‘You’ll have to buy tickets for the ball now, Sam,’ Susanne prattled on. ‘You can’t miss the hospital’s most important event of the year. But you must bring a partner. We can’t have you dancing all by yourself, can we, Lexi?’
Lexi met Sam’s gaze with a flinty look. ‘I’m sure Mr Bailey will have no shortage of dance partners,’ she said, ‘even if he has to borrow someone else’s.’
‘I wouldn’t steal anyone who wasn’t already on the make,’ he said with an indolent smile.
Lexi felt her cheeks go red-hot but she refused to be the first to look away. She put all the hatred she could into her glare. Her whole body seemed to be trembling with it as it poured out of her like flames leaping from the top of a volcano.
Luckily Susanne had been distracted by the ringing of the phone. She was now sitting behind the reception desk, scrolling through the diary on the computer screen as she spoke to the person on the other end of line. ‘No, that should be fine,’ she said. ‘Mr Bailey is consulting in his rooms that day … Do you have a current referral from your GP? Good. Yes, I’ll squeeze you in at five-fifteen.’
Sam raised a dark brow at Lexi. ‘You want to continue this out here or take it somewhere a little more private?’
Lexi’s eyes flared and her chest heaved with impotent fury. ‘Do you really think I would come running back to you at the crook of your little finger?’ she snarled at him in an undertone. ‘I’m engaged. I’m getting married in less than three months’ time.’
His eyes pulsed mockingly as they held hers. ‘Is that little reminder for you or for me?’ he asked.
‘For you, of course,’ Lexi said, and swung away, her head high, her cheeks hot, her heart thumping and her stomach an ant’s nest of unease, for somehow, even though he hadn’t answered, she suspected he’d had the last word.
CHAPTER FOUR
SAM was still sitting at his desk, absently rolling his pen between his fingers, when Susanne announced on the intercom the arrival of Finn Kennedy, the head of department. ‘Send him in,’ he said.
The door of his office opened and a tall, imposing figure strode in. Even if he hadn’t already been aware of Finn’s history Sam was sure he would still have been able to tell he had served in the military from the imperious bearing the man exhibited. There was something about the harsh landscape of his face, the commanding air, the take-no-prisoners demeanour and the piercing but soulless blue eyes that spoke of a long career spent issuing orders and expecting them to be obeyed without question.
Brusque at the best of times and reputedly intimidating to many of the junior staff, Finn was a no-nonsense, show-no-emotion type. But Sam had often wondered if Finn’s aloofness had less to do with his personality and more to do with the fact that he had lost his brother while they had both been serving overseas. Finn never spoke of it. If he felt pain or grief or even guilt, he never showed any sign of it.
With a solid background in trauma surgery Finn had retrained to become a highly skilled cardiac surgeon. His formidable manner didn’t win him many friends amongst the staff at SHH but his reputation as a dedicated cardiac surgeon was legendary. Unlike most of his colleagues, Finn usually managed to distance his private life from the gossip network. But in the week Sam had been at SHH he had heard rumours of something going on between Finn and Evie Lockheart, Lexi’s oldest sister, who was an A and E doctor. But if the rumours were true and Finn was having an affair with Evie, judging from his crusty demeanour, it wasn’t going particularly well.
Sam rose from the behind the desk to offer him a hand but Finn waved him back down. ‘How are you settling in?’ he asked as he sat down in the chair opposite.
‘Fine, thanks,’ Sam said. ‘Everyone’s been very welcoming.’
‘Accommodation all right?’
‘Yes. Thanks for that contact,’ Sam said. ‘I’m using the same real estate firm to track down a property for me to buy.’
‘The press will want an interview,’ Finn said. ‘You OK with that?’
‘Sure,’ Sam said. ‘I’ve already spoken to a couple of journalists who’ve called. They want a photo opportunity but I’m not sure the patient I have lined up is suitable. Bella Lockheart doesn’t strike me as the outgoing type.’
Finn grunted. ‘Might be her last chance for the spotlight.’
