He nodded. ‘And what’s your diagnosis?’
Hannah smirked. ‘You’re the expert. You tell me.’
Matt gave her a small smile. ‘I’d say it’s an injury to the medial collateral ligament. Grade One so it shouldn’t give you too much trouble. Treatment?’
She gave him an argumentative look. ‘Don’t patronise me. I may not be a doctor, but I’m fully aware that rest, ice, compression and support should sort it. I’ll be okay by next week.’
He rose to the challenge. ‘It should be improved. It’ll be a few weeks before the knee is back up to full strength.’
‘Right. I stand corrected, Mr Lawson.’
‘And I’ll know that I need to compensate for you a bit.’
She didn’t like that one bit. Hannah flashed him a look that left him in no doubt that she was contemplating jumping off the couch and strangling him.
‘Just as you might like to compensate for me,’ Matt added, quickly.
‘Compensate how?’ Hannah had obviously decided to put the strangling on hold for a moment.
‘Getting help from those men with the aerial lift truck was a great idea. But I got the distinct impression that you thought I was jumping the gun...’
She looked at him steadily. ‘And were you?’
He may as well admit it. ‘Yes, I was. I reckoned I’d climb the fence before you had a chance to try it. You were already limping and I’m not sure you would have made it with that knee.’
Hannah grinned suddenly. ‘You’re probably right. But a bit more communication would have been nice.’
‘Point taken. Can I trust you to remind me if I forget that?’
‘Oh, yes, I’ll remind you.’ Hannah thought for a moment. ‘Can I trust you to pick me up if I fall over again?’
Matt chuckled. ‘Yeah. Any time.’
Trust wasn’t something he usually shared with people he didn’t know well. But he and Hannah had to become a team if they were going to win the prize for their hospital. Hannah’s hospital. He might be moving on soon.
Matt dismissed the thought of the job application forms, lying on his desk at home. That was the future, and as ever he was uncertain about where he’d be a few months from now. This was now.
‘Would you like to come back and have dinner with us afterwards?’ Hannah’s question broke his reverie. ‘Sophie’s bringing Sam along to see the results announced, and Mum’s making burgers, she always makes a few extra and puts them in the freezer so there’s plenty to go round. We could talk tactics for next week.’
It wasn’t the kind of invitation he usually accepted. But getting to know Hannah better was the obvious precursor to building trust and teamwork.
‘Thanks. That would be great. I’ll go and see if I can rustle up some ice and a light knee support. Why don’t you stay here?’
She nodded. Then she smiled suddenly. ‘Did you miss something?’
Matt chuckled. ‘You mean did I miss telling you that your knee is just fine, and apart from a slight injury you have good movement and excellent muscle tone? Or the part about the small ganglion cyst on the side of your knee?’
‘So you did find it? What were you thinking, that you wouldn’t mention it?’
‘I didn’t want to sound like a know-all. I reckoned you must be aware of it, and I’m sure you also know that it might well disappear on its own, without any treatment. I don’t imagine it hurts.’
‘No, it doesn’t. It’s nice to know that you caught it, though.’ Hannah gave him a brilliant smile, and Matt smirked back.
‘Now that we have that cleared up, I’ll go and get the ice. Stay put.’
He’d wanted to protect her. Matt had wanted to be nice to Hannah, and not make her feel that he was criticising or second-guessing her, the way his father had with his mother. But he’d been doing it all wrong. A woman like Hannah, and maybe a man like him, thrived on straightforwardness and honesty.
‘All right. Hurry up, we don’t have all day.’