* * *
The final gathering of competitors, team members, families and officials was the perfect end to a time that Kate was never going to forget.
The combination of an extended period of such intense competition, fatigue and—for some—the pride of achievement made for a party atmosphere like nothing she had ever encountered before. It began with that astonishing convoy when Kate hadn’t hesitated to break the rules and it just kept going.
There was champagne to be found and delicious barbecued food and so many people who now had a lot in common and wanted to enjoy the company of new friends or renew and deepen friendships that had been made in previous years because this event was an annual highlight for the majority of the participants.
‘So who thinks they’ll do this again?’ Luke and Matteo were sitting at an outside picnic table, opposite Kate and Georgia. They were hemmed in by people from New Zealand, Croatia and Germany, and there seemed to be some friendly rivalry going on as to which team could provide the most in the way of beverages.
‘Me.’ Georgia and Matteo spoke at the same time and then grinned at each other and raised their glasses in a toast.
‘I’d love to,’ Dave the New Zealander said. ‘Shame it’s such a long way to come, which makes it horrendously expensive.’ He winked at Georgia. ‘I’ll just have to start saving up, won’t I?’
‘We come every year,’ a Croatian paramedic put in. ‘And it gets better every time.’
Luke was looking at Kate, his eyebrows raised.
‘Ask me next week...’ she smiled ‘...when I’ve had enough sleep to be able to think straight.’
Luke leaned closer. ‘We could do it together,’ he suggested. ‘As a doctor team.’
‘Hey...’ Georgia was scowling. ‘You’re not stealing my doctor partner.’ She hooked her arm over Kate’s shoulders. ‘If anyone’s going to do it again with Katy, it’ll be me...’
But Kate smiled at Luke. She liked that he could see them being partners. And she liked that he was already thinking of a future that included her.
‘I’m not sure that I’d want to do it again,’ she said, ‘but I’m very, very glad I did it this time.’
Luke’s smile widened. ‘I’m very, very glad that you did it this time, too.’
The party kicked up a notch as night fell and the music started.
The DJ, who was on a stage in the dining room that had been emptied of most of its tables, had clearly tried to find every great dance tune in existence and it was Georgia who was first onto the dance floor, dragging Kate along with her. It took very little time for the area to become crowded and now it was dance partners who were being exchanged instead of conversation. Kate found herself being twirled by people who spoke in languages she couldn’t even identify but it didn’t matter in the least because the language of dance was universal.
Eventually, she had to take a break and joined the queue at the busy bar to get a glass of water. Then she stood and watched the dancers for a while, trying to see where Georgia was. If she could spot her friend, she was going to tell her that she’d had enough. Fatigue was catching up with her and they had a very long drive to get started on in the morning.
But Georgia was nowhere to be seen on the dance floor. Or at any of the tables in here where people had gathered to listen to the music and watch the more energetic partygoers. She went outside and wandered around for a while where small groups or couples were sitting, deep in conversation near an outside bar and off to one side where a brazier was providing both warmth and an invitation to linger.
Back inside, her gaze raked the dance floor again but she couldn’t see anyone she recognised, apart from Luke, who was dancing in the middle of a circle of young women. Then she saw Matteo coming towards her through a door that led to the bathrooms and exit.
‘You don’t know where Georgie is, do you?’
‘No. I have no idea. Do you want a drink? I’m going to have one.’
‘No, thanks. I’ve had enough. If you see her, can you tell her I’ve gone to bed?’
‘Sure.’ But Matteo was already moving towards the bar. ‘See you tomorrow, Kate. Sleep well.’
‘I will. You too.’
Kate stared after Matteo. Oddly, it felt like she’d said something to offend him but she didn’t have time to try and figure it out. Luke came up behind her.
‘Help,’ he said. ‘Get me away from here before I fall over. I need a rest.’
‘You’re not the only one. I’m heading off.’
‘Oh?’ Luke sounded disappointed.
‘It’s been amazing but if I stay any longer it won’t be fun any more. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired in my life.’
‘I’ll walk you home.’
‘You don’t need to do that.’
‘I want to.’
It was only when they got far enough away from the party that Kate realised how noisy it had been in there. There was still the background thump of the music and an occasional shout and peals of laughter but she could feel the increasing quietness and space, which made her more and more aware of the man walking beside her.
Outside the building that housed their apartments, they both stopped for a moment, caught by the view towards the mountains where a full moon was rising above the jagged peaks.
With a sigh of pleasure, Kate finally turned away.
‘See you tomorrow, Luke. Or, if we miss you, I’ll see you back in Scotland.’
‘I’ll look forward to that.’ Luke was smiling. ‘Goodnight, Katy.’
It was only natural to hug such a good friend to say goodnight. But maybe it wasn’t so natural for the hug to go on for quite so long. Or for Kate to be feeling an odd stirring of sensation deep in her belly that was something quite a lot more than merely friendship should be sparking.
Startled, she pulled back but Luke’s arms didn’t loosen their hold and so she found herself looking up at his face that was so close she could feel his breath on her skin.