‘I hope it’s not,’ Sam said. ‘I’d like to bring her forward on the waiting list but she’s got a chest infection. It’s a wait and see, I’m afraid.’
Nothing had showed on Finn’s face at the mention of the Lockheart name. ‘What are her chances?’ he asked.
‘She needs a transplant within in the next couple of months,’ Sam said. He left the rest of the ominous words hanging in the silence.
Still no flicker of emotion on Finn’s face.
‘We do what we can, when we can, if we can,’ Finn said. He rubbed at his arm and then, noticing Sam’s gaze, dropped his hand back down to rest along his bent thigh. ‘That rumour true about you and the other sister?’ he asked.
Sam stiffened. ‘What rumour is that?’
Finn’s penetrating gaze met his. ‘Word has it you and Lexi Lockheart had a thing going five years ago.’
Sam unlocked his shoulder to give a careless shrug. ‘We spent a bit of time together, nothing serious.’
Finn gave him a measured look. ‘Did her old man have anything to do with you switching to the US training programme?’
Sam frowned. ‘What makes you ask that?’
‘Just joining the dots,’ Finn said. ‘You and young Lexi got it on and then a couple of weeks later you were gone. Makes sense that someone had a gun to your head.’
‘The truth is I had thought of studying overseas,’ Sam said. ‘I just wasn’t planning to do it right there and then.’
Finn gave a chuckle. ‘I’d like to have seen Richard Lockheart’s face when he found out you were sleeping with his youngest daughter.’
‘It wasn’t a great moment in my life, that’s for sure,’ Sam said wryly.
‘I’m surprised he approved of her fiancé,’ Finn said. ‘I thought no one was ever going to be good enough for his baby girl.’
Sam swung his ergonomic chair back and forth in a casual manner. ‘You know much about her fiancé?’
‘Met him at a couple of hospital functions,’ Finn said. ‘Nice enough chap. Comes from bucketloads of money but he’s currently doing a stint with Volunteers Abroad. You see the rock on her finger? He made a big donation to the hospital the day the engagement was announced.’ He gave a grunt of amusement. ‘Hopefully he’ll double it once they’re married.’
Sam felt his chest tighten but he forced a smile to his lips. ‘Let’s hope so.’
‘There’s a drinks thing organised for Wednesday night at Pete’s Bar across the road for you to get to know some of the other departmental staff,’ Finn said. ‘Just another excuse for the staff to get hammered if you ask me, but you might as well put in an appearance. Half-price Wednesdays are a bit of an institution with the registrars.’
‘I got the email about it the other day,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll definitely pop my head in the door.’
Finn stood. ‘Right, then,’ he said. ‘I’m off home. It’s been a long day and tomorrow’s probably going to be no better.’
Sam stood looking out of the window once Finn had gone. The sun was sinking in the west, casting the city in a golden glow. He had missed that iconic view in the years he had been away. Just knowing it would be there waiting for him to come back had helped quell any momentary feelings of homesickness. But the view had changed, or perhaps his memory of it had.
It just wasn’t the same.
On Wednesday evening Sam had been caught up with a particularly tragic case and had spent the extra time explaining the sad prognosis to the patient and his young family.
When he came out to the reception area after dictating the letter to the patient’s GP, Susanne drew his attention to a wrapped parcel sitting on the counter. ‘That came for you a l
ittle while ago.’
‘What is it?’
‘A shirt,’ Susanne said, eyes twinkling. ‘From Lexi Lockheart.’
Sam took the package, keeping his expression blank. ‘Thank you.’
‘She said the stain didn’t come out so she bought you a new one,’ Susanne said.
Sam frowned at his receptionist’s intrigued expression. ‘She spilt coffee on it when she bumped into me,’ he explained. ‘She offered to launder it for me.’
‘A little bird told me you and Lexi dated a few years back,’ Susanne said, leaning her chin on her steepled fingers.
‘Your little bird is wrong because we never actually went out on an official date,’ he said, leafing through a pile of correspondence. ‘Our entire affair was conducted in private.’
