Ross nodded. ‘And his parents?’
‘His mother’s here somewhere, we’re looking for her. Ah...here’s the stretcher.’ Jo seemed to have everything well under control.
The young teacher who’d brought the stretcher hurried off to fetch Ross’s medical bag from his car. Josh was transferred to the stretcher, complaining loudly about his ankle, and carried into the school building. His mother arrived, looking anxious, and Laurie did her best to reassure her, encouraging her to comfort her son.
Ross didn’t do anything by halves. His medical bag contained pretty much anything a doctor might need, and his examination was very thorough. Finally he was satisfied.
‘Josh seems fine, apart from his ankle, Mrs Spencer. He’ll need to get that X-rayed, though. He may have broken one of the small bones in his foot. I can give you a lift down to the paediatric accident and emergency department.’
Ross was erring on the side of caution, and Laurie didn’t blame him. Josh’s listlessness earlier had worried them both, and no doubt Ross would be reporting on that and the circumstances of his accident to the doctor at the hospital.
* * *
‘Everything okay?’ Josh had been seen almost immediately and Laurie had gone to wait in the car while Ross spoke to the A&E doctor. Jo had followed them down to the hospital so that she could take Josh and his mother home again afterwards.
‘Yes, the doctor’s pretty clued up. He’s going to run a few tests just to make sure, but he agrees with us. The only thing wrong with Josh seems to be his ankle.’ Ross leaned forward, his hand on the ignition key. ‘Home?’
‘I think we should. So far today, the only real casualty’s been an egg, and I’d like to keep it that way.’
Ross nodded. ‘Me too. I won’t be sorry to get into some dry clothes as well.’ He indicated the damp patches on the legs of his jeans.
They drove in silence back to the clinic. Ross was obviously tired, but when Laurie took off her seat belt and got out of the car he called her back.
‘Hey. Hope you didn’t have too horrible an afternoon.’
‘I got attacked by feathers, helped smash an egg and came last in a race. Then I helped save a child from a tree. What’s not to like?’ Most of all she’d loved being one half of the Ross and Laurie double act, which seemed to work equally well for the fun things as well as the deadly serious endeavours.
‘Joint last.’ He grinned at her. ‘But I imagine even that was a first for you?’
‘I think it must be. Consider yourself part of a new experience.’
Laurie heard him chuckle as she walked away.
CHAPTER TEN
ROSS HAD TAKEN a long, hot bath, and then walked over to the clinic. He’d done his evening rounds of patients and staff, and no one seemed to need him for anything so he’d gone to his office.
Laurie was perfect. Unstoppable. His own dreams had been put aside and had slept soundly for a long time now, and he’d been able to tell himself that his life here was all he wanted. But then Laurie’s sense of fun, her determination to face down every challenge, was enough to rouse anything from the deepest sleep. And now the dream was coiled around his heart again like a serpent, squeezing hard.
It was crazy. He knew he couldn’t have what he wanted, but he was unable to set it aside. The idea that they could overcome every obstacle and get to know each other a little better. Take their time, and then learn to build a life. A family.
A family was the one thing he couldn’t give her. And that would destroy any life they’d managed to build. No amount of thinking his way out of this situation would change hard facts, so there was no point in considering the matter any more. Ross opened the folder on his desk that contained the outstanding paperwork for the clinic. He was a little behind, and he could spend the evening catching up.
* * *
Four hours later, he was done for the evening. But it seemed that the evening wasn’t done with him. He paced his apartment restlessly, before resorting to the only place he knew that conferred a measure of calm. Pouring a splash of Scotch into a glass, he walked down the steps from his balcony and headed out across the grass to the lake.
It seemed that he’d been sitting there a long time on the small dock, staring out into the distance, when he heard footsteps behind him. No need to turn, he knew who it was. And even now he wanted her company. Laurie sat down beside him, swinging her legs back and forth over the water.
‘Hey.’ He turned to see her face, shining in the moonlight. ‘You want some of this?’
‘What is it?’ She took the glass, sniffing at its contents, and then took a sip. ‘Mmm, that’s good. Double malt. Not really enough for two, though.’
Ross shrugged. ‘A little of the best is enough.’
‘I guess so.’ She took another sip and handed the glass back to him. When he brought it to his lips, he thought he could taste hers, but perhaps that was just his imagination.
They sat together quietly for a moment. It was nice. Companionable. Someone to share his thinking time with, if not his thoughts.