Stopping any further effort to pull away might have been a mistake. Catching his gaze definitely was because she’d never seen Luke looking at her like that. As if he wanted nothing more than to kiss her?
Astonishment made her lips drift apart. It occurred to her in that heartbeat of time that that might be interpreted as an invitation but, just as instantly, she didn’t care. She’d already thrown her normal caution to the wind and broken a rule or two today so why stop now, when exhaustion and possibly a little more champagne than had been wise was a perfectly good excuse?
She couldn’t have said who actually initiated that kiss but she didn’t care about that either. And it wasn’t a passionate kiss. Just a gentle, if lingering, touch of their lips that had notes of both pleasure and total surprise.
Kate was still grappling with how surprising it had been when she finally crawled into her bed, with thoughts that were not coherent enough to be put into words rather than feelings.
The gentleness of the touch that made her remember how she’d felt when she’d seen him with that child in his arms. The background memories of a friendship she’d treasured. The resurfacing memories of how she’d felt whenever she’d been close to him in the early days of that friendship.
That flicker of attraction that had been so hard to douse.
And—so surprising that it was more than a little disturbing—the idea of having sex with Luke was no longer embarrassing at all.
The only thing that felt weird about it was that it hadn’t happened a very long time ago.
It wasn’t that she was about to have a teenage-style crush on him again. This felt far more real. As if it would be quite possible to actually fall in love with her old friend, she decided, as sleep finally crept up to claim her.
Maybe she was more than halfway there already...
CHAPTER FOUR
�
�I CAN’T BELIEVE we’ve been home for nearly a month.’
‘I know...’ Kate took the pan Georgia had finished washing and began to dry it. ‘Time flies, doesn’t it? And it was a bit of a struggle to get back into routine. It was almost like jet lag, the aftermath of that epic road trip.’
It shouldn’t have been that hard to embrace her normal routine, however. Kate loved routine. Had the struggle been caused by an element of distraction? Because she had found her thoughts occupied by Luke so often? It had only taken a few days for the weariness of the long journeys and intense competition to wear off but even then, it was more than post-excitement fallout that had made Kate feel a little flat. She was too aware of what was missing from her life. She loved her job and she had great friends but there was a hole she’d been stepping around for years now.
And, more and more as the days went past, that hole was taking on a shape that looked as if it was custom made for Luke Anderson.
‘I’m still tired,’ Georgia groaned, scrubbing at the handful of cutlery she held. ‘Or maybe I’m bored.’ Her smile was mischievous. ‘If I get a callout that isn’t a challenge, I want to swap it for a new scenario. Like a bus crash or a shooting incident...’
‘Don’t say that. What if you’re tempting fate? How bad would you feel if it happened tomorrow?’
‘True. Guess I’d better be grateful for all the routine chest pains and stomach aches and overdoses.’ With a sigh, she dumped the cutlery onto the draining tray. ‘There you go. All done. Thanks for dinner, by the way. It was great.’
‘My pleasure. Your turn tomorrow. Oh, no...you’re on night shift, aren’t you?’
‘Yep.’ Georgia dried her hands on the corner of the tea towel Kate was using. ‘Hey, maybe you should go out for dinner. It’s high time you and Luke got together.’
It was Kate’s turn to sigh. ‘We keep trying but it never works out that we’ve got the same time off. I can guarantee if I text him and suggest it, he’ll be on call or something. We haven’t been able to manage a coffee since we’ve been back, let alone a whole day’s sightseeing.’
‘Make it happen,’ Georgia said. ‘You never know—it could change your life.’
‘You want to know something?’
‘What?’
Kate felt her lips curl into a smile that felt hopeful. ‘I think you might be right.’
‘Aha... I knew it...’ Georgia grinned back at her. ‘You’ve been so quiet lately. You’re really keen on him, aren’t you?’
‘We were such good friends, way back. I... I might have even had a bit of a crush on him.’
‘No way...really?’
‘It was short-lived. I got over it as soon as I realised he wasn’t interested in me like that.’ Kate bit her lip. Yes, she’d got over it fast enough but there had always been that remnant. That knowledge that this friendship had an element that made it unique. She let her breath out in a small sigh. ‘I don’t know if it could be anything more than what it always was but...’
‘But you’d like it to be.’
It was a statement rather than a question and Kate found herself nodding slowly in agreement.
‘So text him. Do it now.’ Georgia followed Kate from the kitchen into the small sitting room of their house and watched as Kate pulled her phone from her bag.
‘Oh... I’ve got a text.’
‘From Luke?’
‘Yes...’ Kate could feel butterflies in her stomach as she opened the message. Good grief, she felt like a teenager who’d been waiting for that boy to call.
‘What does it say?’
‘That he’s having a crazy week but has a day off on Saturday and maybe I’d like to go and find a ruined castle or look for the Loch Ness monster or something.’
Georgia laughed. ‘Sounds like a perfect date.’
Kate made a face. ‘Except I’m working on Saturday.’ She shook her head. ‘This is getting silly. Maybe it’s not meant to happen.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. What were the odds of you two meeting up again on a mountaintop in the Czech Republic? It was totally meant to happen.’
