BEN had seen Emma Stanley’s MRI scans two weeks ago but there had been considerable change in her condition since then. The young siXteen-year-old track and field star had a tumour on her lumbar spine, which thankfully was benign, but that didn’t mean she was out of the woods by any means. The tumour was pressing against the cauda equina, causing numbness in her buttocks and weakness in her legs.Surgery was the only option but there were huge risks involved, especially as imaging had shown the tumour was extensive and its removal had the potential to cause damage to multiple nerve roots. She had fallen several times over the last few days and her parents had panicked and contacted him directly rather than wait until Monday to see him in his public clinic, as he had advised them to do.Ben sat Emma and her parents down in his office. Taking his own chair, he began to run through the risks. ‘I know we’ve talked through all this before but as Emma’s symptoms have worsened it won’t hur

BEN had to force his eyes to stay fiXed on Georgie’s face as she opened the door at his summons. She was dressed in a knock-out pink dress that skimmed her slight curves and highlighted the healthy glow of her skin. Her hair was loose about her shoulders, its sun-kissed light waves full of body and bounce, making his fingers twitch yet again to reach out and thread through its silkiness. Her perfume drifted towards him, a different one this time. It was a subtle but totally intoXicating scent that reminded him of sun-warmed honeysuckle.‘Hannah is waiting in the car,’ he said by way of greeting, not able to think of anything else on the spot. ‘She had a good day today. Thank you.’Georgie followed him towards the lifts. ‘I had fun, too,’ she said. ‘She’s a lovely girl and great company.’He stabbed at the lift button without looking at her. ‘I can’t help worrying about her,’ he confessed with a small frown. ‘She’s lived in the country all her life. She’s not as street smart as city

BEN answered the door with a towel hitched around his hips, his hair still dripping from his shower.‘Oh … sorry …’ Georgie bit her lip and tried to keep her eyes north of the border. ‘Um … I picked a bad time to drop in on you.’‘Not at all,’ he said, stepping aside to let her in. ‘I just got back from the gym.’ He closed the door and added, ‘I thought I might have seen you there. You didn’t hang around at the hospital so I thought you’d gone straight there.’‘I’m so sorry I didn’t keep our appointment,’ she said. ‘I got a bit distracted by … by something that happened just after I left you with Mr Tander.’He frowned as he looked down at her. ‘Jonathan Tander didn’t have another go at you, did he? I left him with the hospital chaplain in the relatives’ lounge. Did he somehow track you down again?’She shook her head and cupped her elbows with her crossed-over hands. ‘I had a bit of a run-in with Richard DeBurgh … well, not exactly a run-in, more of a misunderstanding … of sorts

‘AREN’T you going to the gym any more?’ Rhiannon asked two days later. ‘This is the third day in a row you’ve missed.’ Georgie scrubbed at her red eyes. ‘I don’t want to run into Ben-Break- Your-Heart Blackwood,’ she said. ‘I’m going to switch my membership to another gym.’ ‘Poor you,’ Rhiannon said, as she stroked Georgie’s head. ‘He really did a good job on you, didn’t he?’ Georgie blew her nose and tucked the sodden tissue into her bra, joining the others for a lumpy potato effect. ‘I’m so dumb when it comes to dating,’ she said. ‘I’m not going on another date for siX months, I swear it.’ ‘That’s a long time, Georgie.’ ‘I don’t care,’ she said as she got to her feet. ‘If I so much as look at a man with a view to dating him, I’m going to donate a thousand dollars to the hospital research foundation … no, make that five thousand dollars. That should make me think twice before I fall into the same trap again.’ ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money,’ Rhiannon said. Georgie set her shoulder