She covered the examination bed with fresh paper after wiping it down, and then settled down upon it—just to close her eyes for five minutes.
A cat nap... That was all she needed, and then she’d be back to normal working order for this afternoon.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE PASTA WAS bubbling away in the pot and she had garlic bread slowly going crispy in the oven. Cole was entertaining Tori whilst she prepped and cooked her own home-made tomato and basil sauce. Fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil, a splash of Worcester sauce, a couple of mushrooms and a chopped pepper. Simmering to perfection until it was ready. She served it with a grating of parmesan over each dish, yawning as she did so.
‘Tired?’ asked Cole.
‘A little bit.’
‘Maybe you should get an early night? I’ll do the dishes and sort Tori out tonight. You go up. Read a book. Relax.’
‘Oh, I couldn’t do that.’
‘Why not?’
She smiled. ‘Well... Tori. She’s my responsibility.’
‘I’d like her to be mine, too. Let me take the reins. We’ve not spent much time on our own. When we’ve finished dinner go on up. Warm bath. Pyjamas. Sleep.’
She really did like the sound of that. It was so tempting... ‘You wouldn’t mind?’
‘Course not! In fact, I’d love it. Not that I don’t want to spend time with you, but me and my girl can have some one-to-one time.’
She crunched down on a piece of garlic bread. ‘Okay. I accept your kind offer, good sir.’
‘Great! And, if it’s okay, I thought after dinner I could take Tori out in her buggy, for a walk.’
‘As long as you’re careful and take her medication with you.’
‘Of course. That way the house will be quiet, and you’ll get to relax in that bath.’
‘Wow, keep spoiling me like this and I’ll come to expect it every day.’
He smiled and twirled his fork in his pasta.
Had she said too much? Assuming there would be an every day...?
It was hard not to talk that way, with how well everything was going between them. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so content and so happy. Was it wrong to talk about what was going to happen between them? Perhaps she should just enjoy each day as it came and not push for anything? No point in tipping over the apple cart. She reminded herself to just enjoy the present, even if she was worried about how absorbed they were in each other as a small unit.
But this had happened with Simon. Was it a tendency of hers?
‘You know what would go great with this? Wine.’ Cole got up and opened a bottle of red.
She smiled as he poured some into her glass. ‘Cheers!’
She finished her meal, mopping up her plate with the rest of the garlic bread. She really had been dreadfully hungry, and even managed a small bowl of chocolate mousse for pudding. Then, after a cup of tea, Cole put Tori in her buggy, ready to go out for their walk.
‘When I get back I want to find you either in the bath, relaxing, or fast asleep in bed,’ he said, kissing her on the lips.
‘Message received and understood.’
She yawned again and he laughed, kissing the tip of her nose. ‘Go on, get up those stairs.’
‘Yes, sir.’ She laughed too, and gave him one last sultry kiss—it was to be their last one that day. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
* * *
Cole closed the front door behind him and happily pushed Tori’s buggy ahead of him as they began their walk. This was his very first time out with Tori on his own and he was determined to enjoy every moment of it.
Of course, he hoped to have many more moments alone with her in the future, but today was the first. A novelty. A gift, showing that Lane trusted him to be alone with her. And he fully appreciated her trust in him, knowing how hard it was for her to let go and allow someone else to look after Tori.
It blew his mind how anyone could have treated her the way that man had. That Simon she’d known. He sounded awful. She was well shot of him.
‘Da-da-da-da-da!’
Cole smiled at Tori. She’d only recently started saying this and he was so proud that he’d been there to hear it. ‘Yes, sweetheart. Daddy. Look! Can you see the big doggy coming?’
A man was walking towards them with a giant-looking dog. He wasn’t sure of a lot of dog breeds, but he knew this one was a Newfoundland. It looked like a giant shaggy bear. He nodded at the man, who nodded back as they passed.
Cole had never been so happy in his entire life! Out with his daughter. Doing daddy things. Wasn’t this what he’d always wanted in life? To be a doctor and to be a father? And now he had both. Life couldn’t give him any more surprises.
He was settled and they were happy.
* * *
Lane woke with what felt like a cold brewing. She propped herself up in bed on one elbow and was aware of a scratchiness in her throat and a blocked nose and silently cursed at the inconvenience. But it wasn’t surprising. She often found that when she started a new job—whether in a new doctors’ surgery or on a new ward in a hospital—she would come down with something as she adjusted to the new germs that populated that area.
She slipped her feet into her slippers, grabbed her bathrobe and went downstairs to make herself some hot water and lemon...maybe take a paracetamol or two.
Cole joined her a few moments later.
‘Sorry, did I wake you?’ she asked.
‘No, I was awake anyway. Have you got a cold?’
She blew her nose on a tissue. ‘Yes—unfortunately.’ She could hear it in her own voice. All blocked up and nasally.
‘Typical. The one day I’ve got that safeguarding training and I won’t be at the surgery to look after you.’
