
he did was purely routine and there was very little that stretched him. An operation like this was completely different. One slip and the patient could be left severely incapacitated and the thought put him on his mettle. As he suctioned away the massive haematoma that had formed inside the man’s skull, Jude realised in surprise that he was enjoying himself.
‘Clamp.’ He rapped out the instruction, nodding when the nurse at his side slapped the instrument into his palm. He clamped the damaged blood vessel then carefully removed two minute splinters of bone. Fortunately the meninges—the protective membranes which covered the brain—hadn’t been pierced, so once he had cauterised the vein, the bleeding stopped. Nevertheless, it was another hour before he was satisfied that he had done all he could. It was out of his hands now and up to nature to run its course.
Jude glanced at Bill Arnold, who was acting as his anaesthetist. ‘I’m going to call it a day. There’s not much more I can do for him.’
‘From what I saw, you did more than most would have attempted,’ Bill replied as he began to reverse the anaesthetic. ‘Good work, son.’
Normally, Jude would have bridled if anyone had called him son but for some reason he was touched by the compliment. ‘Thanks,’ he said lightly, not wanting the older man to guess that it meant anything to him.
He left Theatre, dropping his disposable cap into the bin on his way out before making his way to the changing room only to stop short when he opened the door and found Claire sitting on one of the benches. She immediately sprang to her feet when she saw him and he couldn’t help noticing how defensive she looked.
‘I forgot to tell you about signing in,’ she said quickly, and he winced when he heard the hostility in her voice.
It had been obvious when they were in Triage that he wasn’t exactly flavour of the month and he could only conclude that it was because of what had happened earlier in the day. Maybe he should have deferred to her instead of taking over like that, but in his own defence, he had been more concerned about their safety than her injured feelings. He had been right, too, he assured himself, so he would be damned if he would apologise when he had got them safely back to the hospital.
‘So tell me now,’ he said flatly, stripping off the top of his scrub suit and tossing it into the dirty-linen hamper. There was a stack of clean towels on a shelf, so he picked one up and flung it over his shoulder then glanced round when she didn’t reply. ‘Look, I don’t want to rush you but I would like to take a shower this side of Christmas, if it’s all right with you.’
‘Yes, of course. Sorry.’ A rush of colour swept up her face as she hurried on. ‘You need to sign in every time you come into work and sign out again each time you leave. The sheets are kept in the office, so if you could sign out after you finish up here that would be great.’
‘And what do I do after that?’ He shrugged when she looked blankly at him. ‘Am I supposed to stay in the hospital, or what? I’ve no idea about our living arrangements.’
‘Oh, I see. I should have explained it all to you before, but things got a bit hectic after we found the truck—’ She broke off, obviously reluctant to talk about what had gone on earlier.
Jude sighed as he realised that his assessment had been spot on. She did harbour a grudge about the way he had railroaded her and it was going to make life extremely stressful in the coming weeks if she didn’t get over it. He was just debating whether he should rustle up some sort of apology when she continued.
‘The Worlds Together team doesn’t actually live in the hospital. They use the old college as their base, so you’ll be staying there.’
‘I see. And how do I get there? Do I walk, in which case I’ll need directions. Or is there transport available?’ he asked, deciding there was no point worrying about what might happen. He would just have to take each day as it came and hope that she would do the same.
‘You’ll be ferried to and from the hospital in one of the trucks. It not only saves time but it’s safer.’ She glanced at her watch and frowned. ‘In fact, the day shift should be leaving in about ten minutes’ time, so you can catch a lift back to the college with them.’
‘It doesn’t sound as though it’s going to be a whole lot of fun working here if we have to sign in and out, and use only the official form of transport,’ Jude observed dryly. ‘The last time I had restrictions like these imposed on me, I was at boarding school.’
‘We aren’t here to have fun, Dr Slater. We’re here to help the people of this country. It certainly won’t help them if you get yourself killed.’
‘It wouldn’t be too great from my point of view, either,’ Jude retorted. She had the knack of making him feel as though he was lacking in some way and it wasn’t a feeling he enjoyed. ‘Anyway, I’d better take that shower,’ he said, swinging round. ‘I’d hate to blot my copybook again by keeping everyone waiting.’
‘You’ll be picked up outside the main doors. I’ll let the driver know you’re coming,’ she said shortly, ignoring his final comment.
