A Doctor to Heal Her Heart

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Did you get a chance to look around the summer house?’ Euan joined her on the veranda as the last of the cars scrunched out of the drive.

  ‘Not yet. I got pictures of the frame going up and everyone working on it, but I haven’t seen the inside yet.’ She turned to Euan. The light in his eyes seemed to reflect her own feeling of exhilaration. ‘Thank you. I can’t remember when I’ve had such fun.’

  ‘We should be thanking you.’ Sam had noticed that David and Euan had made sure to thank each volunteer personally. She supposed it was her turn now.

  His arm snaked around her waist, and he bent to kiss her cheek. Not so different from the kisses that he’d exchanged with Juno and some of the other volunteers, only with them he hadn’t lingered quite so long.

  ‘You want to stroll down there? Take some photos of what it looks like now it’s complete? I need to go round and make sure everything’s locked up, there’s been a spate of burglaries in the area.’

  ‘That would be nice.’

  His hand brushed against hers as they walked. Talking about the day, laughing together. ‘It looks bigger now it’s finished.’ She nodded towards the summer house.

  ‘Yeah. It’s insulated, so we can use it during the spring and autumn, even in winter if we can get some heating in there. It was donated to us.’

  ‘Really? That was generous of someone.’

  ‘It was a local manufacturer. It’s an old design and the wood’s not been properly treated. They were going to scrap it, but David said that we’d give it a good home here. Apparently a few of tins of wood preservative and a brush are all we need.’

  ‘How does he do it?’

  Euan chuckled. ‘Goodness only knows. Without him the charity would grind to a halt.’

  ‘Without either of you. You two make a great team.’

  He led her round to the far side of the summer house, where timber steps led up to a small deck with sliding glass doors leading inside the structure. ‘Wow, this is smart. I must have some pictures of this...’

  Euan sat down on the steps, turning his face to the late afternoon sun. Immediately at ease with the world. He was like a large cat, stretched out and purring in front of the fire. Somehow it was impossible not to relax when he was like this.

  ‘Is this David’s?’ She’d moved a cool bag to get a better shot of the glass doors and the view beyond them.

  ‘Uh? Yeah, I think it is. We’ll take it back to the office for him.’ Euan took the bag and feeling its weight unzipped it. ‘Ah! Look what I found.’ He pulled out two bottles of beer. ‘Want one?’

  ‘Seems churlish to let them go to waste.’ Sam sat down on the steps next to him, watching as he gave the top of each of the bottles a sharp, expert tap on the stair rail then pulled the caps off.

  ‘How do you do that?’

  ‘Just hit it in the right place. Not too hard, but quite firmly... Then, if you twist the cap just right, you don’t cut yourself.’ He glanced at his hand, where a droplet of blood was forming. ‘On the other hand, sometimes you do...’

  ‘Want a hanky?’

  ‘Nah. It’s okay...’ Euan looked as if he was about to put his finger into his mouth to stem the flow of blood, and then thought better of it. ‘I think I’d rather bleed than poison myself.’

  ‘Come here.’ Sam pulled her handkerchief from her pocket and folded it, winding it around his finger and tying it tightly. ‘You can put some antiseptic on it when we get back to the house.’

  His lips quirked into a smile. ‘Yes, ma’am.’ He held the bandaged finger up. ‘Are you the very last person in the world who carries a cloth hanky?’

  ‘Probably. Just as well I was here, eh?’

  ‘Who knows what might have happened?’ Euan grinned and picked up one of the bottles, laying it against her cheek before he put it into her hand.

  Sam gasped. ‘Still pretty cold.’

  ‘Mmm-hmm.’ His smile was making her tremble. Heat and cold. Who knew what he could do with those two elements if there was nothing to separate his imagination from her naked skin?

  He picked up the other bottle, dangling it thoughtfully between his fingers. ‘We made some pretty good progress this weekend.’

  ‘Fabulous progress. I never thought that so much could be done in such a short time.’