She pecked him on the cheek. ‘It’s just a cold. I can fight this myself—don’t worry.’
‘Just make sure you take it easy.’
She laughed. ‘With a full day of appointments? Sure!’
He pulled her into his arms. ‘I prescribe a full course of hugs and perhaps a foot-rub when you get home tonight.’
‘I’ll take that medicine, Doctor, thank you. Now, off you go! Get ready. Haven’t you got to be there by nine?’
He sighed and reluctantly allowed himself to be pushed away. ‘Yes. All right. But call me if you need anything.’
‘Will do. Now, go!’
He left the house, and literally five minutes afterwards Lane did the same, so she could get Tori to her mum’s house, so she could get to work. She didn’t kiss Tori goodbye, not wanting to give her the cold, but instead blew her a kiss from the doorway.
When she got to work she was feeling decidedly snottier than earlier, and her body was beginning to ache, so she took paracetamol, washed down with some juice, and used a nasal inhaler she’d bought from a pharmacy on the way in. It helped to some degree, opening up her nasal passages and allowing her to breathe better. She’d just soldier on.
She called her first patient down. ‘Gemma Rush, please.’
‘Hi, thanks for seeing me so promptly,’ said the woman. ‘I’ve got to go to work in the next few minutes.’
‘All right... So, you’re here for a BP check?’
‘Yes. I’ve been on the pill for a while and the doctor asked me to get it done, so...’
‘Let me just get the blood pressure machine.’ Lane got the equipment from a cupboard and set it down. ‘Okay... Keep your feet flat on the floor and try not to speak. That can raise the numbers somewhat.’
‘Okay.’
Lane turned to activate the blood pressure template on the system, so she could enter the results, and realised her head felt a little weird again. It had to be the cold. It couldn’t be because she was tired—she’d slept so well last night.
The machine’s cuff deflat
ed and Gemma’s readings appeared on the screen. They were very good. One twenty over seventy-two, which was perfect.
She showed Gemma, who smiled and rolled her sleeve back down. ‘So I can carry on taking the pill, then?’
Lane nodded—then wished she hadn’t.
‘Are you okay?’ asked her patient. ‘You look a little...off.’
Lane laughed awkwardly. ‘I’m fine. I’m meant to be taking care of you, not the other way around! It’s just a cold—I’ll be fine. You’d better get off to work.’
Gemma smiled, reassured. ‘Okay, well—thanks again for seeing me so early.’
‘No problem. Take care.’
Gemma left and the smile dropped from Lane’s face. She really was beginning to feel rough. Light-headed and shivery and...
She decided to close the door to her room, needing a moment to take a breather, but when she stood up the room began to spin, and before she knew what was happening the world faded to black.
She was completely out of it by the time she hit the floor.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but when she began to blink her eyes open she was lying on her side, on the floor of her consultation room, and Mary and the other doctors were looking at her with concern.
‘Oh, thank goodness! I knew you didn’t look right when you came in. How are you feeling?’ Mary asked.
Dr Summer had his hand on her wrist, feeling for her pulse, and Dr Green was slipping the blood pressure cuff over her other arm.
‘I’m fine! Just a cold. I’m okay now.’
‘You fainted.’
‘It’s this head cold.’
‘Seems more like flu. Your temperature is sky-high. I want you to go home for the rest of the day and take it easy,’ said Dr Summer.
‘But I’ve got patients!’
She couldn’t go home! She had a full clinic, and she knew how awful it would be for Mary to ring all those people and cancel their appointments, make them for another day.
‘They’ll understand. Can you get home safely?’
‘I drove here.’
Dr Summer thought for a moment. ‘I’ll drive you back. It won’t take me long—people will understand. You can pick your car up another time.’
‘Okay...’ He helped her to her feet. She felt a little woozy still, but better than before. ‘But no one tell Cole.’
Mary shrugged and smiled. ‘I’m afraid we already have...’
* * *
Cole was listening to the safeguarding leader, making notes as he liked to do, when a text popped onto his phone.
Please call the surgery.
He frowned a little. What could that be about? He would only be here for a couple of hours. What had happened that needed his attention? The other doctors were more than capable of sorting out any problems. Unless it was something personal...
His first thought was to worry about Tori. Had she been stung again? But if that was the case then the text would have come from Lane, surely?
Unless the problem was with Lane? Was she hurt?
The thought of that disturbed him greatly, and he had a flashback to what had happened with Andrea.
Lane hadn’t seemed very well that morning. She’d said it was only a cold, but what if it was something else? His mind raced a mile a minute. She’d been sniffing a lot...
As his thoughts naturally went to the tragic, he recalled a hospital story of how a patient had thought he had a bad cold, and was sniffing, and it had turned out he was leaking brain fluid through his nose.
It was a million to one chance—but so was being killed in an avalanche. Or by a bee sting!
His panic caused him to hurry out of the training room, and with trembling fingers he dialled the surgery.
