‘Trust me. Communicable diseases are my area of expertise and that young man has all the signs—sensitivity to light, fever, neck pain. The rash could appear at any time.’ Alexander studied her for a moment. ‘It couldn’t hurt to do a lumbar puncture. I’ll phone the hospital and make sure they do all the tests. At least he’s been started on IV antibiotics. In the meantime, I’m afraid we’re going to have to wait here until Carlos returns. Is that okay?’
‘Sure.’ She smiled at him. ‘You can show me around while we wait.’
The practice was as well equipped as any Katherine had seen. In addition to four consulting rooms, one for each of the doctors, one for the nurses and one for their physio, there was an X-ray room and a sleek, spotlessly clean treatment room. All the equipment was modern and up to date.
‘You appear to be almost as well set up as a small hospital,’ Katherine said, impressed.
‘We never know what we’re going to get, so we like to be prepared for the worst. We have, as you can imagine, a fair share of road traffic accidents on these roads and sometimes people bring the casualties here as it’s closer than the hospital.’ Not quite the small family practice she’d imagined.
‘We don’t do much more than stabilise them and send them on,’ Alexander continued, ‘but it can make the difference between survival and death.’
‘You have advanced life-support training, then?’
‘Yes. We all do. It also helps that I used to be a surgeon.’ He picked up the phone. ‘Would you excuse me while I phone the hospital?’ he said. ‘I need to tell them to watch out for meningitis, as you suggested, and Carlos was telling me earlier that one of my patients was admitted there last night. I’d like to find out how he’s doing.’
‘Be my guest,’ Katherine replied. As she waited for him to finish the call she studied him covertly from under her lashes. The more she learned about him the more he intrigued her. So he used to be a surgeon. What, then, had brought him to what, despite the expensive and up-to-date equipment, was still essentially a rural family practice? Had he come back here because of his wife? And how had she died? Had she been a road traffic victim?
While he’d been talking on the phone, Alexander’s expression had darkened. He ended the phone call and sat lost in thought for a while. It was almost as if he’d forgotten she was there.
‘Something wrong?’ she asked.
‘The patient Carlos was telling me about has been transferred to a hospital in Athens. The hospital doctor who admitted him yesterday sent him there this morning, but he’s left to go fishing and can’t be reached. None of the staff on duty today can tell me anything.’ He leaned back in his chair. ‘I’ll speak to him tomorrow and find out why he felt a transfer was necessary.’ He shook his head as if to clear it. ‘But I have spoken to the doctor on call today about Stéfan. She’s promised to do a lumbar puncture on him.’
‘Good,’ Katherine said.
‘So what is your thesis on?’ Alexander asked.
‘As I said, communicable diseases. Mainly African ones.’
‘What stage of your training are you?’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Consultant. Have been for four years. I’m thinking of applying for a professor’s post. Hence the doctorate.’
He whistled between his teeth. ‘You’re a consultant! You don’t look old enough.’
‘I’m thirty-four.’
They chatted for a while about her work and different infectious diseases Alexander had come across in Greece. Caught up in discussing her passion, she was surprised when she heard footsteps and Carlos came in. She’d no idea so much time had passed.
‘How is our patient?’ Alexander asked in English, after formally introducing her to his partner.
‘His blood pressure had come up by the time I left him in the care of the emergency team at the hospital. They’ll let me know how he is as soon as they’ve done all the tests.’
‘Will you let me know when they do?’
‘Of course.’
Alexander pushed away from the desk and stood. He smiled at Katherine. ‘In that case, let’s go and swap that car of yours.’
* * *
The car rental company did have another car for her, but it wouldn’t be available until later that afternoon.
Katherine turned to Alexander. ‘I’m sure you want to get home. Isn’t there another rental company in the area?’
‘I suspect you’ll find the same thing there. The cruise ships come in in the morning and a lot of the passengers—those who don’t want to take the bus tour to Olympia—hire a car for the day. They tend to bring them back around four.’
‘Damn. That’s three hours away.’
‘We could have lunch,’ he suggested. ‘Or, if you’re not hungry, we can go to Olympia ourselves. It’s years since I’ve been and it’s less than thirty minutes from here. By the time we get back, Costa here should have a car for you.’ He smiled. ‘You’re in Greece now. You’ll find life a lot easier if you accept that here time works in a different zone.’
She hid a sigh. She should be getting back to her thesis. By taking the morning off she risked falling behind the schedule she’d mapped out for herself.
Whoa—what was she thinking? Had she completely lost it? He was right. What was the hurry anyway? It was Sunday and an interesting, single hunk was wanting to spend time with her.
‘I would love to see Olympia,’ she said. And she would. It was near the top of her list of places to visit. It would also be less intense, less like a date, than having lunch.
‘Good. That’s settled, then.’ He opened the passenger door for Katherine. She looked at him and arched an eyebrow.
‘I think it will be less stressful—and safer for us all—if I drive,’ he said. ‘I know the roads better.’
She hesitated, then broke into a smile. ‘To be honest, if I never have to drive that heap of scrap again it would be too soon. So be my guest. Knock yourself out.’
* * *
It wasn’t long before she was regretting her decision—and her words. As far as she was concerned, Alexander drove just like every other Greek driver.
‘When I said knock yourself out,’ she hissed, ‘I didn’t mean literally.’
He laughed. ‘Don’t worry. I promise you driving this way is safer.’
Nevertheless, she was hugely relieved when they arrived still in one piece. Alexander found a space in the crowded car park.
‘There are two parts to the site—the ruins of the ancient city and the museum. I suggest we start off in the museum, which is air-conditioned.’ He glanced at her appraisingly and his lips twitched. She was wearing navy trousers and a white cotton blouse with a Peter Pan collar, which, she had to admit, while neat and professional were almost unbearably hot. ‘It’ll be cooler by the time we’re finished. If I remember correctly, there is very little shade in the ruins.’
She wandered around the exhibits, trying to concentrate but not really able to. She was too acutely aware of the similarity between the physiques of the naked statues and the man close by.
When they’d finished in the museum they walked across to the ruins. Although it was cooler than it had been earlier, it was still hot and almost immediately she felt a trickle of perspiration gather between her breasts. Alexander, on the other hand, looked as fresh and