  ‘You get enough people working together and you can do almost anything. Move mountains, jump tall buildings...’ Euan was chuckling now.

  ‘Jumping tall buildings is child’s play. Remaking a human life is real super-hero stuff.’ Euan was always so appreciative of what others did. Sometimes he forgot his own contribution to all of this.

  He looked at her, nothing but questions in his eyes. ‘Super-heroes save everyone. That’s part of their remit.’

  Marie. The phantom of the woman that he hadn’t saved squeezed in between them, her broken life pushing them apart. ‘Just because...’ Sam sighed. Marie was like a blurred photograph, ephemeral and unknown. It was difficult to get to grips with something you couldn’t even see properly.

  She took a sip from her bottle to moisten her dry throat. Loosened the messy plait that snaked over her shoulder, combing her hair out with her fingers and shaking her head.

  He caught his breath, and when Sam looked up at him his face held all the promise of a kiss. For a moment she was drawn back towards him, and then doubts seemed to crowd in again and he shook his head.

  ‘I’m no miracle-worker. I’ve failed in the past, and while I’ll try not to do it again, I can’t be sure that I won’t.’

  ‘Marie?’

  A flash of defiance, and then he nodded. ‘Yeah. Maybe I could have helped her, but I didn’t. I was too...’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know what it was that stopped me.’

  ‘You were too close to her, perhaps.’

  He took a long swig from his bottle. ‘Didn’t that make me the one person who should have helped?’

  ‘You’ve been telling me for the last week that families and friends give one kind of support. That successful rehab requires a commitment from the individual, and structured, professional support.’

  ‘And you think that lets me off the hook?’

  ‘I think...’ Sam wasn’t sure that she was equal to this, but she had to try. ‘I don’t know how to reason you out of this, Euan. But it doesn’t seem fair to me that someone who’s done such a lot, who’s made such a difference to so many lives, should feel so guilty.’

  ‘But...’ He was shaking his head, as if she didn’t understand.

  Enough of this. ‘There’s no but about it. I might not have your training and experience in these things, but that doesn’t give you a monopoly on being right. Relationships take two people. None of us is solely responsible for what happens, and you don’t have to carry that weight alone.’

  Sam stopped for breath, holding up one finger to forestall any interruption. Hadn’t he said that to her about Sally? It sounded vaguely familiar. Whatever. She was on a roll now and he could say whatever he wanted later.

  ‘You’re the most honourable man I know. You’re dedicated, loyal to the people you work with, and you’ve been a good friend to me. So just...just give yourself a break.’

  She’d expected him to come back at her with some smart answer, but there was silence. He was staring at the ground, almost as if he hadn’t heard.

  ‘Well, what have you got to say to that?’

  He looked up at her. ‘Thank you.’

  That was the last thing she’d expected. ‘Is that all?’

  ‘I think so.’ He put his arm around her. The kind of gesture that any friend, sitting on any steps, might make, but it made her shiver. ‘That means a lot, Sam. Thank you.’

  ‘Nothing else?’

  ‘I could make some comment about being glad you’re on my side,
because you can be too scary for words at times.’ He was grinning now.

  He said the nicest things. ‘Well, just hold that thought.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘And while you’re doing it, what do you say to a takeaway for tonight? My treat, I could eat a horse...’

  Euan chuckled softly, helping her to her feet and pulling out his keys to lock the summer house. As they strolled across the lawn together, the low sun at their backs, a trick of the light made their shadows appear to touch...

  The alarms up at the house started to sound.

  ‘Someone must have come back...’ He was suddenly watchful, his eyes scanning the windows at the back of the house, looking for any clue as to who it might be. ‘Stay here while I go and see.’

  He strode on ahead of her and Sam followed, running to keep up with him. ‘Sam, will you stay here? Please.’

  ‘If someone’s there, I’d rather be with you.’

  ‘If someone’s there, I’d rather you were safely out of the way.’

