The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance

‘Not really,’ Steele said. ‘It sort of found me, I guess. I was pretty much raised by my grandmother …’

‘Are your parents …?’ Her voice trailed off and Steele grinned.

‘They’re not dead.’

‘Good.’

‘My parents are both doctors and were very serious about their careers. I was a late accident. I don’t think they ever really wanted to have children. My mother was a top thoracic surgeon—which means she had balls.’

Candy laughed.

‘My grandmother looked after me till I went to boarding school and in the holidays I stayed with her.’ He saw her frown. ‘My parents are good people. They were just very, very focused. Anyway, when I went to my grandmother’s for Easter one year, she was very confused. Just completely off the wall. I rang my mother and she pretty much would have had her shipped off to a nursing home that day.’

‘Really?’ Candy said.

‘Really!’ Steele nodded. ‘But the GP came and it turned out all she had was a urine infection. He explained the confusion it could cause in the elderly. Anyway, two days later she was completely back to herself. It just stayed with me, I guess.’

‘My nonna lived with us.’ Candy yawned. ‘I think my mother thinks she’ll be living with me …’

‘Did your mother work?’ Steele asked, and Candy shook her head. ‘You do, though. You have a career.’

Candy looked at him. Right there, right then, she felt as if he knew the wrestle in her heart because though she loved her parents they clashed a lot as Candy struggled to be independent when they didn’t want her to be. ‘I do have a career,’ Candy said, ‘and I had to fight to have one.’

‘Have your rest.’ He smiled and Candy nodded.

She’d had to fight to simply be here, Candy thought as she closed her eyes. Her parents had wanted her to marry Franco, and for her to work in the family business. They hadn’t understood that she’d wanted to study to become a nurse.

Candy fell asleep but it felt about twenty seconds later that her phone bleeped and told her that her hour was up and it was time to go back to work. The staffroom was empty and when she went round to the ward Steele wasn’t there either.

She liked him.

Candy knew it properly then because she preferred the feel on the ward when he was around.

The rest of the night flew past quickly. Candy helped out with Mrs Douglas while Abigail took her break and then it was time to start her morning routine. At seven-thirty, after handover, Candy said goodbye to her patients and told Macey that she would be in tomorrow morning and, if Macey liked and Candy had time, then she would do her nails.

Macey said nothing.

As Candy walked along the main entrance corridor she saw Steele on his way into work. His hair was damp from his morning shower and he was wearing a dark grey suit and fresh shirt, though he hadn’t yet done up his tie. He was standing looking at one of the pictures that lined the corridor, images of the hospital and the changes over the years. Renovations were taking place throughout the Royal.

‘What are you looking at?’ she asked.

‘Come and see,’ Steele invited, and as she stood beside him he started to do up his tie. ‘Do you recognise anyone?’

Candy peered at the image that he had been focused on. It was a group of nurses and doctors standing in the gardens at the rear of the hospital. It looked like a presentation had just taken place as some of the nurses were sporting medals. Candy smiled when she saw the long dresses and aprons that the nurses were wearing as well as their hats and capes. Then she saw just who it was that Steele was looking at. ‘Oh, my goodness, it’s Macey.’

‘It is indeed.’

She had the same wild curly hair, though it was tamed by a frilly white cap. Her cheekbones were high and her lips, though smiling, looked a touch strained. Her cape was around her shoulders and Candy smiled at the red cross that it made on her chest.

She looked incredibly young but certainly it was Macey.

‘Do you think she’ll come out of her depression?’ Candy asked.

‘Now I do.’

‘What do you mean?’

But Steele didn’t answer her directly. ‘You were very good with her last night. I’m glad she had a drink and got up to the bathroom. How was she this morning?’

‘Still very quiet, but she had another drink and I made her biscotti, which she ate.’

‘Biscotti?’

‘Biscuits in warm milk, all mashed in.’ Candy smiled and then groaned as her stomach rumbled just at the thought. ‘Now I’ve gone and made myself hungry, I’ll have to have some when I get home.’

‘Did you feed her?’

‘I did.’ Candy nodded. ‘She’s very shaky.’

‘It’s all the new medications,’ Steele said, ‘and a lack of sherry, but it should soon start to settle down.’

‘How did you know that she was drinking?’

