Doctor on Loan Read online

  ‘Reading,’ she said briefly. ‘There’s little else to do around here at night, and if I don’t keep up with medical research then I’m finished.’ She caught herself on the unexpected note of bitterness. Oh, for heaven’s sake, Hugo wasn’t interested in her social life—or lack of it. ‘Ready?’

  ‘I’m ready.’ He was watching her strangely and the experience was unsettling. Christie welcomed the sound of Mandy’s approaching footsteps with relief and it wasn’t just because she’d been waiting for her.

  ‘Here’s the final member of our surgical team.’ She took a deep breath, fighting to regain her composure as the teenager burst into the room. ‘Hey, slow down,’ she told her. ‘Scrubbit’s fine, Mandy. There’s no rush. Would you like to give him a cuddle before Hugo puts him to sleep?’

  It was an amazing piece of surgery—as amazing as Hugo had ever seen on any human. With Mandy watching, eagle-eyed but white as chalk from anxiety, Hugo intubated the little dog and then monitored his every breath as if he were the most precious patient he’d ever anaesthetised.

  As, indeed, he seemed to be. Christie couldn’t have cared more if it had been a child she’d been operating on, Hugo thought as he watched her work. She was carefully scrubbed and her hair was in a surgical cap. She was gowned, slippered and masked, and all he could see were those amazing green eyes.

  And her fingers. She moved with precision, as if this were some long-learned procedure she’d done over and over, and her fingers were those of a skilled surgeon. Where on earth had she learned to do this, and what on earth was she doing using her skills merely on this island? he wondered. Surgery was her absolute talent.

  She could be in mainstream surgery, earning a fortune, he thought as he watched her. She’d get nothing for this operation. Nothing! She and her grandfather seemed broke and this would end up costing her money from her own pocket.

  It didn’t seem to be worrying her, though. Carefully, painstakingly, she cleaned the incision of every piece of shattered bone, then lined up the saw for a perfect excision arthroplasty—the complete removal of the femoral head.

  In a human such a procedure would be worse than use-less—the limb could never bear weight without the head and socket—but…

  ‘He has four legs and he’s not overweight,’ Christie told Mandy as she worked. ‘According to the experts, he’ll carry this leg for a while but it’ll heal with a non-painful fibrous joint. He’ll learn to depend more on his strength from the other leg—in fact, he’ll be fine.’

  Mandy nodded. She hadn’t taken her eyes from the wound once as Christie worked, and Hugo marvelled at her stoicism. Not a lot of seventeen-year-olds could have seen this messy procedure through. Even when Christie was cutting the bone—a dreadful sound—she didn’t flinch.

  Satisfied at last, Christie finally started closing. Hugo checked and rechecked his monitors. If Christie was taking this seriously then so was he, and the patient wouldn’t die from lack of expert anaesthetic if he could help it.

  Still Mandy concentrated. She was soaking it in as if she was desperate to learn, and what Christie had said earlier in the day came floating back into his consciousness.

  ‘Dr Flemming says you want to be a vet,’ Hugo said into the concentrating silence.

  Mandy glanced up at him, as though only now remembering he was real, and then went back to concentrating on what Christie’s fingers were doing. ‘Mmm. But there’s no chance.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’ Then he grimaced as he realised the probable reason. Getting into vet school needed marks in the top one per cent of the country. How many kids dreamed of becoming doctors or vets but could no sooner achieve the university entrance requirements than fly?

  But it seemed academic excellence wasn’t the problem.

  ‘It’s money,’ Mandy said, and went back to concentrating again. ‘I guess I’ll end up a fisherman’s wife with six kids. Or working in the co-op, cleaning fish. Or both.’ The bitterness in her voice was almost palpable and Hugo sent an enquiring glance at Christie.

  Christie was relaxing—at last. It might look to Hugo as if she’d done hundreds of these types of operations, but this was an absolute first. She’d seemed calm on the outside but Hugo wasn’t to know she’d been in a quiet sweat all day.

