peeked into the bag, ‘Looks great, thanks.’
‘Here, let me hold the muffin while you take the lid off your drink.’ Ben’s fingers brushed against her hand as he took the bag from her, and she almost dropped the cup when a trail of heat raced up her arm. Her hand shook as she removed the lid to allow her drink to cool down but Ben seemed oblivious to her sudden bout of nerves. ‘Which one is your nephew?’ he asked.
Maggie shielded her eyes with one hand as she sought out Edward. She’d left her sunglasses in the car. The day had started off grey and bleak, and she’d forgotten how rapidly Melbourne weather changed.
‘Is the sun bothering you? Did you want to move further back in the grandstand?’ Ben asked.
‘No. I’m enjoying the sun. I’m finding Melbourne mornings a bit chilly, to be honest. I need some sunshine to warm me up.’
‘Are you not from here?’
‘I’m from Sydney. I’ve just come down to help Juliet with the kids while she was having surgery.’
‘Did you grow up here or there?’
If she’d had a thousand questions when she’d first seen Ben this morning it seemed as though he had more! ‘Sydney, born and bred,’ she replied. ‘Juliet moved here with her ex-husband. He’s in the navy and she stayed when they split up. Kate, her daughter, was settled in school and Juliet figured that was easier than moving.’
‘How long are you here for?’
‘I’ve taken some long service leave and I might go back and forward a bit until she’s had the implants. It sort of depends on how she goes with the procedures.’ She held his gaze. ‘I guess it’s up to you a bit, isn’t it?’
‘Maybe I should take my time,’ he said. ‘Give you a chance to enjoy our hospitality.’ He smiled and his blue eyes sparkled, reminding her of the ocean on a sunny day.
She couldn’t believe it—was he flirting back? Maybe his farewell after Juliet’s appointment hadn’t been simply polite rhetoric? Before she had time to work that out Ben had moved on in the conversation.
‘Speaking of Juliet, how is she going?’
She decided she didn’t have the skills to work out whether or not Ben was flirting so she stuck to the script. ‘She’s a bit sore today. She says she feels as though she’s done too many push-ups, so I guess it’s muscular soreness she’s describing.’
‘She hasn’t had any other side effects?’
‘Physically or emotionally?’
‘Either.’
‘Not really. I expected her to be a bit tired from the surgery and the near-death experience but she seems to have bounced back with more energy than ever. She’s even more determined to make the most of every moment now. She’s been a bit like that since she finished chemo after the mastectomy but it’s more noticeable now. She would have come with me today except she’s taken her daughter to a ballet class.’ Ben opened his mouth to speak out but Maggie guessed what he was about to ask and added, ‘Don’t worry, she didn’t have to drive. It’s walking distance.’
‘So she doesn’t seem worried about what happened in Theatre?’
‘No, she seems fine, quite calm about the whole thing considering.’
‘Considering what?’
‘The fact she says she heard my husband’s voice.’
Husband? Ben’s eyes flicked to Maggie’s left hand. She was wearing a wedding ring. He’d noticed her; how had he not noticed her wedding ring?
‘Is it possible she could have heard him?’ His mind was buzzing but somehow he managed to formulate a reply.
She shrugged. ‘It’s not impossible. He died ten years ago.’
So she was widowed. Had she remarried? Was that why she was wearing a ring? Questions whirled around in his head. While newly single women were definitely fair game in his opinion, married women definitely were not. But when had he put Maggie in his sights? He knew the answer to that. Yesterday—when he’d spent too much time thinking about her when he should have been writing reports. He was supposed to have been entering details of Juliet’s procedure into her file but his mind had kept drifting, not aimlessly but rather definitely, to Maggie.
She was a stunning woman. As a plastic surgeon he was trained to notice bone structure and Maggie had a perfect oval face and fabulous cheekbones. Even the bump in the bridge of her nose, that she apparently hated, gave her face character. He’d been honest when he said he wouldn’t change it.
Her eyes were a startling blue, and as he looked into them now he could picture her in Theatre. Gowned, masked, capped—covered up except for her eyes. He wondered how the other staff kept focused.
He shook his head to clear his mind and ran back over the events in his theatre. He couldn’t remember everything—it had all happened very quickly—but some things were clear. ‘Was his name Steven?’
‘Yes.’ Maggie’s brow creased with concentration as she looked at him, or was it confusion? ‘How did you know that?’
‘When we’d revived her I asked her if she could hear me and she called me Steven. At least, I thought she was talking to me.’
Maggie shook her head. ‘She thinks she was talking to my husband.’
‘You’re a nurse, a theatre nurse, you said?’ He waited for her confirmation. ‘Do you think there’s something to these “near-death experiences,” for want of a better term?’
‘I’ve heard too many reports to be able to discount them completely.’
‘Really? You’ve had other patients report similar things? Firsthand experiences?’
Maggie nodded. ‘Three or four times, I reckon. And there have been plenty of similarities between them. The light, the feeling of peace and tranquillity, hearing loved ones.’
‘So what’s your opinion, then?’
‘I’ve often wondered about it, from both sides—the emotional and the physiological. I can see the scientists’ point of view—they say it’s all chemical reaction and nerve synapses—but when Juliet said she’d heard Steven’s voice, that all made sense too. But maybe she just confused someone else’s voice with his, maybe it was you she could hear. Do you remember what you said? If you can remember it could explain whether she heard you or not.’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t remember anything specific, it was all rather frantic. I was more interested in trying to save her life than in paying attention to what I was saying. I would have been talking to her, trying to get her to hold on, but more than that I couldn’t say. I’ve never had one of my patients flatline before. I was more concerned about saving her.’
‘Well, I’m very glad you did. I don’t think I could bear to lose Juliet, not after all she’s been through.’ Maggie smiled at him as she spoke but her smile was tinged with sadness, and Ben knew she was thinking of more than just Juliet’s close call. Maggie had lost someone she loved before, and he wondered if she had found love again. ‘And, as for near-death experiences, I’d like to think they’re real.’
‘The white light and the voices…You think people are waiting to guide us to heaven?’
She shrugged her shoulders and her dark hair shone as the sunlight bounced off it showing up shades of red and gold amongst the predominantly dark waves. ‘I don’t know about heaven but I believe there’s another life waiting for us after this one. I think it’s likely to be very different but I need to believe there is something. Even if it’s just a place where souls can meet again. But that’s just my opinion. I’m still not sure if Juliet’s recollection gives any more weight to my theory.’
‘It’s