“It’s from where I broke my leg the first time,” I said, gazing out of the window so he wouldn’t see how much it still hurt.
“That’s why you gave up dancing?”
I nodded.
“That must have been difficult. I remember it was important to you.”
I tried to pull my leg away, but he tightened his grip. When I relented, he continued to massage the lotion into my skin. The movements became deeper and slower and my entire body started to buzz. “Maybe you need a bath.”
“No thank you. I don’t take baths.” What was there to do in a bath but lie back and think? It sounded like complete torture. Although, I would have said a massage from Joshua would have been hell up until a few minutes ago. I closed my eyes in a vain attempt to block out some of the Joshua Luca sensation floating into my body.
“Maybe one day I’ll convince you,” he said, pushing his thumbs up one side of my tibia and dragging them down the other. If he continued like this, I wouldn’t just have a crush on Joshua—I’d be pregnant with his child.
“Do something for me?” he said.
Anything, I thought. I shook my head, remembering who I was with and trying to get back in the moment. I opened my eyes to find him looking at me as if he were about to say something important.
“If I inspired you to become a doctor, I should be able to inspire you to call Stella.” I half-opened my mouth to say something but couldn’t find the words. “That cake really does look hideous.”
I smiled. “Okay.” I gave him a small nod and shifted my leg from his lap. I couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed that he let me go.
Eight
Hartford
I opened the lid of the white cardboard box and slid the cake onto one of the canteen plates. A couple of nurses stopped on their way out of the break room.
“You made this?” The one with the high ponytail asked.
I winced. “I bought it. I tried to make it, but failed.”
“It looks amazing,” a man said behind me.
“Help yourself, Jacob,” I replied to the doctor who’d just swept into the break room, taking every woman’s attention away from my cake. Jacob was the hospital heartthrob. It was easy to see why. He wore his pale-blonde hair as short to his head as possible, giving maximum impact to his blue eyes and sharp jaw. “I brought some paper napkins because I had to promise Mabel in the canteen my first born just to get one plate.”
“This is really nice of you. You made it?” Jacob asked.
I shook my head.
“Hartford! I was looking for you,” Gerry said as he sauntered into the break room. He glanced between Jacob and me. “Have you got a minute?” He didn’t wait for an answer before heading back out of the door he just came from. I dashed to keep up.
Gerry’s office looked like it might have been an old storage cupboard. It was tiny, with a folded-up wheelchair behind the door and a distinct lack of windows.
“Take a seat.” He closed the door behind me and pulled out a stool from under his desk.
“You brought in some cake.” He checked something on his computer as he spoke. “That’s nice of you.”
“I tried to bake but failed, so I bought that cake but I’m going to try again. I’m getting some lessons from a friend of Joshua’s, actually. You know, trying to get a life outside of the hospital, as you suggested.”
He turned to me and frowned. “It’s a good first step. And it’s nice to see you’re making friends. You said you and Joshua weren’t dating. Is there anyone else?”
Before I could answer, he shook his head as if to chastise himself. “I know I shouldn’t ask, but I see my junior doctors as my children. I like to see them happy. Fulfilled. Margo says I’m an interfering old man and I suppose she’s right—”
He was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Come in.” His voice was all stern authority.
Jacob stuck his head around the door. “That research you asked for.” He handed Gerry a faded, red paper file.
“Have you got yourself a girl, yet, Jacob?”
Jacob cleared his throat. “Not at the moment, sir.”
“Good, good. Then you’ll take Hartford out to dinner.”
Humiliation climbed my limbs. Had my boss just asked someone out on my behalf? Gerry seemed lovely but I really didn’t need him setting me up.
I started to object but Gerry put his hand up to silence me. “Jacob thinks I’m just as interfering as you do, but humor me.” He turned to Jacob. “Hartford hasn’t known me as long as you have. She’s still getting used to my foibles. Perhaps you can catch her up over dinner.”
Jacob gave Gerry a relaxed salute as if he’d been in the same position a thousand times and didn’t find it awkward at all. “No problem. I’ll tell her exactly how to avoid you.”