Page 16 of Decker

Chapter Seven

Savannah slipped outfrom beneath Mark’s arm even though she wanted nothing more than to stay there. She had patients to check on and ward rounds to make. Using her private bathroom, she washed her face and brushed her teeth and tried to make herself look less like she felt, which was knackered.

She paused at the door, her hand on the handle as she looked at the man who’d taken care of her when she’d needed it. Mark Decker was such a contradiction, cold and unforgiving one minute with a tongue that could slice through a heart, and the next he was kind and gentle and everything she’d ever wanted.

Swallowing the sigh, she walked out, silently closing the door. They’d agreed to be friends with benefits, and she wanted that, but she was also afraid that the more she saw him, the more she’d want from him, and he’d made it clear he couldn’t and wouldn’t offer her more.

Pushing it from her brain, she checked on Corey Malcolm, the boy she’d operated on and found him awake. He was groggy but responding well and seemed to have full cognitive function, but a slight weakness on his left side. She ordered more tests and spoke with his devastated family, who were being looked after by Percy personally.

Once that was done, she realised she was starving and as it was already after eleven, she decided she’d get some brunch. She went to her office and found the couch empty and the blanket folded. She felt a pang that he was no longer there but had expected it. They were friends, not a couple. Why would he be there waiting like a sap for her to finish? He had a job of his own to do and had wasted enough time on her the last two days.

Shaking off the melancholy, she made her way to the canteen, loving the familiar sounds and energy of the place. She grabbed herself a green smoothie and a full English breakfast with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, and beans and sat down at the corner table. The rumour mill was working hard already and as she ate, she caught snippets of conversation about what had happened and spoke to a few people who stopped by her table.

One of those people was Ricky Grimes, a student doctor who was doing his rotation on the paediatric ward.

“Hey, Dr Sankey.”

“Hi, Ricky. How are you?”

He sat down and nodded almost violently. “Good, good. I heard what happened with Dr Farr. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”

She had no intention of getting involved in gossip with him. He had a little bit of a crush on her, and she was always careful not to encourage it with the junior doctors who she was training in any way. Being a woman in this job was hard, being a woman who slept with her co-workers was worse and she’d worked damn hard to shed that image after the disaster that was Andy Farr.

“I heard he hurt you.”

Ricky sat up straighter as if he was trying to look all manly and alpha and she couldn’t help but compare him to Mark and then felt bad. He was never going to measure up, at least in her head. “I’m perfectly fine as you can see, and I would remind you this could be a possible lawsuit for the hospital so perhaps refrain from gossip of any kind.”

He blushed at the small reprimand and got up with a nod. “Yes, Dr Sankey.”

She watched him rush off and sighed.

“Wow, I think you broke his heart!”

Savannah gasped in surprise when Mark sat down and tried to hide her pleasure at seeing him. “Mark, what are you doing here?”

He held his hand over his chest. “And the blows keep coming.”

She dropped her eyes to her plate which was almost empty before pushing it aside and lifting her smoothie to her lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

He pointed behind him with his thumb. “Who’s the kid you just crushed?”

“One of the junior doctors.”

“He has a massive crush on you.”

“Yeah, I feared as much.”

“So, apart from breaking hearts, how has your morning been?”

Mark was dressed once more in his three-piece suit, this one navy with a white shirt and a royal blue and white striped tie. He was back behind his metaphorical armour, although he didn’t seem quite so tense today as he usually was.

“I did patient rounds and checked in with our patient from last night.”

“How is he?”

“Awake and aware. He seems to have full capacity but some left-sided weakness. I’ve ordered more tests but overall, much better than I could’ve hoped.”