Summer of Love Marie Ferrarella (easy books to read in english TXT) 📖

said encouragingly. ‘Bearing in mind where you’ve been working recently, I’d like you screened for some of the more obscure tropical diseases as well. It could be that you’ve picked something up overseas and that’s what’s causing the problem. We’ll arrange for a blood sample to be sent to the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool and see if they can come up with any answers.’

Emma printed out a form for bloods to be taken at the hospital, adding a request for samples to be sent straight to Liverpool. She handed the form to Alistair who thanked her rather wearily and left. She frowned as the door closed behind him. ‘I don’t think he’s making it up, do you?’

‘No. It didn’t seem like it to me either,’ Daniel agreed. ‘Let’s hope something shows up in the next lot of tests because it’s very puzzling.’

‘Fingers crossed.’ She reached for the button to buzz through her next patient, not wanting to appear as though she was keen to detain him. However, he was way ahead of her.

‘Let me know when the test results come back, will you?’ he asked as he strode to the door.

‘Of course.’

Emma summoned a smile but it was galling to know how eager he was to avoid spending any time with her. He had stayed away from the house all day on Sunday, only returning when he’d been sure that she would be in bed. She had heard his car turn into the drive well after midnight and had hurriedly switched off her lamp, afraid that he would think she was waiting up for him.

It was obvious that Daniel was keen to avoid a repeat of what had happened on Saturday night. She was too but for a different reason. She was afraid of getting emotionally involved but that wasn’t something he would worry about. Daniel simply didn’t want any complications in his life. Maybe he had told her that she was more beautiful than any woman he had ever known but talk was cheap: actions said far more. And he had proved beyond any doubt that he didn’t care a jot about her.

CHAPTER TEN

THE week wore on and Daniel found to his dismay that he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened between him and Emma. It wasn’t so bad while he was working, he could focus on his patients then. However, when he was on his own, that was when the real problem started.

It was as though Emma had invaded his mind and every time he relaxed his guard, thoughts of her popped into his head. He kept remembering in glorious detail how it had felt when they’d made love and it was driving him mad. He longed to tell her how he felt yet he knew he couldn’t do it. How could he confess that making love to her had touched his heart and his soul when it was clear that she didn’t feel the same way?

In an effort to retain his sanity he spent an increasing amount of time away from the house. Fortunately the weather had improved and with the nights getting lighter, he was able to go walking after evening surgery ended. He became quite familiar with the various footpaths surrounding the town, although he was careful not to stray too far afield. It was while he was out one evening that he came across the search and rescue team tending an injured walker. When Mike Harding asked him if he would take a look at the woman’s ankle, Daniel readily agreed.

‘It looks to me very much like a Pott’s fracture,’ he declared after he’d examined her. He glanced at Mike and grimaced. ‘When she fell, she broke her fibula and either broke the tibia as well or tore the ligaments, resulting in a dislocation of the ankle. It’s a nasty injury.’

‘Can you help us put a splint on it, Doc?’ Mike asked. ‘We certainly don’t want to cause any more damage.’

‘Of course.’ Daniel gave the woman some Entonox™ to help with the pain then helped Mike fit an inflatable splint to support her ankle. He accompanied the team back to their Land Rover, shaking his head when Mike thanked him profusely. ‘I was happy to help.’

‘I still appreciate what you did, Doc. That’s twice in a very short time that we’ve been glad of your services. How’s that young lad doing, by the way? Have you heard?’

‘Do you mean Jack? He’s been moved from Intensive Care and by all accounts is making an excellent recovery.’

‘Which he probably wouldn’t be doing if you hadn’t been on hand to help him.’ Mike shook his head when Daniel demurred. ‘No, credit where it’s due, Doc. You saved that kid’s life and that’s a fact. It’s just a shame that you aren’t going to be here long term. We could do with someone like you to call on, especially as we’re coming up to our busiest time of the year. I don’t suppose you’d consider moving here permanently, would you?’

‘Nice idea, although I’m not sure my colleagues in London would appreciate me jumping ship,’ Daniel told him with a laugh to disguise how touched he felt by the request.

‘Pity. You’ve fitted in really well around here. Everyone’s said so. And they don’t always take kindly to outsiders, believe me.’

Mike sketched him a wave and drove off. Daniel made his way back to the house, thinking about what the other man had said. Despite the problems with Emma, he had enjoyed working in the town far more than he had expected. Not only had he enjoyed being part of such a close-knit community, he had dealt with a far wider variety of cases than he normally would have seen. With the nearest hospital being so far away, the surgery was the first port of call in an emergency and it had been good to test his skills.

He knew that if circumstances had been different, he would have been tempted to ask Jim Haynes if