Susanne’s pencilled eyebrows lifted. ‘I sense some angst between you,’ she said. ‘That little scene I came in on the other day …’
‘Susanne,’ Sam said sternly as he put the letters down on the desk, ‘I need you to type my letters and schedule my theatre lists and organise my diary for me. I do not need you to speculate on my private life. That is totally off-limits, understood?’
Susanne nodded obediently. ‘Understood.’
He was almost out of the door when he stopped and turned to look at her. ‘Who was the little bird?’ he asked.
Susanne made a buttoning up motion with her fingers against her mouth. ‘I promised not to tell. Guide’s honour.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ Sam muttered and left.
The bar was full and loud with the buzz of conversation and thumping music when Sam finally arrived. He wove his way through the knot of people, saying hello to those he recognised from previous introductions and stopping to greet those who introduced themselves.
Evie Lockheart was one person he remembered from his training years. But as she had been a couple of years behind him in med school they hadn’t really socialised. She moved through the crowd and offered a slim hand to him with a polite but contained smile. ‘Welcome back to SHH,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure if you remember me. I’m Evie Lockheart from A and E. You came to a trainee doctor dinner thing my father held a few years ago.’
Sam took her hand as he returned her smile. Did she also remember he’d only had eyes for her knock-’em-out-gorgeous youngest sister that night as well? And had she been a witness to the fallout Lexi had alluded to? ‘Of course I remember you,’ he said. ‘Nice to see you again.’
‘I believe you’re doing a great job of looking after my sister,’ Evie said.
‘Um … pardon?’
Evie smiled to put him at ease. ‘I understand patient confidentiality, Sam, but under the circumstances, given we’re colleagues, I think it’s OK for you to discuss Bella’s treatment with me.’
Oh, that sister, Sam thought. ‘We’re working on getting her well enough to receive a donor lung,’ he said. ‘She’s getting better but finding a match is the next hurdle.’
‘We’ve heard very good things about you,’ Evie said. ‘Mind you, my father wouldn’t have approved your appointment unless he thought you were the best.’ She gave him a hard little look. ‘Not after what happened between you and Lexi. Talk about World War Three. I thought Dad was going to disown her. I’ve never seen him so furious with her. I was very worried about her. She took it very hard.’
Sam kept his expression impassive but inside he was reeling. ‘Lexi seems very settled now,’ he said.
‘Yes,’ Evie said. ‘It’s a good match. Matthew is lovely. He’s just what Lexi needs. He comes from a very stable family.’
‘A very rich family, or so I’ve been told,’ Sam said.
‘Mega-rich,’ Evie said taking a sip of her drink. ‘But unlike some of the silver-spoon set, they’re good with it. They support a lot of charities. I think that’s why Matthew and Lexi hit it off so well. They have a lot in common.’
Sam wondered what Lexi’s fiancé would say if he found out about the tense little scene in his office the other day. Perhaps Lexi was feeling a little frisky with her man away for weeks, if not months, on end. She wasn’t the celibate type. She was far too sensual for that. Sam had all the blisteringly hot memories of her to vouch for that.
Finn sauntered over with a glass of single malt whisky in his hand. ‘So you finally managed to extricate yourself from the mother ship?’ he drawled.
‘Yes,’ Sam said. ‘It’s been one of those days. Why is the last patient of the day always the hardest?’
‘It’s always like that,’ Evie said, deliberately turning her body away from Finn as if his presence annoyed her.
Finn’s lip curled at the all too obvious snub. ‘So how is Princess Evie this evening?’ he asked.
Evie gave him an arctic glance over her shoulder. ‘There’s a new barmaid on tonight, Finn,’ she said. ‘You might want to see if she’s free later on.’
‘Maybe I’ll do that,’ Finn said with a smirk.
The air was crackling with waves of antagonism. It was pretty clear Finn and Evie had something brewing between them but Sam wasn’t sure exactly what it was. He had noticed Finn’s hand trembling slightly as he brought his drink up to his mouth. He didn’t want to think about what had caused that slight tremble. Was that what that arm rub had been about the other day? he wondered. Was that why Evie was so prickly and guarded around him? Did she suspect something but wasn’t game enough to put her name and reputation on the line in outing Finn? It was a tough gig reporting a senior colleague and most junior doctors would think twice about doing it.
