Police Doctor
Autor
Laura MacDonald
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12
HarlequinCHAPTER ONE
‘ADELE, it’s good to see you again.’ Edward Fletcher stood up, came round his desk and, instead of shaking her hand, which she had expected him to do, kissed her warmly on the cheek. ‘Please, do come in and sit down.’ The kindly GP indicated a chair alongside his desk. Feeling rather like a cross between one of his patients and some long-lost niece, Adele sat down.
‘Did you have a good journey?’ Edward asked as he resumed his own seat.
‘Yes, it wasn’t too bad at all once I got onto the M6.’
‘Well, I hope you’re going to be happy with us all here in Stourborne Abbas.’
‘I’m sure I will be,’ Adele replied, looking round at Edward’s consulting room as she spoke. She could still hardly believe that she was here, that she’d actually left the familiar world of her home town of Chester and her life as a hospital doctor and started out on the road to becoming a GP.
‘Adele, before we go any further I have to tell you that there are one or two things that have changed since you came for your interview.’ Suddenly Edward’s affable expression had become serious and Adele felt a twinge of unease.
‘What sort of things?’ she asked.
‘Well, for a start, unfortunately I’ve been diagnosed with angina and high blood pressure which has meant I’ve had to reduce my workload.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Adele slowly. ‘Does this mean my coming here has caused problems?’ She looked at Edward and could see now that he did indeed look tired and rather drawn.
‘Not really.’ He shook his head. ‘But I’m afraid that what it does mean is that I am no longer able to be your trainer. Don’t worry,’ he added when he saw her look of alarm, ‘it isn’t going to be as much of a problem as you might think. My partner, Casey, has agreed to take over. Now, Casey wasn’t at your interview—he was taking a three-month sabbatical at the time.’
‘So is he happy with this new arrangement?’ asked Adele dubiously.
‘Oh, yes. In fact, it was he who suggested it.’
‘Really?’ Adele raised her eyebrows in surprise.
‘Yes, but he does also happen to be my own GP and having just told me to slow down…’
‘He didn’t have a lot of choice—is that what you’re saying?’
‘Something like that.’ Edward laughed, seeming to like her direct manner. Growing serious again, he said, ‘But you mustn’t worry, Adele, your training year isn’t in any jeopardy at all. Apart from the fact that it won’t be me who is your trainer everything else is as it stood at your interview and your flat is available upstairs. And there is also just one thing that I think might even be to your advantage.’
‘Oh?’ said Adele, trying to show some enthusiasm. Suddenly she felt rather flat, as if her arrival at the practice in Stourborne Abbas was some dreadful sort of anticlimax. ‘And what is that?’
‘At your interview you said that you were interested in forensics and police work.’
‘Yes, that’s right,’ Adele agreed. ‘I’ve always felt that’s an area I might like to explore further in the future.’
‘Well, Casey happens to be the police surgeon for Stourborne Abbas.’
‘Really?’ Suddenly there seemed possibilities in this new arrangement, which, if she was honest, had thrown her slightly. She had prepared herself to spend a year under the tuition and guidance of this kind and easygoing man and now it seemed that crucial year was to be spent with a man she hadn’t even met. ‘Tell me,’ she said looking up, her gaze meeting that of Edward’s, ‘what is Casey’s surname?’
Edward chuckled. ‘Casey is his surname,’ he said. ‘He likes it that way,’ he added when he saw her look of surprise. ‘Now,’ he went on briskly, ‘back to basics.’ Opening a drawer in his desk, he took out a set of keys and handed them to her. ‘These are the keys to your flat,’ he said, adding as an afterthought, ‘What have you done with your car?’
‘It’s on the forecourt,’ Adele replied. ‘Is that all right?’ she added.
‘Yes, but I suggest you bring it round to the rear of the building. There’s a small car park round there reserved just for the doctors. When you’ve done that I’ll get one of the girls to take you upstairs to your flat. I’d do it myself but…’ he pulled a face ‘…stairs and I don’t seem terribly compatible these days.’
Moments later Adele was back in her car and reversing out of the forecourt in front of Woolverton House—Stourborne Abbas’s medical centre. It was a large house, over two hundred years old and occupying a prime position in the high street of the busy market town. The house had, in its time, as Adele had already found out, been the family home of a wealthy cloth merchant, a small private school for the children of gentlefolk and for a long period of time a hotel, but more recently had been taken over by the local group practice as its health centre.