‘Because drinking is incredibly common in the elderly. Far more than people realise. It’s not all bad.’ Steele smiled. ‘Macey can’t ask her niece to get her four bottles of sherry a week, or however much it is that she actually drinks. At least it keeps her walking to the shops each day. I admit that I worry what will happen when my oldies all discover online shopping.’

Candy realised she was doing her dental commercial smile at him again.

He made her smile.

‘I’m going home.’ Candy hitched up her bag. ‘I’ll say goodnight because it’s night-time to me.’

‘Have a good sleep,’ Steele said, ‘and don’t talk too much.’

‘I don’t talk in my sleep.’ She smiled back at him. ‘At least, I don’t think I do.’

As she walked off his deep voice caused her shoulders to stiffen.

‘Make that three things that I have to find out about you.’

Oh, my God, Candy realised.

They were flirting.

More than that, she was considering revising her recently put in place rule—to never again get involved with someone at work.

He was that good.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘CAN I HAVE a hand to turn Mr Worthington, please?’ Candy asked Elaine the following morning.

She had slept all of Saturday and had then got up for dinner and gone out for a couple of hours with Kelly, only to be in bed by ten and asleep again in a matter of moments.

And she was still tired.

Elaine was very brusque and efficient and they soon had Mr Worthington turned. ‘Why isn’t his radio on?’ Elaine asked, turning it on. ‘Toby likes to have his radio on, especially on a Sunday morning. I wrote it down in his care plan.’

‘Sorry,’ Candy muttered as Elaine marched out.

As bossy as she was, though, Elaine’s heart really was in the right place because Toby started humming a little as Candy shaved him and all too soon she found herself singing along to the Sunday morning hymns. It made Toby smile and his eyes encouraged her and he even started singing along to some of the choruses, which only made Candy sing louder.

‘Mr Worthington!’ Gloria popped her head in. ‘Your family are here to see you.’ She smiled at Candy. ‘They’ll be pleased to see him looking so cheerful. Steele was just having a word with them.’

Candy quickly tidied up the room and moved the trolley out of the way as Toby’s family thanked Steele and then smiled at Candy as they made their way in.

‘Did you enjoy your little singalong?’ Steele asked when she came out.

‘Actually, I did,’ she said, ‘although I’m not sure quite what Toby would have to say about it if he was able to talk.’

‘Oh, I’m sure that, with the amount of morphine he’s on, your voice sounded pretty fantastic.’

‘Are you telling me that I’m tone deaf?’

‘Ooh, just a touch,’ Steele teased, but it didn’t faze Candy.

‘I’m going to sing louder next time.’

They would have chatted for longer but Matron Elaine was back and ready to move things along. ‘Come on, Candy, we’re falling behind. I’ll help you with Macey.’

Candy would really prefer that she didn’t.

‘Have fun!’ Steele said as Candy rolled her eyes.

The strangest thing was, though, that Candy did enjoy herself.

In fact, she had more fun then she’d had in a long time and so did Macey!

‘Good morning, Macey.’ Candy smiled as she pulled the curtains around the bed. ‘Would you like to have a shower?’

Macey gave a slow shake of her head.

‘Well, Elaine and I will give you a wash in bed, if that’s okay, and we’ll give you some nice fresh sheets and things. Then I’ll do your leg dressing.’

‘I’ll do Macey’s leg dressing,’ Elaine said. ‘I need to practice my aseptic technique.’

‘Sure,’ Candy agreed, and then spoke to Macey. ‘Would you like me to wash your hair? We can do it in bed. I just need to take the bedhead off. It might make you feel a little bit better,’ Candy pushed gently, but again Macey shook her head.

Elaine had everything set up on the trolley to wash Macey and she was busy collecting sheets and pillowcases for the bed change as Candy washed Macey’s face. She then offered her the cloth to wash her hands but Macey didn’t take it so Candy washed Macey’s hands in the bowl. ‘I’ll take that nail varnish off in a little while and do your nails.’

‘There isn’t time to do nails,’ Elaine said as she returned.

‘I’ll do it on my coffee break,’ Candy said as they turned Macey and washed her back. Elaine was starting to seriously get on her nerves. ‘I like painting nails.’

Delightfully, though, as Macey was turned back from her side she caught Candy’s eye and gave her a tiny wink. This showed Candy she was coming back to the world and that Macey understood how difficult Elaine might be to work with.

She returned the wink and soaped up the cloth again.

