‘So you aren’t an item?’ He almost barked the question, making Adele jump.
‘Well, no. No, of course not.’ She paused and looked at him again but he was staring straight ahead as by this time they had turned into the high street and he was preparing to enter the courtyard of Woolverton House. ‘Surely,’ she said incredulously, ‘you didn’t think that?’
Casey brought the vehicle to a halt and switched off the engine. ‘I didn’t know quite what to think,’ he growled.
‘But I’d told you that I’m not into relationships at the moment.’
‘I know,’ he said abruptly. ‘I suppose that was why I was surprised by tonight’s performance.’
They were silent for a while then in a small voice, Adele said, ‘I guess I’d better tell Toby that we came across as a little too convincing.’
‘Yes, maybe you had, if you don’t want staff gossip and speculation,’ Casey agreed tersely. ‘If it fooled me it will have fooled others and there’s a good chance that it might have given Toby himself a few ideas.’
Adele wanted to tell him that he was wrong on that score, that Toby certainly wasn’t interested in her, that it was Penny he wanted—but how could she when it was Casey himself who was involved with Penny? She could just imagine the ensuing scene. Casey’s reaction to the little subterfuge between herself and Toby had been bad enough, let alone what it would be like if he thought Toby was interested in Penny. She shuddered at the thought as she stepped down from the Land Rover. She would have walked straight round and entered the house but found Casey barring her way.
‘Casey…?’ she looked up at him.
‘Adele…’ he murmured.
There was something about the sound of her name on his lips that was almost Adele’s undoing, and in spite of all her previous resolutions she suddenly wanted him to take her in his arms again the way he had before. She wanted everyone else to go away—Penny, Nigel, Toby, everyone—leaving just herself and Casey here in the darkness, safe in a world of their own. And for a moment it would seem that theirs was but a single thought and of mutual intent for he took a step closer and held out his hand.
There was no telling what would have happened next for there was a slight movement behind them and Penny herself suddenly appeared out of the shadows of the doorway.
‘Hello,’ she said, her eyes on Casey. ‘I wondered where you had got to. Toby was back ages ago. He said you’d had a call-out and that Jeanette’s daughter was involved. I wondered what it was all about.’
Leaving Casey to explain, Adele fled into the house and up the stairs to her flat, suddenly unable to cope with anything else that night.
CHAPTER TEN
EXHAUSTED from the evening’s events both physically and mentally, Adele fell asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow but her dreams were troubled and she awoke suddenly to find it was only three o’clock and she’d slept for barely two hours. Turning over, she attempted to go back to sleep but was so wide awake she knew sleep was now going to be impossible.
Slipping out of bed, she padded to the kitchen, poured a glass of milk and took it back to bed where she sat for a long time going over the events of the evening. If she was honest, the aspect that had intrigued and puzzled her had been Casey’s mood, which from the moment she and Toby had arrived at the dinner party had been less than friendly and which as the evening had progressed had grown into something bordering on hostile. She’d been annoyed when he’d used the pretext of a police call-out as an excuse to get not only himself but her as well away from the party and then later he’d admitted he’d assumed that her and Toby’s pretence at togetherness had been genuine.
So had that been the reason for his surly behaviour? It had certainly seemed that way. In fact, if she hadn’t known better she would have said that he’d seemed jealous by the attention that she and Toby had been paying each other. But that was ridiculous—why would he be jealous? Irritated maybe, in view of her having told him that she wasn’t ready for another relationship, although even that didn’t give him the right to question her actions, but certainly not jealous. After all, he had Penny so why would he be jealous of someone paying her, Adele, some attention?
The only reason for that would be if he had feelings for her himself and surely there wasn’t the remotest possibility of that. Was there?
Adele shifted her position, disturbed even by the thought. They had shared those intimate moments in his flat, it was true, but surely that had been no more than him comforting her after the traumatic nature of the case they had just attended. Then again that very night there had been that moment when there had been no telling what might have happened if Penny hadn’t appeared. But the fact was, Penny had appeared and she was the woman in Casey’s life.
