hall.
'Annabel, glad I caught you,' he said quickly. 'Have you still got those films you mentioned at the meeting last week? If you have, I wouldn't mind having a look at them. I wanted to make copies for teaching.'
'I'll drop them into your office in the morning,' Annabel promised, pausing with her hand on the door. 'The folder's on my desk at home.' The X-rays were copies of those from a baby she'd been asked to see a month earlier who had been born with situs inversus meaning his heart and abdominal organs were swapped around in his chest and abdomen so that his heart was on the right side of his chest instead of his left and his liver was on the left side instead of the right.
The other doctor lifted his hand in acknowledgement, before disappearing back into his office, and Annabel pushed the changing-room door open and kicked off the clogs she'd been wearing. Happily the baby with the situs inversus had appeared perfectly well, and was in no need of any treatment. The unusual switch had only been picked up when the delivering obstetrician had been worried that the baby's heart sounds were so indistinct—
'Oh.' She brought herself up sharply, meeting Luke's sanguine expression with shock. He was almost dressed, thank God, and buttoning his shirt with brisk haste, although not before she'd caught a glimpse of a disturbingly familiar broad chest, but still she registered the intimacy of catching him like this with startled dismay. 'I'll...wait outside. I was sure you'd be gone by now.'
'I was on call all night and I haven't had time to make it back to the hotel yet.' The sudden impatience of his regard suggested he found her shock irritating. 'I took a shower.' Only then did she register the damp darkness of his hair. 'For heaven's sake, Annabel, stop standing there like a nun and close the damn door. I'm decent. Even if I wasn't, you've seen me dressing often enough before.'
She had, just as she'd seen several of her colleagues in similar situations—they all invariably dressed after showering in the cubicle but such things as ties and jackets and shoes were generally left until the main room—but she was still, with Luke, finding the experience distressingly disconcerting. He lifted the collar of his shirt and threaded his tie around it, tied it immaculately, then ran a towel through his hair again, not even glancing her way, but still she stood, frozen, tensely aware of him.
'I'm supposed to be in a meeting with someone at Medical Staffing in ten minutes,' he said crisply. He balled the towel he'd been using then lobbed it effortlessly into the appropriate linen bag at the end of the room. 'Remind me again where the department is.'
'Just behind Rehabilitation,' she told him sharply.
His mouth compressed and she could sense his abrupt annoyance like a tangible haze around him. 'What have I done now?'
'Nothing.' She looked away. 'Nothing. I'm sorry.' She took in a quick, steadying breath. 'I'm just a bit...tense about Tamsin, I suppose. She's so...young. But I think she'll be all right now, don't you?'
'Simon Rawlings seems confident,' he affirmed, still looking impatient. 'The surgery should be fairly straightforward. Annabel—'
'Medical Staffing is in a separate small prefab building just behind Rehab,' she interrupted quickly. 'It's well labelled. You can't miss it.' She lowered her hands to the bulky hem of her jerkin then stopped. 'Don't let me delay you.'
He merely sent her a grim look and crouched to fasten his shoes, forcing her to acknowledge she'd been wrong about him being ready to leave. When he'd finished he simply stood slowly, folding his arms and looking at her without making any move towards leaving, and in the end, still foolishly holding onto her top yet unable to ignore him, Annabel was forced to look directly at him. 'What?'
'Do you have a problem?'
'You're not the only one who has to be somewhere in a hurry,' she replied stiffly. 'I would prefer it if I had a little privacy while I
'Annabel, glad I caught you,' he said quickly. 'Have you still got those films you mentioned at the meeting last week? If you have, I wouldn't mind having a look at them. I wanted to make copies for teaching.'
'I'll drop them into your office in the morning,' Annabel promised, pausing with her hand on the door. 'The folder's on my desk at home.' The X-rays were copies of those from a baby she'd been asked to see a month earlier who had been born with situs inversus meaning his heart and abdominal organs were swapped around in his chest and abdomen so that his heart was on the right side of his chest instead of his left and his liver was on the left side instead of the right.
The other doctor lifted his hand in acknowledgement, before disappearing back into his office, and Annabel pushed the changing-room door open and kicked off the clogs she'd been wearing. Happily the baby with the situs inversus had appeared perfectly well, and was in no need of any treatment. The unusual switch had only been picked up when the delivering obstetrician had been worried that the baby's heart sounds were so indistinct—
'Oh.' She brought herself up sharply, meeting Luke's sanguine expression with shock. He was almost dressed, thank God, and buttoning his shirt with brisk haste, although not before she'd caught a glimpse of a disturbingly familiar broad chest, but still she registered the intimacy of catching him like this with startled dismay. 'I'll...wait outside. I was sure you'd be gone by now.'
'I was on call all night and I haven't had time to make it back to the hotel yet.' The sudden impatience of his regard suggested he found her shock irritating. 'I took a shower.' Only then did she register the damp darkness of his hair. 'For heaven's sake, Annabel, stop standing there like a nun and close the damn door. I'm decent. Even if I wasn't, you've seen me dressing often enough before.'
She had, just as she'd seen several of her colleagues in similar situations—they all invariably dressed after showering in the cubicle but such things as ties and jackets and shoes were generally left until the main room—but she was still, with Luke, finding the experience distressingly disconcerting. He lifted the collar of his shirt and threaded his tie around it, tied it immaculately, then ran a towel through his hair again, not even glancing her way, but still she stood, frozen, tensely aware of him.
'I'm supposed to be in a meeting with someone at Medical Staffing in ten minutes,' he said crisply. He balled the towel he'd been using then lobbed it effortlessly into the appropriate linen bag at the end of the room. 'Remind me again where the department is.'
'Just behind Rehabilitation,' she told him sharply.
His mouth compressed and she could sense his abrupt annoyance like a tangible haze around him. 'What have I done now?'
'Nothing.' She looked away. 'Nothing. I'm sorry.' She took in a quick, steadying breath. 'I'm just a bit...tense about Tamsin, I suppose. She's so...young. But I think she'll be all right now, don't you?'
'Simon Rawlings seems confident,' he affirmed, still looking impatient. 'The surgery should be fairly straightforward. Annabel—'
'Medical Staffing is in a separate small prefab building just behind Rehab,' she interrupted quickly. 'It's well labelled. You can't miss it.' She lowered her hands to the bulky hem of her jerkin then stopped. 'Don't let me delay you.'
He merely sent her a grim look and crouched to fasten his shoes, forcing her to acknowledge she'd been wrong about him being ready to leave. When he'd finished he simply stood slowly, folding his arms and looking at her without making any move towards leaving, and in the end, still foolishly holding onto her top yet unable to ignore him, Annabel was forced to look directly at him. 'What?'
'Do you have a problem?'
'You're not the only one who has to be somewhere in a hurry,' she replied stiffly. 'I would prefer it if I had a little privacy while I
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