The Surgeon's Family Wish Read Online Free PDF Page A

the kind. But I’ll tell you what I do think.’
    â€˜And what is that?’
    â€˜I think that you’re hurting for some reason. I saw you this afternoon when I was examining the baby with the dislocated hips.’
    He watched her face close up and knew he’d hit a nerve.
    â€˜You’ve no right.’
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    â€˜To be watching me.’
    â€˜I can’t help it. I’m curious about you. For one thing you seem so alone.’
    â€˜That’s because I am.’
    â€˜And is that how you want it to be.’
    â€˜Not particularly,’ she said in a casual tone that he found irritating. ‘But circumstances alter cases, just as broken noses alter faces.’
    Aaron frowned.
    â€˜Obviously it doesn’t bother you all that much or you wouldn’t be so flippant about it.’
    She was serious now. ‘It’s more a case of having to accept what life hands out to us, Aaron.’
    â€˜And what has it handed out to you?’
    â€˜Nothing good of late.’
    â€˜So I’m right. There is something troubling you.’
    Annabel could have told him that it was there in the form of a great big lump of misery, but for some strange reason she wanted her acquaintance with Aaron Lewis to be free of past encumbrances. She didn’t want him to see her as someone with poor judgement so she didn’t answer.
    â€˜What about family?’ he persisted, knowing he was being intrusive but unable to conceal his curiosity.
    Within minutes they would be at the house. This brief moment of closeness in the car would be over and for some reason it was important to know what was going on in Annabel’s life. She already knew most of what there was to know about him, but he knew nothing about her past, present or future expectations.
    He was about to find out...some of it.
    â€˜My parents were archaeologists, more interested in old relics than a small child, I was fobbed off on relatives for most of my childhood and the moment I was old enough I cut free and enrolled in medical school. Not long after that they were on a dig in India when there was an earthquake. They died there, along withmany others. I was almost nineteen at the time. So, you see, you are the fortunate one. You have your mother and Lucy, both of them delightful. I envy you.’
    â€˜Yes, I am fortunate,’ he agreed, bemused by Annabel’s condensed description of what must have been a miserable childhood. But he didn’t feel so ‘fortunate’ at night in his lonely double bed.
    The house was looming up in front of them and Annabel said, ‘Wow! What a lovely place you’ve got. The flat will seem like a rabbit hutch after this.’
    He smiled. ‘I’m sure that you could do better. Is there a reason why you’re in hospital accommodation?’
    â€˜It’s only because I couldn’t be bothered to go house-hunting when I got the job at Barnaby’s.’ As he drove onto a wide paved drive beside an immaculate garden she added, ‘But after tonight I might be spurred on to greater things.’
    His mother and Lucy were coming out to meet them and Annabel thought, This is unreal. What am I doing here? Aaron is doing the polite thing, showing his gratitude by inviting me to eat with them. He didn’t have to do it.
    When she glanced across at him there was a look on his face that she couldn’t fathom, but there were other things to claim her attention. Lucy was saying shyly, ‘Hello, Dr Swain.’ His mother was beaming her welcome and for the first time in months Annabel was beginning to unwind.
    Bending down to the little girl, she said softly. ‘My name is Annabel, Lucy. No need to call me Dr Swain. That’s just my hospital name.’ She turned to a smiling Mary. ‘It’s so nice to meet you again, Mrs Lewis. I’ve just been telling Aaron how lucky he is to have you with him.’
    Mary’s