And she had to put him out of her mind and move on.
So she concentrated on work and succeeded in avoiding contact with him until one afternoon a thirteen-year-old boy with a cheeky smile and long, lanky limbs tapped on her door.
Recognising him immediately, Flora waved a hand towards the empty chair. ‘Hi, Fraser, come on in. How are the summer holidays going?’
‘Too fast.’ The boy gave a shrug and stood awkwardly just inside the door.
Aisla, his mother, gave him a gentle push towards the chair. ‘For goodness’ sake, she isn’t going to bite you!’ She rolled her eyes at Flora. ‘Honestly, these teenagers. They’re men one minute and boys the next. He’s terrified you’re going to tell him to undress.’
Fraser shot his mother a horrified look, gave a grunt of embarrassment and slunk into the chair.
Flora smiled at him. ‘What’s the problem, Fraser?’
‘It’s my legs. Well, this leg mostly.’ He stuck it out in front of him and frowned down at the mud and the bruises. ‘I was doing football camp up at the school but I’ve had to stop.’
‘Both the doctors are fully booked but Janet said you’d take a look and decide what we need to do,’ Aisla said quickly. ‘I don’t know whether he needs an X-ray or what.’
‘Did something happen? Did you fall?’
‘I fall all the time. It’s part of football.’ Fraser rubbed his leg and Aisla gave a long-suffering sigh.
‘I can vouch for that. You should see the colour of his clothes. I swear that all the mud of Glenmore is in my washing machine.’
Flora smiled and dropped to her knees beside Fraser. ‘Let me take a look—show me exactly where it hurts. Here?’
‘Ow!’ Fraser winced. ‘Right there. Have I broken it?’
‘No, I don’t think so. Nothing like that. I’m going to ask Logan to take a quick look.’
‘Don’t waste your time. He’s just gone on a home visit,’ Aisla told her wearily. ‘We were in Reception when Janet took the call and he came rushing out. Some tourist with chest pain on the beach.’
‘Oh.’ Flora’s heart rate trebled. ‘Well, we could wait until he’s back, I suppose. He might not be long.’
‘I want to see Conner,’ Fraser blurted out. ‘He knows everything about football. Can we ask him to look at my leg?’
&nb
sp; Just the sound of his name made her palms damp. ‘With Logan out, he’ll be very busy.’
‘Is it worth just trying? Perhaps he’d see Fraser if you ask him.’ Aisla’s expression was worried. ‘It’s just that, if he thinks it should be X-rayed, I’m going to need to make some plans.’
‘Of course I’ll try. Wait there a moment.’ Hoping she didn’t look as reluctant as she felt, Flora left her room and took several deep breaths. Across the corridor a patient left Conner’s room and Flora felt her knees turn to liquid.
She couldn’t do it. She really couldn’t face him.
She turned backwards to her room and then realised that she couldn’t do that either. How could she tell Aisla that she was too pathetic to face Conner?
Taking a deep breath, she walked briskly over to his door and rapped hard, before she could change her mind.
Keep it brief and to the point, she told herself. Professional. And don’t look at him. Whatever you do, don’t look at him.
‘Yes?’ The harsh bark of his voice made her jump and she wondered how any of the patients ever plucked up courage to go and see him. Closing her eyes briefly, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
‘I just wanted to ask if you’d see a patient for me. Thirteen-year-old boy complaining of pain in his leg. It’s tender and there’s swelling over the tibial tubercle.’ She adjusted her glasses, still not looking at him. ‘He’s been at football camp so it’s possible that he’s injured himself, but I’m wondering whether it could be Osgood-Schlatter disease.’
‘Reading all those books has obviously paid off.’
She had the feeling that he was intentionally trying to hurt her and she didn’t understand it. He wasn’t unkind, she knew he wasn’t. Why would he want to hurt her? ‘Obviously I’m not qualified to make that diagnosis.’ Suffering agonies of embarrassment, she cleared her throat. ‘He’s in my room now. He’s suffering from an attack of hero-worship and is desperate for your opinion on his leg.’