‘Would you like to wash yourself down there?’ Candy offered, so that Macey could wash her private parts herself, but both Candy and Macey blinked at the same time when a loud voice interrupted them.

‘No!’ Elaine said. ‘We do not speak down to our patients. You are to call it by its proper name.’

Candy shared a brief yikes look with Macey.

‘I apologise, Macey,’ she said, looking into Macey’s eyes as they both tried to fathom what it was that she was supposed to say.

‘Would you like to wash your private parts?’ Candy offered and saw Macey’s lips start to twitch into a smile, especially when Elaine chimed up again.

‘No!’ she said. ‘You’re to call it by its proper name.’

Given that Candy was the qualified nurse, she could have told Elaine to simply be quiet, but there was a glimmer in Macey’s eyes that hadn’t been there for a long time and, Candy guessed as they shared a smile, she was more than happy for the exchange to continue.

Macey presumably had a nurse’s sense of humour after all.

‘I’m sorry, Macey,’ Candy said again as she stretched her brain as to what she should say. She rinsed out the cloth again and then mouthed to Macey, ‘What do I say?’

Macey offered a tiny shrug.

Was she supposed to ask if she wanted to wash her vagina? ‘Macey,’ Candy said, and cleared her throat. They stared seriously at each other, though they were both laughing on the inside. Each knew the other’s thoughts. ‘Would you like to wash your genitals?’

‘No!’ Elaine, clearly incensed by Candy’s apparent ineptitude, took the cloth from Candy. ‘This is how you do it,’ Elaine said, and soaped up the cloth again. ‘Macey,’ she said, holding out the cloth, ‘would you like to wash your muffy?’

Macey and Candy cried from laughing.

Not in front of Elaine, of course, but as Elaine went to set up for the leg dressing Candy had to wipe the tears from Macey’s eyes as they tried to keep their laughter quiet.

They clearly didn’t succeed because Steele popped his head in.

‘Did Elaine do her muffy thing again?’ he asked.

‘She did.’ Candy grinned. ‘Has she done it before, then?’

Steele nodded. ‘Somebody has to tell her that that’s not the technical name for it.’ Steele grinned. ‘Please, God, it’s not me.’

‘She’ll be a wonderful nurse,’ Macey said, still smiling. ‘At least she’s thorough.’

Candy was told to go for her coffee break and so she made a mug of coffee and put it beside Macey’s bed, ready to set to work on her nails.

‘Have your break,’ Macey said.

‘I honestly like painting nails,’ Candy said. ‘I do my mum’s every week and I just wish I had four sisters instead of four brothers. It really does relax me.’

She held up a bottle of coral nail polish. ‘Is that colour okay?’

Macey gave a small nod.

Macey sat quietly as Candy set to work. Candy didn’t chat very much because she really was concentrating. There was something so soothing about painting nails that she truly did enjoy doing it. The immediate improvement was instantly gratifying and having nice nails was also a very easy lift to the sprits.

‘Four brothers?’ Macey said suddenly.

‘And then came a daughter.’ Candy gave a wry smile.

‘Are they very strict?’

‘They are but they’re also very lovely. I know that I really have nothing to complain about, but …’ Candy shook her head. ‘I’m still plucking up the courage to tell them that I’ve booked a holiday to Hawaii. They’re not going to be pleased.’

‘Why?’ Macey asked. ‘Because you’re going with your boyfriend?’

‘I don’t have a boyfriend,’ Candy said, taking Macey’s other hand and starting to work on those nails. ‘That won’t appease them, though … me in America on my own …’

Macey looked across the ward and saw that Steele was looking towards them, or rather at Candy. When he realised that she was watching him he gave her a very brief smile and then looked away.

She might not say much but Macey knew everything that went on in the ward.

‘There,’ Candy said, finishing off and admiring her handiwork. ‘Let them dry for a little while before you do anything.’

‘No washing my muffy for the next half-hour, then,’ Macey joked and smiled at Candy as she rested her head back on the pillow. ‘Thank you, my dear.’

As she went to take her mug through to the kitchen Candy passed Steele. ‘What time do you finish?’ he asked.

‘Eleven-thirty,’ Candy said.

‘Do you want to get lunch?’

He’d completely sideswiped her but, then, Candy thought, he had been doing that since the moment she’d clapped eyes on him. ‘The canteen?’ she suggested.

