Cinderella and the Surgeon

She shook her head at him. ‘Seems to be.’

‘So, no reaction to the new set of antibiotics, then?’

‘Thankfully not. Don’t want to end up Ms Antiresistant. That would be a disaster.’

‘You said you were prone to these infections?’

She nodded. Some might find the question intrusive. But Esther wasn’t like that.

‘Yeah. Kidney issues as a kid means that if I’m ever a bit run-down I tend to get a flare-up. Usually I notice the symptoms quickly and get things sorted out. But I was late to notice this time around. I’ve been too busy working and I’ve never had a reaction to antibiotics before.’

‘Any idea what could have caused it? Anything changed? Medical condition?’ She could tell he was running through a whole host of things in his head. His eyes met hers. ‘Pregnancy?’

She laughed. ‘That would require a partner,’ she said bluntly. ‘So, not a possibility.’ Her skin tingled. Had Harry actually meant to ask that question?

‘So, no other half?’

Yip. He obviously had. If she didn’t know better she’d say there had just been an explosion of butterflies in her stomach.

‘Maybe I’m just too crabbie?’ she said, half joking.

‘Or maybe you’re just picky,’ he said, giving her an easy get-out clause.

‘Don’t you have a duchess stashed away somewhere?’ she asked. ‘Should I expect some lady in satin to walk down the corridor any second now?’

She hated how much she really didn’t want that to happen. Up until this point she hadn’t thought to ask the question. Now she really, really wanted to know the answer.

A slow smile spread across Harry’s face. As if he could see into her curious mind right now. He waved a hand ever so casually. ‘There’s no duchess. No other half. Quite frankly, I haven’t had the time. I’m never in one place for any length of time to even form a friendship, let alone a relationship.’

Something flitted across his face as he said that, and she immediately knew there was a whole load more to that story.

‘So, as our new visiting surgeon...’ She let the words trail off for a moment.

He took a sip of his coffee. His eyes stayed steadily fixed on hers. ‘Yes?’

‘How long you going to be visiting?’ She knew her tone was teasing.

He smiled. ‘Depends how nice the staff are.’

Esther put down her knife and fork. The scrambled eggs had been delicious, but they were gone now. One of her fingers twiddled with a loose piece of her hair. ‘So, in my experience, what generally happens when you start working at a new place is you come in and introduce yourself to the staff and be nice to people.’

‘I wasn’t?’ He’d raised his eyebrows. His tone was teasing too.

Esther shook her head. ‘You were a rat bag and you know it.’

He laughed out loud.

‘Maybe I should call you Flash Harry. In and out of the unit, after you bandy about your title and wreak havoc.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Flash Harry, like I’ve never heard that before.’ Then he grinned. ‘I like Crabbie Rabbie better.’

She shook her head. ‘Will you do many surgeries at the Queen Victoria?’

She was probing. She knew she was. But the truth was, she did actually want to know how often Harry was likely to be around.

Some might say he was being mildly flirtatious with her. She wanted to know if she should be flirtatious back. She wasn’t interested in anything permanent. She didn’t have time for that. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been on a date or had any downtime because she spent so much time doing extra shifts. Maybe it was time to open herself to the possibility of a little bit of fun?

Harry was watching her carefully. ‘I might do a few. The theatre equipment at the Queen Victoria is brand new. I’ve been guaranteed theatre time for any baby affected across four counties.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘If I was guessing, I’d imagine that could be around six babies a year for me.’

She gave a little smile. An occasional guest. That’s how she could term him. Not around enough to interfere with her life. But maybe a familiar enough face to have a little fun with.

He licked his lips. ‘It just so happens that for the next little while I’ll have a few babies scheduled for surgery in the Queen Victoria. It always happens like that. So, I might be around for the next few weeks.’

The next few weeks. It could almost be music to her ears.

* * *

He closed his eyes for a second. Then he opened one and squinted at her. ‘You might need to get used to me. If you’d known that at first, would we still have fought?’

She gave a thoughtful nod. ‘Oh, I think so,’ she said slowly, her lips curling up in a smile. She said her words with an even more teasing tone than before. ‘That just seemed inevitable.’

His hand reached across the table, as if he were actually going to touch her fingers. But then it stopped midway, as if his brain had thought better of it.

His voice was low, continuing with the mutual teasing. It was like they were scoping each other out. ‘Some people say that opposites attract.’ The words sounded like a question.

What had seemed like an explosion of butterflies in her stomach now turned into a firework explosion in her brain.

But not in a good way. Not the way it should.

He knew they were opposites. He’d asked where she lived and she’d told him. As a man who’d probably lived in London all his life, she imagined he knew exactly what her home area was like in comparison to his. But was that what Harry was talking about? Was he talking wealth and prestige? Meaning that Esther was obviously poverty-stricken and not from an upper-class family like his?

That burned somewhere deep inside. And not in any way she liked.

‘Those kind of things generally don’t work out,’ she said flatly. She pushed herself up from the chair. All of a sudden she wanted to get of here. She didn’t need to see this luxury town house with furnishings and decor she could only dream about. There were probably paintings or chairs in this place that were worth more than the value of the flat she was currently renting.

She realised she might be being rude. It didn’t matter that for a few moments she could have sworn there was some electricity in the air between them, and the fact it seemed to have disappeared in a flash was leaving a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

‘Thanks for looking after me last night,’ she said quickly. ‘But I should go now.’ She looked down for a second and remembered she didn’t have anything clean to put on. Would second-day clothes really be so bad?

But her second-day clothes were things that she’d slept in all night. Underwear she’d been wearing since yesterday morning.

‘Don’t suppose I could borrow something to put on?’

Harry’s face had fallen a little as she’d spoken a few moments ago and her new words made him perk up. ‘You want my clothes?’

She gave a shrug. ‘Why not? I’ve never worn a Bond Street tailored shirt. I’m not entirely sure I’d suit it.’ She let out a little laugh. ‘But if you had a T-shirt and some joggies I’d be delighted. I promise to wash them and give them back. I won’t hold them hostage.’

He stood up. ‘Come with me, then.’

She followed him up the stairs and back along the corridor before she realised he was actually taking her to his bedroom. As they stepped inside she held in the gasp. The room was enormous. Pale green, but bright and sunny.

Whilst the decor was pleasant, her eyes went immediately to the bed that seemed bigger than any she’d seen before. It was made, which was a revelation. Most of the male friends she knew climbed out of a bed in the morning, and back into a bed at night, without doing the stuff in between. The straightening and smoothing down of the sheets and duvet.

He opened th

e biggest walk-in wardrobe she’d ever seen. She couldn’t help but mutter, ‘It’s actually criminal that a guy should have this.’

He laughed and glanced over his shoulder. ‘Esther McDonald, are you being sexist?’

‘Of course not.’ She wandered up and down. There was surprisingly a small amount of clothes in here. She could see a number of impeccable suits hanging up, polished shoes on a rack on the wall and tailored shirts lined up by colour. But the whole space was maybe only a quarter full.

‘Tell me you do own some T-shirts,’ she said, glancing around.

He nodded and pulled open a drawer. There they were, all neatly lined up.

She sighed. ‘Harry, do you actually do all this yourself?’