The Doctor's Diamond Proposal

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Alan...’ The man’s name was sewn onto his tunic, above the breast pocket. ‘Alan, I’m a doctor. Let me see your hand.’

  Leo reached for Alan’s arm but he batted him away, rocking back and forth, blood leaking from the towel that was wound around his hand.

  ‘Alan... Look at me.’ Leo put his hand on the side of Alan’s face, tipping it towards his. ‘I’m a doctor. I know it hurts, but you need to show me your hand.’

  This time, Alan didn’t resist when he reached for his arm. Gingerly, Leo unwound the towel and saw that the first phalanx of his index finger had been completely severed, leaving only a half-inch stump. Blood pulsed from the wound, dripping onto the floor.

  ‘Alan, I need you to hold your arm up.’ Leo elevated the man’s hand and Alan swore at him, moaning with pain. Finding the position of the main veins in his wrist, Leo pressed hard, and the flow of blood began to slow.

  ‘Can someone get me...?’ He looked up and saw six pairs of eyes staring blankly at him. He needed someone to help him and it didn’t look as if any of this lot were going to volunteer. Then he saw a flash of green by the door and a seventh pair of eyes, honey-brown. Alex was hurrying towards him.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ‘I NEED SOME water and plenty of gauze. Put a pair of gloves on first. And be careful—there’s blood on the floor; don’t slip on it.’

  Leo bit his tongue. Alex worked at the hospital, she knew all about procedures for blood spillage. But he couldn’t help saying it.

  ‘Already seen it,’ she reproved him gently and turned towards the medical box. Collecting what he’d asked for, she scooped up the hem of her dress, picking her way carefully across the blood-spattered floor and laying a basin of water and a large wad of gauze down next to him.

  ‘Thanks. I’ll need a small bandage in a moment.’ Leo set about cleaning as much of the blood off Alan’s hand as he could, and then packed the gauze around what was left of his finger. Then he ran out of hands. This was the trouble with medicine outside a hospital or surgery; he always seemed to get to the point when two hands wasn’t enough.

  ‘Here, let me.’ Alex was there, the hem of her dress gathered in a makeshift knot at the side, to keep it out of the way. She bent over, winding the bandage over the gauze to keep it in place, and secured it with a safety pin.

  Leo carefully relaxed his grip on Alan’s wrist. Good. He didn’t want to use a tourniquet unless absolutely necessary, and it looked as if the bleeding was stopping now.

  Alan was quieter now and Leo turned to him, trying to give a little reassurance. ‘You’re doing really well. The ambulance will be here soon and we’ll get you something for the pain...’

  ‘Where is it?’ Alan was looking round, trying to get up now, and Leo pressed him gently backwards. Now that the bleeding was dealt with, he could think about finding the finger. But he needed to stay here with Alan.

  And he wasn’t quite sure how Alex might react to being asked to find a missing body part. But the one thing he did know was that just assuming she couldn’t do it without even mentioning it would hurt her even more.

  He smiled at her. ‘Tough question. For me to ask, that is...’

  She grinned back. ‘I know. Easy answer for me...’ She laid her gloved hand on the side of Alan’s face and his gaze focused on hers. ‘Alan, I’m going to find your finger. Can’t have you going off to the hospital without it, eh?’

  ‘Please...’ Alan tried to move again but she shook her head.

  ‘It’s okay. You need to stay here and do what the doctor tells you. I’ll find it.’

  No one could have resisted the warmth of her smile, the reassuring certainty of her tone. Even Leo felt better. Alan relaxed back against the wall with a small nod, and Alex got to her feet.

  ‘Can you see if you can find something to splint the hand with first?’ Alan was still moving fitfully and he should keep his hand as still as possible.

  She nodded, opening a couple of drawers and pulling out a flat wooden spatula. ‘This do?’

  ‘That’s perfect.’

  Alex delivered the spatula and another bigger bandage to him and Leo set about immobilising Alan’s hand. When he glanced up again, Alex was standing at the counter top, moving the bloodstained knife carefully out of the way and sorting through the pile of peelings and chopped vegetables.

