‘I keep telling you I have private health care! I can pay.’ The man pulled a fat wallet out of his back pocket and lifted an eyebrow. ‘How much to jump the queue?’
Logan stepped up behind him. ‘We don’t offer private health care,’ he said calmly, his ice-blue eyes narrowed and assessing as he looked at the man. ‘Here on Glenmore, it isn’t necessary. People get seen according to need. If there’s no urgency, they wait in line.’
‘Well, then, you need to organise yourselves a bit better,’ the man spluttered, ‘because the line is too long!’
‘My partner has had to attend a sick patient,’ Logan explained, his voice reasonable, ‘so I’m running two lists at the moment. We’re seeing patients in the order they arrived, unless someone has an urgent condition.’
‘That girl—’ the man pointed a finger at little Nicola Horsfield, who shrank closer to her mother ‘—came in after me and she’s going in next.’
‘Nicola is severely asthmatic and the heat is bothering her. She’s six years old. Do you feel that your medical condition requires you to go in front of her?’
Evanna watched from the doorway but not because her presence was needed. Just because she couldn’t help herself. Logan was such a master at dealing with difficult people that watching him was a pleasure.
He managed to sound pleasant and reasonable while staying in complete control of the situation.
The man frowned. ‘It isn’t about queue jumping—’
‘There’s one doctor and a line of people. That’s generally called a queue.’
‘You could get me a helicopter to the mainland.’
Logan lifted an eyebrow. ‘Are you bleeding, suffering severe chest pains or having breathing problems?’
‘No, but—’
‘Are you in imminent danger of death or collapse?’
‘No, but—’
‘Then I’m not ordering the helicopter.’
‘I’ll call it myself.’
‘As island doctor, it requires my authorisation.’ Logan glanced at his watch. ‘In the time I’ve taken having this discussion, I could have seen another patient. Do you want to carry on talking or would you rather go outside, breathe in some fresh Glenmore air and cool down? Janet will call you when it’s your turn.’
The man inhaled sharply, tightened his mouth and then stomped out of the door.
Logan gave Janet an encouraging smile. ‘I’m ready for my next patient. If he gives you any more problems, buzz me.’
Janet leaned forward. ‘He’s only here because he forgot to bring his tablets on holiday. He wants a prescription.’
‘People get cross when the weather heats up.’ Logan turned away and caught sight of Evanna. ‘What are you doing standing there, Nurse Duncan?’ His blue eyes gleamed with humour. ‘Getting ready to defend me?’
‘You don’t need any help. But I was ready to pick him up after you floored him.’
‘As if.’
She grinned. ‘Logan MacNeil, you were always knocking people flat in the school playground. You were always in Ann Carne’s office.’
At the mention of their old headmistress, Logan laughed. ‘Well, they all deserved it and I wasn’t a doctor then. Now I try not to knock people down because it just makes more work.’ He strolled back towards his surgery. ‘Ethan should be back soon and then we can start clearing everyone from the waiting room.’
Evanna went back into her own consulting room and buzzed for her next patient.
‘He almost fell off the quay into the water!’ The young mother cuddled the toddler on her lap. ‘He gave me a heart attack. My husband was buying ice creams so he didn’t even see it happen. I caught him by instinct, but now he isn’t using his arm and I’m worried I’ve done something awful to his wrist.’
Evanna scribbled a note on her pad and then reached for the fox puppet that she kept on her desk. She slid her hand inside and made the fox move.
The toddler smiled and reached for the puppet. ‘Mine.’