But, a perverse little voice persisted at the back of her mind, supposing there was no woman in his life, supposing Casey and Penny weren’t an item and he was free, what then? How would she feel if he wanted to start a relationship with her? She had been adamant that she wanted no involvement with anyone—that it was too soon following her break-up with Nigel, but that had been then, before she’d got to know Casey. What about now? Did it make a difference now that Casey had come into her life?
Somewhere deep inside she felt a quick, fierce throb of desire. There was something intensely exciting about the idea of herself and Casey being together. Then deliberately she tried to dismiss the thought. It would never happen. For a start Casey was her trainer and she couldn’t imagine that Edward or the other partners would look upon any such relationship kindly and even if they did, there was still Penny.
It always came back to Penny. Deliberately Adele set her empty glass down on her bedside table. Penny had shown her nothing but kindness ever since her arrival and she knew she could never do anything to hurt her.
All she could do in the future, she told herself firmly, was to keep Casey at arm’s length, especially if he was weak enough to believe that he could have her while he was with Penny. Was that his intention? She’d been down that road before with Nigel and it had led to nothing but heartbreak—she certainly didn’t intend letting it happen again.
In this new, resolute frame of mind she finally settled down again and attempted to go back to sleep, but just as she was on the point of dropping off an image of Penny and Casey in bed together—which, no doubt, they were—came into her mind. It tormented her so much that it was another hour before finally she slept.
It had already been decided that Adele should start taking surgeries on her own the following week. From her point of view it couldn’t have come at a better time for it would mean that she and Casey would see much less of each other. She would, of course, still be expected to report to him on a routine daily basis or if any matter arose that was beyond her capabilities, but the main part of her days would be spent alone, dealing with extra surgeries and home visits for whichever of the partners was off duty.
When she arrived in Reception in readiness for her first solo surgery on Monday morning she wasn’t surprised to find the whole place abuzz with speculation about Jeanette’s family troubles.
‘You were there, weren’t you?’ demanded Lizzie when she caught sight of Adele. ‘At the police station?’
‘Yes,’ Adele admitted guardedly. ‘I was.’
‘What did Lara look like?’
‘I should say a reason to put anyone off experimenting with drugs,’ Adele replied firmly.
‘It’s Dr Maynard I feel sorry for,’ said Cheryl. ‘She’s had nothing but worry from those kids of hers—ungrateful little devils.’
‘That’s enough,’ Mary intervened. ‘We have work to do. Dr Brooks, needless to say, Dr Maynard isn’t in this morning so if you would like to take surgery in her room.’
‘Of course.’ Adele nodded. ‘Have we heard how Lara is by the way?’
Mary nodded. ‘Yes, Rachel phoned the hospital and they said she’s stable and comfortable.’
‘Well, I guess that’s something,�
�� said Adele with a sigh. She knew she would carry in her mind for some considerable time the image of Lara lying in the police cell with her ashen face and her eyes rolling.
‘At least she’s alive,’ said Lizzie. ‘I heard on the news this morning that the police in Bath have arrested someone for the murder of that girl.’
‘I bet it was the mother’s boyfriend,’ said Cheryl. ‘He looked a nasty piece of work in those press interviews.’
‘Can we, please, get on with some work?’ pleaded Mary with a sigh of exasperation. ‘Dr Brooks, these are Dr Maynard’s notes.’
‘Thanks.’ Adele took the bundle of notes. ‘I’d better go and get started.’
It felt strange, going into Jeanette’s consulting room and preparing to take surgery on her own, but she’d barely sat down at the desk and started to read the first patient’s notes when there came a tap on the door and it opened to reveal Casey on the threshold. Her heart turned over.
‘Just thought I’d check that you’re OK,’ he said.
Briefly she allowed her eyes to meet his then at something she saw there she looked quickly away, mindful of her resolve not to encourage him in any way. ‘I’m fine, thank you,’ she replied crisply.
She was aware of an air of puzzlement about him as if he couldn’t quite fathom this new approach of hers.
