Ben frowned. ‘You were in your final year of medicine at uni when I left. Then you were going to be a junior house officer. I thought you wanted to go into paediatrics after rotations? That your goal was Great Ormond Street?’
She felt an unexpected rush of pleasure that he remembere
d. It shouldn’t matter. But it did.
‘It was. But then Daniel died and everything changed.’ She shrugged, seeing the flash of sorrow in his eyes before his face closed against her, as she remembered it doing a decade earlier when she’d spoken her brother’s name. Just another reminder of the fact that he could never open up to her.
‘I realised I was better in trauma. Daniel had taught me some stuff over the years—techniques you guys use out in war zones which had yet to filter down to Civvy Street. I was able to adapt those things into my own work, so I started to gain quite a reputation. Before long I was getting offers to go and learn from Army trauma doctors who were coming back from Afghanistan. The more I learned, the better I became, and the more offers I got.’
‘So now you work here? Nice scrubs... Blue always was your colour,’ he said without thinking. The conversation topic had momentarily given them common ground.
‘Actually, I work with the Air Ambulance as a trauma doctor. I just happen to be on secondment here at the moment.’
He saw through the excuse immediately, and the moment of connection between them disappeared as he glowered at her. ‘You’re playing with your career to stay here and check up on me?’
Dammit—she hadn’t wanted him to realise. She’d been lucky that the Air Ambulance had been so understanding from the moment she’d told them about Ben last month.
‘I’m one of the doctors for the Air Ambulance. I don’t play with my career,’ she objected. ‘They have set up a temporary exchange programme with one of the hospital-based trauma doctors for me.’
‘Are you that good?’ He looked impressed.
‘Yes.’ Thea nodded proudly and offered a cheeky grin. Typical of Ben to cut to the chase, and she wasn’t about to disappoint him with false modesty. She was proud of all she’d achieved—especially after losing Daniel and Ben, albeit for very different reasons. ‘I am good, as it happens.’
She’d worked hard for her achievements, and her past had driven her on—including Ben’s abandonment.
‘There’ll always be more to learn—new procedures, research progress... That’s the nature of medicine—you know that. But, yes, I’m one of the top in my field.’
‘I’m pleased for you,’ Ben acknowledged, and the sincerity in his tone gave her an unexpectedly warm glow.
She had been setting money aside ever since her first decent job, and now had enough to pay Ben back every bit of money he’d ever given her for her education. But something warned her that now wasn’t the time to mention it. Somehow they seemed to have struck the beginnings of an uneasy truce, and she wasn’t about to jeopardise it.
‘So, you’ve been here every day?’
‘When I’m working here. Sorry, Ben, I don’t have time to come and visit you all the time.’
Had her nose just grown about a foot? She had been surprised that he hadn’t informed Dr Fields that they were estranged and got him to force her to stay away. But then, that would have entailed talking to a stranger about his private life.
Thea watched as he tried not to let her see he was leaning on the rock wall for support. The nurses had told her he’d long been refusing any pain medication, claiming it would prevent him from being able to tell whether his body was healing or not. She wasn’t convinced—there had to be more to it than that. Still, it was little wonder that his brain was hazy if he was dealing with that level of pain. If so, was this her perfect opportunity to convince him that he should be discharged into her care?
Apprehension rippled through her. If she was honest, she wasn’t sure she wanted him in her home again—it threatened to raise too many unanswered questions. She’d thought Ben was firmly in her past until she’d received that nightmare phone call a few weeks ago. Then she’d realised she needed closure. But the way he had her emotions scattering all over the place scared her. She couldn’t afford to let him get under her skin again.
But if he needed someone looking out for him for the next few months then she owed him that much after all he’d done for her. Besides, as the cottage was part of Army married quarters, technically it was as much his house as it was hers.
‘You’ve got your hospital stay and your initial rehab stay. After that you’ll have a long-term rehab stay—or you can choose to come home with me so that I can help you through your recovery.’
‘So that you can keep tabs on me, you mean?’
‘Yes, if you like.’
No point in denying it.
‘Look, Ben, you’re going to push yourself—we both know that. Hell, the whole hospital knows that. But they won’t discharge you to live on your own. They have a duty of care to make sure that someone is around.’
‘Thea, I don’t want to have this conversation with you.’
‘Well, frankly, I don’t want to have this conversation with you either,’ she bit back.
He’d never listen to her if she buckled at his first objection. She’d been preparing her line of argument for the last week.