Page 27 of Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital

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‘You really need to get yourself a life, Dan, if you can’t even stay away from A&E on your day off.’ Aidan put a hand on Danni’s shoulder as he stood behind her, while she reviewed the results of some of Richard’s tests.

‘Well, if men will insist on dropping at my feet like that, what’s a girl supposed to do?’ She shrugged, able to joke along with him now that the results of the most serious tests were back and Richard hadn’t had a heart attack or a stroke. However, his blood pressure was very high and, given that he wasn’t overweight, and didn’t smoke or drink, the underlying cause for his hypertension needed more investigation. There was a chance it could be down to undiagnosed kidney disease, diabetes, or even sleep apnoea, and he’d need to stay in for more tests until they could rule out anything serious.

‘Are you sure you haven’t been clubbing them over the head, just to avoid internet dating?’ Aidan raised his eyebrows as Danni swivelled around in her chair to look at him.

‘Who’s internet dating?’ Lucas seemed to have developed a habit of popping up out of nowhere since he’d started at St Piran’s. In his role, he spent quite a bit of time assessing patients in A&E for surgery, but Danni wished he wasn’t quite so stealthy. She could have done with him wearing a bell to warn her of his presence, so she could make sure the conversation was steered away from anything she didn’t want him to hear.

‘Danni is; you were there the night she was setting up her profile. When you came to pick me and Aidan up.’ Esther, who’d come out of one of the cubicles just as Lucas had arrived, nudged him in the side and rolled her eyes as she looked at Danni. ‘Sometimes I don’t think he listens to anything. I don’t know why you want a long-term relationship, because once they get comfortable, they also seem to feel able to completely ignore you.’

‘I thought the internet dating profile was just a joke.’ Lucas was responding to Esther, but looking at Danni, and there was a muscle going in his cheek. The proprietorial tone he adopted whenever she seemed to be getting close to someone else was back too.

‘See what I mean about ignoring what I say.’ Esther shook her head again, a note of irritation in her voice. ‘You haven’t got time for any of this now anyway, Lucas. You need to see my patient.’

‘That told you!’ Aidan wagged his finger, seeming to enjoy Lucas’s obvious displeasure at being told what to do, as Esther led the way back into her cubicle. When they were out of earshot, Aidan pulled a face. ‘Ooh, do I sense trouble in paradise?’

Danni did her best to look as though she had no idea what Aidan meant. He didn’t need a lot of encouragement if there was potential for gossip, but it was obvious there’d been tension between Lucas and Esther. If Danni hadn’t loved Esther as much as she did, that might have made her happy. As it was, she was worried about her best friend. Esther usually had the sunniest disposition of anyone she knew. So Aidan was right: there was definitely something going on.

‘Those two are usually sickeningly lovey-dovey. Every shift I’ve been on with Esther since she started, Lucas finds a reason to come down here and she seems to need to show the world that everything between them is hearts and flowers.’ Aidan pretended to stick his fingers down his throat. ‘He obviously wants to keep an eye on what she’s up to, or…’

‘Or what?’

‘Or there’s someone else down here he wants to come and see.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve told you we’re just really good friends. Lucas is like a brother to me.’ The heat had risen up Danni’s neck despite her protestation, and the outright lie she’d just told. When Aidan had hinted at this before, the night they’d gone to the club, she’d thought it was just the drink talking, and he’d never mentioned it again. She’d been worried about Esther that night too, because she’d seemed sad, but when she’d questioned her friend afterwards, she’d claimed it was just tiredness.

The idea of anyone realising how she’d felt about Lucas for years was mortifying, but not as bad as people starting to gossip about why, whenever he was in the department, he often sought out Danni instead of Esther. Had Esther picked up on it, too? Either way, Aidan was right: things between the two of them didn’t seem like they usually were and she’d never forgive herself if that had anything to do with her. Danni had been trying her best to be clear about boundaries with Lucas ever since he’d come back, and she deliberately avoided showing him any type of affection, even the sort that was perfectly normal between close friends. But his hand still lingered on her arm longer than it should do, and their conversations were often more intense than they needed to be. When he’d said he didn’t trust anyone completely, not even himself, he’d held her gaze until she’d been forced to look away. She wasn’t imagining the way he acted around her, and her attempts to put an end to it hadn’t worked. Next time they were alone she was going to have to spell it out and tell him to back off.

