Major Surgery

by Lola Keeley

  Millie the estate agent greets them both like old friends, even though she and Cassie have only spoken on the phone twice. Veronica shakes her hand her warmly, picking up the small talk effortlessly. No, she and Angela clearly didn’t get back together; Danny’s doing great in school, thanks, secondary already.

  “So this place is actually a bit of a steal.” Millie leads them around the side of the house, to where the upper flat has its own entrance. “I crunched the numbers you gave me, Cassie, and we’ve already got interest on your Swindon pad.”

  “You do?” Cassie wasn’t expecting that. “Wow, I mean that’s great. It takes a lot of pressure off if that’s already underway.”

  “You keeping the Maida Vale place, then, Veronica?” Millie asks, unlocking the door with one of a few dozen keys on one big ring, like a school janitor. “In case this one doesn’t work out?”

  “What?” Cassie mutters, but no one seems to hear her.

  Veronica hesitates before answering. “Well, we don’t strictly need it in play just yet. Wanted to see what’s out there before selling both our places. Cassie’s just back from such long service abroad; have to wait and see if she can really acclimatise.”

  “Yes, she did mention the army doctor thing. Terribly hot, if you don’t mind me saying, eh?” Millie actually winks at Cassie, who would be more flustered if she weren’t massively confused.

  Why is Veronica going along with the misunderstanding that they’re together? Someone should say something, or Millie is going to get entirely the wrong idea.

  “Now, Millie.” Veronica is off again. “Let’s save you a bit of work and do the wandering ourselves, then you can give us the nitty gritty once Cassie has a feel for the place.”

  That sounds close to perfect. Cassie’s been dreading a morning of people jabbering at her, trying to feign interest in taps and door handles or whatever the hell is supposed to be the difference between once place and another. Structural integrity, plenty of light, a relatively blank canvas—that’s all she wants. It might be nice after all these years to go to a home-décor sort of place and get as enthused about tiles and paint colours as other people seem to, but Cassie doesn’t see that happening.

  Clean, bigger than a tent, and much less drafty. This place fits the bill on those fronts already. Although the building is quite modest from the street, whoever revamped it had an eye for space and angles. She quite fancies herself the esteemed surgeon in a place like this, with its skylights and white walls. The floors are stripped back, no evidence of whoever lived here before.

  “Right, you go left, I’ll go right. Meet you back in the hall once we’ve done a full circuit,” Veronica says, always happiest issuing orders.

  Cassie supposes she’s just glad someone knows what the hell she’s doing.

  She only makes it from the living room to the kitchen before Millie follows along.

  “Been together long?”

  “Not…really. I’ve only been back a matter of months.”

  “I see. That’s why you’ve been tackling the house solo, hmm? Keep it all in your name in case it doesn’t have legs?”

  Cassie feels faintly offended on Veronica’s part. Then considers her legs, which are quite spectacular, frankly. That’s distraction enough for Millie to pounce.

  “Should it fizzle out, here’s my card. Always had a thing for a lady in uniform.” She’s still holding it out when Veronica appears in the doorway, causing Cassie to grab at it, no doubt looking completely guilty in the process.

  “No good, I’m afraid,” Veronica says. “The bathroom is just…yikes. Not worth the amount of work it would take to redo. I mean, have a look for yourself, of course…”

  “No, you’re the expert,” Cassie says, darting across the room to join her. “Second place a bit better on that front?”

  “Well, yes, it’s a newer build. Quite modern from top to bottom,” Millie says, trying to duck Veronica’s glare. “It’s just one street over, so I’m going to leave the car here.”

  “We’ll follow along, let you get it opened up,” Cassie decides. “We’ll meet you there. Number 53, was it?”

  Millie doesn’t look pleased about that either. “Yes. Well, don’t take too long. I do have other appointments this morning.”

  Doubtful, since it’s already coming up on half past eleven, but Cassie steers Veronica downstairs and out. St John’s Wood was the closest decent area to the hospital within her budget, and Cassie has pored over maps in the past twenty-four hours to get a feel for it.

