HEALING LOVE

Cara Cooper

Published by Xcite BooksLtd – 2011
ISBN 978-1-908192-10-3

Copyright © Cara Cooper 2011

The right of Cara Cooper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by herin accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers: Xcite Books, Suite 11769, 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London EC1V 4PY

The storycontained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Chapter One

ARMS LADEN WITH PAPERS, Dr James Frayne rushed headlong through the surgery bumping into a lady coming out. Everything he was holding dropped noisily and spread across the floor. Kacey, the young receptionist ran around her desk to help him, kneeling down as her bright pink nails scooped up the sheets. Her pretty face was creased in a frown. ‘Are you all right, Dr Frayne? You’d better watch out, Becky’s on the warpath.’ As James hastily gathered up the sheets, he looked up to be met with a sea of expectant, agitated-looking faces. His patients. He was late ... Again.

It was the last straw. Things at home had been a nightmare these few days. He might have been on leave, but after all he’d had to deal with, no sane person would have called what he’d had to endure, a holiday. James didn’t know how long he could go on like this. His home life – everything he really cared for – was in meltdown. Pretending at work that everything was OK while his insides churned like washing spinning in a machine was unbearable. He tried to look his normal, self-contained, oh-so capable self. While inside he thought, I should win an Oscar for my acting.

Then, to add to the agony, Becky Armfield, the practice manager strode out of her office, hands on hips, and regarded him frostily. ‘You’re late, Dr Frayne.’ She was young to be a practice manager but was scarily efficient.

With a nervous smile at them both, Kacey handed James the pile of patient notes. It was good of the girl to try and make him feel better. ‘Sorry, Becky,’ he said in his sweetest voice, while thinking, And thanks for pointing my faults out to everyone in such a loud voice. A couple of his waiting patients looked tensely at their watches. Well, one thing hadn’t changed in the few days he’d been on leave, Becky Armfield, was still her usual buttoned-up self. He retreated into his office and rammed the door shut behind him. He leant heavily against it and exhaled. If only he could close his eyes and be back home now. There was only one place he should be. And that was with Lindy. It certainly wasn’t here. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. You can do this, you can get through today, he counselled himself. Just forget about what’s happening at home, you’ve done everything you can for the time-being. Now it’s just a waiting game.

He needed a few moments standing here, door closed, just to calm down his jumbled mind before letting in the first patient. His thoughts turned to how difficult he was finding this new job. Thank God he’d managed to go out for a drink with Joe last night. After he’d seen Lindy, he needed picking up and Joe’s text message “Gr8 to see u down at Reef Bar 2nite if you can make it? 8 OK?” had come at just the right time. Joe was small with short blond hair. The complete opposite to James with his tall, brooding good looks and dark wavy hair. A fellow doctor, Joe had been a good friend since university.

While they finished a bottle of rioja, James had said to Joe, ‘The job’s OK, Joe, but Becky, the practice manager is a dragon. She’s always on my case.’

‘But you’ve encountered practice managers like that before.’

‘Yeah, and I don’t need it, particularly not at the moment with all that’s going on with Lindy.’ James looked into the bottom of his empty glass, and Joe signalled to the waitress to bring them another. ‘Trouble is, I haven’t been at this practice long, so I couldn’t leave yet; it would look bad on my work record.’

‘You’ve got a good work record.’

‘Had, Joe, had. But it was in my last practice everything started going pear-shaped. When things with Lindy started to get really bad. They got tired of me taking all that time off; they saw me as being unreliable. But I had to, I didn’t have any choice. You know that. But the manager at my old practice didn’t see it that way. After all, doctors’ surgeries are much like any other business these days and as far as she was concerned she just needed to get patients through the sausage mill. That’s why I haven’t explained to anyone at the new place what’s happening at home.’

‘Is that wise?’ Joe’s head was tilted in concern.

‘It’s none of their business, Joe. Besides, they’d see it as a weakness. They’d have never taken someone like me on if they’d known my situation; it’s a busy surgery, the most popular in town. It’s the worst time for me to land in a practice which is headed by one of the most awkward practice managers I’ve ever had the misfortune to work with. That woman makes my skin bristle. She’s as prickly as a hedge of brambles.’

‘I really think it would be better if you told her what your problem is at home, James. You may find she’s very understanding.’

‘You don’t know her, Joe. Becky Armfield’s perfect in many ways. Efficient, well-groomed, a superb head for figures. She keeps all us doctors well in line. People say she’s caring, but I’ve never seen that side of her. In fact quite the opposite.’

There was a sharp knock at his door which startled James out of his reverie. ‘Dr Frayne. Your first patients are waiting.’ There was a pause while he gathered himself together. Then Becky’s voice came again. ‘Are you all right?’ It was a question carrying censure with it rather than any note of caring. Did that woman have no time for anyone? Was she so brittle she couldn’t sense what he was going through? Then again, he thought, his breathing finally calming him, he had grown so good at hiding things, perhaps he couldn’t blame her for not realising what a state he was in.

With huge effort, James straightened up, dragged a tidying hand through his unruly hair and pasted a smile on his face. He opened the door. ‘I’m fine, Becky.’ His words were clipped, ‘Please ask Kacey to show the first patient in.’

By eleven o’clock he had listened stoically to backaches, eye problems, coughs and a case of heart disease, but at least he had cleared the backlog and was ready for his first coffee of the day. He wandered off to the staff room, easing his tensed shoulders for the first time that morning. Very strong, very sweet black coffee was one of the few things that would get him through today, he thought, collapsing into one of the waiting armchairs. He had just ten minutes before his next patient. For a second he wondered how Lindy was, and thought of ringing the hospital again. But he mustn’t. He needed to switch off if only for a few minutes. It was going to be a helluva long day.