  She’d spent an hour on the internet this afternoon. She’d contacted one of the mainland’s leading veterinary surgeons, and he’d gone though the procedure with her over and over, sending her diagrams and instructions for every step. Her computer and the isolated medical network she belonged to over the internet was an absolute blessing.

  But it had still been incredibly hard. So now she could stand back from the table, sigh with relief—but not too deeply, as a girl had some pride—and think about Mandy.

  ‘Mandy’s bright enough to get into vet school,’ she told Hugo briefly, and the traces of strain were still in her voice. ‘Helen O’Shea, her headmistress, tells me that with the work she’s put in she’s expected to come close to the top of the state.’

  ‘It’s not much use, though, is it?’ Mandy whispered. Her hand was stroking her dog’s wiry coat, and there was a deep sadness on her face that belied her years. Christie had taken her moment’s respite and was back at work. She was now starting to immobilise the joint and dress the wound, and Mandy’s thoughts were free to worry about something other than her dog. ‘I keep hoping for a miracle but it’s hardly worth sitting the exams,’ she said sadly.

  ‘When are your exams?’ Hugo asked, and Mandy shrugged.

  ‘In two weeks. But…’

  ‘But?’

  ‘It’s no use. Miss O’Shea keeps saying try, try, but even with a scholarship I can’t afford to live in Brisbane and go to university.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I’ve thought and thought, but I can’t do it. Not yet.’

  She lifted her chin then, a trace of the old defiance showing through. ‘So I’ll work in the co-op for two or three years and save everything, and maybe then…’

  Maybe. Hugo looked at the teenager’s set face for a long moment before turning back to his dials, and he glimpsed the look in Christie’s eyes as she worked. She was thinking the same as he was, he decided.

  Three years mind-deadening work might well clean any ambitions right out of Mandy’s head. The drudgery of dead-end work and saving every cent would be too much.

  ‘Mandy…’

  ‘Mmm.’ She wasn’t looking at him. This was her problem, her body language said, and she’d deal with it without asking for sympathy.

  And Hugo’s gut twisted. The kid’s raw courage…Christie and Mandy were of a type, he thought. They tackled overwhelming odds head-on, with all the courage in the world. Well, Mandy should have her chance.

  ‘If you obtain the marks to get yourself into vet school,’ he found himself saying, and he hadn’t even thought it through properly before he said it, ‘then I’ll pay your expenses. Living. Travel. Textbooks and course fees. Whatever you need until you graduate as a vet, I’ll pay.’

  Silence. There was absolute, stunned silence in the theatrette, broken only by the soft hush of the machine providing oxygen for Scrubbit.

  ‘It’s time to reverse anaesthetic,’ Christie said at last, snapping out of shock and snapping into anger. Mandy was so stunned she couldn’t say a word. ‘Please, Dr Tallent…’

  ‘Of course.’ Hugo slipped back into anaesthetist mode, but before he did so he gave the white-faced teenager a wink. ‘Our Dr Flemming doesn’t think I’m serious but, believe me, Mandy, I am. I don’t make promises lightly and I’ve made you a promise now. Let’s get you a nice fit pooch and then a great career, so you can operate on your own friends from here on in.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what you’re pledging?’

  Scrubbit-the-dog’s anaesthetic was safely reversed, the patient was heavily sedated, but he was breathing for himself and showing every sign of eventual recovery. Mandy was watching over him, still in stunned silence, and Christie had half dragged, half pushed Hugo out
into the corridor, slamming the door behind them.

  Her anger was palpable. She’d hauled off her mask. Her curls were escaping every which way from her theatre cap—Hugo badly wanted to lift the cap off and free them all—and her green eyes were flashing daggers.

  ‘This is ridiculous. Cruel!’

  ‘What’s ridiculous?’ he asked mildly, and watched the daggers flash some more. These were some fireworks! This was almost worth the promise all by itself.

  ‘A vet course,’ she said slowly through gritted teeth, enunciating one syllable at a time and speaking as if she were addressing a simpleton. ‘A vet course is five years long. That’s five years of living in Brisbane, which will cost a fortune. Even if Mandy gets a scholarship—and I note your incredibly generous promise didn’t make a scholarship a condition of you supporting her—then there’s massive costs for housing, textbooks, travel. Her parents haven’t even considered it, and it’s not only because they’re selfish. They don’t have the money.’