  A slight shake of her head told Leo that it wasn’t there, and he hoped that it hadn’t rolled onto the floor. He’d been watching where he put his feet, but there had obviously been a bit of panic in here when the accident first happened. Alex was obviously thinking the same thing because she stopped, standing still, looking carefully around her.

  Then she moved, one step towards the sink, and reached in. ‘Got it. It’s got some vegetable peelings on it.’

  ‘Okay, get as much as you can off, but don’t put it under water. Leave anything that isn’t easy to remove for the surgeon at the hospital. Then wrap it with some moist gauze.’

  She followed his instructions and then looked in the medical box, breaking open a plastic bag and tipping the contents back into the box. Alex slid the precious gauze-wrapped package into the bag, securing it carefully with some plaster.

  ‘Great. Now the ice, but make sure it’s not in contact with any tissue.’ Leo decided not to say finger. Alan was calmer now and he didn’t want to upset him any further.

  ‘Gotcha.’ She walked over to the fridge and found a bag of crushed ice. Tearing it open, she tipped half into the sink and then put the package with Alan’s finger in it carefully into the bag, packing the ice around it and resealing the top.

  She walked back over to them and bent down next to Alan. ‘Here, I’ve got it. It’s undamaged and on ice.’

  ‘They’ll be able to sew it back on?’ Alan reached for the bag and Alex caught his hand, allowing him to touch it but not grab hold of it.

  ‘There’s a good chance they will.’ She curled her hand over Alan’s. ‘They’ll have to make an assessment, but these days the surgeons can do what seems like the impossible. We’ve done all the right things, and they’ll explain everything to you when you get there.’

  It was just the right mix of truth and reassurance. And there was no trace in her manner of the stark truth that the surgeons hadn’t been able to do the impossible for her. He’d never met anyone who was quite so generous with hope as Alex was.

  ‘Thank you... What’s your name?’

  ‘Alexandra.’ The use of her full name seemed just right at this moment. Something beautiful, a reassurance to Alan that even now there was time to appreciate the extra syllables.

  ‘P...pretty name.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Alan moved restively and Alex caught hold of the bag a little tighter, steadying it without taking it away from him. ‘I know it hurts. The paramedics will be here soon and they’ll be able to give you something for the pain.’

  Voices and movement at the other side of the kitchen confirmed her statement, almost as if she’d magicked them. A paramedic walked towards them.

  ‘Not much for us to do here, then?’ His practised eye took in Alan’s bandaged hand and the bag of ice.

  Leo supervised the administration of pain relief and Alan was settled into a portable wheelchair. Alex entrusted the bag to the paramedic’s care and gave Alan a little wave and a brilliant smile as he was wheeled out.

  ‘How do you do that?’ Alex had turned to him.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Look at you.’ She gazed at his shirt, inspecting it carefully. ‘You have one tiny spot on your sleeve, but apart from that you’re as clean as a whistle.’

  Leo laughed. ‘I worked in A&E for a while, when I was training. You get an instinct for avoiding all kinds of spatter.’

  ‘And there was me thinking that you’d picked the knack up from your tail
or.’ She giggled.

  ‘Nah. He’d be delighted if I went through a few more shirts. Better for business.’ Leo stripped off his gloves, throwing them into the bag he’d put to one side for the bloodstained towel and dressings, and Alex followed suit. He walked over to a sink at the far end of the room, lathering his hands with liquid soap.

  Suddenly she was next to him, holding her fingers under the tap. He tipped a little of the soap onto her hand, working it round with his fingers, expecting her to draw away from him at any moment, but she didn’t. She just stayed still, her face tilted downwards so that he could only see the top of her head, allowing him to lace his fingers with hers then rub her palms and the back of her hands.

  If he’d strayed over the line, made a touch into a caress, Leo felt sure that she would have drawn back. But in his head he was way past practical, heading through sensual at breakneck speed and making for sexual. Before thoughts turned into actions, he reached for the dispenser, putting a paper towel into her hands.