  Veronica still looks faintly annoyed when they make it out onto the street.

  “You okay?” Cassie asks.

  “You know, if you’re on the trawl for dates as well as a place to live, I can always go home.”

  “What?”

  “I saw Millie put the moves on you, even though she thinks we’re together. Always been an incorrigible flirt, that one.”

  “Okay, I’m not the one who implied we were house hunting for our new love nest, so hold on a minute.” Cassie doesn’t understand what she’s supposed to have done wrong here. “Look, let’s just get this other place ticked off, and then we can have a much nicer time getting lunch than staring at skirting boards.”

  “Yes, well.” Veronica straightens up and starts walking off. A moment later she calls out for Cassie to follow, because she’s heading the wrong way. “Nice neighbourhood, at least.”

  “Not bad.” Cassie looks around, this street far more residential with its large family homes. She could be anywhere, honestly. “I’m not sure modern is going to suit me, exactly. We’ll see.”

  But when she sets eyes on the place, with its For Sale sign only just being posted in the small front garden, Cassie is already halfway to sure. It’s one of those eco-friendly builds, with special wood panelling that’s all specially sourced, and lots of glass everywhere. It would never stand up to roadside explosions, and that’s something she instantly loves about it. She’s done her time behind concrete and steel, in darkened bunkers with lights down low to avoid attention.

  Millie seems to have forgiven them, opening up the house and letting Cassie stroll across the hall, trying to take it all in.

  “You know, this might be just the thing,” she says, not sure who’s actually listening. Lots of open-plan spaces, privacy from high hedges all around the sides and back. The floor-to-ceiling windows look like something from a swish Swedish design catalogue, and Cassie can already picture furniture, her unpacked boxes of belongings all over it. Even the kitchen screams “come and cook here”.

  “I’ve got the reports right here, but there’s almost nothing wrong with this place,” Millie begins. “The bathroom in particular is fantastic.”

  Cassie jogs upstairs and takes in the huge shower, walk-in with marble floors, and even a little bench. That will do wonders for the days when her back is playing up a little. The master bedroom looks like a hotel suite, only without a bed for now. The two smaller rooms will make a decent guest room and a small office. She’s always wanted a proper space to read journals and catch up on the fiddly admin without being confined to the hospital.

  “I’ll take it,” she announces, as soon as she’s back downstairs.

  Veronica looks startled. Millie smiles like she can’t quite believe her luck.

  “I mean, subject to everything being in order. It’s just what I’ve been looking for. And even you won’t have complaints about the bathroom, Veronica.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Veronica storms off upstairs.

  Cassie follows with a what can you do? shrug to Millie. “See?” She gestures towards the bathroom.

  Veronica has now headed straight for the empty bedroom, with its whole wall of built-in wardrobes. Cassie will never own enough clothes to fill them; she knows that already.

  “You can’t go all in on the second place you see,” Vero
nica hisses, keeping her voice low. “And dial down the enthusiasm if you don’t want to end up paying twenty grand above the offer price.”

  “I like it.” Cassie gestures around the room, hands waving a bit uselessly. “I’m not looking for too many specifics. Gut feeling, this is the place for me.”

  “You can’t just decide like that! Do you make all your decisions this way?”

  “Pretty much,” Cassie says. “Saves a lot of time and agonising, don’t you think? It’s like trauma: just do it; worry about it later if there’s time.”

  “That’s how you end up throwing yourself at patients with knives, isn’t it?” Veronica advances on her, staring at Cassie like she’s from another planet. “Or ignoring the plight of frantic mothers to treat injured boys?”

  “Listen, I thought we were sorted about that—” Cassie finds herself back against the wardrobes.

  “You just decide. Quick, strong, so utterly sure of yourself. What about Millie’s offer? Decided on that yet?”

  “I’m not going out with her if that’s what you’re asking. I’m beginning to think you’re almost…”

  “What?” Veronica makes the single word dangerous.

