Page 41 of Dr. Off Limits

Sutton

I hadn’t been swimming since I started med school, but I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to take twenty minutes for myself to do a couple of laps in a posh hotel pool. As a child I’d found a way to creep into the local leisure center for free. There was a back entrance where the staff took cigarette breaks and if I timed it correctly, usually around eleven in the morning, the door would be propped open but there’d be no one around. Sometimes I’d have to wait for up to an hour to find a lull in the nicotine-addicted staff’s schedule, but over the six-week summer holidays where I had nothing to do other than get out from under my mother and her new boyfriend’s feet, it didn’t matter what I did, as long as I wasn’t at home. Usually I’d leave the house before she was awake and come back late in the evening, just to avoid the arguments.

As a hairdresser, I’d still swum but when I’d taken up studying, anything extracurricular was sacrificed. It felt good to put my costume back on. It was a perfect place to reintroduce myself to some breast stroke.

The ladies’ changing room was the nicest place I’d ever been other than the hotel bedroom I’d been allocated. When they’d given me the key and I’d made my way through the maze of corridors on the first floor, I thought there’d been some sort of mistake. But the key fit and I was in a huge room, with views of the golf course, a roll-top bath, and a bed the size of a tennis court.

We didn’t have long until dinner. Most people were meeting in the bar right away, but Jacob might be there too and I didn’t want to spend any more time in his presence than I had to. Swimming seemed a better distraction.

The changing rooms went straight out into the pool area. Thankfully, there was just one swimmer in the far lane, making laps of the pool like it was his job. The pool was long but only two lanes wide. I’d slip into the nearest lane and do some old-lady swimming.

The water was freezing cold and I sank up to my neck and started to swim without putting my head under. I warmed up quickly and leisurely made it to the other end of the pool and turned around. I figured the Olympic swimmer in the lane next to me was doing about three laps for every one of mine. On my third lap, I got to the end at the same time as the other swimmer. As soon as I turned to face him, the short, blond hair gave him away.

Jacob.

I was almost naked a meter away from the very man I was trying to stay distracted from.

He pushed his goggles up onto his head and stood, the defined muscles of his chest covered in droplets of water not helping my heartrate. “Hey. I didn’t realize it was you.”

I stopped swimming but kept crouched so I was still neck-deep in water. “Hey. I didn’t realize you’d be here.”

“Yeah.” He pushed his hand over his head and his goggles fell off. I caught them and tossed them back at him. “Thanks.”

“I thought you preferred outdoor swimming?”

He grinned, a smile I’d only ever seen outside the hospital. “I like the Heath, but the temperature here is much better.”

“I haven’t swum for the longest time. Before I started studying.”

“Before?” He looked at me as if I’d misspoken. “Did you ever stop?” Because we’d sworn off medicine as a topic of conversation at dinner, he wouldn’t have known, unless he’d looked carefully at my CV, that I’d come up an unconventional route. It gave me some comfort that the rest of the consultants at the Royal Free might not have checked my CV either. Maybe I really would be able to stay under the radar.

“Yeah, I left school at sixteen. Went into hairdressing before I decided to change route.”

He nodded. “That actually explains a lot.”

My heart sank at his cruel comment but I gave a one-shouldered shrug, trying to act like it didn’t cut bone deep. I looked away and down the length of the pool, wondering whether it would be rude to swim off before he could see how upset I was.

“I mean you were really impressive out there,” he said, then he glanced away too. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just you stood out head and shoulders above the rest, and I couldn’t figure out whether it was just because of... you know, us. But it makes sense that you didn’t come straight through. You have a wisdom, a practicality, an empathy that these other FY1s don’t have.”

Now I had to fight to cover my blush. “Would you like a blow dry with your appendectomy?”

Jacob didn’t smile at my joke. “Don’t do that. Don’t give people ammunition because you don’t want them to use it first.”

“Why not?” I was resigned to the inevitable jokes and sneers I’d get from my peers once they found out, but it wouldn’t break me. I’d survived a lot worse from my mother. “It is what it is.”

He stepped closer. “The way you handle yourself in the hospital is impressive. The way you logically think through every situation shows maturity. It shows life experience. You’re a good doctor.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I think after four months being taught by you, I’m definitely going to be a better one.” I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather learn from. Jacob was patient but firm, clever and kind and respected by all his colleagues. Was there a better teacher?

“It’s my job,” he said. “But thank you.”

I skimmed my arms across the surface of the water in a circle around me.

“You want to race?” he asked, grinning.

“With you?” I frowned. “Are you kidding? I’ve seen your body, remember.”

He laughed. “How could I forget?” We locked eyes and it felt like I’d taken a seat in a chair that had been made for me. His gaze was comfortable, easy and just right, even though it was oh-so-wrong.

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