Following Edward’s instructions, Adele turned the car into an entrance to the right of the building, driving beneath an archway and into a cobbled courtyard where she found three cars already parked and spaces for three more. Carefully she reversed into one of the spaces—it took some manoeuvering as the space was tight but at last, with a sigh of relief, she was able to switch off her engine. Leaning forward, she looked up at the old, mews-type buildings with their gables and attics under the eaves that formed the rear of the house, and just for a moment found herself wondering about the people who had lived there in times gone by, imagining the merchant’s children playing in the courtyard or the servants going about their daily tasks. History was one of Adele’s passions and it was Woolverton House itself that had been the deciding factor in her reaching her decision to come to Stourborne Abbas for this crucial year of her training.
Opening the car door, she had just stepped out onto the cobbles when she jumped as a sudden roar filled the air, shattering the peace of the quiet courtyard as a large, powerful motorbike swept under the archway, circled then drove into the space opposite Adele. For a moment she felt irritated that her musings of the past had been so violently interrupted by such an acute reminder of the modern world and she found herself glaring indignantly at the rider. Clad almost entirely in black leather, his face—at least, Adele presumed it was a he, there seemed little chance that the powerful figure before her could belong to a woman—was hidden behind the visor of a shiny black crash helmet. Quite suddenly and irrationally her irritability spilled over. Later she was to wonder exactly why, but at the time it had been nothing more than the fact that he had disturbed her moment of peace or maybe it had been something to do with his attitude. First he surveyed her from astride his machine and then as he dismounted, the action in itself suggested an arrogance, which touched a raw nerve.
‘You can’t park there,’ she stated flatly, her voice rising slightly. ‘It’s reserved for doctors’ cars.’
Carefully he unfastened his crash helmet and removed it, shaking his head slightly as he did so, and Adele found herself looking into a pair of eyes that were neither entirely grey nor green but somewhere in between, their expression unreadable as he stared at her, not exactly hostile, just indefinable, which did little to relieve the jangling of her nerves. His hair was dark, cropped close to his head, his features rugged, not handsome, maybe attractive to a certain kind of woman but not handsome, certainly not handsome like Nigel.
But she mustn’t think of Nigel now, she told herself firmly, she mustn’t think about Nigel at all, it was too dangerous for that was a road that led to despair and depression. Nigel had classical good looks with his blue eyes and fair skin, his blond hair and aristocratic features and the man before her resembled a bandit from a bad Hollywood movie. Why, he even had a scar on his face which ran from the centre of his left eyebrow to the edge of his jaw, acquired, no doubt, in some drunken brawl. She found herself imagining the body beneath the black leathers to be covered in tattoos and expected, as he un-fastened the collar of his jacket, to catch the gleam of gold from at least one earring. But there was none and as, without speaking, he removed his gauntlets and unzipped his jacket it was obvious he intended disregarding Adele and staying where he was.
‘Did you hear what I said?’ she demanded.
‘Yes,’ he replied calmly, ‘you said these spaces were reserved for doctors’ cars, in which case I could question what you are doing parked there.’ He glanced beyond her towards her car as he spoke.
‘I am a doctor.’ She tilted her chin defiantly, still irritated by the man’s whole demeanour.
‘Really?’ His tone held a suggestion that he doubted the fact. ‘I don’t think we’ve met.’
Something in his manner compelled Adele to answer. ‘I’m Dr Brooks,’ she said, as haughtily as she could, ‘Adele Brooks.’ She paused and when he still didn’t offer any information as to his identity, in the same tone she said, ‘And you are?’
‘I also am a doctor,’ he stated quietly. ‘The name’s Casey.’
She felt such a fool, but how could she have known that this man who had managed to irritate her for no apparent reason and in such a short space of time was not only one of the partners but also the man who was now to be her trainer for the next year?
‘I’m sorry,’ she found herself muttering, ‘I didn’t think you were a doctor. You don’t look like a doctor…’ she added in her defence.
‘And what are doctors supposed to look like?’ There was a mocking expression in Casey’s eyes now, which only served to irritate Adele even further.
‘Well, I don’t know too many who wear black leathers or who ride high-powered motorbikes,’ she retorted.
‘What you’re saying is that the ones you know drive BMWs or Volvos and wear tweed jackets, is that right?’
‘Something like that, yes.’ Adele nodded, wishing she could escape from this man whose stare was beginning to make her feel very uncomfortable.