  ‘Safest place I can think of is with you.’

  He rolled his eyes, but there was nothing he could do to stop her, save carrying her screaming to the car and locking her in, and he seemed to know it. ‘All right, then. But stay with me.’

  He was checking the windows as he walked along the veranda and unlocked the doors that led into the community room. He punched a combination into the console on the wall, and the din of the alarm stopped.

  Silence. ‘It’s probably someone who’s forgotten something and come back to get it.’ Sam walked over to an empty bookcase and retrieved her laptop from where she’d stowed it out of the way.

  ‘Yeah. Probably.’ Euan was still on the alert, listening for any sign of someone else in the house. He moved over to the door that led to the hall and opened it, then threw his hand out behind him in a signal to Sam to stay where she was.

  ‘All right, lads. There’s the door.’ He spoke to someone in the hallway, the words unhurried and calm, then walked through the door, closing it behind him.

  Why did he have to be so bloody protective? Sam crept over to the door, pressing her ear to it in an effort to hear what was going on. Euan’s voice sounded again, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. There was a scuffling sound and a thump, and then the sound of the front door slamming.

  The alarms went off again. Inside the house the shrill tone was almost unbearable, and Sam turned to the console, wondering if just glaring at it would do any good.

  Someone stood inside the open door to the veranda. Probably just a teenager, from his build, with the hood of his jacket tied tightly to obscure most of his face. Maybe he was just as frightened as she was but if so why didn’t he turn and run? The alarm cut out again and he took a step forward.

  ‘Give me the laptop.’ Sam realised she had her laptop clutched to her chest, like a shield.

  ‘Okay.’ Her voice sounded peculiar, high and trembling. ‘Take it and go.’

  The youth beckoned her with one hand, the other reaching behind his back. When it reappeared he was holding an ugly-looking knife. Sam put the laptop on the floor and started to back away. ‘Take it.’

  ‘Come here!’

  He was getting angry now. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

  ‘Pick it up. Bring it here. And what’s that you’ve got around your neck?’

  Sam’s hand instinctively moved to the gold locket hanging inside her blouse, below the neckline. The laptop was backed up, insured, and if you tried to get in without a password, the hard drive would be wiped. The locket was irreplaceable.

  ‘Nothing. It’s nothing.’

  ‘Give it to me!’ the youth shouted at her, clearly unaware of Euan’s presence in the house. She heard two running steps behind her, and she threw herself against the wall in terror. Then, with a flood of relief, she realised it was Euan.

  ‘Knife... He’s got a knife...’ She screamed the words, but she was too late. Euan had charged the lad, and the two of them clashed for a moment, then the youth was running.

  ‘That’s all of them.’ He turned, grinning. ‘I checked out front and there were three motorcycles.’

  ‘Euan...’

  ‘It’s okay, Sam, they’ve gone.’

  ‘Euan!’ This time he followed her gaze, down to the rip in his shirt and the blood pluming across it.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ‘OH.’ FOR A moment he stared at her, and then he cursed softly and suddenly fell to his knees.

  ‘Okay. You’re going to be okay.’ He was grasping at his shirt, trying to pull it away from the wound on his side, and she batted his hands away, ripping the side of his shirt to see. ‘Stay still. Just sit down and let me look.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s hit anything vital.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ Suddenly Sam felt very alone. The only person here who knew anything about medicine was Euan, and he was the one who’d just been stabbed.

  ‘It’s not bleeding enough for it to have hit a major artery. My kidney’s lower down and my liver’s further round.’

  ‘Okay.’ Sam looked at the gash on his side. It seemed to be wide rather than deep, and, despite Euan’s assertion that it wasn’t bleeding very much, there seemed to be an awful lot of blood. ‘Lungs?’

  He took a deep laboured breath, wincing with pain. The shock of the blow must be wearing off and he was clearly feeling it now. ‘No, I don’t think it’s punctured a lung.’

