Resisting Her Rebel Doc Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing to contemplate working with him, but having him as a neighbour could end up being much more than she’d bargained for.
    She couldn’t quite get a handle on what it was that bothered her about the situation, exactly. Over the last few weeks her world had been shaken to its foundations by the way Matt had behaved. She was unsettled, off-balance, totally out of sync. In her experience having Brodie close by could only add to her feelings of uncertainty. He was a spanner in the works, an unknown quantity.
    She frowned. Perhaps the neighbour dilemma would only last for a short time, while her mother recovered from surgery. After that she could find a place of her own, away from Brodie, but near enough so that she could keep an eye on her mother and at the same time maintain her independence.
    The nurse in charge of the recovery ward showed her to her mother’s bedside. ‘She’s very drowsy, and unfortunately she’s feeling nauseous, so it might be best for you to keep the visit short. She’ll probably be more up to talking to you in the morning.’
    Caitlin nodded. ‘Okay.’ She asked cautiously, ‘Did the operation go well?’
    ‘It did. The surgeon placed screws across the site of the fracture to hold everything in place and that all went quite satisfactorily. Your mother will need to stay in hospital for a few days, as you probably know, but we’ll try to get her walking a few steps tomorrow. It seems very soon to get her on her feet, I know, but it’s the best thing to do to get her on the mend.’
    ‘All right. Thanks.’ It was a relief to know that the major hurdle was over. Now the hard work of rehabilitation would begin.
    Caitlin went to sit by her mother’s bedside for a while but, as the nurse had said, she was very sleepy, feeling sick and wasn’t up to saying very much. ‘I’ll leave you to get some rest, Mum,’ Caitlin said after a while. ‘I’ll come back to see you tomorrow.’
    She took a deep breath and left the hospital. At least her mother had come through the operation all right. That was a huge relief. She could relax a little, now, knowing that she was being well looked after.
    On the way home she called in at the vet’s surgery to pick up the lotion that her mother had mentioned earlier.
    ‘It’s a mite infection,’ the veterinary nurse told her after looking at the notes on the computer. ‘You can’t see the mites on the rabbit’s skin, they’re so tiny, but you might see dander being moved about.’ She made a wry face. ‘That’s why the condition’s sometimes known as “walking dandruff”.’
    Caitlin pulled a comical face at that, accepting the box containing the lotion that the nurse gave her.
    ‘The vet gave Ruffles an injection,’ the nurse said. ‘But you need to put a few drops of the lotion on the back of his neck to get rid of any mites that are left. I think Mrs Braemar forgot to take it with her when she came here yesterday. He’ll need another injection in eight days’ time. Meanwhile, you could comb him to get rid of any loose fur and dander.’
    ‘I’ll do that. Thanks.’
    Caitlin drove home through lanes lined with hedgerows, eventually passing over the bridge across the lock where brightly painted narrowboats were moored by the water’s edge. Soon after that she came to a sleepy, picturesque village, a cluster of white-painted cottages with russet tiled roofs and adorned with vibrant hanging baskets spilling over with masses of flowers.
    Her former family home was about half a mile further on, a rambling old house set back from the road, protected by an ancient low brick wall. There was one neighbouring property—Brodie’s—but otherwise the two houses were surrounded by open countryside, giving them a magnificent view of the rolling hills of the beautiful Chilterns.
    Trees and flowering shrubs surrounded the front and sides of her mother’s house, adding glorious touches of colour around a lush, green lawn. Caitlin gave a gentle sigh of