Mary answered. ‘Oh, Dr Branagh. Thank you for calling so quickly.’
‘What is it, Mary?’
‘It’s Lane. She fainted.’
His heart began to pound. He knew it! It was all about to go terribly wrong for him—as it always did!
‘How is she?’
‘She’s okay. Dr Summer gave her a thorough check-up and then drove her home.’
‘Right... Okay...’
‘He thinks she has the flu, and maybe an ear infection.’
Okay. Dr Summer was a good doctor. Thorough. He trusted him implicitly. If he said Lane had the flu, then that was probably it.
But it still didn’t stop him from being scared out of his wits.
‘Okay. I’ve got about another hour here, but I’ll give her a quick call. Thanks, Mary.’
‘No problem, Dr Branagh.’
He ended the call and let out a big sigh. Okay. She was fine. But to faint like that...?
Had she eaten breakfast this morning? He hadn’t seen her eat anything. She’d had a hot water and lemon drink, but that was hardly filling, was it? He ought to have a word with her about looking after herself better...worrying him like this. But maybe later, when she was much better. She’d be feeling bad enough as it was.
He dialled her home number and she picked up after a couple of rings.
‘Cole. Hi. They told you?’
‘Yes. Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine. Just... It was silly, really, I didn’t eat anything this morning—I didn’t feel like it—and then I took some paracetamol and a nasal inhaler, and my head was thick, and I got a little giddy...’
‘A little giddy?’
‘I passed out. But I’ve forced down some toast now, and I’m sat in front of morning television—which is really quite dire, I might add—with my feet up and I’m doing nothing.’
‘Good.’ She sounded okay, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.
‘I feel bad, though. All those patients that have got cancelled—’
‘They will understand perfectly. Don’t worry about them. An ear syringing can wait a day or two.’
‘But Mr Cilliers has his big dressing today, and—’
‘One of the nurses can squeeze him in. He won’t miss out. You just concentrate on you. Will you be all right for a little while longer? I’ve got to complete this training, and then I’ve got an afternoon clinic, but I could pop home at lunchtime to check on you?’
It occurred to him that he’d called her place home. Was that wrong? It had felt right, saying it. He’d spent more time there than at his own place recently. But perhaps all this was moving too fast? They’d only just started to get to know one another and they were practically living together, like a family, and...
Was that it? Was he mistaking the convenience of their situation for something more? Calling her place home... It wasn’t his home. He had one of those. And this scare with Lane’s health...what if it had been something terrible?
‘You don’t have to do that,’ she said.
‘I know, but I will. You keep watching dreadful TV and I’ll see you later.’
She chuckled. ‘All right. And I might have a snooze.’
‘You do that. Bye.’
‘Bye.’
He stared at his phone for a moment and then put it into his pocket. He really ought to get back inside, but he couldn’t help worrying. She’d sounded fine, and it certainly did seem as if she’d just not eaten breakfast and then done too much. And if this head cold had given her an ear infection too...
He’d feel better once he saw her for himself—that was all it was.
He would think about everything else later.
* * *
Lane was woken by the sound of the front door closing and she realised she must have forgotten to lock it, before falling asleep. She pulled herself up to a better seating position.
What time is it? I’m ravenous!
‘Lane?’
She smiled, hearing his voice. He was so good to her! He hadn’t needed to come, yet he h
ad.
‘I’m in the lounge!’
‘Well, stay there. I’m just going to get you something from the kitchen.’
She pointed the remote at the television, muting it, and then found another big smile emerging onto her face when Cole came in, bearing a tray with a hot bowl of soup on it, with a crusty bread roll, and a small curl of butter on a plate.
‘Oh, Cole! You didn’t have to go to so much trouble!’
He simply smiled.
The soup smelled delicious! ‘Is it chicken?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where did you get it from?’
‘There’s a stall on Bourton High Street that does home-made soups, filled jacket potatoes—that kind of thing. I’ve been there before to get lunch when I’ve been out on home visits. The woman makes her own bread rolls, you know. Try it. It’s sourdough.’
Lane pulled off a small hunk and took a bite. It was gorgeous! She dipped another piece into the soup. ‘Aren’t you eating, too?’
‘I got enough for two. I just wanted to make sure you got yours first.’
He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with his own serving. He sat on the floor by the coffee table and they ate companionably in silence, until their bowls were empty and their tummies were full.
‘You look pale,’ he said.
‘Do I?’ He seemed upset by something. Was he worrying about her having passed out at work?
‘Yes. You should be in bed.’
‘I don’t want to give in to it.’
‘It’s not giving in. It’s being sensible. Will you do as I suggest?’
She looked at his face and nodded. He wanted the best for her, and perhaps he was struggling with what was going on between them, too? It had to be a lot for him to take in. Things had been moving so fast between them and he knew about what had happened between her and Simon. Did he think she was being the same way with him?
Everything was so uncertain. This taking-things-day-by-day lark was difficult when there were no certainties in life. And there were still all the legalities to sort out.
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