He reached for her, and suddenly the world around them faded into the background and they were alone on the jetty. His fingers skimming the warm skin of her arm were the only thing that seemed to matter.
She felt it too. Arianna let out the merest hint of a gasp, looking up at him. Locked in the warmth of her eyes, it felt like an embrace. A kiss. The very sweetest one imaginable.
‘Lizzie and James can relax, and the kids can play on the beach. What I’d really like to do is spend more time with you.’
Her reply was in her eyes. Warm and bright, with the hint of a tear. Someone brushed against her back, and as Ben stretched out his arm instinctively to protect her the moment was shattered.
‘I’ll...um...give the manager a call, then. I’m sure he can sort out something.’
‘You’re sure? You’ve worked hard to make sure that everyone on the island sees you for what you are, and not who your father is. We’re not asking for any favours.’
Again, that warmth in her eyes made Ben want to lean in and hold her close. Protect her from all the hurt she seemed to carry with her.
‘That’s okay. I’ve never asked the manager for anything before. I imagine he’ll be relieved that he has something to report back on to my father.’
Ben raised his eyebrows. ‘People report back on you?’
Arianna shrugged. ‘I’m sure it’s not written into his job description, but my father does always seem to know what I’m up to. It’s his way of caring... From a distance.’
She turned suddenly, stepping confidently onto the boat before Ben could extend his hand to steady her. Arianna handed him a life jacket and smilingly refused his help in slipping the mooring lines, before she carefully manoeuvred
away from the dock.
‘How often do you visit Kantos?’ The island was visible on the horizon already, as the boat sped across the blue water.
‘I have a surgery there on Mondays and Fridays, and Andreas goes across every Wednesday. And there’s a full-time pharmacist on the island as well; he often deals with day-to-day problems. I don’t have too many people to see this morning, so maybe we’ll have a chance to go up to the Lava Lake afterwards.’
The famous Lava Lake of Kantos was on Ben’s list of places to see. Seeing it with Arianna put it firmly at the top of said list.
She steered the boat into the little harbour at Kantos, mooring it. Ben picked up her medical bag and they walked together through the narrow sun-baked streets.
‘Here we are...’ She unlocked the door of a stone-built house which stood some way back from the road. Inside, the rooms were shaded and cool and a little old-fashioned.
‘Waiting room...’ Arianna pointed to a large room at the front, decorated with dark wooden furniture and seats arranged in groups. ‘My surgery...’
The surgery was at the back of the building. A large mahogany desk and a heavy bookcase gave it an air of gravitas, and when Arianna opened the heavily shaded doors at the back, the light streaming in and her own bright dress added a note of exuberance.
‘You’re sure you want to sit in on my surgery? You are on holiday, and there’s a nice taverna in the harbour...’
‘If you don’t mind. The holiday part is that I’m not responsible for any of your patients.’
‘I don’t mind at all.’ She pulled a heavy leather upholstered chair across the room, positioning it next to hers. Ben grinned at her, pulling the chair back into the corner, and she laughed. ‘Okay. Be a fly on the wall.’
It was both the same and different. The differences were immediately obvious. There was no receptionist and when Arianna rang the buzzer to usher a new patient into the surgery, the waiting room just produced the next in line by consensus. She smilingly explained that everyone knew everyone anyway, and that those who couldn’t wait were given priority by the others. Jumping the queue was out of the question, and anyone who did that would never hear the last of it.
She knew everyone. Ben couldn’t follow the conversations, but she greeted everyone by name without looking at her notes, and when she tilted her head, obviously asking each new person how they were keeping, the long replies seemed to include information of a social nature as well as medical details. Some patients were given stern instructions, accompanied by a look that implied Arianna would be checking up on them afterwards. Others were quietly reassured. In his own practice, and with the best will in the world, Ben couldn’t even recognise all of his patients, and only knew their names and some very basic personal details by scanning the computer while they were on their way to his surgery. His approach was necessarily reactive, while Arianna’s was more proactive.
One elderly man saw Ben sitting in the corner and insisted on directing his explanations of his medical condition at him instead of Arianna. She waited, arms folded, until he’d finished speaking and gesturing at his left arm, which appeared to Ben to have limited mobility. Something told him that she was well in charge of the situation and that there was no need to intervene, and her murmured words seemed to set things straight. The man turned to her and went through the gestures all over again.
‘What did you say to him?’ Ben asked while the waiting room was deciding on the next patient.
‘I said that you were assisting me today, and that you didn’t know everyone’s medical history. If he wasn’t careful you might try to get him to raise his arm above his head.’ She grinned at Ben and suddenly the world seemed to tip a little, as if he were being sucked into the mischief in her dark eyes.
‘Ouch. Frozen shoulder?’
‘Yes. Do you mind my saying you were my assistant?’
Not in the slightest. Arianna’s way of managing her patients was both efficient and charming. He’d be her assistant any day.