The Doctor She'd Never Forget. Annie Claydon

cotton nightie with a long cardigan over the top of it wasn’t the obvious choice of outfit, but on Sophie it looked entrancing. Something at the back of his mind screamed that being alone in a hotel room, half-naked, with a scantily dressed film star who had a patchy memory showed spectacularly bad judgement.

      ‘It’s Carly. She’s sick. Please, come.’ She frowned at him. ‘Put some clothes on.’

      He was beginning to like it when Sophie put him firmly in his place. Drew reached for his jeans, dragging them on over his boxer shorts, and caught up a T-shirt. ‘What’s the matter?’

      ‘I don’t know. She seemed better this evening. Her room’s next to my suite and I left the adjoining door open and went to bed. When I woke up just now I heard her crying. She’s in such pain…’

      ‘Okay, which way?’ Drew hoped she could remember, because he had no idea where Carly’s room was.

      She led the way through a maze of corridors, taking a few wrong turns before she reached one of the rooms at the front of the hotel. Carly was curled up on the bed, her knees almost touching her chin, tears streaking her cheeks. Untypically for someone who was obviously feeling very ill, she didn’t look particularly pleased to see a doctor.

      ‘I’m all right. It’s just a…’ Whatever Carly thought she might be suffering from was lost as she caught her breath in pain.

      ‘Okay, then. Let’s just have a look.’

      Carly resisted him, and Sophie’s voice sounded, firm and calm. ‘Stop messing about and just do what the doctor tells you.’

      ‘You’re a fine one to talk.’ Carly cursed under her breath but she let Drew roll her over on the bed and pull her hand from her side.

      ‘Is this where it hurts?’

      ‘Yeah…’

      He pressed gently and Carly winced. When he removed the pressure she cried out in pain. Drew didn’t need a thermometer to tell him that she was running a fever, burning up.

      ‘Sophie, do you have your phone?’

      ‘I think so.’ She looked in the pocket of her cardigan and found it, handing it over to Drew. He dialled quickly, telling the ambulance controller that he was a doctor and that he had a patient with all the signs of acute appendicitis.

      ‘Get off… my case…’ Carly paused to catch her breath. ‘It’s a stomach bug. I’ll be fine in the morning. I’m not going anywhere.’

      ‘Carly, you’re sick. Please.’ Sophie was standing behind him, close to tears now. ‘You have to go.’

      ‘Soph…’ Carly was clearly in a lot of pain, but all she could think about was her friend.

      ‘Look, Carly. I know you brought him here to help me, and I’ve told him everything.’

      ‘You told… him?’

      ‘Wasn’t that your plan all along?’ Drew wondered whether he should leave the room to allow the two of them to argue about him in private.

      ‘None of that matters now, Carly. Since the accident, I can’t remember stuff, but I’ve admitted it now, and everything’s going to be okay. You have to go. Please, I promise I’ll let the doctor help me.’ The words tumbled from Sophie’s mouth in a rush of anxiety for her friend.

      ‘Is that true?’ Carly looked at Drew.

      ‘It’s true. You need to go with the ambulance. I’ll look after Sophie.’

      ‘You only signed for a week…’

      ‘Forget the contract. I’m staying here until you’re well.’

      Carly gave a small nod and let him roll her over onto her side, drawing her knees up in a position that would make the pain easier for her to bear. Sophie pushed past him, getting onto the bed and holding her friend as best she could.

      ‘Hang onto me, honey. It’s going to be all right.’

      Tears began to roll down Carly’s cheeks, and she started to sob. ‘I want Mark…’

      ‘I know you do. We’ll call him as soon as we have you safe in the hospital.’ She turned her head towards Drew. ‘Mark DeAngelo, Carly’s husband. His number’s in my phone. Will you remember that I have to call him?’

      ‘I’ll remember.’

      It had taken this for Sophie and Carly to finally talk to each other. Drew watched the two of them, curled up together on the bed, holding each other tightly, and hoped that Sophie would remember at least something about her promise to take some help.

      The ambulance crew arrived and Sophie slipped away, letting Drew talk to the woman paramedic. He could hear her banging around in the suite next door and he resolved that he’d go and see what she was up to as soon as he could.

      ‘Okay.’ The paramedic bent over Carly. ‘Carly… Carly, we’re going to take you to hospital. The stretcher’s coming up now and we’ll get you comfortable and carry you down to the ambulance.’

      Carly nodded wordlessly. She was lying quietly now, which wasn’t necessarily a good sign. Sudden relief of pain usually occurred when the appendix burst, and Drew wouldn’t put it past her to give a busy A and E department the slip and simply walk out of there.

      A noise behind him made him glance around. Sophie was standing in the doorway, fully dressed, her designer handbag slung across her body, looking as if she was planning on going somewhere. That was all he needed. Drew had no intention of letting Carly go to the hospital alone, but Sophie was only going to get in the way.

      ‘Sophie…’ He walked towards her, leaving the paramedic to tend to Carly. ‘I want you to stay here.’

      ‘Forget it.’

      ‘The ambulance won’t take two passengers.’

      ‘Then I’ll get a taxi and follow you.’

      Like hell she would. Having Sophie wandering around a strange hospital in the middle of the night wasn’t his idea of looking after her.

      ‘I can’t watch out for both of you at the same time. Work with me, Sophie. I want to go with Carly to make sure she’s all right, but I can’t do that if I’m not confident that you’re going to stay here.’