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He followed the younger man into one of the treatment rooms and introduced himself to the patient. ‘I’m Nick Slater, acting head of the clinic. Dr Ashford has asked me to take a look at you.’
‘Take as many as you like,’ the middle-aged man replied, making an obvious effort to sound cheerful. ‘If you can work out what’s wrong with me, I’ll be eternally grateful. I’ve felt like hell these past few days, I can tell you.’
Nick smiled as he picked up the chart Robert had filled in. ‘We shall give it our best shot. It’s Mr Jacobs, is it, and you work for the Foreign Office?’
‘That’s right. Been with them for twenty years now. I’ve been working on overseas aid and development for the past three,’ Ian Jacobs replied.
‘Really? That must be interesting. Do you get to go overseas a lot, or is it mainly a desk job?’ Nick carefully checked the man’s neck. He nodded to Robert when he felt how enlarged the glands were.
‘A bit of both, actually. I’ve been to quite a lot of places in the past few years—India, Africa, places like that.’
‘And were you ever ill when you were away on any of these trips?’ Nick asked, trying to get a full picture of what might be wrong with the man.
‘Not that I can remember…’ Ian Jacobs frowned. ‘A bit of a tummy upset in India, but several members of the party suffered with it, as I recall. The sanitation where we were staying left a lot to be desired.’
‘That’s the problem with so many of these Third World countries,’ he observed lightly. ‘Anything else? Were you bitten by a dog, scratched by a cat, made a meal of by mosquitoes?’
Ian laughed ruefully. ‘The mosquitoes had a field day with me! I was covered in bites most of the time. But I was very careful about taking precautions, Dr Slater. I was on anti-malarial tablets throughout each trip and continued using them after I came home as per instructions. Do you think it’s possible that I might have contracted malaria?’
Nick shook his head when he heard the worry in the man’s voice. ‘Not if you took the medication exactly as you were advised to do. Most modern antimalaria treatment is effective. I assume that you used the ones best suited to the countries you were visiting? There are different strains of malaria so any preventative medicine must take account of that.’
‘Oh, yes. We were given the most up-to-date information before we travelled. One thing the Foreign Office is good at is looking after their employees when they are in the field,’ Ian Jacobs assured him.
‘That’s good to hear. Now, just to recap. Dr Ashford told me that you’ve been suffering from bouts of fever; is that right?’
‘Yes. I can’t recall ever experiencing anything like it, not even when I came down with flu several years ago. And I feel so worn out all the time, as though I can barely make the effort to do anything,’ the man confessed.
‘I see. And there’s nothing else at all that you can add? Something quite insignificant, perhaps.’ Nick smiled reassuringly but he was as puzzled as Robert was about the case. ‘We work a bit like Sherlock Holmes—if we eliminate the possible and find ourselves left with the improbable, then it is quite often the answer.’
‘Well, there’s an insect bite which has been a bit of a nuisance…But I really can’t see that it’s the cause of how ill I’ve been feeling.’
‘Let’s take a look. It would be silly not to check it out, wouldn’t it?’ Nick bit back a sigh. It never failed to amaze him how reluctant people were to impart information.
‘It’s here on my hip.’ Ian pulled down his underwear so that Nick could see the small lump on his hip. ‘It’s quite painful, actually. So much so that I find myself lying on my other side at night in bed.’
Nick gently probed the nodule, murmuring an apology when he felt Ian wince. He glanced at Robert and raised his brows. ‘What do you think?’
‘I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look like any mosquito bite that I’ve ever seen,’ the younger doctor told him doubtfully.
‘Exactly what I thought. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a tsetse fly bite.’ He glanced at the patient again. ‘Which part of Africa did you visit and how long ago were you there?’
‘We were on the west coast about a month ago. Doesn’t the tsetse fly carry sleeping sickness?’
‘That’s right.’ He patted Ian Jacobs’s shoulder when he heard the alarm in his voice. ‘However, even if I’m right—and we’ll need the results of the blood tests to confirm that—then sleeping sickness is curable if you catch it early enough. As soon as we can establish if that is what’s wrong with you, you will be started on a course of drugs to kill the parasites that have got into your bloodstream.’
He paused as a thought occurred to him. Leanne had worked on the tropical diseases ward of the Sydney hospital so maybe she could help to confirm his diagnosis? Obviously, his sole reason for involving her was the patient’s welfare, he told himself quickly when alarm bells started to ring inside his head. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that he wanted to see her again.
