Page 15 of Broken Heart Syndrome
He knew from the way she was moving that she was, uncharacteristically, wearing heels, but still he was unprepared for the sight that greeted him when he looked down. Her shapely legs were bare and her small feet were encased in tan-coloured, savagely high heels.
He cleared his throat, but his voice still sounded hoarse when he spoke. ‘Shall we get going?’
‘Want to start with the new admissions, boss?’ Ash asked from Tom’s other side.
In his feverish contemplation of Frankie’s new look, Tom had forgotten about Ash. He glanced over at him, and Ash raised an eyebrow, giving Tom a knowing look. Tom was finding that Ash didn’t miss much, and Ash definitely hadnotmissed the way Tom had been looking at Frankie over the last month.
Tom hated that Ash called him boss. Apart from anything, Ash was probably a more experienced cardiologist than him, having already had years of training in Iraq before even starting as a UK registrar. He’d only started using the moniker when it became obvious to Ash that Tom hadn’t invited Frankie to use his first name.
Tom had been a prick.
He’d been angry that she didn’t seem to remember him, and was still smarting from a rejection that was years old. It was childish to be a brat about something he couldn’t have. He had a tendency to be a little spoilt, but he didn’t normally behave like an overgrown teenager. With his behaviour thus far, he had managed to alienate her to such an extent that he didn’t garner any of her dazzling smiles, couldn’t draw her into conversation, and was denied experiencing her laughter first-hand.
Everyone in the department was firmly under her spell. By all accounts she was kind, generous, quietly funny and affectionate to those she liked, which certainly did not include him. He was surprised by this assessment, having not thought that she could be anything other than arrogant and aloof (given the way she looked, he had supposed she couldn’t really help this); but it turned out that she had a warm, friendly side, which he unfortunately had yet to experience.
Although it had been obvious from the beginning that for some reason she disliked him, he had no doubt made the situation worse by behaving like an uptight arsehole. Being the older and more senior, he should have risen above the fact that she was so dismissive of him, and tried to ingratiate himself with her as a friend. Maybe then she would at least bother to maintain eye contact when they were talking.
‘Fine. May as well do,’ Tom replied to Ash. ‘Frankie, want to lead the way?’
‘Okay, um … I’ll just get Mary,’ she said – to his fucking shoulder – her soft voice eliciting the familiar carnal reaction in him. As she wandered off to the treatment room, Tom heard Ash’s low chuckle from beside him.
‘ “If you fall in love let her be a beauty; if you should steal, let it be a camel.” ’
Tom couldn’t help but smile. ‘Ash, your proverbs are getting a bit random. Not quite sure how I’m going to get my hands on a camel round here, and I’m definitely not in love, so just drop it already.’
‘ “There’s none so blind as those that cannot see”, ’ Ash continued on a smile.
‘Jesus. You do realize that you have a problem?’
‘What problem?’ Frankie had reappeared with Mary, and had that adorable confused expression on her face.
‘We need to get Ash some help with his addiction,’ Tom said seriously.
‘Addiction?’ Frankie’s brows drew together.
‘We should get some sort of proverb rehab for him,’ Tom went on. ‘Maybe a support group where they all sit around quoting stuff at each other to get it out of their systems.’
‘Oh I don’t know,’ Frankie replied, her eyes dancing. ‘ “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. If you can’t beat them join them. Live and let live.” ’
‘I guess you’re right,’ Tom said, chuckling. ‘ “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” ’ Frankie started giggling at this and he felt his gut clench. Finally he had made her laugh.
‘Anyway where are the med students?’ he continued. ‘ “Many hands make light work.” ’
‘But “too many cooks spoil the broth,” ’ Frankie put in, her voice still shaking with laughter.
He realized that she was smiling flat out at him and meeting his eyes. After a moment, her eyes became unfocused as she stared into his. She seemed to lose her train of thought for a second, her lips parting and her breath coming faster. Then her body jolted, and she shook her head as if to clear it. Pink hit her cheeks, and she resumed her contemplation of his shirt collar.
Short-lived breakthrough, he thought; but he’d take it over her small smiles.
Mary was looking between them, a contemplative expression on her face.
‘Okay, stop,’ Ash said grumpily. ‘Your English proverbs are way more annoying than mine and you’re both ruining my whole air-of-seasoned-wisdom thing I’ve got going here.’
‘ “Swings and roundabouts”, Ash,’ Tom threw at him.
‘ “Sod’s law,” ’ Frankie put in, and they both started laughing together.
Keen to keep the light-hearted banter with Frankie going, and maybe even be rewarded with some more eye contact, Tom was careful not to push her on the ward round. He kept his questions to the medical students, and he didn’t even comment when he saw her sketching on her list whilst he and Ash were poring over a patient’s angiogram and discussing the best options.
