LITMIR.BIZ

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took a jug of iced tea to the nurses’ station, where Steele was tapping away on the computer. It was a lovely early summer day but the air-conditioning was struggling and it was nice to sit on the bench and gossip, though Steele had a couple of questions for her.

      ‘How do you get into the pathology lab to check results?’ he asked, not looking around.

      ‘You’ve got your password?’ Candy checked.

      ‘I have and I’ve got into …’ He tapped again. ‘Got it.’

      ‘Have you told your parents about Hawaii yet?’ Kelly asked Candy, resuming the conversation they’d been having in the kitchen as they’d made their drink.

      ‘No.’

      ‘You go in four weeks’ time,’ Kelly pointed out.

      ‘They might not notice that I’ve gone,’ Candy said hopefully, then let out a sigh. Her parents were Italian, strict and very prone to popping over to her flat unannounced. They also spoke every day on the phone. ‘I know I’ll have to tell them or I’ll be listed on Interpol as a missing person.’

      Candy had, on a whim, booked a holiday to Hawaii. Well, it hadn’t been purely on a whim—she had already been aware that she needed to get away when the infomercial had appeared on her screen with a very special offer for the first ten callers. She’d been tired, a bit jaded and upset over a stupid fling with Gerry, one of the head nurses here. Thankfully he was in Greece for a couple of months, which spared Candy her blushes, but when she’d reached for the phone and, lucky her, been amongst the first ten callers, she’d known she needed this break.

      She couldn’t wait for two weeks in which to lie on a beach and explore the stunning island at leisure while she attempted to sort out a few things that were on her mind.

      ‘They’re going to freak when I tell them,’ Candy admitted. ‘They know that I can’t really afford it.’

      ‘It’s all paid for?’ Kelly checked, and Candy nodded.

      ‘All except for spending money, but I’ve just spoken to the hospital bank and I’ve got loads of shifts. Actually, I haven’t got a single day off until I fly.’

      ‘Where are your shifts?’

      ‘In the geriatric unit.’

      Kelly pulled a face. ‘Yuk.’

      Candy didn’t mind. She had enjoyed working in the geriatric unit during her training and was really grateful for the extra work. Even if she was exhausted at the prospect of nearly four more weeks without so much as a day off.

      As her parents would point out, when she finally got around to it and told them about her holiday, it was foolish to be working extra shifts because you were so tired that you needed a break—but Candy just wanted to get away for a while.

      ‘When do you start working there?’

      ‘The weekend. I’m working Friday night and then I’ve got a four-hour shift on Sunday morning, then back here Monday.’

      ‘Okay.’ Steele turned around. ‘I want Mr Heath pulled over to Resus. He needs to be monitored while I start him on some medication. His bloodwork’s dire.’

      ‘Sure.’ Candy jumped down from the bench and she and Trevor brought Mr Heath over.

      Candy wrote his name on the whiteboard and turned to Steele. ‘Sorry, what specialty is he under?’

      ‘Geriatrics,’ Steele said, then he gave her a thin smile. ‘Yuk!’

      Candy’s cheeks went pink; she wanted to point out that she hadn’t been the one who had said that.

      ‘It’s okay,’ Steele relented when he saw her uncomfortable expression. ‘You hit a nerve—I hear that sort of thing a lot.’

      ‘So are you a new geriatric consultant?’ Kelly asked, but Steele shook his head.

      ‘No, I’m only here temporarily. I’m covering for six weeks while Kathy Jordan is on extended leave.’

      ‘Just six weeks?’ Kelly asked shamelessly.

      ‘Yep,’ Steele said, and walked off.

      ‘Wow, talk about bringing the schmexy into geriatrics,’ Kelly said. ‘And you’re going to be working there, you lucky thing. I bet you’re not complaining now.’

      She hadn’t been complaining in the first place, Candy was tempted to point out.

      They soon paid for the lull in patients because, not an hour later, the department had filled and she and Kelly were busy in Resus, Kelly with a very ill baby and Candy attempting to calm down Mr Heath. He was rather shaky from the medication and was getting increasingly distressed and trying to climb down from the resuscitation bed.

      ‘The medicine makes your heart race, Mr Heath,’ Candy tried to explain to the gentleman. ‘It will settle down soon …’ But he couldn’t understand what she said and kept trying to climb off the bed so Candy tried speaking louder. ‘The medicine—’

      ‘You do it like this.’ Steele saw that she was struggling and came over. ‘Mr Heath!’ he boomed.

      The people in the Waiting Room surely heard him, Candy thought as he gave the same explanation to Mr Heath that she had been trying to give. The gentleman nodded weakly in relief and then lay back on the pillows. ‘Good man,’ Steele barked and smiled at Candy and, in a comparatively dulcet tone, added, ‘I have the perfect voice for my job.’

      ‘You do,’ she agreed.

      ‘So you’re going to be doing a few shifts up on the geriatric unit?’

      ‘Yep.’

      ‘For a holiday that you can’t really afford?’

      ‘I know,’ Candy groaned.

      ‘Well, good for you,’ Steele said, and Candy blinked in surprise. ‘Okay, once Mr Heath’s medication has finished I want him monitored for another hour down here. Then everything’s sorted for him to be admitted. We’re just waiting on a bed, which might be a couple of hours. I’ve spoken to the ward and they have said that they’ll ring down when they’re ready for him to come up.’

      ‘Ha-ha,’ Candy said, because there was no way that the ward was likely to ring down. Instead, she would have to chase them and push for the bed to be readied.

      Steele well understood her sarcastic comment. ‘Well, I hope that they do ring down in a timely manner. I’m less than impressed with the waiting times for patients to get into a bed at the Royal.’

      With that he stalked off, possibly to return to whatever fluffy white cloud he’d just drifted down from, Candy thought.

      She’d never, ever been so instantly captivated by someone.

      Candy left Kelly watching Mr Heath when she was told to go for her lunch break. She’d forgotten to bring lunch so she bought a bag of salt-and-vinegar crisps from the vending machine and put them between two slices of bread and butter. Sitting down in the staffroom, she smiled at Trevor, who was having his lunch too, and checked her phone. Yes, her parents had called, wondering why she hadn’t been over.

      She’d tell them about Hawaii tonight, Candy decided. Just get it over and done with and then maybe then she’d feel better. Yet she was incredibly tired and really just wanted to go home, have dinner and an early night.

      ‘Here!’

      That delicious voice tipped her out of introspection and she looked up at Steele, who was holding a stethoscope, which she took from him.

      ‘Thank you,’ Candy said, ‘though you didn’t have to rush to bring it back down. It’s only a hospital-issue stethoscope.’

      ‘Oh,’ Steele said. ‘I thought I’d pinched yours. Still, it doesn’t matter, I was coming down anyway. I’m waiting for a patient to arrive—a

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