Kate had to smile. ‘It was certainly unexpected.’
Maybe she should really make an effort this time. She could ask to swap her Saturday shift with one of her colleagues. More than one of them owed her the favour, in fact.
Her smile was getting wider. ‘And it was you who had the mad idea of hooking up with someone while we were there. It was the last thing I was planning on doing.’
There was something about the way Georgia shrugged and turned away that raised Kate’s suspicions. Her smile faded.
‘I’m not the only one who’s been a bit quiet since we got back. What aren’t you talking about?’
‘Nothing.’
Kate stared at her friend’s back. ‘You never did tell me where you disappeared to for so long during that party.’
The silence suddenly seemed charged.
‘Oh, my God,’ Kate breathed. ‘You did hook up with somebody. And you never told me?’
‘Wasn’t much to tell.’ Georgia’s voice sounded tight. ‘I’d rather forget about it.’
But Kate couldn’t let it go like that. ‘It can’t have been Matteo,’ she said, ‘because I saw him and asked if he knew where you were and he said he had no idea.’
Georgia’s expression suggested that Kate might have just beamed in from another planet. ‘Why would it have been Matteo?’
‘Oh, I don’t know...’ Kate’s tone was teasing. ‘Because he was gorgeous, maybe? Or because you two seemed to be getting on incredibly well?’
Georgia shrugged again. ‘I guess some people aren’t okay with casual sex. I don’t think I am any more either. It wasn’t my best idea, was it?’ She reached for the television remote. ‘Let’s see if there’s something worth watching, shall we?’
Clearly, it was time to change the subject but Kate was frowning. It wasn’t like Georgia to keep things bottled up so the experience must have been more disturbing than she was letting on. She sat down on the couch beside Georgia and gave her a quick hug.
‘It’s in the past now,’ she said. ‘And yeah...it wasn’t your best idea but you’ll know not to do it again. Are you okay? Really?’
Georgia nodded, hugging her back. ‘I’m fine. Really.’
One of their favourite dramas was on but Kate couldn’t get involved with the new plot twists. She was still worried about her friend. Worried about herself, too, if she was honest. She was one of the people who weren’t okay with the idea of casual sex herself. Not that it would be for her if she and Luke got together but, from his point of view, it would never be anything more than a friendship with benefits.
Was she setting herself up to be in a far worse position than Georgia had been left with after her ill-advised one-off encounter? Maybe calling in a favour to get the day off on Saturday wasn’t such a good idea. Given this new spin, perhaps she needed some more time to think things through. Or to let her hormones settle down or something.
She still had her phone in her hand. She hit ‘reply’.
Sorry, Luke. Working on Saturday. Let’s try again next week.
* * *
Luke Anderson loved his job with a passion but there were occasional moments when he knew he desperately needed more in his life.
Like right now. Here he was, on a lovely Saturday afternoon, when he could have been anywhere—doing anything—that had nothing to do with the surgical management of injured children. But here he was, in his office near the paediatric intensive care unit, in Edinburgh’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
It was Kate’s fault.
She hadn’t suggested trying to swap her weekend shift with someone. She hadn’t even offered a definite time that they could try again. ‘Next week’ felt vague enough to be a brush-off, albeit polite.
Perhap
s she wasn’t as keen to see him again as he was to see her?
After travelling back to Italy with Matteo and having a few days’ holiday in Milan he had been later getting back to work than Kate but he’d made his first attempt to catch up three weeks ago now and it still hadn’t happened.
With a sigh, Luke turned back to his computer screen. He had decided to prepare a case history to offer at the weekly lunch meeting next Friday, where interesting cases were presented for analysis and discussion. The little girl he’d operated on for a ruptured diaphragm and spleen was a good example of how dangerous a lap belt could be in even a relatively minor car accident and what early signs and symptoms were important to take notice of.
He’d only just set up his first slide to introduce the case when his office door burst open.
‘Oh...you are here.’ The anxious expression on the face of one of the senior nurses from PICU was morphing into relief. ‘Someone said you might be.’
‘What is it, Elise?’
‘There’s an incoming emergency. ETA about ten minutes. Eighteen-month-old boy who was climbing a table and it flipped over onto him.’
Luke’s brain engaged instantly. Where had the edge of what was probably a heavy piece of furniture landed? Did the toddler have abdominal injuries or was it his chest, neck or head that had been affected?
‘How much information do we have so far?’
‘The mother heard the crash. He was unconscious and having a seizure when the ambulance arrived.’
Elise was already leading Luke rapidly along the corridor towards the lifts. There was no question for either of them that he would take charge of this case, even if he wasn’t officially on duty.
She pushed the button to summon the lift. ‘He got to Glasgow’s Eastern Infirmary thirty minutes later with a GCS of five and was intubated.’
The thought that the Eastern Infirmary was where Kate worked was only a flash of distraction. The low GCS score indicated a level of consciousness that suggested a severe injury.
‘Investigations?’
‘There were no obvious external injuries but they noted a mild upper body cyanosis and an ultrasound revealed a pericardial effusion.’
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