Rescued By Dr Rafe

‘Ready?’ She settled herself into the front seat of the car.

He nodded, turning the radio down until it was just a gentle beat, swallowed up by the drumming of the rain on the windscreen. ‘Yep. First one’s near Shillingford. We’ll have to go through Eardwell.’

Her home village. ‘Yes, that’s the best way.’

‘You want to call in on Charlie?’

‘He’s... I spoke to him a few minutes ago. He says everything’s okay.’ Mimi wished that Charlie would accept her help a little more readily, but she knew better than to fuss.

‘How’s he doing?’

‘A lot better. He plays in a wheelchair basketball team now.’

‘Sounds as if he’s a great deal more independent.’

‘Yeah. As time went by we all learned how to make that happen.’ The cottage that she and Rafe had rented, just across the road from Charlie’s place, had been a factor in that. Close enough to help, without crowding her brother. When Rafe had said he was moving, to take up a new job and be closer to his mother, he’d known full well that Mimi couldn’t abandon Charlie and follow him.

‘I don’t suppose he’s got a spare flask he can lend us. If he could fill it up with coffee it would be even better.’

She couldn’t help but smile. Rafe and Charlie had always got on well, and it seemed that Rafe still cared about her brother enough to find an excuse to pop in and see whether he was all right. ‘You want a sandwich as well?’

‘Sounds good. Call him and tell him we’re coming.’ Rafe swung the car out of the hospital car park and on to the road.

* * *

Rafe drove the familiar route, which he’d used to call the road home. He hadn’t reckoned on it being quite so hard. When he stopped outside their cottage, it looked just the same as it always had, the white render gleaming pale in the pouring rain like a ghost from his past.

‘You’re still here?’ He tried to make the question sound as casual as possible, as if there hadn’t been a time when he had dreamed about walking back to that door every night.

There was a slight pause, as if she was weighing up whether it was all right to answer. ‘Yes. I bought the place.’

‘Mrs Bates died?’ The elderly woman who had owned the cottage had gone into a nursing home and her family had rented the property out.

‘Yes. Four years ago. The family didn’t want the cottage and decided to sell, so I put in an offer.’

‘Smart move...’ Rafe bit his tongue. He wasn’t in a position to give Mimi advice on what to do with her life any more. All the same, he’d thought more than once that if the roomy cottage they’d rented ever came on to the market they should put in an offer for it.

She nodded as if she didn’t want to discuss it any more, and rather unnecessarily pointed to the driveway of Charlie’s one-storey house, right across the road. It had only been five years, not a century. And Rafe hadn’t forgotten.

He got as close to the front door as he could and switched the engine off, leaning back in his seat in an unequivocal signal that he’d wait. Turning up here with Mimi wasn’t the most tactful of things to do.

‘Come and say hello to Charlie.’ She shot him a pretty fair counterfeit of a welcoming smile.

‘I thought... Wouldn’t you prefer me to stay here?’

‘I told him you were here when I spoke to him. He’s not going to eat you, Rafe.’

Maybe he would and maybe he wouldn’t. But Rafe had often wondered how Charlie was doing and he wanted to see him. Mimi had already got out of the car and was running up the ramp which led to the front door, her jacket over her head. It opened as she approached and Rafe saw Charlie inside.

Rafe swung out of his seat, following Mimi to the front door. Charlie looked great. Strong and smiling as he pulled Mimi down for a kiss. ‘You just couldn’t resist, could you...’

‘What?’ Mimi broke free, giving a look which was far too innocent to be believed, and Charlie grinned at her.

‘Couldn’t resist checking up on me.’

‘All I want is coffee. Then we’ll go. If you want you can go lie on the floor and I’ll step over you on the way out.’ Mimi turned her back on her brother and walked towards the kitchen area at the far end of the open-plan space.

‘You can finish making the sandwiches...’ Charlie called after her and then turned his attention to Rafe, his face suddenly impassive. ‘You’re back then.’

‘I’m here to help out, that’s all.’ Mimi seemed to be busy in the kitchen and Charlie was showing no inclination towards following her. Rafe sat down. If Charlie wanted to give him the third degree, he could do it face to face.

‘I hear that Jack’s marooned, and the ambulance was towed?’ Charlie seemed to be fishing for information, and Rafe guessed that Mimi hadn’t told him the whole story.