‘We have a new nurse working here who was a sister on the tropical diseases ward at the Royal Free Hospital in Sydney,’ he explained before he thought better of it. ‘Would you mind if I asked her to take a look, Mr Jacobs?’
‘Not at all,’ the man said quickly. ‘The sooner you establish what this is, then the faster I can be treated.’
‘Exactly.’ Nick excused himself and left the room. He made his way to Reception but Melanie was behind the desk. She looked up when he appeared.
‘Did you want me, Nick?’
‘I was looking for Leanne, actually,’ he explained, trying to quell the shiver that ran through him when he said her name. It was so ridiculous for a grown man of thirty-five to be acting that way that his mouth compressed and he saw Melanie frown in concern.
‘There’s nothing wrong, is there? Leanne hasn’t done anything to upset you?’
‘Of course not.’ He fixed a smile to his mouth but it was an effort to hold it in place. Get a grip, Slater! he told himself sternly. Stop acting like a moron and start acting like a doctor.
It was good advice but as he made his way to the supply room, where Leanne was checking in a delivery, he knew how difficult it was going to be to follow it. Leanne and being sensible were two concepts his mind had difficulty putting together. He didn’t want to act like a doctor when she was around. He wanted to act like a man in the company of a woman whom he found overwhelmingly attractive.
Leanne ticked off the last item on the list and slipped the delivery note into her pocket. She took a quick look around the small room to make sure that everything was where it was meant to be. Her eyes alighted on half a dozen boxes of hypodermic syringes which she had put on the floor while she’d unpacked the rest of the delivery and she sighed. They needed putting away before she finished.
She quickly pulled over the ladder so that she could put the boxes in their rightful place on the top shelf. She was halfway up the steps when she heard someone coming into the room and automatically glanced round to see who it was. Her foot missed the rung she had been aiming for when she found herself looking into a familiar pair of hazel-green eyes.
‘Careful!’ Nick made a grab for her as she swayed perilously, his hands clamping firmly on her hips while he steadied her.
Leanne sucked in a little breath through lips that felt as though they had turned to rubber all of a sudden. She could feel the warmth of his palms against her hip bones, feel his fingers curving around the lower part of her abdomen, and the sensations that were flowing through her at that moment weren’t ones she should have been feeling about a man she had known barely three hours. All of a sudden, she was awash with desire to feel his hands on other parts of her body, to feel them caressing her and bringing alive the passion that was simmering inside her…
‘Are you OK? Do you want me to help you down if you’re feeling dizzy?’
She blinked when he spoke, feeling her face suffuse with heat when she realised that she had been standing there, daydreaming about Nick making love to her. Frankly, it was a scenario guaranteed to give her sleepless nights for weeks to come, but she couldn’t afford to worry about that right then.
‘No, I’m fine.’
She swiftly deposited the boxes on the shelf, murmuring her thanks like an obedient child when he handed her the rest of them. He stepped back as she began to descend and she had to physically stop herself flinching when he put a steadying hand under her elbow as she stepped off the bottom rung.
‘You need to be careful in here,’ he said in a tone that made her heart bump. ‘It would be easy to fall and hurt yourself.’
‘Especially when you aren’t watching what you’re doing,’ she replied, trying to inject a little levity into her voice.
She shot him a wary glance as they left the room, but it was hard to decide why he had sounded so edgy. Maybe he’d been worried about what would have happened if she’d fallen off the ladder? After all, it wouldn’t reflect well on him if a new employee ended up injuring herself on her first day in the job.
Funnily enough that idea stung, but she forced herself to ignore it when he turned to her. ‘I wonder if you would mind taking a look at a patient for me?’
‘Me?’ she exclaimed, not attempting to hide her surprise.
‘Yes, you.’ Nick grinned. ‘Don’t be so modest. You wouldn’t have been hired for this job if you weren’t good at what you do.’
‘Why, thank you, Dr Slater. I’m completely overwhelmed.’ She smiled back, unable to resist the warm amusement in his eyes.
‘So you should be. I don’t hand out compliments like that every day of the week,’ he retorted, leading the way along the corridor.
‘In other words, you’re soft-soaping me because you want a favour?’
‘Something like that.’ He gave her a last smile then made an obvious effort to concentrate on what he needed to tell her. And it was the fact that it was such an effort that made Leanne’s heart race.
She wasn’t a complete innocent and knew that men found her attractive. She had dated her fair share back home in Australia before she’d met Michael. She had believed at first that what she’d felt for Michael had been the embodiment of everything she’d ever wanted, but she’d been wrong. She knew that now when she looked at Nick, because he made her feel things no other man had made her feel.