  Letting his gaze trace her arms and ankles wasn’t sexual either. It was strictly practical. ‘You’ve got a smudge on your leg...there.’

  ‘Oh...my prosthesis...’ She leaned over to scrub the dried blood with the paper towel, but her dress seemed to have other ideas, choosing this moment to slip from the knot she’d tied to keep it clear of her ankles. She grappled with it, pulling it away from her legs.

  ‘Here...’ Leo put his hands tentatively around her waist and she didn’t wriggle free, so he lifted her, perching her up on the counter top. She pulled her dress up, exposing her knees.

  ‘Some soap and water...’ She bent down, removing the prosthesis and examining it, the remaining part of her leg covered with a thin white sock and hanging unnoticed.

  She’d talked about practically every issue that she faced in front of him, and he’d seen amputees remove a prosthesis many times before. But, watching her now, he was no doctor. He was her date for the evening, someone that she’d dressed up for. It was warming that Alex seemed to trust him on that level too.

  ‘I’ll get it...’ He pulled one of the towels from the dispenser and dribbled some soap and water into it. She held the prosthesis away from her dress and he wiped the blood away, making sure that there was no mark left on the silicone skin-toned covering.

  ‘That’s it... Oops, no, there’s some on my shoe.’ She unbuckled the pretty silver sandal and examined the dark stain covering the inside of the sole. There was a corresponding smear on the heel of her prosthesis, and Leo wiped that away.

  ‘Rhona’s going to kill me.’ She was balancing the prosthesis on her lap.

  ‘They’re hers?’

  Alex nodded. ‘Yep. Four ninety-nine from the market. She sprayed them silver...’ She ran her nail along the straps and silver paint flaked off onto the floor.

  ‘We’ll get her another pair. I think I can spare four ninety-nine.’

  ‘No, we can’t. She got them from some stall that does recycled stuff. They’re a one-off.’

  ‘We’ll think of something. Do you want to go? The evening’s probably winding down by now.’ And Leo couldn’t bear to give her up to the other people in the room. Not now.

  ‘Yes. I’m ready to go now.’

  ‘Okay. Take your other sandal off.’

  ‘Why—is that stained too?’ She swung her leg up to inspect her foot.

  ‘No.’ Leo leaned in close, planting his hands on the counter on either side of her. ‘But there are three public relations options here.’

  ‘As many as that?’ The subtle curve of her lips in an otherwise solemn expression told Leo that she was teasing him.

  ‘Yep. If I carry you out of here and into the car—’

  ‘What would you want to do that for?’

  ‘Because if you put your shoe back on you’ll stain your heel. And you can’t go barefoot over the gravel in the car park.’ She pressed her lips together, nodding. ‘So I can carry you out and everyone will think you’re a poor thing who can’t walk. I don’t think we’ll go for that option.’

  ‘No.’ She grinned. ‘I don’t think we will.’

  ‘Or...they can think that I’m sweeping you off for a night of passion and I can’t keep my hands off you.’ At that moment, that sounded pretty much perfect to Leo.

  ‘No. Probably not...’

  She was right, of course. ‘Or...you hold your stained shoes in your hand, and everyone thinks I’m just carrying you because you can’t wear them.’

  She nodded. ‘Wisest choice, I think.’

  ‘We’ll go for that one then. Where’s your evening bag?’

  ‘I left it with that terribly important, terribly nice man. His wife’s looking after it for me.’

  ‘Right. I’ll go and fetch that, and our coats, and make sure they’re sending someone up to clean up this mess.’ He let his hand stray to her right leg, brushing her knee with his fingers. ‘Will you wait for me here? I won’t be long.’

  She grinned. ‘That’s fine. I’ll yell if I need you.’

  Leo made a show of rolling his eyes. She was more than enchanting. And they’d broken through a barrier. Alex’s independent streak usually made her cautious about taking help, but she’d let her guard down with him tonight.

  He turned away from her, pulling the sleeves of his shirt down and refastening his cufflinks before he put his jacket back on.

