Relative Ethics

‘He had strawberries for breakfast. Aren’t they supposed to be very high in potassium?’

He arched an eloquent eyebrow. ‘Clever girl. Well done. If it is renal failure, it may well have pushed him over the edge. Let’s get him in and then we can dialyse him PDQ if necessary.’

He turned to the patient, and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. ‘OK, Mr Davis, I think we’d better have you in for a closer look at your problem. We’ll soon have you feeling better. I’ll go and have a chat with your wife now, and she can come in and sit with you until we take you up.’

He tucked a hand in the crook of Bron’s arm and gave her the benefit of a ten-megawatt smile that could well have been a monument to the success of some unknown orthodontist, but Bron would lay odds that the dentition, like the man, was totally without artifice.

‘Let’s get a coffee,’ he said.

Bron’s lips twitched into a grin. She’d bet he was a real heartbreaker. ‘Good idea.’ They walked down to Kathleen’s desk and arranged for Mr Davis’s transfer to ITU, then went into the staff-room.

While she poured the coffee, she studied Dr Marumba as he prowled around the room. He looks like an Olympic athlete, she thought, with that powerful build and those incredibly long legs. His ebony skin was in stark contrast to the gleaming white of his coat, and his eyes twinkled like jet. He took the proffered cup and that smile broke out again on his face, lighting up the corners of the room with its brilliance.

‘Tell me something,’ Bron said, eyeing this delightful giant over the rim of her cup. ‘Why Jesus?’

He raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘Apart from the miracles I perform? Because it’s my name. True! They call the medical wards heaven—not usually in my hearing, and not usually in front of the patients—it’s been known to upset them!’

He gave a rich chuckle, and drained his coffee. ‘Back to the grind. I’ll go and talk to Mrs Davis. Good to meet you, Bronwen, and well spotted, by the way. I’ll catch up with you later.’

She nodded. ‘Yes, OK. Thanks for coming down—he was my first patient. And come to think of it, if I don’t get back out there, he could be my last!’

He laughed. ‘You could always come and work for me if Harris throws you out!’

He gave a jaunty wave and left, and, setting her cup down, Bron followed him.

The rest of the morning passed in a whirlwind of minor cuts and bruises, sprains, simple fractures and a very straightforward case of a child who had swigged an unknown quantity out of a bottle of cough medicine, and obligingly vomited with the aid of a little ipecacuanha.

His mother was relieved and grateful, and marched the little terror out to wreak further havoc.

‘I bet we see him again before too long!’ Kathleen laughed, and Bron found herself smiling. So far, so good.

‘All quiet now, Bron? Come on up for lunch, and meet some of the others.’ Jim Harris dropped a friendly arm around her shoulders, and gave her an affectionate squeeze. ‘How are you doing? Well done with that old boy—jolly good start. Marumba was very impressed. Clever of you to pick up on the strawberries. Here, dump your coat, forget reality for a while.’

He filled her in on the history of the building and the current state of the hospital as they went, and by the time they arrived at the staff dining-room she was totally lost again.

There was, predictably, a sea of new faces, all friendly and, she found, instantly disconnected from their names. I suppose I’ll sort them all out in time, she thought, and concentrated on smiling and avoiding too many questions about her marital status and past medical career.

When they had finished eating, Jim led her through to the coffee-lounge and sat her down with her back to the door.

‘Don’t mind, do you? Only there’s someone I want you to meet—you’ll be bound to work with him fairly soon. General surgeon—excellent chap. Started here about a year ago. He was senior registrar at Guy’s until then, and became a consultant at thirty-one. Meteoric rise, but he’s extraordinarily gifted. Ah, talk of the devil——’

‘As opposed to Jesus?’ Bronwen quipped, but the laugh died in her throat as Jim rose to his feet.

‘Oliver, I want you to meet my new registrar, Bronwen Jones. Bronwen, Oliver Henderson, boy-wonder of general surgery.’

In slow motion, frame by frame, Bronwen lifted her head and made herself meet the clear, steady gaze that had haunted her for almost two years—the longest, loneliest, most rewarding and challenging years of her life.

‘Hello, Bron.’ The voice like oiled sandpaper, deep and husky, rasped over her senses, leaving her nerve-endings raw.

She closed her eyes against the sensation, and felt the years slip away …

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_39ef6e20-4b93-536a-aa0e-9b5b987e5af1)

BRONWEN lifted her eyes and looked around the crowded conference room. There was no sign of Jane—typical! And there was that man again, propping up the wall with indolent grace: tall, well-built, a lock of his heavy gold-blond hair falling over his eyes so that he had to keep thrusting it back with his fingers.

Every time Bronwen looked up he was there, watching her with those startling blue eyes like a Mediterranean dawn, with a sultry promise of heat.

She shifted uncomfortably on her chair and cursed Jane for her absence. Where was she? He was watching her again.

She made a deliberate attempt to ignore him. It lasted perhaps fifteen seconds, and then her eyes were drawn back to his, tangling helplessly in that clear, bright gaze that seemed to dip into her soul. A slow, sensuous smile touched the corner of his mouth, and she blushed and looked away, more determined than ever to ignore him. Just a conference Lothario, she decided, and scoured the room for her colleague.

‘Hi!’ Jane came up behind her, and struggled inelegantly over the back of the seat, dropping into it with a plop. ‘Just in time. Phew! What a scorcher. Have I missed anything?’

Bron smiled and shook her head. They haven’t started. What kept you?’

Jane rolled her eyes and grinned wickedly. ‘I met this man—stunning. We’re meeting him in the bar before supper tonight. He’s here with a friend, too—said so long as you weren’t related to Count Dracula you’d be welcome to join us. I accepted for you—OK?’

Bron laughed. ‘Do I get a choice?’

‘Absolutely not. That’s him over there——’ She gave a little wave, and Bron looked across the room in time to see the man with the blue eyes smile and raise an eyebrow at her. ‘Isn’t he gorgeous?’

Bron’s heart thumped heavily with disappointment. So Jane had snapped him up—the story of her life! God knows, she was used to it. ‘What?’

‘I said don’t you just love the way his hair curls over his ears? And those melting brown eyes——’

‘Brown eyes?’

‘Mmm, like toffee. Gosh, I’m not sure I can wait for tonight.’

Bron glanced across the room again, and saw the tall, fair man in conversation with another man, equally good-looking, but dark-haired, and as she looked he raised his hand and waved.

Jane waggled her fingers at him, and grinned. ‘That must be his friend. What a pair they make!’

‘Mmm. Wolves always hunt in packs. I wouldn’t care to trust either of them,’ Bron muttered, but her eyes kept creeping back to him, and then flicking away when she was caught.

In the end she resolutely turned her back, but she could feel his eyes boring holes in her skull, and missed every second word of the lecture.

When it was over they went up to their rooms and showered and changed. As she was berating herself for her indecision, Jane tapped on the door and let herself in.

‘Wear the blue silk,’ she said decisively, and lifted it out of the wardrobe.

Bron threw her a withering look. ‘I have no intention of getting myself raped. God only knows why I brought that thing. I shall wear the peach cotton dress—or the navy one with the sailor collar——’

‘Wear the blue silk,’ Jane repeated.

In answer Bron hung it up in the wardrobe and lifted out a soft peach-flowered cotton tea-dress, delicately pretty and absolutely demure. Jane made a sound of disgust, and Bronwen ignored her and finished her light make-up.

By the time they went down, Jane had admitted defeat and conceded that Bron did indeed look very attractive in the tea-dress.