Read Online Bachelor Cure by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online Page A

Tess a smile in return, but his mind was racing.
    Bill’s words were echoing strongly in his mind. ‘You have a duty here…’ And ‘We’d accept Doris the pig if only she had a medical degree.’
    Hell!
    The room was suddenly way too small.
    The door opened. It was Bill, with a junior nurse in tow. Just as well. His blood pressure was climbing through the roof as he tried to think this through. ‘We’ve come to do the real work around here,’ Bill said cheerfully. The charge nurse looked from Tess to Mike with amused speculation and then watched as they selfconsciously disengaged hands. Hmm.Things were moving along nicely here. ‘Doctors aren’t wanted,’ he added, kindly forbearing to comment on the hand-holding. ‘Unless you have anything urgent to do here…’
    â€˜I’m just going,’ Mike said curtly, in a voice that made Bill frown. ‘Let me know when he wakes, Bill.’
    â€˜I’m staying,’ Tess said.
    â€˜No.’ Mike shook his head. ‘No way. You need to sleep.’
    â€˜I can sleep here,’ she told him. ‘I want to be here when Grandpa wakes.’
    â€˜Tess…’
    â€˜Butt out, Dr Llewellyn,’ she said firmly. ‘This is my grandpa. Go find a grandpa of your own.’
    â€˜He has ten or so grandpas—grandmas, too—booked into surgery this morning,’ Bill said, grinning again. ‘He can choose.’
    â€˜There you are, then,’ she said kindly. ‘Bye-bye, Dr Llewellyn. Off you go and care for the medical needs of the valley grandpas and grandmas en masse . We’ll cope with this one ourselves.’
    And he was left with nothing to do but leave.
    Â 
    It’d be evening before he had an excuse to make another trip to Henry’s room, he thought as he closed the door reluctantly behind him. Unless Henry woke…
    He hoped to hell that Henry woke. And it wasn’t just for Henry’s sake, either.
    Â 
    Mike worked flat out for the whole day, but Tess hardly left her grandfather’s side. Bill persuaded herto shower and change while he took over her watch, but apart from that she hardly left his side.
    â€˜It’s just so hard,’ she told Bill, her voice strained. ‘I’m just trying to figure what to do for the best here. Maybe Mike’s right and he’ll make a full recovery, but meanwhile he can’t go back to the farm to live alone. Where’s the nearest rehabilitation unit?’
    â€˜Melbourne.’
    â€˜So unless he has someone at home to care for him—someone to help him do his exercises and make sure he’s safe—then he’ll have to go to the city. A few months of institutionalised living will make him unlikely to be able to care for himself again, and meanwhile someone has to care for the farm.’
    â€˜The farm could be sold.’
    â€˜No. That’s unthinkable.’
    â€˜Why?’
    Tess thought that one through. ‘I don’t know,’ she said slowly. ‘Or maybe… Maybe I do. From the time I was little, my dad talked of this place as home. He was homesick, but too pig-headed and proud to ever think about returning. Instead, he passed on his love to me. By the time I saw the farm and met Grandpa I was sixteen and felt like the place was where I belonged, and the three months I spent here as a teenager cemented that impression. I love it.’
    â€˜You’re a farm girl?’ There were things that needed doing, but still Bill lingered. Tessa was desperate to talk to someone and he let her talk.
    â€˜No way. I was raised in the city, but maybe I’m a farm girl at heart. That was why I decided to gointo family medicine—so I could move to the country.’
    He quirked an eyebrow. ‘Eat a lot of peaches?’
    Tess grinned. ‘OK, so I’m an idealistic twit!’
    He smiled. ‘Don’t knock it. Idealistic twits are valued in this