‘I find a motorbike more practical for negotiating traffic and leather is the only sure protection against the elements or sudden contact with the tarmac. I use the practice Land Rover on occasion…’ he nodded towards the large vehicle in one corner of the courtyard ‘…but I much prefer the freedom of the bike.’ He paused, his gaze briefly wandering over her, seemingly taking in every detail of her appearance, from her slender figure in the black suit she had chosen to wear because she had fondly believed it might create the right impression on her first day to her long dark hair and the scarlet ribbed top that matched her lipstick. ‘So you’re Adele Brooks,’ he said thoughtfully, and there was no way of telling whether he approved of what he saw or not. Not giving her a chance to answer, he carried on, ‘Have you seen Edward yet?’
‘I have.’ She paused. ‘It was he who told me to come and park here,’ she added quickly.
‘Did he also tell you about the new arrangements?’
Adele nodded, wondering in that instant quite how she was going to endure working for a whole year with this man who, as far as she could tell on such short acquaintance, was as different from Edward Fletcher as it was possible to be.
‘Where’s your luggage?’ He leaned sideways and looked at the boot of her car.
Without a word she turned and walked to the rear of the car, unlocked the boot and began dragging out one of her two large suitcases.
‘Let me do that.’ He was suddenly beside her, his leather-clad figure alarmingly close in the restricted space between the car and the wall.
‘It’s all right, I can manage…’ she began, but he ignored her, lifting out the second suitcase and setting it briefly down on the ground before picking up both cases and heading for a doorway on the far side of the courtyard, leaving Adele to scoop up the rest of her belongings and follow him. He kicked open the door and disappeared into a long dark passage at the end of which Adele realised he had turned and was climbing a staircase. He only spoke once and that was when they reached the first landing and he looked briefly over his shoulder. ‘Did you see your flat when you came for your interview?’
‘No. The previous occupant was asleep at the time but I did see the flat that belongs to one of the practice nurses and I was told it’s very similar to the one I would have.’
He was silent until they reached the second floor. A corridor stretched out before them but they walked barely half its length before he stopped before a closed door and set down the cases. ‘Did Edward give you your keys?’ he asked, as if it had only just occurred to him.
‘Yes.’ Adele would have unlocked the door herself but he took the keys from her and inserted one of them in the lock, pushed open the door then picked up the cases once more and preceded Adele into the room.
Her first impression was one of light, the warm sunlight of the September afternoon that spilled into the room from the tall, sash-cord windows highlighting the sheen on the polished wooden floor.
‘You know it’s only a studio flat?’ He turned towards her after setting the cases down.
‘Yes, but I decided as it was just for a year I could probably cope with that.’
‘It does have its own bathroom and kitchen.’ He crossed the room in his slow, unhurried way and opened a door to which presumably had once been a large bedroom but which now had been converted to accommodate the facilities he had just mentioned. Following him, Adele allowed herself a brief look around and was satisfied by what she saw. ‘Is Penny still a neighbour?’ she asked at last. Penny Rudge was the practice nurse whom Adele had met at her interview and whose flat she had seen.
He nodded. ‘She is. We’ve adopted a new policy with these apartments—above the shop so to speak. We now only rent them out to members of staff.’
‘Was that not the case before?’
‘No, and the previous occupant of this flat turned out to be a bit of a troublemaker. She had to go in the end.’
‘Really?’ Adele raised her eyebrows.
‘I hope you won’t be a troublemaker, Dr Brooks.’
It was such an unexpected comment to make that Adele found herself swinging round to protest, then having to bite back her ready retort as she saw the wry smile that hovered around the corners of his mouth and realised that he wasn’t serious. ‘It depends,’ she said lightly, ‘on the way I’m treated as to whether or not I make trouble. If I’m treated well I’m the most easygoing person in the world, but if anyone treats me badly, believe me, Dr Casey, I’m more than capable of making trouble.’
‘Casey,’ he said with a frown.
‘Sorry?’
‘You said Dr Casey.’
‘Isn’t that your name?’
‘I prefer plain Casey,’ he replied.
‘As you wish.’ She shrugged.
‘I’ll leave you to get yourself sorted out,’ he said. ‘You’d better give one of us a shout if there’s anything you want.’
‘What about food?’ Adele glanced around.
‘I’m afraid we don’t run to room service here.’ The mocking expression was back in those rather curious eyes of his and Adele felt herself flush.
‘I wasn’t suggesting that,’ she protested. ‘What I meant was that presumably there’s somewhere I can buy something.’
‘There’s a small supermarket just down the high street, but—’
‘That’ll be fine, thanks,’ she replied crisply, cutting him short. Suddenly she wanted him to go. She wanted to be alone to explore her flat and settle herself down into what was, after all, going to be her home for the next year. And she wanted to do it well away from the gaze of this man who for the moment she didn’t really know quite how to take.
