‘Why not?’ he asked.
‘Because you may have fractured the top of your humerus, which is the upper arm bone. If you have, we’ll need to operate in order to fix the pieces of bone together before we can even attempt a relocation.’
‘If not?’
‘Then I can put it back in.’
‘Will it be painful?
Melody smiled. ‘We’ll make sure you have sufficient analgesics to cover the pain. Your Colles’ fracture, which is your wrist, looks straightforward and can probably be fixed with a simple plaster cast.’
‘I can’t have a cast on my arm,’ he stated in a normal voice. ‘I’m right in the middle of shooting a movie. The hold-up of waiting for my arm to heal in a cast would cost the studio millions.’
‘I’m sure we can arrange for you to have your arm strapped and then in a half-cast for the hours when you’re not on camera.’ Melody continued calmly. ‘There are options.’
‘Can I get a second opinion?’
‘Of course,’ she replied, not at all offended. ‘First of all, let’s see what the X-rays show and then we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with.’
‘Right you are, Doc,’ he said with a smile. He was a handsome man, Melody thought, but his looks were too…polished.
‘You handled that well,’ George said once Rudy had been wheeled off, with three adoring nurses at his side, towards Radiology.
‘Why do you sound so surprised?’ She laughed as she led him into the ED tea room. ‘Coffee?’
‘Thanks,’ he said as he took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie.
‘Black. No sugar, right?’
‘How did you know?’
Melody chuckled. ‘Let’s see, since you arrived here, I’ve already had three meals sitting next to you. I simply noticed you didn’t add anything into your coffee before you drank it.’
He smiled at her. ‘And you have yours with just milk.’
‘I do.’ Melody quickly fixed them coffee and brought the cups over to the lounge where he was sitting. George took a sip of his coffee, then put the cup on the small table in front of them. He stretched his arms over his head and closed his eyes.
‘How long do you think Rudy will be in Radiology?’
Melody knew that George had said something but for the life of her she had no idea what he’d said because her gaze had been drawn to the way his muscles flexed beneath his shirt when he stretched. It should be outlawed. His crisp, white shirt did nothing to hide what lay beneath and Melody’s heart rate accelerated.
She quickly looked away, in case he intercepted her gaze. What was she doing, ogling him like that? He was a man in love with another woman. Or, more correctly, the memory of another woman. Memories were powerful things to compete with. She stopped her thoughts short. Wait. Compete? Did she want to compete for George’s attention?
‘Melody?’ There was concern in his voice when he spoke.
‘Sorry.’ She forced herself to meet his gaze but she didn’t hold it for long. She needed to be careful. She’d been burned too often in the past and perhaps it was necessary for her to remind herself every day that soon George would leave her life just as quickly as he’d entered it. Besides, did she really want to risk a quick fling with a man when she’d vowed to take the next relationship slowly—very slowly? She glanced his way again and found him watching her.
‘Something wrong?’
‘No. No. Nothing’s wrong.’ She shook her head for emphasis and then eyed him cautiously. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘No reason,’ he stated. ‘You just seemed miles away.’
‘Hmm.’ She tapped the side of her head. ‘There’s a lot going on up here but nothing I’ll burden you with.’ She chattered too fast, which indicated how his nearness was starting to affect her. She should stand, she should move, she should put more distance between them as right now the warmth and charm exuding from him was starting to become like an aphrodisiac to her. What was wrong with her? She was behaving like an adolescent with a crush.
It certainly didn’t help matters when he shifted closer and leaned towards her. ‘This attraction between us…’ he murmured quietly, his gaze holding hers.
‘Hmm?’ Melody waited, holding her breath to see what he would say next.
‘I try to stop myself but then I get near you and…’ He paused. ‘Are you…seeing anyone at the moment?’ He wasn’t sure why he was asking. Perhaps it was because her earlier comment about relying on work to help her through after her break-ups had made him think. Although they both knew that nothing should happen between them, he still seemed to have a burning need to know all about her.