‘Is there anything I can do, Mike?’ asked Claire anxiously.
‘Er…no, I don’t think so,’ he replied vaguely. ‘I just thought I’d let you know what’s happening. I’ll ring you again this evening…’
‘Yes, all right, Mike.’
‘Goodbye, then,’ he said.
‘Bye, Mike,’ she replied. ‘Oh, and, Mike,’ she said, ‘I love you.’
‘Oh, yes,’ he replied, as if that was the last thing on his mind. Given the circumstances, it probably was. ‘Yes, I love you, too.’ Then he was gone and for a long while Claire sat gazing at the phone. Did she love him? Or had she just lied because she felt sorry for him and wanted to make him feel better? She really didn’t know. All she did know was that if she’d found herself in these same circumstances before going to Italy she would have had no hesitation in answering her own questions but now, because of Dominic, everything had changed and she simply didn’t know any more.
With a sigh she pressed the buzzer for her first patient of the day—a woman in her fifties who was being treated by Richard for symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety as a result of taking on too many of the problems of her children, grandchildren and elderly parents. It was not Claire’s job to offer solutions to these problems but to listen as the patient talked them through in the hope that she herself might recognise where the difficulties were and in talking about them might be able to see where she could make changes.
That first session lasted a full hour and after it had finished Claire spent a further half-hour entering up notes before sending for her second patient of the morning. This was a young man for whom the demands of his job had simply become too much. He had moved his wife and young family into what he had hoped was a nicer, more rural area but had underestimated the devastating effects that commuting to his job in the city would have on him. He was getting up at five in the morning and not returning home until between eight and nine in the evening. He had coped well to start with, but as he had seen less and less of his wife and children inevitably the strain had started to take effect. He had begun to suffer from insomnia and appetite problems and eventually Dr Bridget Smedley had prescribed antidepressants. In the few sessions he’d had with Claire she had encouraged him to talk things through and see if there was the possibility of adopting an alternative lifestyle to ease his burden.
After this patient had left, Claire was entering up his notes when there came a tap on the door and Dominic entered the room. Her heart turned over, as it invariably did whenever she caught sight of him.
‘Dominic,’ she said, trying to keep her voice steady, ‘I’m in the middle of a clinic.’
‘I know,’ he replied calmly, ‘I just wanted to see if you were all right.’
‘Yes,’ she said, avoiding his gaze, ‘I’m perfectly all right. Why shouldn’t I be?’
‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged. ‘I heard about Mike’s son…and I just wondered, that’s all. When did it happen?’
‘When I was out with you,’ she replied. She allowed her eyes to meet his. ‘I feel dreadful about it.’
‘Why should you?’ He frowned. ‘It was hardly your fault.’
‘I know, but Mike rang me, thinking I would be at home. He wanted me to pick Emma up…’
Dominic stared at her. ‘Well, you weren’t to know what was going to happen for heaven’s sake,’ he said, and there was a touch of exasperation in his tone. ‘After all,’ he went on, ‘he was the one to stand you up, he can hardly expect you to sit around—’
‘He didn’t stand me up,’ she declared hotly.
‘No?’ he said, raising his eyebrows. ‘From where I was standing, it certainly sounded like it.’
‘Well, he didn’t,’ said Claire flatly. ‘He simply phoned to say that something had cropped up—Stephen’s rugby game—and that he couldn’t make it after all.’
‘So once again you came second to his family.’ Dominic’s tone of voice had changed, becoming quieter, but what he had said suddenly angered Claire, probably because deep down she knew what he was saying was the truth.
‘I told you—this sort of thing happens,’ she said sharply. ‘But I accept it. I knew about Mike’s family right from the start.’
‘Well, you may have accepted it, but I’m finding it very difficult to do so,’ said Dominic. ‘I might have found it easier if I was utterly convinced that you loved Mike and he loved you, but I’m not.’
‘I’m sorry, Dominic, but that’s your problem,’ she said tightly, feeling her voice begin to rise and her cheeks growing warm. ‘After all, I didn’t ask you to come here.’