  “Jealous.” Cassie throws the accusation out and sees it land.

  Veronica is barely inches away, and it’s definitely warm in here, for an empty house with no heating on. “Why on earth would I be jealous?” she asks, grabbing a fistful of Cassie’s leather jacket. “Oh, did you think I’d forgotten about the other night? Our interrupted little moment?”

  “That was…” Cassie swallows hard. “That was a moment, then? Not my imagination?”

  “Why do you think I was so disproportionately pissed off at you?” Veronica asks. “I’m not in the habit of overreacting.”

  “No, I can see that.” Cassie thinks agreeing is a wise plan right now. “Is this…one of those moments?”

  “You tell me.” Veronica presses her lips against Cassie’s with purpose.

  It’s almost a tender kiss for a moment, a brief exploration of how it might feel. As soon as Cassie raises her hand and runs it through Veronica’s silky black hair, it nudges her into deepening the kiss right then and there. Open-mouthed, a little breathless, they’re clutching at each other as though gravity might betray them at any moment.

  And right then, Cassie’s suddenly sure of two things. That she wants this house—might even mount a plaque in this room to commemorate this moment. And Veronica Mallick can really, really kiss.

  The sound of Millie climbing the stairs brings them back to their senses, but not before Cassie sneaks one last capture of Veronica’s bottom lip between her teeth.

  “Has she changed your mind yet?” Millie calls. “If not, I can have the paperwork started first thing Monday.”

  Cassie pulls away, marching right out onto the landing. “Monday it is. I’ll give you a call and let you know when I can call in at the office. I’ll just take one more walk around, if that’s okay?”

  “Well, it’s going to be yours,” Millie says. “I’d say you can do whatever you want. Veronica, you approve?”

  “Oh, I approve,” Veronica replies, her gaze raking over Cassie with very little ambiguity. She leans in to whisper against Cassie’s ear. “I’m already looking forward to being invited over.”

  The look she gives Cassie then almost makes her knees give out. Oh, she is definitely doomed.

  Chapter 21

  Veronica’s lips are still tingling when they’ve walked back to Millie’s car, somehow hand in hand without either she or Cassie seeming to make a deliberate move to make that happen. They wave the happy estate agent off in her gaudy Mini covered in her company’s logo.

  “I can’t believe you bought a house in less than five minutes,” Veronica says. “I mean, I know there are formalities to come, but you really did that.”

  “I might have bought a house, but I can’t believe you snogged me in it!” Cassie comes right back at her.

  “Must we use that word?” Veronica’s protest is heartfelt. She has never, ever liked it.

  “Kiss barely seems to do it justice. You had intentions, Veronica. Don’t start walking it back now.”

  “I have no intention of doing that. In fact, I’m trying to work out if there’s a nice park around here, where two women so inclined might do a bit more of that kissing. Perhaps sharing a bench in a quiet corner of it?”

  “One thing I didn’t research was kiss-friendly parks.” Cassie smacks her forehead in mock frustration. “How could I have been so short-sighted?”

  Veronica’s phone peals in the quiet street like the bells of Big Ben. That is decidedly not good. In one of her fits of over-organisation she’d set only three numbers to always ring even when her phone was otherwise silenced. Angela, Danny, and the on-call service.

  “Is that—” Cassie starts to ask, before her phone starts trilling, too. Still on the irritating default ringtone, at that.

  “Sounds like all hands on deck,” Veronica says, answering hers with a swipe. “Ms Mallick.”

  It’s not one of the usual phone bank workers; they must be using more temps. “Sorry to call you in on a weekend, but we have a—”

  “Can you just email the alert? I’m on my way. Fifteen minutes ETA, give or take.”

  “Oh, thank you, Ms Mallick. A&E is already expecting overflow.”

  “Understood.” Veronica watches Cassie hum in acknowledgment of the same information. It must be a decent-sized trauma if the existing A&E plus rostered Trauma teams can’t handle it.

