The Consultant's Special Rescue. Joanna Neil

writing out her lab request forms and glanced up at the nurse. ‘You mean Casey? Yes, I met him this morning as I was going for my break, and we shared a table in the cafeteria. He said that he was here as a locum until Rob was well enough to come back to work. I thought he was really nice.’

      ‘I did, too. He wasn’t too uppity to ask the nurses if he wasn’t sure of anything, and I thought that was really good. Some doctors think it’s beneath them to ask a nurse for advice.’ She had been leaning on the reception desk, but now she straightened, saying quickly, ‘Present company excepted, of course.’

      Amber laughed. ‘It’s all right, I know what you meant.’ She put her forms to one side and said, ‘I wonder how it was that he was available at such short notice? Like you say, Nick was lucky to find anyone to fill in.’

      ‘Casey said that he was in between jobs just now. He’s just finished a stint working with the lifeboat rescue service, stationed just a few miles away from here along the coast, and he wanted a change. He said he was looking to specialise in emergency medicine, but by the time his contract had finished, all the posts had been taken. I think he was really glad to get this job.’ Mandy paused, glancing at her. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t tell you that when you were in the cafeteria together.’

      ‘Actually, we spent most of the time talking about how he covered for me this morning,’ Amber confessed. ‘I only just made it here on time, and I was praying that Nick hadn’t seen me. I didn’t want him to think that I was completely useless and that I wasn’t ready to plunge straight into work.’

      ‘What happened?’

      ‘Some workmen turned up at my house to start renovating my kitchen. I wasn’t expecting them until the end of the week, to be honest, but they had a slot and I didn’t want to turn them away. By the time they’d finished asking me what was what, it meant that I was late leaving home. Then I had to drop the car off for its MOT test, and of course the traffic was bad this morning. I knew I had to get a move on to get here before Nick started wondering where I was.’ She grimaced. ‘I think Casey must have guessed that I wasn’t quite on the ball and he kept Nick talking while I sorted myself out.’