Annie O'Neil - London's Most Eligible Doctor

“Vivaldi?” Lina’s face lit up. “What a wonderful choice. And your contemporary piece?” She sat back on her heels and looked at the girl seriously. “You did have a contemporary piece, right?”

“It was ‘Spiegel im Spiegel.’”

“Are you kidding? That’s one of my favorites. I used to dance to that one a lot.”

“Used to?” The girl swiped away some of her tears, missing Lina’s microscopic wince.

“What’s your name?” Lina asked.

“Vonnie.”

“Beautiful.” She tucked an arm around the girl’s small waist and began to raise her into a wheelchair she must have brought in. Resourceful. Cole found himself beginning to rethink the “just a favor” part of his agreement. Maybe she would be a good hire.

“I’m Lina. Shall we get you to X-ray?”

It was all Cole could do not to laugh. Lina didn’t have the slightest clue where X-ray was and how she’d magicked a wheelchair out of nowhere was impressive … a picture of confidence. And, more importantly, she’d engaged Vonnie enough to begin to stem the flow of tears. Impressive for someone who hadn’t seemed keen to spend her day with working dancers.

“Actually, can you put any weight on it?” Cole was the doctor here. Probably wise to take charge of this scenario.

Vonnie wrapped an arm round Lina’s shoulder and, with Cole’s help, heaved herself up.

“Have you already put ice on it? Kept it elevated on the ride over here?”

“Yes,” Vonnie snuffled. “As soon as it ha-ha-happened!”

Uh-oh. Those tears were back again.

“Lina, I’ll take Vonnie to X-ray, all right?”

The young girl twisted round, her face wreathed in anxiety, one of Lina’s hands clutched in her own. “No! Please don’t make her go. She understands me.”

Lina looked over at Cole and gave him the Polish version of a Gallic shrug.

“Fine. But you’ll have to leave the room during the X-ray.” Cole stepped away from the handles of the wheelchair and handed over steering duty to Lina. She wanted to work here? She could prove it. “I’ll lead the way, shall I?”

Cole tipped his head from side to side as he took in the extent of the injury. Swelling could hide things, but X-rays didn’t lie. He’d been right. It was a typical grade-two ballerina sprain—a tear of the anterior talofibular ligament with lateral swelling.

“So what do you say? Eight weeks until she dances again?”

“Mmm … something like that.”

In the tiny dark room, with only the X-ray board spreading a low-grade wash of light, having Lina so close, Cole had to rethink how wise a move it would be to hire her. He was attracted to her. And not just your average gee-you’re-good-looking sort of attraction. He was fighting a Class-A desire to spin her round, pull her into his arms and find out how she tasted, how she would respond to his touch. None of which would really be appropriate in a professional environment.

“It’ll be hard for her to hear … on top of missing out at the Grand Prix.”

“Believe me, I’ve delivered my share of bad news.”

Lina noticed Cole’s change of tone instantly. Almost felt it, they were so close. There was something deep-seated in his words. Grief? Rage? She couldn’t quite tell which, but maybe the rumors about him fighting demons was true. Not such a lighthearted Southern gent after all.

“I’d better get out of your way so you can let her know.”

“Yes, that’d be great.” Cole batted away the words, “I mean, I need to do this with the patient … Protocol,” he added, as if it were necessary. She knew the drill. She wasn’t a doctor so why should she have access to Vonnie’s appointment? It was for her mother to be there for her, and from the sound of approaching voices she would shortly be with her.

“Okay, well … it was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll wait to hear from you?”

She turned to give him a goodbye grin and got as far as turning. Right down to her very toes she felt the impact of the aquamarine of his eyes. A shame it would be the last time she was going to see them. A shame about a lot of things.

“How long has it been?” Cole’s voice broke into the quiet, indicating she should follow him to his office.

“Since what?”

“Since you’ve had a proper meal?”

Lina stiffened.

A while.

But not because of— Oof. Honestly? She balled up her jacket and protectively clutched it to her tummy. As if that would stop the jig-jag of emotions bouncing around in there. She liked eating as much as the next person. She just hadn’t been able to get it together and money was tight. Supertight. Things she most certainly wasn’t going to admit to Mr. Doesn’t-Like-to-Poke-His-Nose-Into-Other-People’s-Business. Ha! That’d be about right.

“I’m fine.”

“I didn’t say otherwise.” The puppy whined. Cole pulled the wicker basket up from the floor to have a peek and give the pooch’s muzzle a little rub. Not that he was growing fond of the thing.

“Look.” He gave Lina a pointed look. “This guy needs some grub and so do I. Why don’t you join us for dinner? My treat.”

“No, thank you. I’m not hungry.”

Lina’s tummy rumbled. Loudly.

Cole grabbed a couple of charts and a prescription pad from his desk before squaring himself to her. “After I finish with Vonnie, join me. Us. I know a little place down the road. Go have a nosy around Reception while you’re waiting. See what you think. Consider it part two of your interview. You don’t have the job yet.”

Er … “Okay.” Lina said the word to his back as he headed out of the office but got a thumbs-up as he disappeared round the corner. Hmm …

The puppy whimpered again and Lina found herself gently extracting him from his willow basket nest.

Poor little thing had a splint on his tiny back leg and looked terrifically sorry for himself. She gave an appreciative snort. “We all have our moments. Don’t we, Puppy?” Now, to see what the future had in store …

A good nosy around and Lina felt none the wiser. Actually, it hadn’t been much of a snoop session. She’d just gone into the reception area, plopped herself and Puppy down on one of the—very nice—sofas and thumbed through a magazine or two. Sitting behind the reception desk would have seemed too much like interest. It would have been akin to acknowledging how much she really needed the job. So reading magazines and enjoying the serene atmosphere, now that most of the practitioners had gone for the day, was what she did, happily enjoying the latest celebrity gossip and fashion mags … And then she hit Dance Monthly.

The cover story nearly sent her running for the hills: “Down and Out: Are the Fallen Forgotten?”

Against her will, tears sprang to her eyes. They may as well have put her face on the cover. Talk about cruel! She fought the growing tickle in her throat and nose, tightened her eyes, scrunched her forehead as much as she could, willing the pain to go away. Would there ever come a day when things wouldn’t hurt this much? It was hard to believe. Impossible even.

“Dr. Manning said you were still here!” A tearstained but smiling Vonnie appeared in Reception with a pair of crutches and her leg done up in a pneumatic walker. Lina jumped to her feet and shook away the remains of her own tears. She didn’t know why, but having helped Vonnie, for even a few moments earlier, had given her a boost. It would hardly do for the teen to find her blubbing on her own.

“Remember not to put any weight on that for three weeks!”

Cole appeared beside Vonnie with a bag of what she assumed to be treatment aids. Cooling gels, compression wraps, anti-inflammatories. She knew the drill.