‘I’ll leave you to it, then.’ He strolled to the door then stopped and looked back. ‘You’ll be ready to start tomorrow?’
It was barely a question, rather, Adele felt, an instruction. ‘Of course,’ she murmured coolly. Unexpectedly, his features softened into the semblance of something that could almost, but not quite, have passed as a smile, and she felt obliged to say, ‘Thank you for bringing my cases up.’
‘No problem,’ he replied, and then ruined it by saying, ‘Eight-thirty sharp in the morning. Don’t be late—I can’t abide unpunctuality.’ Then he was gone out of the flat, closing the door behind him and leaving Adele standing in the middle of the room with her belongings at her feet.
Finally able to relax, she looked around the room. It was a very large room, complete with a sofa-bed in a pale mustard colour strewn with huge, comfy-looking cushions. The décor looked fresh, as if it had all recently been painted, with light, wheat-coloured walls, white paintwork and with long, turquoise, muslin curtains that drifted gently in the breeze from the open window. There were a few ornaments, a large vase in the fireplace filled with twigs, seedpods and twisted pieces of tree bark and on the walls a couple of watercolour prints of local views. There were adequate cupboards, drawers and wardrobe space for her belongings and the kitchen and bathroom, though basic, were spotlessly clean and rather disappointingly modern. She would quite have liked to have found an old Victorian claw-foot bath in a house such as this. The rooms themselves were full of character with little nooks and crannies, and between the main room and the bathroom an unexpected window set with tiny panes of stained glass and with a deep sill on which someone had thoughtfully placed a glass bowl of fragrantly scented pot-pourri.
She unpacked her clothes and hung them up in the vast wardrobe then took a shower and was just drying her hair when she heard a tap on her door.
‘Who is it?’ she called, switching off her hair-dryer and making up her mind that if it was Dr Casey or whatever he called himself she would say she was changing.
‘It’s Penny. Penny Rudge.’
‘Oh, Penny.’ Scrambling to her feet, Adele crossed the room and pulled open the door.
‘Hi Adele. Welcome to Woolverton House!’ Short, round and blonde with large, expressive brown eyes, Penny Rudge stood on the threshold, a bottle of wine clasped in one hand, a bunch of flowers in her arms and a white square box in her other hand.
‘Penny, lovely to see you again. Come in, please.’ Adele smiled as she stood back to allow Penny to enter the room.
‘These are for you—the flowers and wine are from the rest of the staff and this is from me.’ As she spoke she thrust the white box into Adele’s hands.
‘Oh, how kind.’ Adele lifted the lid and peeped into the box. ‘Wow, that looks wonderful!’
‘It’s lemon custard tart—made by the bakery next door and absolutely scrummy. Thought you might be in need of a little spirit-raiser.’
‘Oh, thank you…you’re so kind. And what lovely flowers! I must see if I can find a vase for them. Please, do come in and sit down.’
‘I’m glad Rosie cleaned this place up,’ said Penny as she perched on the edge of the sofa and looked around her while Adele hurried into the kitchen.
‘Who’s Rosie?’ called Adele.
‘The surgery cleaner, she’s a real treasure.’
‘So does she clean the flats as well as the surgery?’ asked Adele as she came back into the room, a vase full of water in one hand and two wineglasses in the other.
‘She will if you come to some agreement with her. This flat was in a bit of a mess after the last occupant left—I’m just glad it’s cleaned up all right.’
‘I understand there was a bit of trouble with the last tenant,’ said Adele as she unwrapped the flowers—yellow rosebuds and amber carnations—and began placing them in the vase.
‘You could say that.’ Penny pulled a face then, changing the subject, she said, ‘Have you seen Dr Fletcher yet?’
‘Yes, I saw him when I arrived.’
‘How did you find him?’
Adele looked up. ‘Well, I was shocked to learn about his heart problems.’
‘He’s been working far too hard.’
‘Hence the reason he’s unable to be my trainer.’ Lifting the vase, Adele placed it in the sunlight on a low coffee-table by the window. ‘There,’ she said, ‘they look lovely there. Now, I’ll cut this tart and pour some wine. You will join me, won’t you? A celebration wouldn’t be any fun at all on my own.’
‘Absolutely,’ said Penny with a sigh. ‘Any excuse, that’s what I say.’ She was silent while Adele went back to the kitchen and found a bottle-opener, plates, a knife and two forks. When Adele returned and opened the bottle of wine, Penny said, ‘Are you very disappointed—about Dr Fletcher, I mean?’