All of a sudden she was overcome by sadness that she should have met him when her life was in such a state of flux. Until she found out about the mother who had abandoned her, she wasn’t in a position to start a relationship, not that Nick would be interested, of course. She had heard what he’d said that morning about not wanting a woman cluttering up his life, so it would be silly to imagine that he was looking for commitment.
It should have made it easier to know that he felt the same way she did, but it didn’t. It felt as though there was a big gap in her life, one that might never be filled. Knowing that you couldn’t have something, it didn’t stop you wanting it. It didn’t stop her wanting Nick.
‘This is Leanne Russell. Would you mind if she takes a look at that lump on your hip, Mr Jacobs?’
Nick moved aside as the patient readily gave his permission. It was rather crowded in the room with three of them gathered around the bed. He felt Leanne’s arm brush his as she stepped forward, and gritted his teeth when a spasm shot through him.
He had just about managed to damp down the desire he’d felt when he’d steadied her on that ladder. However, once again he felt his body surge to life and had to swallow a groan of dismay. What was it about her that seemed to push all the right buttons or, rather, all the wrong ones?
He wasn’t interested in commitment, he couldn’t be. How could he commit himself to a woman when he had nothing to offer her? It had been hard to accept that he should remain single all his life, but it had been the right decision. He couldn’t take the risk of letting himself fall in love, wouldn’t take the risk of breaking anyone’s heart. Love, marriage and commitment led to children, and children were the one thing he couldn’t have.
He knew how he had to live his life, but it made not a scrap of difference in this instance. When he looked at Leanne, when he touched her, common sense deserted him. All he could think about was how much he wanted her…
‘I’ve seen this type of insect bite on a number of occasions.’
Nick jolted back to the present, feeling a little colour run up his cheeks when he found her watching him. He could only pray that he wasn’t quite so open about his feelings as she was because he’d had a pretty good idea what she’d been thinking in the supply room.
‘You have?’ He cleared his throat when he heard how rough his voice sounded. He couldn’t afford to think about that now, but it was hard not to. Knowing that Leanne had wanted him as well gave him hot and cold chills. ‘You’re sure about that?’
‘Quite sure. It’s a tsetse fly bite.’ She turned to the patient and smiled. ‘I take it that you didn’t get this in London, Mr Jacobs?’
‘I most certainly didn’t,’ Ian Jacobs replied with a laugh.
Nick held himself rigid when he saw the appreciation in the older man’s eyes as he looked at Leanne. There was no way that he would allow himself to feel jealous! But telling himself that didn’t seem to make a scrap of difference.
‘So you were in Africa, I take it? Which part?’ she continued.
‘On the west coast.’ Ian Jacobs frowned. ‘Why did you both ask me that? Isn’t the disease prevalent all over the continent?’
‘Yes, it is, but there are two different forms of trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness as it’s more commonly called,’ she explained. ‘The strain which is found in the east of the continent mainly affects cattle, although it can be transmitted to people. It’s a far more aggressive strain and develops in weeks rather than months. You may find this hard to believe, but if it is sleeping sickness, you’re lucky that you caught it in the west.’
‘Really?’ Ian sounded shocked. ‘Exactly how much damage can it cause? I’ve heard about it, of course, but I’m rather vague as to the details.’
Nick took over then when Leanne glanced at him. He guessed that she wanted him to decide how much to tell the man. They weren’t in the business of lying to people, but it would be wrong to scare him.
‘The west and central strain of the disease is fairly slow running. Once the parasites have got into your bloodstream then it can take months or even years for the disease to develop fully. Fortunately, you will be receiving treatment immediately so that won’t be a problem. The heart and the brain are both severely affected if sleeping sickness is allowed to run its course, but it can be cured with the right combination of drugs.’
‘There’s no chance of it having affected my heart and brain, is there?’ Ian demanded, anxiously.
‘It’s most unlikely at this early stage,’ Nick assured him. He glanced at Leanne. ‘How did the patients you treated fare?’
‘They made full recoveries,’ she said immediately, but he could tell that she was glossing over the facts. Although it was true that a cure could be effected with the right drugs, they were known to have unpleasant side-effects. Obviously, Leanne knew that but didn’t want to worry the patient by telling him so.
He sighed because it brought it home to him once again how aware of her he was. Robert didn’t appear to have noticed that she’d been somewhat economical with the truth and neither had Ian.
She excused herself soon afterwards and Nick concentrated on explaining to Ian what would happen next. The man would be referred to a specialist at a nearby hospital, who would be able to start him on the most appropriate form of treatment.