Being new at SHH would make it equally difficult for Sam. He hadn’t been around long enough to be certain but even so, calling out a colleague for suspected alcohol abuse would be nothing short of career suicide. He would only do it if he had enough evidence to prove it was actually the case. There could be any number of contributing factors: extreme tiredness, for instance. He had experienced it himself after long operations and too many nights on call. His whole body had started to quake and tremble with exhaustion. Those symptoms could so easily be misconstrued, and if he was wrong it would have devastating consequences professionally.
Finn Kennedy looked like the overworked type. His piercing blue eyes were bloodshot, but the damson-coloured shadows beneath them could just as easily suggest a man who was not getting enough sleep rather than a man who was consuming too much of the demon drink. But, then, who could really know for sure?
‘You haven’t got a drink,’ Finn said. ‘What would you like?’
‘It’s OK,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll make my way over now and grab something soft.’ He smiled to encompass them both. ‘Nice to chat to you.’
Sam was soon handed a drink by one of the registrars and drawn into their circle. He did his best to answer some of the questions fired at him but the whole time he felt strangely disconnected. It was as if his body was standing there talking to the small group surrounding him but his mind was elsewhere. Lexi was just a few feet away. There was a faint trace of her perfume in the air and every now and again he could feel her gaze on him.
‘What about harvesting organs?’ one of the junior interns asked. ‘Do you have to travel to different hospitals to do that?’
‘Sometimes, but not to harvest the actual organs I will end up using,’ Sam said bringing his attention back to the group in front of him. ‘As you know, it’s impossible to transfer someone on a ventilator. It’s easier for us to go to them once the family has come to the decision of turning off life support. We notify the recipient once the match has been made and then swing into action. There’s a lot of co-ordination and co-operation between campuses.’
After a while the conversation drifted into other areas so Sam moved away from the bar to circulate some more. He had only taken a couple of strides when a cluster of people separated and he came face to face with Lexi.
There was an awkward silence.
‘Thanks for the shirt,’ Sam said gruffly. ‘But you shouldn’t have bothered.’
‘You should’ve just sent it back to me,’ he said. ‘You didn’t need to buy such an expensive replacement.’
‘It wasn’t expensive. I got it in a half-price sale.’
Another tense little silence passed.
‘You know, if you don’t want to donate a cruise on your yacht, you don’t have to,’ Lexi said with a frosty look. ‘I have plenty of other people more than happy to donate items much better than yours.’
Sam felt his back come up. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t want to donate it.’
She rolled her eyes in disdain. ‘You weren’t exactly super-enthusiastic about it.’
Sam frowned at her. ‘What did you want me to do? Cartwheels of excitement down the corridor?’
‘I didn’t even know you had a yacht.’
He threw her a cutting glance. ‘Pardon me for the oversight,’ he said. ‘Would you like a list of the things I currently own?’
She glowered at him. ‘I’ll need to inspect it at some point,’ she said. ‘I can’t allow it to be used if it’s not suitable. I have to consider the public liability issue.’
‘Fine,’ Sam said. ‘Inspect it. I’m sure you’ll find it comes up to your impeccable standards.’
‘How many people can you fit on board?’ she asked.
‘I could push it to ten but eight’s probably the max for comfort.’
‘And what sort of lunch do you plan on offering?’ she asked, looking at him in that haughty manner of hers that seemed to suggest she thought he would think a sausage wrapped in a slice of bread and a can of beer would do the job.
Sam stared at her plump, shiny mouth. He couldn’t seem to drag his gaze away. She was wearing lip gloss again. He wondered if it was the same one she used to wear. ‘Strawberries …’
A tiny frown appeared between her ocean-blue eyes. ‘Just … strawberries?’ she asked.
Sam had to give himself another quick mental slap. ‘Champagne and caviar,’ he said. ‘You know the sort of deal. Good food, fine wines, gourmet food.’
Sydney Harbour Hospital: Lexi's Secret Page 5