  ‘And I have.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Her anger was so great she was almost spitting. ‘For six months maybe. It’s a life we’re talking about here, Hugo. A career. Mandy wants to be a vet so much that it hurts.’

  ‘I can see that. That’s why I’m making the offer.’

  ‘If you make the offer and can’t go through with it, she’ll break her heart. I won’t let you build her hopes like that.’

  ‘I’m not intending to.’

  And something in his voice finally got through to her. She rocked back on her heels and stared up at him for a long, long moment—and he gazed calmly back.

  ‘You’re not joking,’ she said incredulously.

  ‘No.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘Believe it or not, I would never joke about anything so serious.’

  Christie took a deep breath. ‘Hugo…’ Her eyes searched his. ‘Have you really any idea what it would cost?’

  ‘I put myself through med school,’ he told her. ‘Sure, my parents lived within shouting distance of the university so I didn’t have living expenses, but we weren’t rich and my brother cost my parents a fortune. I ran a part-time job and my father and I worked ourselves silly. I’d say I have a very good idea of what it costs.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘But what?’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ She pushed the cap from her curls—finally—and raked her hair with her fingers in a gesture he was starting to recognise. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I wish to.’

  ‘Because you’re grateful to be alive?’ She shook her head. ‘That’ll fade, Hugo. I advise patients never to make big decisions within six or even twelve months of major trauma, and you’re no exception. You’ll get back to Brisbane and forget this ever happened—but then you’ll have this ongoing commitment that will make you poor for a very long time.’

  ‘It won’t make me poor.’

  ‘You might be a specialist,’ she snapped, ‘but if you don’t have family money then you’re hardly hugely wealthy. What if you want to get married? Buy a house? And you can’t because you’re stuck paying for some child you can hardly remember?’

  ‘Christie, will you stop this?’ His mouth curved into a teasing smile and his dark eyes mocked her. ‘You’ll talk me out of it if you’re not careful.’

  ‘It’s better that I do it now than you discover you can’t keep it up six months into Mandy’s university course.’ She shook her head. ‘You have no idea what this course would mean to her.’

  ‘I’d imagine it means very much what your medicine means to you,’ he said softly, his smile fading. ‘Or mine to me. I was so hungry for medicine you can’t imagine. Or I guess you can—I can see it in you—and Mandy has it, too. So let me do this. I take it her parents won’t object?’

  ‘To the Hugo Tallent Benevolent Foundation? No way. They’ll be pleased to be shot of her.’ She bit her lip. ‘I shouldn’t say that, but her mother really is a horror.’

  ‘I gathered.’

  Her eyes were still troubled. ‘Hugo, I can’t let you do this. It’s too soon. You mustn’t.’

  ‘Would it make a difference to you if I told you this wasn’t a major decision for me?’ he said gently. ‘I already run a couple of charitable bequests. I own a house and it’s not small. I have more than enough for my needs. Mandy’s education isn’t going to make me poor.’

  ‘I can’t—’

  ‘Believe it?’ He shrugged. ‘If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll put the money into a trust for her—up front. Then I can’t go back on the deal and you won’t have to worry.’

  ‘Did you win the lottery?’ Christie was almost speechless.

  ‘Yeah, right.’ He grinned, relaxing. She was looking more and more cute by the minute—and totally bamboozled. And…desirable? ‘I’m sorry, Dr Flemming, but how I earn my money is none of your business.’ If she knew, would she be like all the other women? he thought, but pushed the thought away as ridiculous. He was starting to think Christie Flemming was a very different lady. ‘Rest assured, however, that I have more than sufficient for my needs, and I’m more than willing to share.’

  ‘Hugo, if you’re serious…’

  ‘I’m serious.’

  ‘If you knew how much I’d wanted to do this…’

  ‘Now, there’s another thing.’ He frowned. ‘How come you’re so broke? Doesn’t this practice pay anything?’