Jude sighed as she left, aware that it had been extremely childish to say that. There was no point antagonising her when they were going to have to work together. It was just that he wasn’t used to people taking such an obvious dislike to him and definitely not a woman. Despite the fact that he made no bones about the fact that he wasn’t interested in commitment, most women seemed to enjoy his company and were eager to spend time with him, but not this woman. He’d got the distinct impression that she had only come to find him out of a sense of duty and the thought rankled. He turned on the water, wondering why he was so bothered about her opinion. It shouldn’t have mattered a jot what she thought of him but it did. He wanted her to like him—how pathetic was that?
Jude finished showering and dressed then made his way to the front entrance. There was a group of people sitting on the steps, obviously waiting to be collected, so he went and joined them. One of the women grinned at him as he sat down.
‘So you’re the new guy, are you? I heard that Claire was going to the airport this afternoon to collect you.’
‘Jude Slater at your service.’ He smiled as he held out his hand. ‘And you are?’
‘Lesley Morris. One of the nurses,’ the woman explained as they shook hands.
‘Nice to meet you, Lesley. So far I’ve met Bill Arnold and a couple of the local staff but that’s basically it. How many of us are there on the team?’
‘Nine at the moment, although it can and does fluctuate. There are five nurses and four doctors now that you’ve arrived.’ Lesley pointed to a group of women in front of them. ‘That’s Kelly, Amy and Sasha—they’re all nurses. Lola, who’s our administrator, is also a nurse and helps out whenever necessary. Javid and Matt are the other two doctors on the team. Matt’s working tonight, so you’ll meet him at dinner before he goes on duty. And Javid should be along any second now.’
‘What about Claire?’ Jude frowned as he looked at the women. ‘You said there were five nurses, so where does Claire fit in?’
‘Oh, she’s not part of our team,’ Lesley explained. ‘Although I don’t know how we’d manage without her. If you need something doing around here then Claire’s the woman to ask. We call her our very own miracle worker!’
‘Praise indeed,’ he replied lightly, wondering who Claire worked for if she wasn’t part of the Worlds Together team. Although his knowledge of the agency’s set-up was pretty sketchy, he didn’t recall anyone mentioning at his interview that they would be working with another aid agency, yet who else could she be working for? He was just about to ask Lesley when the truck arrived and everyone stood up.
Jude followed them down the steps and waited his turn to board. Lesley had moved to the front. She patted the seat, indicating that he should sit next to her, so he climbed over everyone’s legs and squeezed into the gap. The driver was just about to fasten the tailgate when Jude saw Clai
re coming out of the hospital and he felt his heart give an almighty lurch. She had shed the ugly old boiler suit and was wearing a light grey dress with a prim little white collar and cuffs. She had also got rid of the baseball cap and her blonde hair was caught back at the nape of her neck.
Jude’s pulse began to drum as he took stock of the gently rounded curves of her breasts and hips, the purity of her profile. There was no doubt that she was a very beautiful and desirable woman and he would have needed to be dead from the neck up and down not to notice that fact...
‘Do you want a lift, Sister? I can call at the convent on my way back if it will save you having to wait.’
Jude heard what the driver said but it was a full minute before the words registered and he gasped. It felt as though everything was happening in slow motion as he watched Claire walk over to the truck and climb on board. She was obviously popular because everyone greeted her with a smile although he didn’t. He couldn’t. He could neither smile nor speak as he watched her take her place on the bench. He closed his eyes, wondering if his mind was playing tricks. It had been a stressful day and it was understandable if he was a little...well, confused.
The truck set off with a lurch and Jude opened his eyes, expecting that the scene would have changed. It hadn’t. Claire was sitting serenely on the bench, her hands lightly clasped in her lap. A breeze suddenly blew into the truck and he saw her lift up her hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Jude felt a huge great wave of regret wash over him. Even though he knew he had no business feeling that way, he couldn’t help it. It just seemed like such a terrible waste. Claire might be beautiful and desirable but she was also strictly off limits to him or to any other man.
The fact was that Sister Claire was a nun!
CHAPTER FOUR
CLAIRE COULD FEEL Jude Slater staring at her although she didn’t look at him. Seeing him standing in the changing room had awoken feelings that she had never imagined she would experience again. She had honestly thought that she was incapable of feeling desire after what Andrew had done, but there was no point pretending. The sight of Jude’s leanly muscular body had unlocked a whole host of emotions and now she just wanted to forget about them.
Reawakened by the Surgeon's Touch Page 4