‘If you like but I think we can do better than the canteen.’

Oh!

Did she want to have lunch with the sexiest man she had ever met? There really wasn’t an awful lot to think about.

‘Yes,’ Candy said, ‘that sounds great.’

‘Good.’

‘But aren’t you on call?’

‘My registrar can earn his keep for a couple of hours,’ Steele said.

Wow.

There really was no messing with Steele; she had never really known anyone as direct as him before.

‘Anyway,’ Steele added, ‘I’ve got a few questions that I’d like to know the answers to.’

‘Question one,’ Steele said as they sat in a very nice café that was just a short drive from the hospital. ‘I want to know about your name—Candy?’

‘You’ll never know,’ Candy said as she looked through the menu. ‘It’s the reason I’m never getting married. It’s the reason I’m going on holiday alone. No one is allowed to see my passport!’

‘I’m determined to find out.’

‘You can be as determined as you like.’ She smiled. ‘It doesn’t mean that you’ll get anywhere, though.’

‘What do you want to eat?’ Steele asked.

‘I would like …’ She looked through the menu. What would she like? ‘I fancy a roast.’

‘Have a roast, then.’

‘I shall.’ Candy nodded. ‘A Sunday roast is exotic to me. It was pasta and pasta and more pasta when I was growing up.’

‘Well, I’ll have the pasta, then.’ He smiled, glad to be out with someone who seemed to enjoy their food. ‘That’s exotic to me.’

‘Please.’ Candy rolled her eyes.

‘Okay, second question—what was the mistake?’

Candy let out a breath; if this was leading anywhere, and it felt as if it was, then possibly she ought to tell him. Or possibly not, given that Steele would be long since gone by the time Gerry returned from Greece.

It wasn’t just a question of that, though. She liked Steele’s eyes, she liked his smile, she liked that she felt she could be honest with him. It would be such a relief to share what had been eating her up for these past couple of months.

‘Have you ever slept with an ex?’ Candy asked, quite sure, as she did so, that she was blushing from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes.

‘Doesn’t everyone sleep with their exes?’ Steele checked. He was so at ease with it all that she let out a breath that she felt as though she’d been holding in since it had happened.

‘Well, I’ve only had two exes, and I only made that mistake with one of them.’

‘Actually,’ Steele added, ‘I’ve never slept with my ex-wife. I knew from the day we broke up that we were done.’

He saw her swallow. And swallow Candy did—she had certainly thought him worldlier than her and that he had been married and divorced confirmed it.

‘You sound bitter,’ she said, and was somewhat surprised when he didn’t deny that he was.

‘I am a bit when I think about it, which I don’t often do.’ He smiled. ‘She rang a few weeks ago and asked if we might consider getting back together. I long ago decided that I would never settle down with anyone again.’

He didn’t reveal the initial reason for their break-up. There was no point. There was no need for in-depth explanations about his infertility, given that he wasn’t going to be hanging around in any one place or in anyone’s space for too long.

Though perhaps he needed to make that a little clearer to Candy, he realised. She was seriously gorgeous. The attraction had been instant for both of them, of that there was no doubt, but she was several years younger than him and a lot less jaded and he did not want to cause hurt.

‘So you slept with your ex?’ Steele checked, and she gave a glum nod.

‘Do you know Gerry?’ Candy asked. ‘One of the head nurses in the emergency department.’

‘I’ve never met him,’ Steele said. ‘But I heard a bit about him when I was looking into the waiting times in Emergency. He’s an arrogant jerk apparently.’

‘That’s Gerry!’ Candy rolled her eyes. ‘He didn’t used to be. He got beaten up by two patients a few months ago and it seems to have changed him.’

‘He’s the one currently in Greece?’ Steele checked. ‘The one who wrote “Glad you’re not here” on his postcard?’

‘That’s the one.’ Candy nodded. ‘When I first moved out of home last year we went out, though not for very long.’

‘You only moved out last year?’

‘Believe me, twenty-four years of age is way too early in my family, unless it’s to get married. I should only have moved out to marry the boyfriend they had sort of pressed onto me … Instead, I dumped him and rented a flat.’

‘That would have been tough,’ Steele commented.