Ian was eager to make the appointment that day so Nick went to his office and put through a call. It all took some time, plus a little gentle persuasion on his part, but eventually everything was arranged. Ian was despatched by taxi to the hospital.
It was lunchtime by then, but Nick didn’t bother going out for anything to eat. He still had the report to finish and he would be hard-pressed to get it done on time. He looked up when he heard footsteps pausing outside his door and felt his heart perform the strangest manoeuvre when he saw Leanne in the doorway. It was an effort to act as though there was nothing wrong when it felt as though his pulse was trying for a new Olympic record.
‘Are you off now?’
‘Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ She started to leave, stopped, glanced back then shrugged. ‘Bye.’
‘Bye,’ he repeated, because it was easier than thinking up anything more witty.
He took a deep breath as she hurried away and held it for a count of ten. It didn’t help. His pulse was still hammering at high speed. Whichever way he looked at it, working with Leanne was going to be a challenge.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_3fa9903e-053c-53a5-bfb6-78e652b881e3)
LEANNE was up before six the following morning. She hadn’t slept well and it had seemed easier to get up rather than lie in bed, staring at the ceiling.
She had spent the previous afternoon trying to find out more about her mother. According to her birth certificate, the woman’s name was Mary Calhoun. However, when Leanne had tried to find the address that was given on the certificate, she had drawn a blank. The street where her mother had lived had been demolished and there was now a supermarket on the site.
It was rather depressing to have come up against an obstacle at such an early stage, but she tried not to let it get her down as she showered and dressed in her new uniform. She made herself some coffee and toast then set off for work even though it was really too early to leave. She would just have to wait if there was nobody at the clinic to let her in.
She’d found a poky little flat close to Euston station when she’d arrived in London so she didn’t have far to walk to catch the tube. The weather was grey and dreary, gusts of rain sweeping along the street. As she joined the long line of commuters waiting to get on the escalators she found herself thinking wistfully about the weather back home in Sydney. At this time of the year—early November—the days would be hot and sunny.
‘Fancy running into you. I didn’t realise you lived round here.’
She jumped when a familiar voice suddenly spoke in her ear. She felt her heart jolt when she turned and found Nick walking alongside her. She had carefully attributed her sleeplessness to disappointment at not having made any headway in her efforts to trace her mother, but it wasn’t as easy to lie to herself when Nick was standing right there beside her. More than once she’d found her thoughts returning to him during the night and at one point, when she’d dropped off to sleep, it had been Nick she’d been dreaming about.
‘What are you doing here?’ she exclaimed, feeling herself blush. She could scarcely believe that she’d had such erotic dreams about someone who was a virtual stranger to her. She couldn’t recall ever dreaming about Michael that way.
It was an unsettling thought and she hurried on. ‘Silly question! Obviously you’re doing the same as me and catching the tube to work.’
‘Got it in one!’ Nick laughed as he stepped onto the escalator then turned to face her. ‘So, whereabout do you live, then?’
Leanne willed her racing heart to calm down, but it wasn’t easy to control it. It didn’t help that Nick was standing on the step below her so that they were on eye level. She found herself suddenly entranced by the green flecks in his velvety brown eyes, by the way his thick, black lashes cast shadows onto his cheeks. It was an effort to focus on the question he’d asked her.
‘Penkworth Street. I’m renting a flat there, well, if you can call one tiny room with a sofa bed and a cupboard for a kitchen a flat.’
‘It’s amazing what passes for a flat in London.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I’ve not yet decided if estate agents are actually dishonest or if they suffer from rose-tinted-spectacle syndrome. Maybe it is an illness which makes them describe ten square feet of living space in such glowing terms.’
Leanne laughed. ‘I think you are being far too kind. And if you saw my flat, you would most certainly agree with me!’
‘Ditto my own less than salubrious accommodation,’ he replied easily.
The escalator reached the bottom and he paused to wait for her. Leanne shivered when he put a steadying hand under her elbow as she stepped off.
His manners were impeccable, she thought as he led the way to the next in the series of escalators which would carry them down into the bowels of the underground railway system. Michael had never bothered opening doors for her or helping her off escalators so she appreciated the small courtesies all the more, then wondered why she kept comparing the two men all the time.
Nick was just a colleague whereas Michael had been her fiancé. It was silly to keep weighing up one against the other and alarming to discover that Nick kept coming out on top.
‘So where do you live?’ she said quickly, not wanting to go any further along that avenue.