  She glared. ‘You’re telling me your income is your business, but now you want to ask about mine?’

  He grinned at that. ‘Touché. If you don’t want to tell me…’

  But there was nothing to hide. ‘There are five hundred people on the island,’ she said simply. ‘On the mainland, a list of about three thousand patients makes for a viable practice, and that’s including a strong private-public mix. We have one or two wealthy retirees but that’s all. There’s no one else with private health insurance and the money’s minimal.’

  ‘But you’re busy.’ Hugo frowned.

  ‘I couldn’t cope with any more than five hundred patients with the sort of needs these people have,’ she told him. ‘They might not make me wealthy—or even comfortable—but they need me. The fishing community has a high risk ratio, there’s more old people here than in most towns, and there’s also major health problems facing our Koori community. They’re only just embracing modern medicine. At the moment their life expectancy is about fifty years, and I spend heaps of time educating and counselling and—’

  ‘And doing work that pays peanuts or doesn’t pay at all,’ he finished for her, and she nodded.

  ‘That’s right. It’s just lucky that Grandpa and I don’t mind. We can eat peanuts if we must.’

  ‘But not peanuts tonight because it’s caviar.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ She managed a smile at him, relaxing just a little. This man was totally out of her league, she was as confused as could be, but…

  Maybe, just maybe she could trust him. Heaven knew how he’d acquired it, but maybe he did have bucketsful of money. The thought of Mandy being able to do her vet course was wonderful. So for now, if he really could do something for Mandy…

  ‘You’d best go in and talk to her,’ she told him, and for the life of her she couldn’t stop her eyes misting. ‘She’ll be standing in there wondering whether she misheard.’

  Hugo meant it. He really meant it!

  And suddenly it was all too much. Before Christie could help herself she took his strong, warm hands into hers, stood on tiptoe and kissed him soundly full on the lips. It was a solid, wondrous kiss, full of joy and bubbling with life and love. And she’d done it and it was finished before he could even respond!

  ‘This is the most fantastic thing,’ she said, stepping back to stare up at his stunned face. Goodness, he was looking almost as stunned as she felt. ‘Just magic. You spread your largesse, Dr Tallent, while I check that my hospital patients are all behaving themselves. Give me an hour and we’ll go home and crack yo
ur caviar. And we might even top it off with hot chocolate. I’ll think of some way we can celebrate. Tonight’s for living dangerously. Heaven knows what could happen!’

  ‘If you say so.’ His hand reached out to touch her face, and she didn’t flinch as his fingers traced the line of her cheekbone. She was so lovely. ‘But, Christie…’ His voice died.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Nothing,’ he said at last.

  There was nothing at all that he could think of to say.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHRISTIE did her hospital round in record time, despite everyone wanting to talk about Hugo.

  ‘He’s fabulous, isn’t he?’ Liz demanded as Christie checked on the proud new mother. ‘So what are you doing here? If I were you, I’d stick to the man like glue.’

  ‘Can I ask why?’ Christie said dryly, and Liz cuddled her baby son and threw Christie a look of mischief.

  ‘Well, far be it from me to suggest such a thing, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if Dr Tallent fell for our island doctor? Maybe he’d even move here and take some of your workload.’ Then, at the look on Christie’s face, she laughed and held up her hands in mock surrender. ‘I know. It’s a stupid thought and way too soon. But don’t fail for the want of trying, kiddo!’

  Which was nonsense, Christie thought savagely as she made her way back to the cottage, but her face was burning all the same. She had to haul herself back to earth. Hugo was a skilled anaesthetist. Anyone could see that he was the best! He could hold down a teaching job in a major hospital, she thought, and to believe that someone like Hugo would ever consider practising here was ludicrous.

  Still…there was tonight, and she had plans. Don’t fail for the want of trying. She wasn’t trying anything—she simply intended to enjoy.

  Unconsciously her hand came up to trace the line where his fingers had run down her face.

  Enjoy…

  She would. Because she had so little, and every moment must be savoured.