  ‘Good. That’s good.’ Sam wondered whether it was even slightly reliable to allow a patient to diagnose himself, but it was all she had at the moment. ‘Right, we’ll stop the bleeding and call an ambulance.’

  ‘There’s a hospital with an A and E department ten minutes down the road. It’ll be quicker if we drive.’

  ‘Okay. Hang on for a moment while I get your medical bag from the car.’ She slid two fingers into the pocket of his jeans and hooked out his car keys. ‘Just stay with me, Euan.’

  He forced a grin. ‘I generally keep that one for when someone’s in immediate danger. If you don’t want to unnerve me, just say you’ll be back soon.’

  ‘Right. I’ll be back soon.’

  Sam ran to the car, dragging the heavy medical bag out. When she returned, she found Euan trying to get to his feet.

  ‘Sit down!’ She skidded to a halt next to him. ‘You’re a bloody terrible patient, Euan.’

  ‘And you can nurse me any time you like...’

  ‘Shut up.’ She rummaged in the bag and pulled out a thick wad of gauze. ‘This?’

  ‘That’ll do. Put a pair of gloves on first, and then apply the gauze. Press as hard as you can.’

  He winced when she pressed the gauze against his side. ‘Now tape it.’ Sam reached into the medical bag with her free hand, and pulled out a roll of tape.

  ‘Not with that. There’s a roll of wider tape in there.’

  ‘This one?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  She taped the gauze firmly over the wound, noting with some satisfaction that the bleeding seemed to be stopping. ‘Right. I’ll help you up, and we’ll be on our way.’

  ‘Aren’t you going to give me pain relief?’

  ‘No, because I don’t know what to give you. And I’m not going to rely on you to tell me, you’re probably in shock. You’ll just have to put up with it.’ Sam leaned in, wondering whether she could lift his bulk if he couldn’t get to his feet, and he pulled her close.

  ‘Just a smile, then...’

  ‘Stop messing around or I’ll stab you myself.’ She couldn’t help but give him what he asked.

  ‘That’ll do. Feeling better already.’

  ‘Can you stand up?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Sam steadied him as he got to his feet, but he didn’t f
alter.

  ‘Now we’re going to walk to the car. Take your time.’

  He walked slowly but steadily, only wincing when Sam helped him into the passenger seat. ‘Your laptop. And you’ll need to reset the alarm. We need to report the break-in to the police, as well.’

  ‘Forget it. The doors are locked and David’s only fifteen minutes away, I’ll call him and ask him to deal with it.’ Sam leaned over him to clip his seat belt into place then got into the driver’s seat, pulling it forward, and started the engine.

  * * *

  He was beginning to feel sick and more than a little dizzy. Shock, he supposed. Euan knew that the wound he’d received wasn’t life-threatening, and he hadn’t lost enough blood for that to be the cause of the light-headedness that he was experiencing.

  Sam had pulled his phone from his back pocket and slid it into the hands-free cradle, so she could call David while she drove. She navigated the SUV smoothly into the hospital car park, which stood opposite the entrance to the A and E department. When she flashed the headlights an ambulance crew, who were standing outside, came over to help.

  ‘Let’s take a look.’ A paramedic squatted down by the open door of the car and carefully inspected the damage. ‘I won’t remove the dressing here, we’ll get a chair over and take you inside straight away.’ He looked up at Sam. ‘Nice job.’

  Euan shot him a smile. Sam had done well, and she deserved a bit of praise. She was smiling as she got out of the car, walking beside the wheelchair into the A and E reception area.

  It was still early, and the Saturday night rush hadn’t set in yet. He was wheeled straight through to a treatment bay, and a nurse helped him up onto a gurney.

  ‘How are you doing?’ Sam was still by his side, looking down anxiously at him.

  ‘Fine. I’m fine.’ He found her hand and held onto it, although he wasn’t sure whether it was to give or receive comfort. Or whether he just happened to like holding her hand. ‘We’ll be out of here in no time...’