Page 68 of The Christmas Holiday
‘Not at all. Now go on. Doctor Dexter is waiting to meet you both at the clinic.’
I gave Sandy and Liv a sideways look. ‘His name is Dexter? Well, that’s reassuring.’
Sandeep grinned. ‘It’s all right. I’ve told him you’re a goodie.’
‘I appreciate that.’
Liv stepped forward from where she’d been standing withher arm linked through her fiancé’s and wrapped me in a huge hug, the strength of which belied her slight frame.
‘Call us as soon as you’re done, won’t you?’ She pulled back, and pushed some strands of hair from my face.
‘I will. I promise. And I really am so sorry about all of this.’
‘Don’t be silly! These things happen. I just wish one of you had told us when it happened.’ She caughtHunter in her accusatory glance and I did my best to let it go. I was already livid with him. What did it matter to me if Olivia was cross with him too? But I couldn’t do it.
‘It’s not his fault,’ I began, catching the look of surprise on Hunter’s face as I defended him. ‘I swore him to silence about it. Although, obviously, I wasn’t quite clear enough about the fact that silence didn’t havean expiry date.’ To the side of me, I saw Hunter turn his head and look away.
A few minutes later we were in the car, pulling out onto the main highway and even the sharpest of knives would have had trouble getting through the atmosphere inside the vehicle. I put the address into the satnav and then sat back, my eyes shielded from the sun, and from Hunter, by my Holly Golightly-style oversizedsunglasses.
‘Are we going to drive the whole way in silence?’ Hunter asked, eventually.
‘I’d prefer to,’ I replied, ‘unless there’s something you specifically want to talk about.’
He watched a stream of brake lights heading our way, took a deep breath then let it slowly out. ‘Nope. Not specifically.’
I turned back to the side window, rested my head against it and closed my eyes.
‘Hi. You must be Mia?’ Doctor Wade Dexter was blond, tall and good-looking with a welcoming smile and an open manner that went some way to helping the fact that I was, by now, a mass of knots, both physically and mentally. My neck felt so stiff from tension I was surprised I could move my head at all.
‘Hello. Thank you for seeing me.’
‘My pleasure. And you must be Hunter?’ He shookhands with us both before leading us through to a private consultation room.
‘OK, Mia.’ Doctor Dexter sat back in the chair he’d taken after examining me. He seemed relaxed, which was good and helped me enormously. I knew all this had just been Hunter’s paranoia and whatever other issues he had that Sandeep had alluded to. ‘It’s good news that you feel the bump is smaller than it was.’
I nodded, smiling.
‘But I would still like to do a CT scan before you go. Just to make doubly sure.’
I opened my mouth but nothing came out.
‘You’re still concerned?’ Hunter voiced the thought I didn’t want to.
‘I’d just rather make sure for certain there’s nothing going on. Rocks don’t generally have a lot of give in them and it’s still quite a bump Mia has on her head. I’d justbe happier if we were entirely thorough.’
Hunter nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘OK.’ The doctor patted my forearm quickly. ‘Let me just go and arrange things and I’ll be back. Hopefully we won’t keep you too long.’
‘Thank you,’ I replied automatically, still processing.
The door clicked closed behind him and the room was silent. After a moment, Hunter stood and walked behind me over tothe window. I heard the blind slats move as I imagined him poking his fingers in to peer through to the outside.
‘You can wait outside if you want,’ I said.
He came back to the chair and sat. ‘No. I’m good here.’
‘I can get a cab back.’
