The Emergency Specialist. Barbara Hart

nerve of the man! The nerve of all handsome men! They just think they can snap their fingers and you’ll come running.

      ‘Sorry,’ she said, ‘got things to do.’

      She opened the car door and slid into the driver’s seat.

      ‘Another night, then?’ he persisted, leaning into the car. ‘Perhaps we could have a meal?’ He looked so intense, so appealing and little-boy-lost that Anna almost weakened.

      ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to take no for an answer, Jack,’ she said pleasantly but firmly, her cool, serene looks emphasising that she really did mean no.

      ‘Look,’ he said, putting a gentle hand on her arm and fixing her with penetrating eyes, ‘you don’t understand. I’m in a bit of a state of shock right now. I’ve been in shock since I saw you coming out of the canteen earlier today. You see, you reminded me so much of someone else. That’s why I looked as if I’d seen a ghost.’

      He was persistent all right, thought Anna. But although she wasn’t going to let him bamboozle her into a date, she was becoming a little curious about him.

      ‘You called me Anneka,’ she said. As she spoke the name she noticed that he flinched slightly as if she’d hit him. ‘Is that who I look like? Is she an ex-girlfriend or something?’

      He stood stock still for a moment. ‘Anneka was my wife,’ he said quietly. ‘She died three years ago.’

      Anna was now the one who felt as if she’d been struck.

      ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ She kept her cool exterior but inside she was cringing because of the flippant way she’d been treating him, imagining that he was just trying to pick her up.

      ‘I’ve seen blonde women who looked a little like her,’ he said, ‘but until today I’ve never met anyone who could have been her double. It gave me a very nasty turn. I thought I was starting to hallucinate.’ He laughed a hollow laugh.

      The haunting look of pain on his face won her over. ‘I’m sorry, Jack,’ she said. ‘I really can’t make it tonight, but I probably can tomorrow. Just for a quick drink.’

      His face lost its tension and he smiled almost with relief.

      ‘Thanks,’ he said, before turning and walking away.

      She drove home pensively. For the first time in two weeks her mind, outside working hours, was not on Liam and her broken heart. Jack’s loss had put her own pain in perspective. When Liam had left her it had felt almost like a bereavement. But, of course, she knew it wasn’t really like someone dying because that was so final, so sad. It had been three years, he’d said, since his wife’s death and still Jack had the mark of pain and suffering imprinted on his face. If seeing someone who looked like your dead wife had the power to make you react in such an obsessive and compelling manner after three years, how long was it going to take the poor man to finally get over his loss?

      In some perverse way she found Jack’s situation faintly reassuring. Hopefully, she wasn’t going to be pining after Liam in three years’ time. Maybe solitary confinement wasn’t the complete answer for her. Perhaps going out with Jack could be another way of helping her in her own healing process?

      * * *

      The following evening, after they’d both finished their day shifts, they went out for a drink. Anna had come into work on the bus that morning, knowing that she would be given a lift home. Jack, although he’d only recently joined the Royal as the new casualty surgeon, was not a stranger to the area and he knew several pubs within a few miles of the hospital. He drove to one of the quieter inns, playing a classical music tape as they drove along.

      ‘That’s nice,’ she said conversationally. ‘It’s one of my favourites.’

      He parked the car and turned off the engine.

      ‘I know all the drinking dives round here from my days as a medical student,’ he said as they got out of the car and walked towards the pub. ‘This one didn’t come high on our list. We used to head for the pubs with loud music, cheap beer and greasy food!’

      Anna raised her eyebrows in alarm.

      ‘Don’t worry, this one’s just the opposite. No piped music, real ale and decent food,’ he reassured her.

      ‘But this is only for a drink?’ asked Anna, checking that he wasn’t trying to make it more of a date than she’d intended. She’d only agreed to go out with him because he’d mentioned that he’d lost his wife. For the foreseeable future she wasn’t planning on dating anyone…she was too bruised emotionally even to consider it.

      ‘Just a quick drink,’ he confirmed, adding with an amused grin, ‘I’m not going to press-gang you into a romantic candlelit dinner.’

      He chose a secluded corner for them and then went to the bar to get their drinks. A few minutes later he returned with two glasses.

      ‘One white wine,’ he said, putting the glass of chilled Chardonnay on the small, marble-topped table alongside his pint.

      ‘Cheers!’ they said in unison.

      Jack watched her like a hawk, his eyes never leaving her even as he took a long swig of his beer. She found his scrutiny unnerving.

      ‘So,’ she said lightly, ‘you’re no stranger to this area?’

      ‘No. But I don’t remember too much about it, if I’m being frank. After all, I was a student and I was working very long hours. But the area does have happy memories for me. That’s one reason I applied for this surgical post when I saw it advertised.’

      This area used to have happy memories for me, too, brooded Anna, but at that moment she couldn’t think of a single one. The break-up with Liam seemed to have obliterated every happy memory she’d ever had.

      ‘So tell me about yourself,’ he asked. ‘Are you from round here?’

      Anna had been dreading this from the moment she’d agreed to go out with him for a drink. She hated being cross-examined about her personal life at the best of times, and she hated it even more now—at the worst of times.

      ‘Oh, you don’t want to hear about me,’ she said, giving him a smile that she hoped came across as genuine. ‘Tell me more about yourself. I’m sure that’s much more interesting. Tell me about those happy memories.’

      He didn’t answer immediately, fixing her with one of his penetrating looks. Then, slowly, he smiled, his face lighting up as his eyes seemed to caress her face, her hair, her shoulders.

      ‘You really are so like her,’ he murmured almost in a whisper. Then he shook his head as if to bring himself back to the present moment.

      ‘I was a medical student here, as I’ve already told you. And even though it was extremely hard work and long hours, I still look back on those times as the happiest in my life. Mostly, I suppose, because that’s when I met Anneka. She was working as an au pair to a local family.’

      ‘How did you meet her?’ Anna asked gently, aware of the shaft of pain that had crossed his face.

      ‘She used to go out on her evenings off with two other Danish au pairs. They used to join in with the groups of students that congregated around the pubs and bars. I fell for her the moment I first saw her. I offered to buy her a drink and was stunned when all three of them said, ‘‘Yes, please,’’ and proceeded to order the most expensive cocktails from the flashy barman. I couldn’t afford to eat for the rest of that week! When I’d saved up a bit of cash I plucked up the courage to ask her out, making sure the other two were well out of earshot.’

      ‘Did you sometimes bring her here?’ asked Anna wondering if he’d deliberately chosen this particular pub to try and re-create his time with Anneka.

      ‘No,’ he replied. ‘She used to like the loud disco music and noisy student atmosphere of the other pubs…the ones I avoided