  “Well,” Cassie says as she hangs up, already drifting towards the junction with the main road, the better to catch a taxi. “Looks like it’s going to be a busy Saturday after all. Wasn’t I just saying how great it is to be the boss and have the weekend off?

  “You might have said that. I would never tempt fate so foolishly. Rain check on the bench and the, uh…”

  “Kissing,” Cassie finishes. “Well, assuming you can restrain yourself during the”—she flags down a passing black taxi with its light on—“cab ride. After you.”

  Veronica climbs in first, pleased when Cassie slides along to sit closer, rather than sticking to their respective corners. No kissing, alas, but when she lays her hand on the sliver of seat between them, her fingers are soon entwined with Cassie’s. Not a simple handhold, because Cassie’s rarely that still. Instead, she traces each of Veronica’s fingers in turn, lingering over the tips and tracing patterns across her wrist. It’s maddening, and more pleasant than it has any right to be.

  As they approach the hospital, Cassie slowly withdraws her hand. “I might not be an expert in all things NHS, but I already know about the gossip mill,” Cassie explains off Veronica’s look. “Ready for action?”

  A twinge between Veronica’s thighs at Cassie all prepared to do battle is the real answer, but she opts for the safety of a tight smile instead. “Always. Besides, you’ll be handling the big stuff; some of us are just making up the numbers on the sprained ankles and bloodied noses.”

  “It all counts, surely?” Cassie pays the driver and they step out. “Separate entrances?”

  “You’re rather good at this,” Veronica says with some suspicion. “A lot of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ in your past?”

  “That would be, well, telling…” Cassie winks. “I can run ahead, if you don’t want people talking.”

  “Oh, sod them,” Veronica replies. “We weren’t even talking yesterday. Even my department aren’t that good at conjuring up stories. I checked the email, by the way. Looks like we have a bus crash, right into a shop window. It’s going to be messy, but no one’s saying terrorism yet.”

  “Shit. Right then.” Cassie looks a little awkward, but they cut through the courtyard to their side of the building quickly enough. “I’ll just go and get my scrubs on. Never could work in civvies.”

/>   “See you out there!” Veronica feels the overwhelming urge to lean in and kiss Cassie on the cheek. The bustle of some passing nurses puts paid to that idea in short order. It’s the reset she needs to get her game face on, prepared for whatever is about to be unleashed on them. Assuming most people on the bus have at least minor issues, then the people on the pavement, and inside the shop, the numbers could be quite horrific.

  So she makes her way to AMU and finds the ward in full preparation mode. She loves her team, really. They’re so competent, particularly under Lea’s direction. The locum covering Peter’s departure seems bright enough, and he’s running through charts to see who they can chase for offloading patients already, which is absolutely the best place to start.

  The first rumble of trolley wheels approaches the ward, so Veronica steps aside and picks up a white coat in the process to protect her clothes. She’s never been one for the status thing, but she has met one too many bodily fluids in her career to get too devil-may-care about it. A plastic apron is handed to her by Lea as she passes, and by the time that’s on, one of the juniors stops and offers to tie it in back. A well-oiled machine.

  “Okay, people,” Veronica announces, startling the staff who haven’t noticed her yet. “Big day; let’s keep things moving. Just do what you do best. Anyone who suddenly deteriorates, skip A&E and head straight through to Trauma. Stick to protocols and you can’t go wrong.”

  The patients start coming then, and every time the doors open for a new admit, Veronica sees the more urgent ones being rushed to Trauma. It’s going to be one hell of an afternoon.

  Veronica waits in Cassie’s office afterwards, but almost regrets the decision. There’s not a comfortable surface to be found, and Veronica is a little achy after four hours of overtime and an unexpected day on her feet. She’s just relieved she came in wearing flats.

  The office is as sparse as the day Cassie came to work here—not even a dated motivational poster, or a flyer about blood drives on the empty noticeboard. Cassie has nothing more than an empty travel mug sitting on her desk, right next to the dock for her laptop. It might as well be unoccupied.