  ‘Wait...’ She beckoned him back over and she reached up, untying his bow tie and leaving it to drape around his neck, then unbuttoning the top button of his shirt.

  ‘And what’s that for?’

  ‘If we’re worried about how things look, then I think you should seem a little less neat. You can’t battle for someone’s life with your tie done up.’

  ‘It’s practical. Keeps it out of the way.’ He grinned at her.

  ‘Yes, I know, but we’re thinking image here.’ She reached forward, flipping open the second button on his shirt, and Leo felt a tingle run down his spine. ‘That’s much better. Makes you look very dashing.’

  * * *

  Leo was back in less than five minutes, accompanied by the hotel’s cleaning crew. He did look enormously dashing.

  He didn’t just look the part. He’d saved her from the monstrous blue and black dresses in the ladies’ room, and made her feel as if she was beautiful. If he hadn’t saved Alan’s life, he’d come pretty close to it and sent him off to hospital strong enough to undergo the complex surgery needed to reattach his finger.

  He leaned across, gathering her up in his arms. ‘You’re heavier than you look.’

  ‘Muscle weighs more than fat. You must be weaker than you look.’ He was having no trouble carrying her at all. She picked up her sandals from the counter top and curled the other arm around his neck.

  ‘Door...’

  She reached down for the door handle, pulling it open, and he manoeuvred through and along the concrete floor of the corridor, setting her back on her feet when they reached the carpeted area in the lobby. Smiling at the group who had gathered in the lobby, ready to go, he caught sight of Justin and shook his hand. A hotel employee was waiting with their coats and her bag and walked towards the entrance doors.

  ‘Leo...’ The woman in the blue dress had appeared suddenly from nowhere and was making determinedly for him.

  ‘Clara. Nice to see you. Be a darling and get the door for me, would you.’

  Leo swung back to face Alex, grim satisfaction burning in his eyes as he picked her up again. This wasn’t one of Leo’s charming jokes; he’d meant to put Clara firmly in her place.

  Her dress brushed against Clara’s arm as he whisked her through the door and out into the night. The cold air made her shiver, and she instinctively clung a little tighter to him.

  For once, Leo was tight-lipped and silent, almos
t as if he’d been hurt by Clara’s remarks as much as she had. ‘It doesn’t matter, Leo. She’s not important.’

  ‘Yeah.’ He didn’t sound all that convinced. ‘Car keys. In my pocket.’

  She made a bit more of a meal of feeling in his jacket pocket than she strictly needed to, and Leo finally smiled. ‘Stop that. Or I’ll throw you over my shoulder.’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  TWENTY MINUTES ON the motorway and then they started to meander along narrow roads, through pretty villages. Then he turned off the road entirely, the car bumping slightly on a muddy track. To the left of them, the moon reflected in a long, shimmering trail across a stretch of dark water.

  ‘Oh, look, Leo. Is it a full moon?’

  ‘Tomorrow, I think.’

  ‘Your house is near here?’ She couldn’t see any buildings ahead of them, just fields.

  ‘Over there.’ He pointed across the water and Alex saw the shadow of a house, nestling amongst the trees, overlooking the millpond. There must be a bridge up ahead of them.

  But he slowed the car, backing it onto an area of hardstanding which was surrounded on three sides by stone-built walls and covered over by a small pitched roof. He got out, walking to the back of the parking space, and suddenly she was in wonderland.

  Lights led all the way to the building. Along a paved path to a bridge, which stretched across the mouth of the stream that fed into the millpond. Across the bridge and then up a sharp incline, with steps set into it, to the front door of a solid two-storey timber-framed house.

  The only way to get there was to walk. Alex had her trainers packed in her bag, ready for tomorrow, along with her sports leg. But suddenly the idea of being carried across, snuggling in Leo’s arms as the night breeze caught her dress, seemed unbearably tempting.

  He walked around the car, opening her door. ‘You can walk, can’t you?’

  ‘Yes. I just need my trainers from my bag.’

  He nodded. Without a word, he lifted her out of the car, settling her in his arms. She curled her arm around his neck, feeling his warmth.