LITMIR.BIZ

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really hard she could magic him up?

      But the corridor remained resolutely empty and she turned back to face Logan, her cheeks hot, smiling politely. ‘I’m here for Dr Wilson.’

      Logan nodded. ‘You’re the new medical student?’

      Her smile was almost a rictus, and she couldn’t stand there talking to him any longer because it hurt too much already and... Oh, Logan!

      ‘Yes. I am. So, if you could just excuse me? I need to let Dr Wilson know that I’m here. I don’t want him to think that I’m late.’

      And if I say his name often enough it might summon him.

      She pushed past him, glad to find that, yes, indeed her legs were still working, and were even remarkably co-ordinated.

      But as she passed him their shoulders brushed, and she inhaled a pleasurable scent of soap and sandalwood, and it was like being catapulted back to when she was eighteen years old and in his bedroom, sitting cross-legged on his bed, laughing at him because he was trying on different kinds of body spray for their date night. And then she’d got up from the bed and pulled him close to inhale the scent of his skin...

      ‘Dr Wilson isn’t here.’

      His voice stopped her in her tracks and she closed her eyes in despair. Heart pounding hard against her ribs, she turned back to look at him. ‘No? But he’s meant to be meeting me. He’s my mentor.’

      Logan looked uncomfortable. ‘He’s not. His wife...she died this weekend.’

       Oh.

      That was dreadful news. Terrible! What was she to do? She’d have to ring her university. Tell them she needed to be assigned another mentor.

      Shocked, she began to rummage in her bag.

      ‘What are you doing?’

      ‘I need to phone my tutor so they can assign me to someone else.’

      Where was the damned phone? It had been there just a minute ago, when she’d dug inside to find her water. It must have gone all the way to the bottom and—

      ‘They already have.’

      She looked up at him, frowning. ‘Who?’

      But she already knew the answer just by looking at his face. A face that looked both guilty and apprehensive. A face that she had once kissed all over in bright red lipstick whilst he slept and then taken a picture of to give him as a card on Valentine’s Day. A face that she had once caressed just to see how it went from smooth to bristly around his mouth.

      ‘It’s me. I’m your new mentor.’

      Her heart sank.

      * * *

       Ellie Jones.

      It felt strange, standing there just looking at her again. As if time meant nothing—as if all those years without her had been compressed into a microsecond of time. Her hair was a little longer, but still that dark so-black-it-was-almost-blue colour. Her eyes looked wary. Tired. As if she’d seen enough bad things in the world, thank you very much. Or perhaps it was just the way she was looking at him?

      He was very much aware that he had broken her heart once, ruined her expectations of life and let her down. So perhaps she was suspicious as to how he could be the best mentor for her? He hadn’t meant to break her heart. He thought he’d done the right thing for them both and she couldn’t possibly know just how much their break-up had affected him.

      But he was determined, here and now, to be the best mentor she could possibly have. As far as he was concerned the past was in the past, and though he’d hurt her once he would never do so again! He was going to push her hard during this placement, so that when she left she would realise that he had tried to make up to her for his failure in the past.

      It was the least he could do. If she wanted to be a doctor, then he’d make her one. The best doctor she could be.

       But can I stand to see her walk away from me again?

      She’d never mentioned wanting to be a doctor before. He would have remembered something like that. Hadn’t she wanted to run her own business? What had changed in her life to make her pursue this path? Because it wasn’t easy. Not by a long shot. But if this was what she wanted then he would give it to her.

      ‘I’ll show you where you can put your things.’

      She nodded, uncertain, clearly still hesitant.

      Perhaps he ought to clear the air? State his intentions?

      He turned. ‘Look, Ellie, I know this isn’t an ideal situation for us both, but I’m going to make sure you get the best education whilst you’re on this unit with me, okay? You’re here to learn and I’m here to teach. That’s all it’s going to be. All right?’

      He hoped he could remain true to his word without letting in those pesky emotions he knew were still running so close to the surface.

      * * *

      Rooted to the ground, she simply stared up at him. That’s all it’s going to be? What else did he think was going to happen? That she was going to fall in love with him all over again? Or that it had already happened?

      He had to be crazy if he thought that. She didn’t need him stating the facts of the case as if she were some simpering spinster who thought there might be a chance of romance in the air simply because they’d been in love before.

      It got her hackles up.

      He’d walked her to a locker, where she’d left her things, taking only a notebook and pen with her that she could slide into her trouser pocket if she needed her hands free to perform or assist with a procedure. And now she was almost running to keep up with him.

      ‘What’s the number one reason babies end up in the NICU?’

      Logan was giving her a lightning tour of the unit, asking questions as he went, not giving her any time to linger or think too much. So be it. Fine. She was here to learn. She’d show him how much it meant to her.

      ‘Prematurity.’

      ‘And the number one condition we see?’

      She hesitated and he stopped to stare at her, waiting for a suitable answer. Had his eyes always been so blue? So intense? It was hypnotic to be under his gaze once again.

      ‘Newborn jaundice?’

      He considered her answer but his gaze was still scanning her face, as if he was familiarising himself with her features. ‘Tell me about jaundice. What causes it in a newborn?’

      She didn’t know if it was different for newborns, but when she’d been on a general surgery ward there had been a patient there who had had jaundice.

      ‘Er...high levels of bilirubin?’

      ‘Are you asking me or telling me?’

      ‘Telling you.’

      He nodded. ‘Good. In this place, more than any other in the hospital with maybe the exception of Paediatrics, we have to be clear and firm about our diagnoses when discussing our patients with their parents. They don’t want to hear hesitation. They don’t want to hear doubt. They need to hear confidence and assuredness. Yes?’

      She nodded.

      ‘Okay, so what’s bilirubin?’

      She rifled through the files in her brain, trying to find the most efficient way of delivering an answer that sounded assured. ‘A by-product of the breakdown of red blood cells.’

      He began walking and again she followed fast on his heels, admiring the waistcoat that tightly encircled his middle, his flat stomach, his broad shoulders...

      ‘And how would we notice it?’

      ‘Yellowing

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