‘Yeah, that’s right. The river broke its banks near Holme and the bridge has been washed away. Jack got pretty wet, but we hear he’s okay. Mimi had walked back up the hill to make a phone call.’

‘Yeah. That’s what I heard too. Did she try to get across the river?’

‘She... Perhaps you should ask her.’

Charlie leaned forward. ‘I’m asking you, Rafe.’

‘I thought she might. I didn’t give her the choice.’ Rafe decided that telling Charlie he’d had to lift Mimi off her feet before she ran headlong towards a wall of water wasn’t a particularly good idea. And if she hadn’t mentioned anything about her plans for getting across the river he’d keep quiet about them as well.

‘Yeah. I reckoned that’s what happened.’ Charlie seemed to relax a bit. ‘Thanks.’

‘My pleasure. Although I’m not sure it was Mi...Miriam’s.’ Mimi’s full name sounded strange and very cold on his lips, but Rafe had made up his mind to play it safe and use it, since she seemed to object so much to his using her nickname.

‘Miriam...?’ Charlie’s face broke into a grin. ‘She is giving you a hard time, isn’t she?’

‘Do you blame her?’ Somehow Rafe couldn’t quite leave it at that. ‘There were reasons, Charlie. For my leaving...’

‘I dare say there were. That’s between you and Mimi. She told me to mind my own business enough times.’

A quiver of unexpected warmth jabbed at Rafe’s heart. Mimi could have said whatever she liked about him, and it was only to be expected that she’d bad-mouthed him to Charlie. He hadn’t realised until this moment how much he’d wanted her not to.

‘Do me a favour, though...’ Charlie interrupted his reverie.

‘Of course.’ Rafe had absolutely no intention of trying to rekindle anything between him and Mimi, and sex for old times’ sake definitely wasn’t on his agenda. He could reassure Charlie on that score, at least.

‘I know Mimi’s job has risks attached to it, and I also know she doesn’t tell me about half the scrapes she gets herself into...’

‘They’re not scrapes, Charlie, and she doesn’t get herself into them. She’s a trained professional.’ Rafe surprised himself by springing to Mimi’s defence.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Charlie ran his hand through his hair. ‘Look after her, will you? You know Mimi. She thinks she’s superwoman sometimes.’

‘You have my word on that.’ Rafe held out his hand, wondering if Charlie would take it. He did so without hesitation. He was so like Mimi, in both looks and mannerism, and it felt doubly warming that Charlie seemed ready to forgive.

‘It’s good to see you.’ Charlie’s irrepressible grin broke through his reserve. ‘I’ve missed our little talks.’

Rafe chuckled. Their little talks usually lasted until closing time in the local pub, when Mimi was working a late shift. ‘Me too. We should do it again some time.’

‘Yeah. That would be good.’

* * *

Things were going okay. Not good, but okay. They were adults and there was no reason in the world why she and Rafe couldn’t play nicely until the situation eased. There was just one thing that needed clearing up.

‘I heard what you said to Charlie.’

‘Yeah?’ He didn’t turn his gaze from the road ahead but Mimi supposed she shouldn’t expect that. She wouldn’t have done if she’d been driving either.

‘It’s quite unnecessary.’

‘Which bit of it in particular?’

‘About looking after me. There’s no need.’

Rafe’s shoulders moved in a tight shrug. ‘You want me to go back on my word?’

‘Far be it from me to get in the way of any male bonding that you’ve been engaging in, but I’d rather you didn’t involve me in it.’ Mimi shut her mouth tight. That sounded sharper than it should, but when she’d heard Rafe and Charlie’s quiet words she’d felt a little more hurt than she should too.

‘I didn’t say it to impress Charlie. It’s what I intend to do.’ The side of his jaw hardened in an obstinate line. She knew that look, and it had frustrated her when she’d been living with him. She didn’t need to put up with it any more.

‘I’ve been looking after myself for the last five years, Rafe, and I’ve met all the challenges that life can throw at me. I’m sorry if that tears a hole in your masculinity, but that’s the way things are. I don’t need you to look after me, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around pretending that I did.’

She felt a little breathless. Almost free, as if that was something that she’d been waiting for a long time to say. Mimi dismissed the idea. There was nothing...nothing that she’d been waiting to say to Rafe.

The car suddenly pulled off the road, jerking to a halt. ‘You think this is all about my ego?’

‘Well, it’s not about mine...’ The atmosphere was zinging with hurt antagonism.

