Page 7 of Do Opposites Attract?

Laughing grimly, he tucked the bottle under his arm. That just about summed up the difference between them. She’d packed luxury items. He’d have given his eye teeth for some essentials. Disposable razors maybe, because he was running out. Batteries for his torch. Toothpaste, though maybe he could gargle with the whisky instead. ‘Thanks.’

She acknowledged his pretty lame gratitude with a cursory nod. ‘Now, if you’ve finished poking fun at me, I’d like to see where you attend the patients.’

Mitch stared back at her, at the proud way she carried herself. At the steel he glimpsed behind the beauty. Thank God rich pampered girls weren’t his type. Women like her livedprivileged lives in ignorant bubbles. He preferred his women savvy, experienced and down to earth.

As she sauntered out of the tent ahead of him, head held high, her slim curvy figure clear underneath the tight canvas trousers and black T-shirt, he thought he’d do well to keep reminding himself of that during the week ahead.

Chapter Four

It didn’t take long for Brianna to begin to understand the importance of the work of the Medic SOS team. Within minutes of being shown round the medical tents she could see for herself how many patients were being looked after and how many were still waiting to be seen. She finally understood what people meant by the term heart-wrenching.

‘Do you want a drink of anything?’ Mitch asked, moving towards a vast chrome container of what was presumably hot water.

Struggling to take in the fact that he was actually being polite, Brianna said the first thing that came to her mind. ‘Yes please. Have you got any herbal tea?’

Mitch just looked at her. He didn’t need to say anything. His disgust was written all over his face. Blimey, of course they didn’t have any herbal teas. Where the heck did she think she was, the Ritz? Squirming with embarrassment, Brianna tried to smile. ‘I can’t believe I just said that,’ she admitted, shaking her head. ‘Anything hot and wet will be fine.’

She hung back as he filled two plastic cups with hot water and goodness only knew what else. Whatever it tasted like, Brianna knew she was going to have to drink it. All of it. As he handed her the cup, he was interrupted by a blonde nurse.

‘Mitch, they’re bringing in a child. He’s thought to be about five or six years old. Found by the banks of the river in a hypothermic state.’ Mitch nodded at the nurse and turned to Brianna.

‘Brianna, this is Tessa, our head nurse. She’s the one who really runs this place. Without her, we’d be lost.’

Brianna turned to shake Tessa’s hand, watching with interest as the nurse flushed a vivid shade of scarlet. As Mitch and Tessa went off to prepare for the arrival of the child, Briannastudied the body language between doctor and nurse. She guessed Tessa was older than Mitch, though it was hard to be sure. The nurse wore her age well, whereas Mitch had a face that looked like it had lived through hard times. Tessa was certainly attractive, with short blonde hair and big blue eyes. What was also evident, from the way she hung on Mitch’s every word, was that Tessa was head over heels in love with the doctor. For his part, Mitch was professional, but Brianna couldn’t see anything to indicate he returned the feeling. In fact she wondered if he had any idea of the crush his head nurse had on him. She doubted it. He didn’t look like a man who cared overly much what others thought of him.

The child was brought in on a stretcher. Brianna stood to one side, out of the way but close enough so she could observe as nurse and doctor worked together on him. They seemed to have a routine that required little verbal communication. Occasionally Mitch would utter a few words, such as ‘oxygen’ or ‘warm IV fluids’, but most of the time they worked in silence.

‘You must be Brianna.’ She turned to find herself greeted by a tall, lanky young man. He had a pleasant face and a shy smile. ‘I’m Stuart, one of the doctors. Good to have you with us.’

‘Hello, Stuart, and thank you. It’s good to be here. I think,’ she added with a half-smile, looking back to where Mitch was still hovering over the new patient.

Stuart nodded. ‘Doesn’t look like much fun, does it? But trust me, it is possible to enjoy yourself here, at least when you’re not on duty.’ His eyes rested on Mitch. ‘Well, it is possible for most of us, that is.’

Despite the circumstances, Brianna giggled. Laughter for her was a much needed release. ‘He’s not a bundle of joy, is he, your boss. I’ve gained that impression already.’

‘He certainly isn’t. Oh, don’t get me wrong, he’s not a tyrant or anything. But he does take it all very seriously.’

Brianna took in the rows of traumatised patients, the makeshift beds, the lady with the mop fruitlessly trying to clean up mud from the floor. ‘I guess it’s a serious business.’

‘It is,’ Stuart agreed. ‘But everyone needs some down time, away from the sharp end. Otherwise you just get dragged down with it.’

‘So what do you do on your time off?’ Brianna was intrigued as to what they could do in such a godforsaken place.

Stuart shrugged. ‘Well, Dan usually finds out the nearest bar in a town that’s still open. This time around it’s about forty minutes in the jeep, but well worth the effort to mix with normality for a while. In fact last night we rented a room in the local inn and had a hot shower. It was bliss.’

Brianna laughed. ‘Don’t tell me the highlight of your social life is having a hot shower. I really am going to go mad.’

‘Hey, don’t knock it. When you’ve been here a few more days, you’ll be begging to come with us.’

‘Stuart, there are people waiting to be seen.’ Mitch’s curt order cut into their conversation.

Stuart flushed. ‘Definitely not a bundle of joy,’ he muttered to her under his breath before scuttling off with his tail between his legs.

Brianna’s sympathy went out to him. ‘Was that really necessary?’ she asked coolly as Mitch came to join her, the young boy he’d been working on now hooked up to monitors.

‘You think it’s acceptable to be flirting when there are people in pain waiting to be helped?’ Mitch glared at her and Brianna had a feeling he was looking down at her from more than just his physical height.

‘He wasn’t flirting, he was being polite,’ she returned, aware that her upper-class accent had risen a notch in her anger. ‘A gentle word would have been just as effective and far less embarrassing.’

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