‘Quite happy to go solo?’ he asked.
‘Quite,’ she replied, then in a moment of weakness added, ‘Thank you.’
‘Well, you know where I am if you need me.’ He turned and left the room.
If you need me, he’d said. She stared at the door. If only he knew. But she mustn’t let her mind go off down that avenue again. She had a surgery to take—her first solo surgery—and suddenly she was overcome by an attack of nerves as the full weight of responsibility hit her. In an attempt to overcome her fears she pressed the buzzer for her first patient.
The list was long and varied, mainly made up of Jeanette’s patients who had come expecting to see their regular GP. One or two, she gathered from the receptionists, had made other appointments when they’d found Jeanette wasn’t there, others were desperate and didn’t mind who they saw as their symptoms required immediate relief, and yet others, whose condition was neither serious nor who wanted to make other appointments, came out of sheer curiosity—perhaps in the vague hope that this new young doctor might shed fresh light on a chronic ailment.
The conditions in that first surgery ranged from a young woman suffering from frequent and painful bouts of cystitis to an elderly man with chronic bronchitis, from a child with an ear infection to a teenage girl with period pains and finally a distraught woman whose husband had just left her and their young children to set up home with her best friend.
After surgery and a quick coffee in the staffroom to steady her nerves after the anguish of her last patient, Adele took several of Jeanette’s home visits, the remainder being shared between Casey and Toby. One of these visits was up on the Bowscombe Estate, a prospect that filled Adele with apprehension. Her fears proved to be unfounded, however, for when she parked her car in front of the same seedy shopping mall which she had visited with Casey and faced the same group of youths lolling against the railings, it was to find that two of Flo Procter’s boys were part of the group. She wasn’t sure which two they were but they recognised her and when the inevitable jeers and catcalls began they intervened.
‘Leave ’er alone,’ called one of them, Robbie maybe or perhaps it was Elton. ‘She’s OK, she is. That’s Dr Brooks—she’s Casey’s bird and she saw to our Stevie.’
‘Yeah,’ said the other. ‘He were banged up but she saw he were bad and got ’im to ’ospital, didn’t you, Doc?’
‘That’s right.’ Adele managed a nervous smile, deciding not to correct the status he had bestowed on her. ‘I did. So how is Stevie now?’ she added bravely as her courage grew.
‘He’s all right,’ said the first youth. ‘He’s ’ome now. He’ll be in court soon,’ he added proudly.
‘Oh, really?’ Adele swallowed but as she walked across to the block of flats she was visiting she suddenly had a rather satisfying feeling of having been accepted by this community, partly because of having been the one to spot Stevie’s condition and partly—and she suspected the greater part—because she was Casey’s trainee. But whatever it was, it added to her confidence, leaving her with a certainty that when she emerged from the flats after seeing her patient, her car would not only still be there but would also be in one piece.
‘How did your day go?’ asked Casey later, after she had completed her second surgery and was wading through a mountain of paperwork.
‘All right—I think.’ She was exhausted but she didn’t want to let him know that.
‘Any problems?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’ She shook her head. ‘It was all pretty much routine. I’ll leave a list of notes and referrals for Jeanette to see.’ She paused. ‘Have we heard any more about Lara?’
‘She’s holding her own apparently,’ Casey replied. ‘I spoke to Jeanette earlier. She said Lara is still only semi-conscious and they won’t know if there’s been any lasting brain damage until after they’ve done a scan, which should be some time tomorrow.’
‘And the other girl?’
‘She’s OK. She was discharged from hospital last night. I just wish—’ his jaw tightened ‘—they could catch the lowlifes who supply the stuff to these kids.’ He paused. ‘Oh, by the way, did you know the police have made an arrest in connection with the murder case?’
‘Yes.’ Adele nodded. ‘They were saying something about it in Reception. Was it the mother’s boyfriend?’
‘No, that’s what people assumed but the guy they’ve arrested was a boyfriend of the girl herself—someone in his twenties who had been seeing her for some months.’
