‘Even the animal kingdom isn’t safe from her natural beauty and charm,’ he muttered under his breath as he made his way towards them.
‘Hi, Ben, look what I bought,’ Hannah said, leaping to her feet and showing him her jeans and top inside the boutique bags she had in her possession.
‘Mmm, very nice,’ he said. Swinging his gaze to Georgie, who was still sitting cross-legged on the grass, he asked, ‘What did you get?’
‘Sore feet,’ Georgie said wryly, as she made to get up.
He smiled and offered her a hand, pulling her up so strongly she tumbled forward into his arms.
‘Ooh!’ she said breathlessly, her hands flat against the hard wall of his chest.
‘That’ll teach you to wear those ridiculously high heels all the time,’ he admonished her playfully, his hands sliding down the length of her arms as she found her balance.
‘She only does it so she can reach your—’ ‘Hannah!’ Georgie gasped, her face exploding with colour. Ben chuckled as he tugged on his sister’s ponytail. ‘What have you been up to? Teasing my poor little registrar?’ Hannah just smiled.
The heat of the afternoon lured Ben’s little sister away from the shops and off to the beach.
‘Why don’t you come with us, Georgie?’ she asked.
Georgie glanced self-consciously at Ben and began, ‘I don’t think I—’
‘Oh, come on,’ Hannah pleaded. ‘It will be no fun by myself. Ben will go off surfing for hours and I’ll probably drown under the first tiny wave.’
‘Don’t listen to her, Georgie,’ Ben interjected. ‘She can swim like a fish and I haven’t been on my board since before Christmas, but, please, feel free to join us. It’s turning out to be a scorcher and at least you can always head home when you’ve had enough of us.’
I don’t think I could ever have enough of you. Georgie heard that little voice in her head again. ‘I was thinking about going for a swim anyway,’ she said before she could stop herself. ‘I’d be glad of some company.’
A little while later she joined Hannah on the stretched-out beach towels on the sand on Bondi Beach as Ben headed for the rolling waves.
‘Can you surf?’ Hannah asked as she handed Georgie the sunscreen she’d borrowed from her earlier.
‘I’ve never
tried,’ she answered. ‘I’ve thought of having lessons but I never seem to find the time.’
‘Ben could teach you,’ Hannah said. ‘Look at him.’ She pointed to his tanned, muscular body paddling out to where the waves were forming. ‘There he goes. That’s not bad for a boy born and bred in the bush, now, is it? Isn’t he cool?’
I don’t know about cool but he’s certainly hot, Georgie thought as she watched him carving his way through and along the wave until it finally crashed. He picked up the board and paddled out strongly again, his rippling muscles glistening and his black hair gleaming in the bright summer sunshine.
‘How about a swim?’ she asked, hoping to skirt away from the subject of Ben for a while to give her heart rate a chance to settle back to somewhere near normal.
Hannah jumped to her feet. ‘Race you to the water!’
Georgie let her win but by only the narrowest margin. The water was refreshingly cool after the heat of the sun and she swam out beyond the breakers, reassured once she had checked that, like Ben had said, his sister could swim very well indeed.
They body-surfed among the other swimmers, which was difficult at times as the section between the flags was crowded, but when Hannah suggested they move outside the patrolled area, Georgie insisted they stay.
‘It’s not worth it, Hannah,’ she said. ‘I know you’re a great swimmer but the rips can be treacherous at times and there are sometimes sandbars. I saw a patient with a permanent neck injury at my last hospital. He dived under a wave and broke two of his vertebrae on a sandbar. He was supposed to be getting married the following week. His fiancée eventually left him. It was so sad.’
Hannah brushed her wet hair out of her eyes as they waded through the shallows back to their towels. ‘How do you cope with all the unhappy endings, Georgie?’ she asked. ‘Mum is always worrying about Ben and what he has to face each day. I guess because of my accident she is more aware of what the doctors and nurses go through, as well as the patients and their families.’
‘It’s really hard at times,’ Georgie answered with honesty. ‘We’re trained to maintain a clinical distance but at times certain patients slip under your guard.’ Not to mention certain doctors!
‘I couldn’t do it,’ Hannah said as she flopped down on her towel. ‘That’s why I want to work with kids. I’m figuring the most I’ll have to deal with is a nosebleed or wet pants.’
‘I’m planning on working with kids, too.’
‘You mean in paediatrics?’