‘No,’ he agreed, his voice as tight as hers now. ‘No, you didn’t, and I’m beginning to wonder now exactly why I did.’ With that he turned on his heel and strode from the room leaving Claire angrily glaring after him. What was it about this man, for heaven’s sake? He either reduced her to a quivering wreck or made her so angry she wanted to scream. Thank goodness no one at the Hargreaves Centre knew about Italy and the devastating consequences of their previous meeting.
Somehow she struggled through the remainder of her clinic until at lunchtime she took herself off to the staffroom. Penny was already in the room, talking to Sara and Carrie as they ate their lunch, but as Claire collapsed in a heap into an armchair the two receptionists stood up and left the room.
‘Tell me.’ Claire turned to Penny as the door shut behind the two girls. ‘What’s the matter with those two? Is it something I’ve said? They were the same this morning when I came into Reception.’
‘I think,’ said Penny, eyeing her with speculation, ‘it’s more something you’ve done than what you’ve said.’
‘But what?’ wailed Claire. ‘I wish someone would tell me. I can’t think of anything…’ Suddenly the tensions of the past twenty-four hours threatened to overwhelm her completely.
‘Not even going out with a certain dishy locum?’ asked Penny.
Claire stared at her. ‘Going out with…? I didn’t—’ she began, but Penny cut her short.
‘You were seen, Claire,’ she said. ‘Jo McMasters saw you last night in that new wine bar with our Dr Hansford.’
‘But…but…’ Desperately she floundered around for a plausible explanation. ‘It was only a spur-of-the-moment thing,’ she said at last, ‘a chance meeting. He hadn’t eaten and neither had I. There was nothing in it, for heaven’s sake!’
‘That’s not what Jo said,’ said Penny. ‘She said that the two of you were tucked away in a little corner enjoying a meal and that you seemed to be very intimate…’
‘We were not intimate!’ protested Claire, only too horribly aware that not only had her cheeks flushed but that Penny had seen it and was staring at her with interest.
‘Well,’ Penny said with a shrug, ‘whatever. But that’s what Jo said and you know what those girls are like. And let’s face it, where Dominic Hansford is concerned…Why, from the moment he set foot in the place,’ she went on, ‘they’ve been vying with each other for his attention and they’ve even had this ridiculous wager going on about which one of the three of them he would ask out first.’
‘So that’s why they are all so off with me,’ said Claire with a sigh.
‘Yes.’ Penny grinned. ‘What they are saying is that it’s grossly unfair because you’ve already bagged one doctor and, not content with that, here you are after another!’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake!’ said Claire. ‘I am not after another! Really, I can’t have them going around saying things like that.’
Penny stood up. ‘So shall I put them straight, then?’ she said. ‘I’m going down to Reception now.’
‘Yes,’ said Claire. ‘Yes, please. You can tell them there’s nothing whatsoever between me and Dominic Hansford, that last night was a one-off, and as far as I’m concerned they can keep right on with their bets and their wagers and may the best girl win!’
After Penny had gone Claire found she was shaking. She really couldn’t imagine how it had al
l come to this. If only Dominic hadn’t come to the Hargreaves Centre, she told herself angrily, she wouldn’t be faced with all these heart-wrenching situations. But the fact was he had come and she knew she had no alternative but to simply get on with things, difficult as that might be.
During the next few days tensions seemed to settle down somewhat. The receptionists—no doubt put right by Penny—relaxed and once again began their relentless pursuit of the new locum in the hope that he would eventually notice one of them. Dominic, for his part, seemed oblivious to these ploys and secretly Claire was pleased. She knew she had no right to expect him not to ask anyone else out, but she wasn’t at all certain how she would cope with it if he were to do so, especially if it was a colleague. She dreaded the thought of having to see him with someone else and having to witness a romantic relationship unfold in front of her eyes. That it would happen eventually she had little doubt—no one could reasonably expect a man such as Dominic to remain free, unattached and celibate for any length of time. And while she was the one who could change that situation—for he had made that fact plain on more than one occasion—she also knew she was powerless to do so.