‘I wasn’t talking about you, you idiot! I’ve come to the conclusion you’ve got higher standards than that; you’d never let Esther get hurt for a start. Have you seen Dr Sarin, though? Lucas definitely has, and he’s not the only one.’ Aidan tapped the side of his nose. ‘Even I almost fancy her and the idea of being with a woman usually makes my testicles go back up inside my body.’

‘Good to know.’ Danni laughed, the image Aidan had painted not one she wanted to think about for too long. Laila Sarin was a junior doctor, working in the department as part of her hospital rotation. She was striking, with poker-straight black hair, perfect skin and dark brown eyes that always seemed to be smiling. If Aidan wanted to start a rumour that Lucas was always in the department because of Laila, that was far better than anyone pointing the finger at Danni.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the bookmark that Charlie had given her. He might not be staying long, but maybe a temporary distraction was what she needed.

When Richard had come round from collapsing, he’d refused to get into the ambulance at first. But Danni had insisted and had even gone with him, in case he tried to change his mind en route. When Charlie had offered to take care of Brenda, she’d surprised herself by hugging him. He’d smelt good, like sea air, but with a subtle lemony scent clinging to his skin, and he’d felt reassuring solid, like someone she could lean on if the need arose. Brenda was probably lying stretched out on the sofa in his holiday cottage by now, which meant she’d have to see Charlie again very soon, and the thought made her smile.

‘What are you grinning about? You’ve got that look I only ever get when it’s date night with Jase and I know I’m guaranteed to get all his best moves.’ Aidan narrowed his eyes. ‘You know if there’s progress with the internet dating, you owe it to me and Esther to share the update. We were there from the beginning, after all.’

‘If there’s ever anything to tell, I promise you’ll be the first to know.’ There was no way Danni was mentioning Charlie to Aidan, and there was nothing to say anyway. Just because the fact that she could be attracted to someone other than Lucas was amazing to her, it didn’t mean it was big news for anyone else.

‘I’d better be, because I need all the vicarious excitement I can get. One date night a month does not make for an exciting love life, and last week Jase actually suggested we take up knitting. I swear it’s only because he fancies Tom Daley, but I am not ready to spend my evenings off listening to the sound of knitting needles clacking together just yet.’

‘It’s supposed to be very therapeutic.’ Danni laughed at the look on Aidan’s face. ‘I’m going to go in and give Richard the update on some of his results, and let him know he’s going to be admitted for further tests. Then I’m going to go home before someone else accuses me of not having a life.’

‘Take me as a cautionary tale.’ Aidan threw his arms out to the side, like a magician about to announce his big reveal. ‘Go and grab all the fun you can, before you settle down and start arguing over where to plant the azaleas.’

‘You wouldn’t swap what you’ve got now for all the dating opportunities in the world.’ Danni had seen Aidan’s face light up whenever he got a call from Jase, or when he came to pick Aidan up from work. He might joke about it, but there was no doubt he was in love.

‘I wouldn’t, you’re right. Knitting and gardening might never be my thing, but I’d rather be doing them with Jase than anything else without him.’

‘And you said Lucas and Esther make you feel sick!’ Danni grinned, not waiting for Aidan’s comeback. She liked the proof that love was out there, and that maybe you didn’t need to have loads in common for it to work out. With Lucas it was the similarities between them that had given them a shorthand in their relationship: the loss of their parents, and the resulting disappearance of anything resembling a family life, as well as the passion they shared for careers that had run in parallel. Maybe if you took that away, the strength of the pull she felt towards him would finally vanish completely too. Either way, meeting Charlie had given her hope that things could change.

‘How are you feeling?’ Danni smiled as she entered Richard’s cubicle. Whatever the cause of his elevated blood pressure, and the subsequent fainting episode, it had clearly taken it out of him. He looked exhausted.

‘Bloody old, but then I suppose I am.’ He managed a half-smile, but Danni couldn’t help wondering if the contents of the letter had taken their toll on him too. It was a lot of information to cope with, and he might be struggling to process it all, given everything that had happened. She didn’t want to overstep the mark in such a sensitive situation, but she had a duty of care to him and Connie, who’d be desperate to know how Richard had taken the news. ‘I’m just grateful you were around to help. If you’re going to collapse, doing it in front of a doctor seems like a good idea.’

‘It was nothing, but I’m glad I was there too. And you’re not old. Sixty’s the new forty.’

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