Alison Roberts - Hot Docs On Call - Healing His Heart

Both she and Matt’s siblings had been lucky they’d had someone special who’d been willing to sacrifice everything to provide for them. She wanted to do the same for Simon if he’d only let her.

‘That must’ve been tough.’ She was barely coping with one small boy and a part-time job. It was almost incomprehensible to imagine a young Matt raising and supporting a family while studying at the same time. Just when she thought this man couldn’t be any more perfect his halo shone that bit brighter.

It was a shame that no-kids rule put him firmly off-limits. Along with the whole medical ethics thing and the fact she’d chosen celibacy over trusting a man in her life again. As if she’d ever stand a chance anyway after he’d witnessed her puffy panda eyes and been drenched in her tears of self-pity. He’d probably endured a lot more as a single parent and cried a lot less.

‘Do you want some of my chips? Help yourself.’ He shoved his plate towards her and it took a second to figure out why he was trying to feed her.

‘Er…thanks.’ She helped herself to a couple to detract from the fact she’d probably been staring at him longingly.

Better for him to think she was greedy than love struck. She wasn’t too happy about the nature her thoughts had taken recently either.

‘It wasn’t easy but we survived and you will too. You figure this stuff out as you go along.’

It was good of him to share some of his personal details with her—he didn’t have to and she knew he’d only done it to make her feel better. It did. He was no longer an anonymous authority figure; he was human and he was opening up to her. A little knowledge of his private life made it easier to trust another kindred spirit. She supposed it was only fair she gave something of herself too, although he’d probably already heard more than enough about her for one day.

‘I thought with my background this would all be familiar territory. I was a foster kid myself. My birth parents were too young to handle parenthood and I bumped around the system until I was finally adopted. My mum never seemed to struggle the way I have, even when her husband walked out. I’m afraid history repeated itself. My ex left me too when I decided I wanted to foster.’ It was difficult not to take it personally that any important male figures in her life had abandoned her. From the emotional outbursts and irrational behaviour Matt had probably already figured out why no man wanted to face a future with her.

‘We’re all full of good intentions, but it’s not long before a cold dose of reality soon hits home, eh?’ He was smiling at her but Quinn was convinced there was a barbed comment in there. Perhaps he’d meant well by asking her to meet here but he’d found it tougher going than he’d imagined listening to her whining.

‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be lumbering you with all my problems. It’s not part of your job description and I’m putting you off your food.’

‘Not at all.’ He wedged the last bit of his burger into his mouth to prove her wrong.

‘I tutor from home so it’s been a while since I’ve had any adult company to vent with. Lucky you, you get to hear me offload first.’

‘It’s a hazard of the job. I’m a surgeon-cum-counsellor.’ His grin said he didn’t mind at all.

It was a relief to get off her chest how much these past two months had impacted on her and not be judged on it. She was doing enough of that herself by constantly comparing herself to her mother when the circumstances were so different. She’d been a young girl in the country, desperate for a family, and Simon, well, he wasn’t more than a baby and had already been through so much. He’d been passed around like an unwanted guest and now he was burned and traumatised by the fire, with no real idea of what was going to come of him.

Her mother had had an advantage simply by living in her rural surroundings. Fresh air and wide open spaces were more conducive to recovery and peace of mind than the smog and noise of the city. However, this was the best place for him to be for his treatment and there was no choice but to soldier on, regardless of location.

‘Do you have a couch in your office we can share?’ It wasn’t until he raised his eyebrow in response she realised how inappropriate that sounded. Today, it was becoming a habit.

An image of more inappropriateness on the furniture behind closed doors with Matt filled her head and made her hot under her black tank top and slouchy grey cardigan. If she’d had any intention of flirting she definitely would’ve picked something more attractive than her slummy mummy attire. Comfy leggings and baggy tops were her security blanket inside the hospital and hadn’t been meant for public display.

‘I mean…I feel as though I should be lying on your couch…you taking notes. As a counsellor, obviously. Not some sort of sofa fetishist who gets off on that sort of thing. I’ll shut up now before you do actually use your authority to call the men in white coats to lock me up.’ Quinn clapped her hands over her face as if they provided some sort of invisibility shield for her mortification. Unfortunately, they weren’t a sound barrier either as she heard Matt cough away his embarrassment.

Very smooth. Not.

Far from building the beginnings of a support system with Matt as a friend, she’d created an even bigger chasm between them with her weirdness. She’d made it crystal clear to herself, and Matt, through her awkward small talk and vivid imagination that she fancied the pants off him. Why else would she be stumbling over her words and blushing like a schoolgirl trying to make conversation with him.

Great. On top of everything else she was actually picturing him with his pants fancied all the way off! The poor man had no clue about the monster he’d created by being so nice to her.

A sweaty, red-faced monster who’d apparently woken up from hibernation looking for a mate.

FOR A SECOND Matt thought he was going to need someone to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre on him to dislodge the French fry in his throat. The shock of Quinn’s imagery had made him swallow it whole.

He gulped down a mouthful of water, relief flooding through him as it cleared his blocked airway.

She hadn’t tried to choke him to death on purpose. There’d been absolutely no malice or deliberate attempt on his life as far as he could tell, when Quinn emanated nothing but innocence and the scarlet tint of embarrassment. Neither, he suspected, had she meant to flirt with him but his body had responded all the same to the idea of them rolling around in his office. Around this woman he lost all control of himself, body and mind. Not to mention his common sense.

His first mistake had been to come here outside of work, only to be compounded by swapping details of their personal lives. Then there was the touching. Offering a reassuring hand, or shoulder to cry on, was part and parcel of his job, but probably not when they were lost in each other’s eyes in a crowded pub.

She drew that protective nature of his to the fore when he’d spent this past year trying to keep it at bay. He’d only intended to show her she wasn’t alone because he knew how it was not to have anyone to turn to when you were weighed down with family stresses. She didn’t have to apologise for the feisty spirit she’d shown as they clashed over Simon’s treatment; she’d need it to get her through. He simply hadn’t expected that spark of attraction to flare to life between them as if someone had flicked a switch.

It had thrown him, sent him scurrying to the bar to wait until it passed. Quinn was the mother of one of his patients.

A mother. His patient.

Two very good reasons to bypass that particular circuit, but no, he kept on supplying power.