‘Yes, it caused a lot of arguments with my parents and I mean a lot, but in the end it was far easier to do that than marry someone just because my parents considered him suitable. Anyway, Gerry helped me a bit with the move, given that my parents were sulking. We went out for a while, like I said, but pretty quickly I ended it. That was last year but he’s been having a few problems of late. He asked if we could go out for a drink a couple of months ago …’ Candy gave an uncomfortable shrug.

‘One thing led to another?’ Steele checked, and she nodded.

‘It was a complete mistake on my part—he thought that signalled we were back together and he wasn’t best pleased to find out we’re not. Since then he’s been making things difficult for me at work. No one knows that we slept together again, thank God.’ She looked at Steele, surprised she could meet his eyes after her big revelation. ‘It should serve as a reminder—never get involved with anyone from work.’

‘Too late,’ Steele said. ‘I think we both know we’re heading for bed—guilt free.’

He liked it that she blushed and he liked it even more that she didn’t disagree with him. Now was the time to make it clear that, though this could be incredibly pleasant, there was no question of it lasting for very long.

‘I can assure you that I won’t turn into a monster when we’re over,’ Steele said, not very gently spelling it out for her. ‘I have very many exes who will tell you the same.’

Candy sat there as a delectable plate of roast beef, with all the trimmings, was placed in front of her. She was glad of the chance to think over his words rather than react immediately to them as she smiled and thanked the waitress. Steele was sitting there basically telling her that he was a playboy and warning her that before they started they had a use-by date hanging over them.

The strange thing for Candy was that she didn’t mind. His openness was, in fact, refreshing. She was tired of games, tired of pretending she was enjoying herself. Tired of simply going along for the sake of going along. Gerry had got way too serious too soon, and Franco had been happy to marry her before they’d had so much as a coffee. She had been brought up with the expectation that any man she dated was a potential husband and had to somehow be a suitable provider. It drove Candy insane. She wanted to be twenty-four, she wanted to have fun, and with Steele she could. With him it was different—there were no games, just pleasure to be had with no expectation or end aim. There was something so unique about him, something that said she deserved to have sex with him at least once in her lifetime.

‘What are you smiling at?’

‘My thoughts,’ Candy said. ‘And they’re not for sharing.’

‘Would your parents be disappointed in you if they knew what they were?’

‘Very.’ She smiled.

‘Good.’

‘So you’re here for six weeks?’ Candy checked.

‘Five now,’ Steele said, ‘and the last two of them without you, given that you’ll be off on your holiday.’

Getting over you, she thought.

But, oh, at least she’d get to be under him.

That was the only sex Candy knew.

‘Then where will you be living?’ she asked.

‘Kent,’ Steele said. ‘It’s an amazing opportunity. I’m overseeing a complete overhaul of their geriatric department. I’m implementing an acute geriatric unit, where all medical patients will be admitted first.’

He had such energy for his job. Candy could hear it in every word he spoke. They had the loveliest lunch, chatting about work, about them, oh, about lots of things, but then Steele said he had to get back.

‘I’m speaking with Macey’s nieces at two. I’ll give you a lift home …’

‘I don’t need a lift,’ Candy said. ‘I’m only two stops away.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Very.’

‘So how will I know where you live when I come over to take you out tonight?’

‘Where are you taking me?’ Candy smiled.

‘I haven’t decided.’ Out on the street he took her wrist and turned her to face him. ‘Where would you like to go?’

Bed, she wanted to answer, when she had never felt or given that answer before. ‘I’ll leave it up to you. Though I warn you, I’m pretty wrecked. Night duty hasn’t left me at my most sparkling.’ She told him her address and he tapped it into his phone. ‘I’ll see you tonight about seven?’

‘Sounds good.’

It was the middle of the day, there were people everywhere and yet when he took her in his arms it could have been the end of the most romantic night.

‘Thanks for coming to lunch.’

‘Thanks for asking me.’

It was a very new thing to her, to be somewhere simply because she wanted to be. It should be wrong, except it felt completely right. He was older, wiser and sexier than she had ever dealt with and she was more turned on than she had ever been in her life, and he hadn’t even kissed her.

That was about to be corrected, though. Her heart was galloping even more than it had the first day they’d met. Right now it was almost leaping out of her throat in anticipation. An anticipation she had never known because when their lips met it seemed to set off a chain reaction. This is what a mouth should feel like, Candy thought, and This is what a tongue was surely designed for, she decided as his stroked hers.