The Doctor's Engagement

Holly inflated the cuff and listened. ‘One-forty over eighty-five.’

‘Fine.’ Mark checked the notes and then talked quietly to Mr Finn who was lying on the trolley, his eyes closed. ‘Remind me, Jack, have you ever had any stomach problems—ulcers, anything like that?’

Mr Finn shook his head. ‘No, never.’

‘And no bleeding disorders or any sort?’

‘No.’

‘OK.’ Mark glanced at the ECG again and then back at Holly. ‘Let’s give him anistreplase 30 IU by slow IV bolus injection.’

Holly found the drug and watched while Mark injected it carefully and monitored the ECG.

Caroline put her head round the door. ‘The paramedics are here.’

‘Send them through.’ Mark dropped the syringe onto the trolley with the others and reached for a pad and pen. ‘I just need to scribble a referral letter for the hospital to let them know what drugs we’ve given and that we’ve given thrombolytics.’

Holly helped the ambulance crew transfer Mr Finn onto the stretcher and waited while Mark finished the letter.

‘Are you coming with us, Dr Logan?’

It was the same paramedic that had been at the scene of the near drowning earlier in the week, and Mark gave him a wry smile.

‘We seem to be spending rather a lot of time together lately. People will talk.’ He tucked the letter in an envelope and stood up. ‘Yes, I’m coming with you. We need to keep him monitored with the defibrillator while he’s being transferred.’

‘No problem.’

Mark glanced at Holly. ‘Can you ask Caroline to rearrange my patients? I’ll see you later.’

Holly nodded and went to find Caroline, updating her on Jack Finn and helping her reallocate the remaining patients.

‘I hope he’ll be OK,’ Caroline said softly. ‘I really like that old chap.’

Holly smiled her agreement, thinking that whatever had happened to Caroline over the last few days it had done wonders for her mood.

She returned to her family planning clinic, but couldn’t get her conversation with Mark out of her mind.

Mark was in love. She’d seen him with so many different women over the years, but he’d never loved any of them.

She was astonished by the feelings of jealousy that swamped her. He was her dearest friend—she should be delighted for him. But she wasn’t. She was hurt and every part of her body ached with longing. A longing for something she couldn’t have...

* * *

Holly was already changed for her exercise class when Mark walked in, his eyebrows lifting as he took in her appearance.

‘Phew!’ He gave her a lecherous grin that was pure, predatory male. ‘I’m not sure you should dress like that in front of people who have had heart attacks—you might be considered a risk factor.’

She threw him a scathing look and carried on twisting her blonde hair into a ponytail. ‘How’s Mr Finn?’

Mark pulled a face and gave a fatalistic shrug. ‘As well as can be expected for the time being. He’s in the coronary care unit. Time will tell. I popped in to see our wayward teenager while I was there.’

Holly secured the ponytail and glanced at him expectantly. ‘And?’

‘And he seems to be doing surprisingly well,’ Mark told her, dropping his bag and shrugging off his jacket. ‘His lungs are clear and his body temperature is stable. They seem to think he will have escaped with no lasting damage. Except for his ego, of course. It’s considered seriously uncool to jump into the sea and then half drown and need to be rescued. What time are you leaving? Have I got time to change?’

Looking at him, all she could think about was that he was in love with someone else. Someone that she didn’t even know about, that he’d never ever mentioned before—who was she?

Pulling herself together, she managed a smile. ‘Are you trying to wimp out of my exercise class?’