Mike was in such a fragile and vulnerable position Claire knew she could not do anything that might in the slightest way add to his distress. He continued to spend the best part of each day at the hospital at his son’s bedside while he and Jan and Emma waited to see the results of the many tests the boy had undergone. Claire herself didn’t return to the hospital again, feeling her presence there would simply be an intrusion, speaking instead to Mike each evening on the phone. Somehow his partners and the rest of the staff coped with the increased workload that his absence had created.
But for Claire the most difficult aspect of those days was the coolness that had sprung up between herself and Dominic since the heated words they had exchanged on the morning after Stephen’s accident. He made no further attempt to come to her flat and no longer sought her out at work. When they did meet he was polite but cool and rather distant, and while this was precisely the way she had indicted that things should be between them, inside her heart was breaking. And at night when she was alone it was agony because in those lonely, dark, small hours before dawn she was forced to confront her demons and to admit that deep down in her heart she knew she loved Dominic.
There was no telling how long things might have carried on in this way if something hadn’t happened which was to change everything.
It was towards the end of the week, when Claire was taking a clinic for Dominic and had just seen the last patient. ‘Everything all right, Sister Schofield?’ asked Dominic, inspecting the dressing she had just applied.
Still there was that coolness in his tone that almost tore Claire apart, but she knew there was nothing she could do to change it. Any sign of weakening on her part might be seen by him as encouragement, and she couldn’t risk that happening because she knew if it did there was a very good chance that she might not be able to resist him for a second time. ‘Everything is fine, Dr Hansford,’ she replied briskly. ‘Would you sign the prescriptions, please, while I finish here?’
‘Of course.’ As he turned away to sign the patients’ prescriptions the treatment-room phone suddenly rang.
Claire picked up the receiver. ‘Hello?’ she said.
‘Oh, Claire.’ It was Sara, and Claire allowed herself a rueful smile at the girl’s friendly tone—a far cry from a few days previously when she had suspected that Claire and Dominic might be an item. ‘Have you finished your clinic?’
‘Almost,’ Claire replied with a quick glance at Dominic, who was still signing prescription forms. ‘Why, do you have someone else for me?’
‘Not exactly,’ Sara replied. ‘But there is someone here in Reception to see you.’
‘All right, Sara,’ Claire replied. ‘I’ll be out in a moment. Do you know who it is?’
‘No, they didn’t say, but I don’t think they are registered here.’
‘All right.’ Claire replaced the receiver and after Dominic had given the forms to their patient she helped the woman to her feet and escorted her to the door.
‘I have to go to Reception,’ she said to Dominic. ‘Apparently there is someone waiting to see me.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Dominic. ‘I need the girls to search for some records for me.’
Together they left the treatment room and in silence walked down the corridor to Reception. Claire’s heart was heavy and suddenly she longed for the old easy way there had been between them but which now seemed to have disappeared for ever.
Afterwards she found it difficult to remember the exact sequence of events because the element of surprise was so total, but at the time as she and Dominic entered Reception she remembered seeing that Mike was there. She imagined he must have come in briefly maybe to simply touch base and pick up his mail. All the reception staff were there also, busily tidying up after the morning surgeries, and Penny was there, talking to Christopher as he sorted out his house calls.
Claire turned to the waiting area to see who it was who was waiting to see her and there, sitting there side by side, looking almost exactly as they had done in Italy, in floral-printed, summer dresses and white cardigans, were Dorothy and Evelyn.
The shock was so great that momentarily Claire was speechless and it was Sara who spoke first. ‘Claire,’ she called, leaning over the desk, ‘these ladies have come to see you. One of them says you helped to save her life in Italy…’ She trailed off as it became apparent that no one was listening to her. Claire had moved forward as if in a dream. Evelyn had risen to her feet and, reaching out, clasped both of Claire’s hands in hers, but it was from her sister Dorothy that the loud cry of surprise came.