‘Not about you?’ He turned around to face her and she saw her own anger reflected in his face. ‘We all need each other at the moment. If you can’t deal with that then that’s all about you.’

‘Stop trying to twist things around, Rafe...’

‘I am not twisting anything. And I didn’t promise Charlie that I’d look after you because you’re a woman, or because we used to sleep together.’

Mimi caught her breath. He’d said the words they’d both been trying not to say. The words that could lead to all kinds of trouble...we used to sleep together. After all the efforts she’d been making not to think about it.

‘That’s all ancient history.’

His lip curled in disbelief, and suddenly he was very close. That scent of his, a little soap, a little sweat. She’d always loved the way that Rafe smelled, and it was just as intoxicating as it had always been.

‘We need to get one thing straight. It’s fine with me if you just want to come along for the ride. I happen to think that would be a shame, because I was hoping that I could rely on you.’

‘What for?’ The words almost stuck in her throat. Suddenly she couldn’t think of one thing that Rafe would want to rely on her for.

‘You know these roads better than I do. You know the best way to get to where we need to go. And you have a lot of experience of working with people outside the hospital, which I don’t have. I could really do with your help.’

‘I...I want to help.’ Although they’d worked at the same hospital for over a year, Mimi had never worked with Rafe. She knew he was a fine doctor and had often wished she could have that opportunity.

‘Right then. So we’re a team?’

‘Yes... That would be good.’

‘In that case, I get to look out for you. The same way that I hope you’ll look out for me.’

Mimi swallowed hard. ‘You want me to look out for you?’

‘Why not?’ His sudden grin burned into her soul like a red-hot brand. ‘It’s expensive to train new doctors. You’d be doing the economy a favour.’

Right now, the economy was the last thing on her mind. She tried to drag her attention away from the curve of his lips.

‘Okay then—partners. I’ll look after you and you can look after me.’

He held out his hand and she took it, almost in a dream. One of those bright, happy dreams that had so often been shattered when she woke and found that Rafe wasn’t sleeping next to her.

‘Partners it is, then.’

Suddenly the dream cracked. Mimi had promised herself not to risk falling for another man and fantasising about Rafe, of all people, was plain crazy.

She let go of his hand, settling back into her seat. Five years ago she’d been foolish enough to believe that she meant something to him, and now... He’d be gone soon and he wouldn’t look back.

Perhaps that was the advantage of having a heart that had once been broken. It was stronger now, and well defended. Rafe couldn’t just walk back into her life and steal it.

* * *

The shining look on her face, the way her lips were parted slightly, had obliterated everything else. Mimi might be as tough as they came, but when she made love she was the softest, sweetest thing.

Don’t do this. Don’t even think about it.

He’d made one promise to Charlie, and another to himself. He wasn’t going to break either of them. Rafe switched on the engine, jamming the car into first gear with more force than was strictly necessary, and started to drive.

CHAPTER FOUR

THEIR FIRST CALL was to a man with cuts and bruises, from where a dry-stone wall had collapsed onto him. In better circumstances he might well have just turned up in A and E, but he’d called first and been passed on to the Disaster Control Team, who had told him to stay put and wait for someone to get to him.

With Rafe there, it was possible to treat him in situ. Not the best use of his skills, but it saved time and resources where they were needed the most. The kitchen table was turned into a temporary treatment area, and Eric’s arm lay supported on a wad of dressing as Rafe carefully injected the local anaesthetic on either side of the wound.

‘You’re the doctor’s assistant?’ Eric’s wife came to sit next to Mimi at the other end of the long table.

‘No.’ She flipped her gaze towards Rafe to check that he wasn’t grinning and saw that his concentration was wholly on what he was doing. ‘I’m a paramedic. Only my ambulance got washed away in the river.’

‘Up by Holme? I heard about that on the local radio news; they’re completely cut off now. No one hurt, I hope.’

‘No. Just got a bit wet.’

A baby started to cry in the other room and the woman hurried out, returning with her child in her arms. ‘We’re sorry to bring you out all this way. Eric was going to go into A and E, but I was worried about him driving and I called first. They said they’d send a doctor to us.’ Her tone was apologetic.

‘That’s all right. We’re trying to get as many people as possible treated at home because A and E is pretty stretched at the moment. It’s a lot better this way, all round.’