‘But she was barely fifteen,’ protested Adele as an image of the girl came into her mind as she had seen her lying beneath that makeshift tent on the edge of a rain-swept quarry.
‘I know.’ Casey took a deep breath. ‘But it bears out what I said about not jumping to the obvious conclusion.’ He paused and after a moment said, ‘Do you fancy going for a drink somewhere?’
Her immediate reaction was to say yes, that there was nothing she’d like better, but something stopped her. ‘No, thanks,’ she heard herself say. ‘I have things to do.’
That look of puzzlement was back on his face as if he simply couldn’t understand the new coolness that was suddenly between them. Then he shrugged and left her to her paperwork.
This coolness, probably imperceptible to anyone else, seemed to grow between Adele and Casey as the week progressed and Adele continued to take Jeanette’s surgeries. It saddened her that it had to be so, leaving an ache in her heart that surprisingly bore no resemblance to the ache that Nigel had left there.
And then, with no hint of warning, a chain of events began which was to change everything. It started at the end of the week during an afternoon surgery when Cheryl phoned through to ask Adele if she would see Elvira Jackson.
‘Does she have an appointment?’ asked Adele, her heart sinking at the thought of what she might be asked to deal with, given Elvira’s unpredictable nature.
‘No, she doesn’t,’ Cheryl replied. ‘She just wandered in like she always does, demanding to see a doctor. I explained that Dr Maynard isn’t here but she didn’t seem bothered. Normally I would ask Casey to see her but he’s out on a call. I can’t ask Toby because it’s been agreed that Toby doesn’t see Elvira and that only leaves Dr Fletcher or yourself. Dr Fletcher has only just started his surgery…’
‘And I’ve nearly finished,’ said Adele. ‘OK, I’ll see her. Let me see a couple more on my list then send her in.’
‘Thanks, Doctor.’ The relief in Cheryl’s voice was only too obvious.
The following two patients were routine appointments, one for a blood-pressure check and the other for a followup prescription, and as the second patient left
the room Adele pressed the buzzer, mentally bracing herself.
As on the previous occasion that Elvira had come to the surgery, she came straight into the room without knocking. She still had the same rather wild-looking appearance, with her flowing dark hair, her layers of drab grey clothing and the strange expression in those pale eyes.
‘Hello, Elvira,’ said Adele.
Elvira sank down onto a chair without answering, dumping her various bags and carriers onto the floor beside her, and as the grey knitted coat fell open Adele noticed that beneath the scarves there was a glimmer of some orange material.
‘How can I help you, Elvira?’ she asked, folding her hands together on the desk and hoping desperately that Elvira wasn’t going to demand more pregnancy tests.
‘I want you to make sure the baby’s all right,’ said Elvira.
‘The baby…?’ Adele frowned.
‘Yes. This baby.’ Elvira patted her stomach. ‘I need you to listen with one of those trumpet things.’
For a moment Adele was thrown. There was no baby, neither was there likely to be in view of what Casey had told her concerning Elvira’s infertility, but he’d also said they’d had many problems in the past with Elvira and that it was probably best to humour her. While she was still struggling over the best approach to take, Elvira stood up, picked up her bags and walked towards the examination room, tugging open the door then disappearing inside. Adele hesitated for a moment then, rising to her feet, took an obstetric trumpet from Jeanette’s cupboard and followed her. No doubt humouring her was by far the best way right now. Later maybe she could have a word with Elvira’s psychiatric social worker warning her that it seemed Elvira had another of her fixations.
Still fully clothed, Elvira had hauled herself onto the examination couch and was lying there, staring at the ceiling. As Adele approached the couch Elvira pulled aside her coat and scarves and fumbled with the silky material of her orange top. It suddenly struck Adele that the top was very similar to the one she had bought for the Fletchers’ dinner party, the one she had been unable to find either at the time or since. In fact, it was identical, with its pleated neckline edged with tiny crystal beads. No doubt Elvira had bought herself one from the same high street shop.
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