March
St Agatha’s
Primary School was where Georgie Devereaux worked as a Teacher after making a
home for herself in the village following her divorce three years earlier.
In those three
years she had made herself part of the community, as a well-respected teacher,
a volunteer at the Church and as an enthusiastic member of an amateur dramatics
group, but all her busyness was merely to fill the lonely hours of her life.
However, one
day in March something occurred that set her on a different path.
It was after
morning break when the children were making their way back to their classrooms
when one of the children, Emily Robinson, tripped and fell down the last three
stairs and banged her head.
Although Emily
didn’t lose consciousness, she did cut her head badly and the sight of the
blood upset the onlooking children, which in turn upset Emily.
Georgie knew
Emily outside of school as she and the child’s mother, Anna, did am dram
together, and she therefore was also aware that she worked in Pipershaven and
would not be able to get back to the village in time, so as the first aider
stemmed the flow of blood, it was decided that an ambulance should be called.
Also, Georgie
phoned Anna and said that she would go to the Hospital with Emily and meet her
there.
When the
ambulance arrived, the paramedics were very cool, calm and efficient and they
were soon on their way to Pipershaven, and Georgie was in the back-holding
Emily’s hand while Paramedic Rich Thomas looked after the patient and spoke
reassuringly to her.
When the
ambulance arrived at the Pepperstock and District Hospital, Anna was already
there waiting for them and she took over the hand holding duties and the
paramedics took Emily straight into the emergency department and she was
immediately attended to by Doctor Lauren Lewis and Nurse Mia Lawson, and
Georgie sat down heavily on the nearest chair.
Georgie sat in
reception watching the comings and goings for a couple of hours, flicking
through old magazines to amuse herself, then she needed to spend a penny and
decided she needed a drink and a sandwich, so she went to find the shop.
It was at the
shop that she bumped into Rich Thomas, the Paramedic, who had had the same idea
as she had.
“Hello” he said
“Oh hi”
“How’s Emily
doing?” he asked
“Not sure, her
mum hasn’t come out yet”
“I’m going in
now, so I’ll find out for you” he offered
“Thank you,
that’s very kind”
The remainder
of the conversation on the way back to reception was fairly banal, but she did
find that by the time they got there the conversation had definitely got a bit
flirty, particularly on her side, and then she saw Anna appear, so she said
goodbye to Rich and went and hugged her friend.
They were
sitting down while Anna filled her in on what had happened, scans, x-rays and
sutures, and what was happening, namely that she was being admitted.
“I got you a
sandwich and a drink” Georgie said
“Oh, bless you,
I am hungry”
As they sat and
ate Georgie suddenly said
“I’m sorry”
“What for?”
“For flirting
with the Paramedic, very inappropriate behaviour, I don’t know what came over
me” she said
“Did you get
his number?” Anna asked
“No”
“Well then you
need to try harder” she retorted and laughed
Georgie wasn’t
sure it was funny, after all it was something of a moral dilemma on whether it
was appropriate for her to “hit on” a man while she was representing the school
during a medical emergency.
“It’s not
funny, it was unprofessional” Georgie said
“It’s no wonder
you’re still single” Anna said
“What do you
mean?”
“If you like
him, which you obviously do, just go for it, before someone else does” she
replied
“Really?”
“Really” she
said “Especially as he likes you”
“Do you think
he does?”
“Well put it
this way, you weren’t the only one flirting”
As Emily was
being admitted, Anna was going to stay at the hospital, so she persuaded
Georgie to take her car and go home.
“Are you sure?”
Georgie said as they stood by the entrance
“Yes” she
insisted
“Ok, I’ll come
back tomorrow, text me with a list of things you want me to bring from the
house”
“That would be
great, thanks”
“Everything is
going to be fine” Georgie said as they had one final hug.
Emily made good
progress over the following few days, but she was still in hospital on Sunday,
so Anna was with her daughter all day on Mother’s Day.
Georgie had
also visited on Mothering Sunday before going to spend the rest of the day with
her mum, she was in the lift ready to go down and was just waiting for the
doors to close when Rich Thomas stepped into the lift, he wasn’t wearing his
green uniform, but it was definitely him.
“Mrs. Andrews?” he said
“Oh hello” she
said feigning surprise
“Have you been
visiting Emily?” he asked
“Yes, she’s on
the mend” She replied
“Yes, I know I
popped in to see her myself yesterday”
“Oh?”
“Yes” he
confirmed “I like to look in on my former passengers”
“Is that
normal?” she asked knowing full well that it was not
“It’s just
something I like to do” he replied
“That’s a good
thing that you do” Georgie said genuinely impressed
“Not really” he
said modestly
“Is that why
you’re here today?” she asked
“No, I’ve been
visiting my sister, she’s just had a baby” he replied proudly as the lift came
to a halt and the doors opened.
“Well it was
nice to see you again Mrs Andrews”
“Please call me
Georgie” she insisted “I only stick to formality in the classroom”
“Ok then, it
was nice seeing you again, Georgie” he said
“Do you have
time for a coffee Rich?” she asked hopefully
“Absolutely” he
replied and led the way to the Hospital Café
It was one of
those awful cold and sterile, impersonal self-service places, selling
everything pre-packed, that have sprung up all over the Health Service, which
had squeezed out the old WVS Cafes that offered homemade cakes and a friendly
smile along with your cup of tea.
Rich suggested
that Georgie find them a table while he got the drinks and a brief discussion
about who should pay followed, Georgie was adamant that it should be her, but
Rich insisted.
They were
sitting at a table, drinking coffee and chatting when they were interrupted.
“Well hello
stranger” said a man in surgical scrubs.
“Oh” she said,
and her face hardened
“Well fancy
finding you here, I thought you’d run off to the country” he continued “Does
this mean you’re back?”
“Not really”
she said uncomfortably which Rich picked up on.
“Perhaps
introductions would be in order” the doctor said
“This is Ian,
my Ex-husband” she said “and this is Rich...”
“Her next
husband” Rich said and stood up to shake his hand.
Ian was not a
tall man but even standing less than six-foot-tall Rich still towered above the
diminutive Doctor, who quickly took his leave of them.
“That was kind
of you” she said relieved to see her ex go.
“Not at all” he
said “I had an ulterior motive as it happens”
“Which was?”
she asked suspiciously
“Simply to have
you in my debt so that you would be obliged to say yes when I ask you out” he
said
“Well, that’s
very calculating” she retorted
“So, has it
worked?”
“You’ll have to
ask for a date to find that out” Georgie said with a grin.
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