Adele paused, the bottle poised over a glass and considered. ‘Well, yes,’ she said at last, ‘I suppose I am. I really took to him when I met him at the interview and in the meantime I suppose I had envisaged what it would be like working alongside him for the next year.’
‘I know, he’s a real sweetie, but you mustn’t be too upset.’ Penny took the glass of wine that Adele held out to her. ‘Casey is just as good. Cheers!’ She lifted her glass.
‘Yes, cheers!’ Adele lifted her own glass then took a sip. The wine was extremely good. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask whether Dr Casey was also a sweetie but it seemed such a ludicrous question and so obviously not the case that she remained silent. Instead, she set her glass down and set about cutting the lemon custard tart.
‘Where is it you’ve come from?’ asked Penny as she settled herself more comfortably on the sofa. ‘You probably did tell me before but I can’t remember.’
‘Chester.’ Adele passed a plate across the table then sat down on the rug in front of the fireplace with her own plate.
‘That’s right, I remember now.’ Penny nodded. ‘Well, you may find this practice very different from your hospital work but they’re a pretty good bunch to work with. We have our ups and downs, same as any place of work, but on the whole we all get on OK. I hope you’ll be happy here, Adele.’ Her face broke into a wide smile.
‘Thanks, Penny, I’m sure I will. I must say I’m glad you’re living in the building as well.’ She paused. ‘You were absolutely right about this tart—it’s really delicious.’
‘I know.’ Penny grinned. ‘I should be watching my weight really but I can never resist this.’ She popped another forkful into her mouth and closed her eyes in bliss.
‘So who else lives in the building?’ asked Adele after a moment.
‘Well, there are only us two on this floor but there are two larger flats down on the first floor. Toby has one of those—you know, Dr Nash. You met him, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, I did. He seemed very nice.’
‘He is—a bit serious, but nice.’
‘And the other flat?’ Even as she asked Adele had a premonition and instinctively knew what Penny was about to say.
‘Casey is living in that at the moment while he’s house-hunting,’ she said.
So, not only was she going to have to work with him, Adele thought wryly, it seemed she was going to have to live alongside him as well. She looked up and realised that a flush had touched Penny’s cheeks.
‘Actually,’ said Penny, leaning forward slightly in a conspiratorial manner, ‘he and I are a bit of an item at the moment.’
‘Really?’ Adele was surprised. She would never in a million years have put them together. ‘Well, that’s nice,’ she heard herself say.
‘It’s only very early days yet.’ Penny took a mouthful of wine. ‘But I’m hopeful. And, you have to admit, he is gorgeous.’ When Adele didn’t reply she went on, ‘How about you?’
‘Me? How do you mean?’ Adele frowned. For one moment she thought Penny wanted her to agree with her last remark and she wasn’t at all sure she could do that.
‘Yes, is there anyone special in your life?’
Adele took a deep breath. Why did it still hurt so much? ‘No,’ she said at last, ‘no, there’s no one special in my life at the moment.’
They chatted on for a while, mainly about Stourborne Abbas and the practice, then with a reluctant sigh Penny hauled herself to her feet. ‘I must be going,’ she said. ‘I have some notes to sort out before I finish. I’ll see you in the morning,’ she added as Adele also scrambled to her feet.
‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘At eight-thirty sharp.’ Seeing Penny’s rather curious look, she explained, ‘I’ve already been told that Dr Casey doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’
‘That’s true,’ Penny agreed, then as she reached the door she looked over her shoulder. ‘He doesn’t like that either,’ she added.
‘What?’ Adele frowned.
‘Being called“Doctor. He prefers plain Casey.’
‘He said that,’ said Adele slowly, ‘but I wasn’t sure he meant it.’
‘Oh, he meant it all right,’ said Penny with a laugh. ‘In fact, you can be sure that anything Casey says he means.’
After Penny had gone Adele was about to take herself off to the local supermarket to stock up on some food but, on opening the fridge to store the remains of the wine, she discovered fresh bread, milk, butter and cheese and decided that any shopping expedition could wait until the following day. No doubt Penny had been the one who had stocked her fridge and her thoughtfulness, together with the warmth of her welcome, did much to raise Adele’s flagging spirits. It was, however, with a certain amount of apprehension that she anticipated her first day in the practice because nothing was to be as she had imagined and she had the feeling that life with Casey was going to be vastly different from life with Edward.
