Rescuing Dr. MacAllister

'Well, that's fine by me.' Her cheeks dimpled into a pretty smile. 'But that doesn't mean we can't be friends and have fun, does it?'

He looked at her blankly and she sighed.

'Fun, Mr MacAllister,' she said gently. 'Do you remember what that is? It's when you stop worrying about the future and just enjoy the moment.'

'You don't know what you're saying.' He raked lean fingers through his dark hair and she smiled wistfully.

'Oh, yes, I do.'

'Ellie—' his tone was weary '—I wouldn't be good for you.'

She thought about that for a long moment and then gave a womanly smile. 'I know you'd be good for me and I'm fairly confident that I'd be good for you too,' she said softly, reaching for the door handle and letting herself out.

'So any time you want to put it to the test, let me know.'

CHAPTER SIX

A and E stayed frantically busy and one afternoon, several weeks after Ben had started, Heather, the A and E receptionist, opened the door to the staffroom and looked round with laughter in her eyes. 'OK, whose turn is it to clean up Freddie Hayward?'

There was a chorus of groans from the staff trying to eat lunch and Ben's eyes narrowed.

'Who is Freddie Hayward?'

'He's a tramp and you can smell him a mile off,' Will Thacker muttered, wrinkling his nose in distaste. 'He was in here last month, just before you started, Ben. It took us hours to clean off the lice and fleas.'

Ellie bit her tongue, knowing full well that Will hadn't gone near Freddie.

'He's clutching his stomach,' Heather said, and Will laughed unsympathetically.

'Too much alcohol. He ought to just go home and sleep it off.'

Ellie stood up quickly. 'Freddie doesn't have a home to go to.' Her voice shaking slightly, she turned to Heather. 'Put him in cubicle one. I'll see to him.'

Nicky frowned. 'Ellie, you didn't take a coffee-break, and you haven't had lunch yet—'

'I'm not hungry.'

Upset by Will's careless attitude, she hurried out of the staffroom, pulled on a plastic apron and a pair of gloves and went to see Freddie.

The A and E department had several regular attendees and Freddie was one of them.

He was sitting hunched in the chair, his clothes stiff with dirt, his eyes closed. His face was whiskery and his hair was shaggy and unkempt. Ellie felt a rush of compassion as she looked at him. It wasn't right that any human being should end up like this.

'Hello, Freddie,' she said gently, her hand on his shoulder as she crouched down to talk to him. 'It's Ellie—remember me?'

Freddie gave a grunt and looked at her through glazed eyes. 'Need to feed the dog.'

Ellie looked at him. 'What dog, Freddie?'

To the best of her knowledge, Freddie didn't have a dog.

'Too old to be left.' He gave a grunt of pain and doubled over. 'Turn first left and we're down the end of the road.'

Ellie stared at him, an uneasy feeling nagging inside her head. 'Freddie, what day is it today?'

'I told them, there's no point in planting them out at this time of year because the frost will get them!' He glared at her and then gave a groan and clutched at his stomach.

'Freddie?' Alarmed, Ellie gave his arm a shake and then put a hand on his forehead. 'Oh, heavens, you're burning up, you poor thing. Let's get this coat off you and put you on the couch so that the doctor can take a look.'