‘He’s staying at my house.’ Amy’s jubilation faded a little when she thought of that-she’d felt embarrassed to ask him out to the shambles that was her home but the upside was that it put him nicely in her debt. ‘And he’s proud, Kitty. I only have to suggest to the man that he can’t and he will. The man’s a renowned surgeon after all, and he’s a walking ego if ever I saw one, so I don’t see why we can’t use him.’

‘He seems…nice.’ Kitty was still doubtful.

‘He’s a man, isn’t he?’ Amy demanded. ‘Therefore he’s here to be used. And use him I will, for however long I have.’


All the signs were that Mrs Coutts did have pneumonia and as Joss put away his stethoscope she burst into tears.

‘I’m not going to hospital,’ she sobbed. ‘I should never have let you examine me. I’m not leaving here.’

‘You have the odds in your favour,’ Amy said wryly. She sat on the bed and took the elderly lady’s hands in hers. ‘Rhonda, remember the bridge?’

Her sobs arrested as the old lady looked up at Amy-and then burst into tears again.

‘But I’ll die. If I can’t go to hospital…’

Amy gave Joss a rueful grin and hugged the old lady. ‘You know, there is a third choice.’ As Rhonda sobbed on, Amy put her away from her and forced her wrinkled face up so her eyes met her own. ‘Rhonda, look who we’ve got. Our very own doctor, for however long the rain takes to subside. We have a really extensive drug cupboard-all the supplies we need we have right here-and you have your own personal physician.’

Rhonda stared. She hiccuped on a sob, then sniffed and looked up at Joss.

‘He’s as stuck as we are,’ Amy told her, and grinned.

And finally Rhonda smiled.

‘Really?’

‘You’ll look after Rhonda, won’t you, Dr Braden?’ Amy asked submissively, but there was nothing submissive in her twinkle as she looked up at him.

And there was no choice.

‘Yes,’ he said, goaded, but then he looked at the old lady in the bed and thought, Damn, they were all in this together. They were all stuck. And he was sure the X-ray he intended to take would verify she had pneumonia.

‘Of course I will,’ he said in a voice that was much more gentle. ‘How can you doubt it?’

After that he saw Mr Harris’s ingrown toenails, Ethel Crane’s eczema, Martin Hamilton’s prostate and Kitty’s splinter under her thumbnail just for good measure.

‘I’ve been meaning to do something about it for a few days but it’s such a hassle to go to Bowra,’ the secretary told him, blushing as he held her hand and gently examined her inflamed finger. ‘And now Amy says you’re here to be used… I mean she says you don’t mind being doctor…’

Joss caught Amy’s eye-and there was laughter there! She looked like a child caught out in mischief.

She was enchanting, he thought. Enchanting! The more he saw of her the more she had him fascinated.

She was using him for all she was worth.

But even her effrontery had its limits. She helped administer a local anaesthetic to Kitty’s thumb, then watched as he cut a tiny section out of the nail to remove the splinter-he really was an excellent operator, she thought with satisfaction-and then she decided it was time he was dismissed. After all, he’d had a rough day-and she had plans for him in the morning.

‘Maybe it’s time you finished for the day,’ she told him. ‘You’ve been very useful.’

‘Gee, thanks.’

‘Think nothing of it.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘There’s not much to eat at home but if you don’t want to eat with your parents maybe you could grab yourself something from the general store. They’re open until six so you have half an hour.’

Wow, that sounded exciting. He didn’t think.

‘And you?’

‘I’ll eat here.’ It didn’t cost her to eat at the hospital-but she wasn’t admitting that.

‘Do you need to stay here?’ he demanded. By now he’d met Mary-Amy’s second in charge-and had been impressed. Mary was bustling around with starched efficiency, slightly miffed that she’d missed the day’s excitement. She was delighted with the opportunity to be used as an acute nurse and Amy would have no problem leaving all her patients in her charge.

‘I have some office work to do…’

‘No, you don’t,’ Kitty said blithely, as Joss fastened a dressing over her thumb. ‘Amy works too hard, Dr Braden. Make her go home.’

‘Tell you what,’ he suggested. ‘I’ll stop at the store and cook for both of us.’

‘You?’

‘Me.’ Once again she’d caught him unprepared and he reacted with ego. ‘I can cook, and I need to do something to pay for my lodging.’

‘I think you’ve done enough. One Caesarean. A healthy mum, a gorgeous baby and four treated residents…’

And one secretary minus her splinter-who was match-making for all she was worth. ‘I’ll donate a bottle of wine,’ Kitty said blithely, beaming from Amy to Joss and back again. ‘Mum gave it to me because she doesn’t like it-and I can’t think of an occasion more splendid.’

