Jennifer Taylor - The GP's Meant-To-Be Bride

She told Aidan that he would be going to hospital then made her way to the next casualty, a middle-aged man. A section of metal had fallen on him, pinning him to the ground. He was lying face down, his hard hat obscuring his face. Gemma checked for a pulse at both neck and wrist but there was none. It was impossible to turn him over because of the weight of the metal, but she knew there was nothing she or anyone else could do for him. She left him there and hurried to the next person, arriving at the same time as Ben. He grinned at her as they both knelt down.

‘Not quite what I’d planned on doing today.’

‘Me neither,’ Gemma agreed, glancing across at the crane. Ross was leaning into the cab while he attended to the driver. He seemed oblivious to the danger he was in or maybe he didn’t care. Maybe his apparent calm was all a front and inside he was so devastated about losing Heather that he no longer cared what happened to him.

The thought was sheer torture. Gemma knew she couldn’t cope with it if she hoped to do her job properly. She dragged her gaze away and forced herself to concentrate on the injured man. There was a lot of blood on his face and that worried her until Ben discovered that he had broken his nose. That explained the heavy bleeding and a quick examination along with a few pertinent questions—name, age, what day of the week it was—soon established that he hadn’t suffered a serious head injury. He would need to be checked again when he reached hospital, of course, but she and Ben were happy to move on to the next casualty.

‘I hate to interrupt but I need a hand over there.’

All of a sudden Ross was standing beside them, sounding unusually curt again as he addressed himself to Ben. Gemma felt her heart ache because it was so unlike him to speak to anyone this way. He was always totally professional in his dealings with the staff at the surgery, never lost his temper, and was always calm and reasonable. He must be devastated by what had happened to behave so out of character, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it, either.

‘Typical. Gemma and I were just doing a bit of bonding and now you want to drag me away.’ Ben leered at her so comically that Gemma couldn’t help smiling then wished she hadn’t when she saw Ross’s expression darken.

‘Well, I’m sorry to spoil your fun but you’re the expert here. I’m just a humble GP, don’t forget.’

Ben whistled softly as Ross stalked away. ‘Ouch! That put me in my place, didn’t it? This wedding business has hit him really hard. It’s not like Ross to bite people’s heads off like that. I knew it was odd this morning when he told me what had happened. I mean, he didn’t even sound upset. He must have been bottling it all up until now.’

‘Probably,’ Gemma agreed sadly. ‘I just wish there was something we could do.’

‘To get Ross and Heather back together, you mean?’ Ben’s face lit up. ‘Great idea! It’s a crying shame, them breaking up like that. He and Heather are just perfect for each other. They’re so well matched that it’s disheartening, really. You just know that you’ll never find anyone as perfect yourself, or, more to the point, someone who thinks you’re perfect for them.’ His smile dimmed. ‘I certainly won’t.’

Gemma had a feeling there was more to that comment than Ben was admitting. However, there was no time to ask him to explain when there were so many lives at risk. She finished attending to their patient while Ben went to help Ross, using a wad of lint to clean away the blood. By the time that was done, the police had arrived, bringing with them more members of Dalverston’s rapid response team, although as one wit pointed out they might need a new name after today seeing as their response had been far from speedy.

It was good to have so many experienced people around, though. Gemma did whatever she was asked, unconcerned when at times she found herself acting as gofer. She wasn’t too proud to admit that other people knew more about emergency procedures than she did and was happy to learn from them. It was different in the surgery—she was completely at home there and confident that there was little she couldn’t handle, but this wasn’t her natural element.

Her gaze strayed once more to Ross, who was in the thick of things, helping the team attend to the crane driver. Even as she watched, she saw him issue instructions to one of the paramedics and saw the man obey them. No matter where Ross worked, or in what capacity, he would feel completely sure of himself. Heather had been exactly the same. No wonder they’d been so right for each other. Two good-looking, talented, perfect people who should have had a perfect life together.

Tears filled her eyes and she hurriedly turned away. She wasn’t perfect and she never could be. The scars on her body might have faded but they were still there, still looked repulsive to anyone who saw them. Even if Ross and Heather never got back together, even if Ross realised that he could find someone else equally perfect for him, it wouldn’t be her.

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