‘Not for you. It looks as if it’s going to be a filthy night again.’ The woman turned the edges of her mouth down in sympathy, and Mimi smiled.

‘I’ll be in bed, drinking cocoa and reading a book soon enough.’ Mimi thought she saw a movement from Rafe out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned he was already looking away again.

‘Whatever you earn you deserve more...’ Eric broke in, and his wife nodded.

‘I tell my boss that all the time.’ Mimi grinned, picking up a soft toy from the table and waggling it in front of the baby. There wasn’t much else for her to do. ‘What do you say to my making a cup of tea?’

‘Tea?’ Rafe seemed to hear the magic word. ‘That would be nice, thanks.’

Mimi swallowed the temptation to tell him that the tea was intended for their patient. Picking the kettle up and finding it empty, she went to fill it up at the sink.

* * *

Rafe stood at the end of the path, surveying the small cottage for any signs of life, and Mimi knocked on the door again. No answer.

‘I don’t suppose we’ve got the wrong address...?’

‘Nope. This is the right one.’ Mimi bent down to shout through the letterbox. ‘Toby. Open the door.’

Obviously she’d been here before. Or maybe she knew the elderly man who lived here. They’d been summoned by a concerned neighbour, who had noticed that he was limping and had seen an infected sore on his leg.

‘Do you think he might not be able to get to the door?’ Rafe suggested, wondering if they were going to have to break in.

‘Shouldn’t think so. He’s probably hiding out in the kitchen.’ Mimi walked to the side of the cottage, squeezing through the narrow space between the wall and a waterlogged hedge, and Rafe followed, avoiding the branches that sprung back behind her.

She clambered over a low wall, walking past a small kitchen garden to the back door. He stopped and waited, reckoning that Mimi probably knew what she was doing. She pressed her face against the glass, rattling the handle.

‘Toby, open up.’

There was a short pause, and Mimi banged on the door again. Then it opened, to reveal an elderly man.

‘You might have said it was you...’

‘Can we come in, Toby?’

‘You’d better. You’ll catch your death out there.’

Mimi entered and Rafe hung back from the door as Toby eyed him suspiciously.

‘This is Dr Chapman.’

‘Where’s the other lad?’

‘Jack’s up at the top of the hill, in Holme. He’s a bit tied up at the moment.’

Toby nodded sagely and beckoned Rafe inside. A black and white collie was sleeping by the fire and raised its head to inspect the visitors, then rested it back onto its front paws. The little kitchen was old-fashioned, yet clean and neat as a new pin.

‘What can I do for you?’ Toby sat down at the kitchen table, its polished surface dark and pitted from years of use.

‘Mrs March called us. She says you’ve got something wrong with your leg.’ Mimi’s tone was firm, but she was smiling.

‘It’s nothing.’ The old man’s chin jutted in a show of defiance. His face was like the surface of the table, dark from years spent in the open air, with deep lines at the side of his eyes.

‘No, probably not. But the thing is, now I’m here I have to have a look at it. Those are the rules.’

‘And him?’ Toby gestured in Rafe’s direction.

Mimi looked around, a trace of the smile that she’d bestowed on Toby still lingering on her face. After the uneasy truce between them, which seemed to have started to crumble as soon as it was made, it was like a ray of sunshine. ‘Yeah, he’s got to look at it as well.’

Toby sniffed. ‘One of you not good enough, then.’

Mimi directed a bright grin at Toby and the old man’s face softened. ‘Come on, Toby. Give me a break, eh?’

Toby shrugged and Mimi knelt down in front of him, pulling a pair of gloves from her pocket and carefully rolling Toby’s trouser leg up. Halfway up his calf, a large sore blazed red against the pallor of his skin.

‘Have you been wading in flood water?’ Mimi voiced the first question which occurred to Rafe. Flood water frequently carried a high concentration of bacteria, and in the circumstances it was the most likely candidate for turning a small injury into an angry, obviously infected wound like this.

‘Mebbe...’ Toby shrugged non-committally.

‘I’ll take that as a yes. You’ve been with your grandson up at the farm, have you?’

‘The lad needed some help to get all the animals inside. The pasture’s waterlogged.’

‘And when was this?’

‘Day before yesterday.’

‘Okay. This looks as if it hurts.’ Mimi gave Toby no chance to reply, clearly suspecting that he wasn’t about to admit it if it did. ‘I’d like the doctor to take a look at it, and he’ll tell us what needs to be done.’

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