Page 6 of Beg, Borrow or Steal
Mr Westbeach was an intravenous drug user. There was no way Libby would be able to find a vein on his arms, or even feet. She knew for a fact that two junior doctors had already tried and failed.
‘I don’t think – ’
‘Bloody hell,’ Peter spat, his face turning red with anger as he took a step towards her and into her personal space. ‘When did you students get so full of yourselves? In my day if my registrar asked me to jump, I would ask “how high?” Your problem is – ’
‘Pete,’ a sharp male voice cut off Peter’s tirade and Libby turned to see Dr Grantham striding towards them, his brows drawn down into a frown and his eyes sparking with fury. When he reached them he crossed his arms over his broad chest and looked down at Peter, who went from seeming physically imposing to looking like a bit of a weiner. ‘What is your problem?’
‘My problem is that this medical student can’t handle simple tasks and thinks she’s too good for the ward work,’ Peter said, and Libby clenched her small hands into tight fists to stop herself from doing something she would regret. Dr Grantham’s gaze shot between her and Peter for a moment and he frowned. Libby’s heart sank. She knew that with her less-than-stellar performance where Dr Grantham was concerned so far, he would be unlikely to take her side.
‘What “simple tasks” exactly are we talking about here?’ Dr Grantham asked.
‘He sent me down to request an ultrasound for Mrs Tyler. Dr Morrison told me the request was inappropriate.’ Libby kept her voice as neutral as possible, simply conveying the facts.
Dr Grantham’s eyebrows lifted and he turned back to a rather more uncomfortable-looking Peter, who shot Libby a poisonous look before meeting Dr Grantham’s gaze head on.
‘Pete, medical students do not go and request investigations from consultants, especially not a consultant like Dr Morrison, who is so cold you could freeze ice on her arse. And, thatisinappropriate. You should know by now that we go straight for CT to investigate possible abdominal sepsis. Now, what ward work is she refusing?’
Peter, who was now the one with his fists clenched and virtually trembling with rage, muttered something under his breath. Libby could just about make out the word cannula.
‘Which patient?’ Dr Grantham asked in a tightly controlled voice.
‘Bed nine,’ Peter said with great reluctance, his attention now focused on the floor. Dr Grantham sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes went briefly to the ceiling before settling back on Peter.
‘Mr Westbeach is waiting for a central line, Pete. Seeing as nobody, not even the consultants, can get iv access. Just bugger off and cover the emergency list will you?’ he gritted out. Peter went to dart around him at top speed but was halted by Dr Grantham’s hand on his arm. ‘I don’t want to see you pulling this shit again, you hear me?’ His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but somehow that made it more menacing.
‘Fine,’ Peter hissed, shaking off Dr Grantham’s hand to stalk out of the unit.
Once they were alone, Dr Grantham looked down at Libby and he sighed.
‘I’m a fair man,’ he told her, and Libby blinked.
‘Okay …’ she said slowly, unclenching her fists and taking a deep breath to brace herself for whatever he might say next.
‘I’m sorry about Pete; he can be an arrogant sod but I’ve never known him to reach quite that level of arsehole before.’ He narrowed his eyes at her, as if assessing how she had managed to bring out his registrar’s worst behaviour. Despite the slightly contemptuous look marring the apology somewhat, Libby gave him a wide smile. She was an expert at hiding behind banal facial expressions; and they worked particularly well for her with men.
His gaze dropped to her mouth and his frown deepened – not a typical reaction in her experience.
‘No problem. And … and I know I should have been on time the other day, it’s just that …’ She trailed off and her mouth snapped shut. For some reason she was reluctant to give him any more information about her life. If he had been interested he would have let her explain at the time. The very last thing she wanted was for him to think she was trying to wheedle out of her mistakes with some sort of sob story. ‘Well … I won’t let it happen again.’
He was still watching her mouth. Then, to her complete shock, he reached up as if to touch her face but withdrew sharply at the last minute. Her eyes widened and she took a jerky step back, this time coming up against the side of the central island and wincing in pain as her hip struck the hard surface. After snatching his hand away, he tried to shove both of them into his pockets – only he was wearing scrubs so they simply slid down the sides of his legs at speed. Libby would have laughed, had she not been so terrified of his reaction.
After a moment of stunned confusion he looked down at himself and then back up at Libby, before his face broke into a small smile as the tips of his ears turned red. For a moment Libby forgot how to breathe. So far, Dr Grantham’s expressions had been less than happy around her, and with good reason. Even with the irritation she seemed to provoke clouding his features, he was still gorgeous; but with a genuine, self-deprecating smile on his lips and his eyes sparkling with humour he was insanely attractive. A surge of what was likely oestrogen caused heat to flood her face and she had to look away to pretend to fiddle with the tie on her scrubs.
‘Sorry,’ she heard him say, and lifted her gaze to his again. ‘It’s just, you’ve got some pen … um … here.’ He made to reach for her face again but Libby, truly believing that another oestrogen surge would render her unable to stay on her feet, flinched away. He pulled back, his ears burning even redder, and instead swiped his fingers over his own cheek.
‘Oh … Varp,’ Libby mumbled, furiously scrubbing at her face to get the pen off, and then surreptitiously pulling down the long-sleeve top she had on under her scrubs to hide the notes she had scribbled earlier on her forearms. To be honest, Libby wasn’t really the type of woman to normally be bothered about a bit of pen on her face, messy hair, holes in her shoes – she barely had time to glance in the mirror before she left for clinics, and sheneverwore make-up outside of her other work. Even then her boss at the club had to give one of the other girls extra tips to trowel on Libby’s war-paint for her after her dismal attempts had been rejected early on.
So no, Libby’s appearance, which in her experience often led to uncomfortable confrontations and situations (case in point Mr Entitled Arsehole anaesthetic registrar), meant very little to her. But for some reason, in front of this beautiful man, she was suddenly wishing she maybe lookedslightlyless dishevelled.
She bit her lip and Dr Grantham stared at her, his eyes becoming a bit unfocused, before he coughed and took another step back.
Chapter 4
For badger’s sake
Jamie felt his palms start to sweat. Here he was, her supposed knight in shining scrubs, rescuing her from that fucking lech Pete, when all he could think about was how soft her lips would be under his, how easily he could lift her small frame up onto the island and … Bloody hell, he needed to get some sort of handle on his perverted mind. He felt like a randy teenager again and he had to force himself to remember that she practicallywasone. Hell, with her fresh-faced innocence, messy hair piled on top of her head with various pens sticking out at weird angles, and those little scribbled notes he’d caught on her forearms before she yanked her top down, she looked aboutsixteen.
He searched the ICU to find a suitable substitute for Pete who she could shadow; but the only other options were the SHO (who Jamie was pretty sure had actually drooled at handover whilst staring at Libby) and Tony (one of the other consultants, famous for making an art form of seducing junior doctors and would be more than likely to turn his charm to stunning medical students, given the way he’d been eyeing Libby since she’d stepped onto the unit). Why, today of all days, was the ICU full of predatory males? Where were the female consultants and trainees when you needed them? Jamie sighed.