‘Dominic!’ she cried, and everyone in reception turned towards them. ‘Dr Hansford!’ Excitedly Dorothy turned to her sister. ‘Evelyn,’ she said, ‘look who’s here! We didn’t expect this, did we? We knew you worked here, Claire…’ she turned to Claire ‘…because May told us, but we had no idea we would find Dominic here as well.’
‘Well!’ Evelyn turned from Claire to Dominic, her face flushed with pleasure. ‘That’s wonderful! Now we can thank both of you!’ She turned towards the desk where Sara and the other receptionists were staring open-mouthed, where Mike had paused in what he was doing to look in mild surprise at the little group in the waiting area and where Penny had stopped in mid-sentence in her conversation with Christopher and was staring at Claire with an expression on her face which implied that the last piece of a puzzle which had previously eluded her had finally fallen into place.
‘Do you know,’ said Evelyn to everyone in general, blissfully unaware of the impact that their visit was causing, ‘if it hadn’t been for these two wonderful people in Italy I wouldn’t be here today—and I’m not the only one either,’ she went on when no one spoke, ‘because, I can tell you, there are several others who owe their lives to them as well.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘SO, ARE you going to tell me what this is all about?’
It was later, much later, and Penny had come into the treatment room where Claire was alone and had shut the door behind her.
‘I don’t really know where to begin,’ said Claire helplessly. The afternoon seemed to have passed in a sort of blur since that heart-stopping moment in Reception and she was still feeling rather disorientated. She and Dominic had taken Dorothy and Evelyn to the staffroom where they had given them tea and biscuits before the two sisters had carried on their journey to Guildford where they were to look up an old school friend.
‘It seemed too good an opportunity to miss, being so close to the Hargreaves Centre,’ Dorothy had said. ‘We so wanted to see you again and to say thank you.’
Claire doubted they would ever know the havoc they had caused.
‘How about starting at the beginning?’ said Penny now.
‘You mean in Italy when Dominic and I first met?’ asked Claire wearily. All she had really wanted to
do was to go home, go to bed and pull the duvet over her head, shutting out everything—the expressions on the receptionists’ faces, surprise turning to suspicion as the truth became apparent, the bewilderment on Mike’s face, and the prospect of all the questioning and explaining she knew lay ahead. Maybe, though, Penny was a good place to start. Penny was her friend and hopefully would be on her side.
‘Yes,’ said Penny, ‘if you like. But one thing first, something that is really bugging me.’
‘Yes?’ Claire gave a little sigh, knowing only too well what was coming.
‘Why didn’t you let on that you knew Dominic when he first came to the centre?’ asked Penny curiously.
‘I couldn’t.’ Claire shook her head.
‘But why not?’ Penny frowned.
‘Because of Mike,’ said Claire simply.
Penny stared at her for a long moment. ‘Ah,’ she said at last, ‘are you saying what I think you’re saying?’
‘Yes, Penny.’ Claire briefly closed her eyes. ‘I guess I am.’
‘So maybe Jo McMasters wasn’t so far off the mark after all with what she saw in the wine bar.’ When Claire remained silent Penny took a deep breath. ‘OK,’ she said at last, ‘let’s go back to the beginning again. Did you get to know him before the earthquake or was it because of the earthquake?’
‘Well,’ Claire said consideringly, ‘sort of before, but then afterwards, of course, the earthquake changed everything.’
‘Tell me about before,’ said Penny.
‘We were staying at the same hotel.’
‘Did he chat you up?’ Penny was half smiling now and as Claire remembered the scene by the Trevi fountain she suddenly felt indignant.
‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘of course not!’
‘So he didn’t fancy you, or you him—not even just a little bit?’ Penny’s gesture between her thumb and forefinger indicated a tiny amount.
‘Well…I don’t know really,’ Claire floundered, then with a deep sigh she said, ‘I suppose if I’m honest, I found him attractive from the very beginning.’
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