Page 17 of Unworthy
The department went suspiciously quiet. Yaz stood up and looked up to the ceiling, seeking patience.
I heard one orthopod behind me mutter, “Typical. That jammy bastard always lands on his feet.” Josh was looking up at me with a mixture of horror and respect.
“Mr Pickering,” I said through a forced smile as I moved into the cubicle and ducked to avoid the still waving stick. “As I explained before, I was merely transporting Yaz because of her injured feet. There was no impropriety, I assure you.”
Bryn snorted. “A likely story. I know a gadabout when I sees one.”
Noticing that the entire department was still staring this way, I shook my head in annoyance, ushered Josh into the cubicle and pulled the curtain to shut out prying eyes.
“My gadabout activities aside, Mr Pickering. Can we discuss why you’re here today? I’m Dr Markham, but please call me Heath.”
“I brought Bryn his shopping and found him on the floor.”
“Tripped over Doris,” Bryn grumbled, still eyeing me with suspicion.
“His cat,” Yaz explained.
“Landed on my feet when this one moved in,” Bryn said, gesturing towards Yaz. “Look after me, don’t you, love? Not sure what I’d have done if you hadn’t popped in today.”
“She’s quite a girl, Mr Pickering,” I agreed, and his expression softened from his former scowl at me.
“Well, at least you’re not stupid,” he said. “Now then Gadabout – this young lad has been very thorough. I’ve had the works here, haven’t I, Yaz? All sorts of machines hooked up to me. Blood tests. The lot. Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but I should be getting on home now to feed Doris.”
“Bryn is tired,” Yaz explained. “He just wants to go home. Josh here has beenverythorough, but Bryn’s fine. I can call us a taxi.”
“I was just saying to Miss Hardcastle,” Josh leapt in, and Yaz rolled her eyes at his repeated use of her surname, “that there are some safety issues to explore and– ”
“You feeling alright now, Bryn?” I asked.
“Right as rain. I’ve a beautiful lass wants to take me home. I’ve had a cuppa and a biscuit. I’m all set.”
“Could you do me a favour and walk for me?” I asked as I pulled back the cubicle curtain.
Bryn grabbed hold of his stick and stood up. Yaz hovered for a moment but let him get his balance. He made slow but steady progress over towards the central hub with Yaz next to him. Much to my annoyance, the orthopaedic surgeons all stopped their conversation to watch her. Their eyes dropped to her arse as she walked back with Josh and I heard one of them mutter, “Told you Markham’s a jammy bastard,” under his breath.
“Two more NOFs on the board if you haven’t seen yet, lads,” I called to them once I caught their eye. NOF stands for ‘neck of femur fracture’, and their emergency list was full of them. “Why don’t you jog on with that?”
Ruben, renowned player and all-round prick, winked at me and his registrar gave me an unsubtle thumbs up before they both set off into the department.
Meanwhile, Bryn made it back again and lowered himself into his chair.
“Right, well – I agree with Yaz. It’s high time we get you back to your cat.”
Bryn gave me a relieved smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his faded blue eyes multiplying. “You may be a gadabout, but you’re still a good lad underneath.”
“B–but he’s not safe at home,” Josh spluttered. “This isn’t the first time he’s fallen. There’s the issue of the cat being a hazard. He should have an occupational therapy assessment in his home before he’s–”
“Yaz, can you get a bell for the cat?” I asked, and she nodded straight away. “The OT can get out to Bryn tomorrow. Problem solved.”
“He reallyisexhausted,” Yaz put in.
“Don’t fuss now,” Bryn said, but she laid her hand over his and crouched back down next to him.
“You are, you stubborn old sod. We need to get you home.”
“There will still be significant risk,” Josh said, looking flustered as he tried to avoid eye contact with Yaz. Unfortunately his gaze settled on her chest before he flinched and averted it to the much safer territory of mine – but not before he blushed bright red, no doubt thinking up yet another log entry on professionalism to bore me with. “He shouldn’t be allowed to–”
“Allowedto?” My eyebrows went up as I turned fully towards Josh. “Excuse us for a moment,” I said to Yaz and Bryn before leading Josh away from the cubicle and back to the central hub. “Bryn doesn’t need us toallowhim to do anything,” I told Josh in a low voice once we were out of earshot. “You do realise that if he wants to go home, he is perfectly entitled to make that decision himself?”