‘Kitty-’

‘More splendid than a welcome to Iluka’s new doctor.’

‘Hey, I’m only here until it stops raining,’ Joss said uneasily, and Kitty beamed.

‘Then long may it keep raining.’

‘Keep your wine to stop you thinking about your thumb,’ Amy suggested, and Kitty shook her head.

‘Nope. I’ve been thinking about my thumb for four days now and suddenly it’s better.’

‘The anaesthetic hasn’t worn off,’ Joss warned, but Kitty would have none of it.

‘Go on. Shoo, the pair of you. Have a wonderful night.’ And as she pushed Amy out the office door and closed it after them she was crossing every finger and every toe. ‘For a change,’ she said.


Amy didn’t go home at once. ‘I’m not travelling in a pink Volkswagen even if you are,’ she told Joss. ‘And besides, I want my car at home. I’m not leaving it here.’

She wanted her independence. She certainly didn’t want to be stuck out at White-Breakers with no way of getting back here but to be driven by Joss. So she sent him homewards and did a bit of busy work around the place-and finally popped in to see Charlotte.

The young mother was just waking. Marie was still on watch, and Mary was hovering nearby. Amy signalled them to disappear for a while. Charlotte should be up to talking but the last thing she wanted was a crowd.

‘Feeling better?’

Charlotte gave her a wan smile. Her baby was sleeping beside her in a makeshift cot made out of a filing cabinet drawer and a television stand. It served the purpose, however. The little one looked blissfully content.

‘I am…a bit.’

Amy pulled up a chair and smiled sympathetically at the new mother. ‘You can say you feel lousy if you feel lousy.’

‘OK, then. I feel lousy.’

‘Dr Braden’s written you up for pain relief. You can have something now.’

‘I’ll wait a while. I’m having enough trouble as it is, getting my head around…what’s happened.’

‘Is there someone you’d like us to contact?’ Amy asked her gently. ‘Someone must be worried about you?’

‘No.’

That was blunt. ‘You’re really on your own, then?’

‘Yes.’

Amy hesitated but then pressed further. There was a pallor about the girl’s face that spoke of deep-seated misery-not just the shock of the day’s events. ‘Charlotte, can I ask why you were in Iluka?’

‘I came here…looking for someone.’

‘And did you find him?’

‘Her.’ She closed her eyes. ‘And yes. Yes, I did.’

‘So you do know someone in Iluka.’

‘No one who wants to know me.’

‘Charlotte, can I help you?’ Impulsively Amy reached out and took the girl’s hand. No one should be alone like this-especially when she was hurting so badly. And the pain wasn’t just from the head wound and the effects of the Caesarean. The pain was soul deep. ‘Let me close,’ she urged. ‘Tell me what’s going on.’

‘No.’ The girl’s face was shuttered and closed and she pulled away her hand.

Amy backed off. The last thing she wanted was to put more pressure on her. ‘OK. I’m here if you want me.’

‘How long am I stuck?’

‘The river’s in full flood. It may be up to a week before there’s access, but you need a week in bed anyway. For now you must lie back and let your body recover-for your daughter’s sake if not for your own.’

The girl looked down at her sleeping baby and her face twisted in something that was close to despair. ‘She is beautiful, isn’t she?’

‘Yes, she is.’ Amy looked down at the perfect little girl and she could only agree. ‘Have you thought of what you might call her?’

‘I… I need to speak…’

‘To her daddy?’

The girl’s face closed and she bit her lip. ‘No. I don’t need to speak to him. I can make up my own mind.’ She chewed her lip for a little and then looked again at her daughter. ‘What do you think of Ilona?’

‘Ilona?’

‘It’s Hungarian for beautiful.’

‘Then it’s perfect.’ Amy put a finger down and traced the soft curve of the baby’s cheek. ‘Ilona. It’s just right.’

‘It’s sort of… I mean, she was born in Iluka. Iluka-Ilona.’

‘Then it’s even more perfect.’

The girl’s face flushed with pleasure and she smiled. For the first time Amy saw her as she could be-a truly beautiful woman. ‘You really think so?’

‘I really think so.’ She rose. ‘You need to sleep now but, before you do, can I bring you the telephone? Isn’t there someone you want to contact?’

‘I don’t-’

‘I’ll bring you the phone anyway,’ Amy told her, stepping in before she refused entirely. ‘Then when there’s no one else around, you can make up your own mind who you want to tell about Ilona.’

Amy came out of the room and found Joss waiting. He was leaning against the wall of the corridor with his arms crossed, looking like a man prepared to wait for however long it took. He looked like a man waiting for his wife to try on a dress, she thought suddenly. He had just that proprietorial air.