Page 13 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
‘Call me Simon,’ he said. ‘Pleased to meet you, Ottilie.’
‘Ottilie’s our nurse,’ Lavender said.
He looked from one to the other. ‘Your nurse…like the only nurse? Surely there’s more than you two here?’
‘It’s a very small surgery,’ Ottilie said. ‘There are other people who come and go – a community midwife and mental health team and such, but for the most part, it’s just us and Fliss. Don’t usually need anyone else.’
‘Blimey!’
Simon rubbed a hand over close-cropped black hair. His brown eyes were so dark they were almost black too. Ottilie would have put him at around her own age, perhaps slightly more towards forty. His features were even and pleasing, and they had a kindness about them that shone out the moment they crinkled into a smile. His skin was a warm tone, but covered in freckles that made Ottilie think he might have come from somewhere hot and sunny.
‘I don’t know whether to be impressed or pitying.’
‘Oh, you can pity us today,’ Lavender said. ‘It’s been one hell of a morning. I thought they’d assigned you first thing? They’d told me at nine you’d be here within the hour.’
‘No…’ He shook his head. ‘Perhaps they’d assigned someone else first who couldn’t make it for whatever reason. I’ve literally just had a call and then driven straight out.’
‘Where have you had to come from?’ Ottilie asked.
‘Liverpool.’
‘That’s a fair drive.’
‘You don’t sound Scouse,’ Lavender said.
‘I’m not.’ He smiled but didn’t offer anything else.
‘So are you only with us today?’ Lavender continued.
‘I’ve been told I’ll be here for the rest of the week at least. I’ve booked a hotel not far outside the village.’
‘Ah, so you won’t have to commute from Liverpool every day,’ Ottilie said. She shared a look of concern with Lavender. She guessed they were thinking the same thing: that things must be very bad if Fliss planned to be off for the rest of the week.
‘Have you done GP work before?’ Lavender asked.
At this he offered a disguised but unmistakably exasperated look.
‘Sorry,’ Lavender said. ‘Of course you have or you wouldn’t be here.’
‘Don’t mind us,’ Ottilie said. ‘We’re usually better than this, but it’s been a stressful morning and we’re worried about our own GP. She was called home for some emergency and we think it must be very bad.’
‘Understandable,’ he said. ‘So, do you want to show me where I’ll be working from and get me this afternoon’s list?’
‘We’re not ready to start yet,’ Ottilie said. ‘We’ve got ten minutes or so until lunch is over.’
He stared at her as if she’d spontaneously grown a second head.
‘I know,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t get my head around actual breaks when I got here either. There’s tea in the pot if you’d like one.’
‘That’s kind, but I think I ought to get my bearings before you start letting patients in. If you could show me where the treatment room is…’
‘Yes, of course…’ Lavender glanced at Ottilie before turning back to him. ‘I’ll bring a drink through to you.’
‘I don’t need one, thank you.’
‘But there’s?—’
‘No thank you,’ he insisted. ‘And I don’t drink tea or coffee anyway. For the past year it’s been boiled water, but that’s another story,’ he said as he followed Lavender out of the kitchen.
