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'Did I give you one of these, Sophie?' The drug rep pushed a small, black, zipped case across the table.

Sophie put it beside the stack of ballpoint pens and the mouse pad with Christine's drug company logo and advertising for drugs on them. The black case sported similar adornments. Sophie had only met Christine once before but visits to the medical centre by other drug reps were frequent enough to be something of a nuisance. Toni was becoming selective over who was allowed access to the doctors. They always came bearing gifts, food and exciting news of whatever pharmaceuticals their company was currently promoting in the hope that they might become a mainstay of the centre's prescribing habits. Sophie suspected that each company must have an entire department concentrating on coming up with ideas for attention-grabbing trinkets. The small black case contained a miniature set of boules, no bigger than golf balls, the jack the size of a marble.

'You can put a little sand box on your desk,' Oliver suggested dryly, watching as Sophie inspected the contents of the case. 'Then you can play with them when you get a boring patient.'

Christine laughed. 'They do come up with some great ideas, don't they? I've got a huge carton of these in the car. I'm supposed to get around every Christchurch. practice in the next three days.' She sighed and shook the mane of luxuriant blonde hair that framed her vivacious face. She reached delicately for a sushi roll and dipped it expertly in the Wasabi sauce. 'It's a tough job.' She smiled. 'But somebody's gotta do it.'

Sophie exchanged a glance with Toni and they both smiled. Drug reps were, by and large, a very attractive group of young women with outgoing and confident personalities. Christine Prescott was a top-of-the-line example. A bit over the top, in fact, especially that big hair. Sophie's head felt quite naked in comparison. As naked as her finger.

Oliver pushed back his chair. 'Speaking of tough jobs,' he said crisply, 'it's time I got on with mine.' He nodded at Christine without smiling. 'Thanks for the samples but I doubt that I'll change the beta blocker I currently prescribe. Cheaper is not necessarily better.' He walked off abruptly, leaving Christine looking disconcerted again.

'Don't worry,' Josh reassured her. He also looked a little taken aback by Oliver's unusual discourtesy. 'Someone's rattled his cage a bit, I expect. No reflection on you.'

'Maybe it was the sushi.' Christine was recovering fast. 'I'll have to try and find something Oliver will really like next time.' She was staring thoughtfully at the door Oliver had left open.

'Muffins,' Toni suggested. 'Or, better yet, something really basic like peanut brownies or chocolate-chip cookies. Our Oliver likes good, old-fashioned, honest food.'

Sophie zipped up the black case slowly. Oliver liked everything—and everyone—good and honest. No wonder his cage had been rattled by his patient's behaviour. If he knew what she herself was guilty of... She transferred her gaze to Toni who was nibbling experimentally on a sushi roll.

'I quite like it.' Toni sounded surprised.

'That's great. Enjoy the rest. I'll have to go.' Christine excused herself. 'I'll see you in a few weeks when I'm back in town.' She reached for her coat. 'Back out into the cold.'

Sophie exchanged another quick glance with Toni. Christine's miniskirt would probably have given her chilly legs no matter what the season. Sophie and Toni both dressed neatly for work but their skirts and tops were conservative by comparison with the young drug rep's wardrobe.

'I'll see you out.' Josh was on his feet fast enough to help Christine with her coat. He then held the door open and Christine's smile indicated that his courtesy was more than making up for his junior partner's earlier brusqueness.

Sophie grinned. 'He's the perfect gentleman, isn't he?'

Toni had an odd expression on her face. 'Oh, yes,' she agreed quietly. 'As long as the subject is worthy.'

She took her glasses off and began to polish the lenses with a tissue.

'How did your visit with the optometrist go?'

Toni brightened considerably. 'We talked about laser surgery again. I've always been put off because the results for higher degrees of myopia aren't so good, but there's a new technique now.'

'Really? What's that?'

'LASIK. Commonly known as "flap and zap".' Toni pushed her spectacles back into place and picked up one of the pens beside Sophie. Turning over one of the broadsheets Christine had left on the table, she rapidly drew a circular diagram on it.

'You know how short-sightedness is caused by the eye being too long and the cornea too curved so that the light is focused in front of the retina.' Toni was illustrating her point with rapid additions to her diagram.

Sophie nodded. 'The laser is used to flatten the cornea and redirect the light, isn't it?'

'Yes.' Toni coloured in the front portion of the eye she had drawn. 'But when a greater degree of correction is needed it can leave problems with scarring and corneal haze. You can even end up with a worse refraction error than you started with.'

'A bit offputting.'

'With flap and zap, they take a layer off the whole cornea first and roll it up to one side. It's only three times the thickness of a human hair. Then they reshape the central five millimetres of the cornea. It's all computer controlled and very accurate. Then the flap goes back. It's improving the outcome and cutting down on a lot of the complications.'

'Are you going to try it, then?' Sophie was in
trigued by Toni's knowledge and enthusiasm. The diagrams she had drawn were impressively clear. Sophie would have to copy the design when she wanted to explain visual problems to her patients.

'I'm going to get my first eye done on Friday,' Toni told her. 'They only use local anaesthetic drops and with this technique you can be back at work in one to two days instead of a week. I'll have the weekend to recover.'

'Is it expensive?'

'Mmm.' Toni shrugged. 'But what else do I have to spend my money on? They'll only do one eye at a time, but if it goes well I'll have the other one done in a couple of months. I might even be able to throw my glasses away.'

'Let me know if I can help at all,' Sophie offered. 'If you need a lift anywhere or anything.'

'I'll be fine,'
Toni assured her. 'I've got
it all worked out. Don't tell Josh or Oliver, though.'

'Why not?'

'They might try and talk me out of it. Josh might be worried that I'll need too much time off work.'

'Or he might try convincing you how intelligent you look wearing glasses and you shouldn't give them up.'

Toni groaned. 'I look like a secretary. Or a librarian. Efficient and boring.'

'Never.' Sophie smiled warmly at her colleague. 'And what's more, you're a lot braver than me. You even ate the sushi.'

Toni eyed the remains of the food. 'That sauce was a bit fiery. Maybe Janet will like it. I'd better get back to the office and let her have some lunch.'

'Let's hope the afternoon doesn't produce any
more dissatisfied customers.' Sophie carried her coffee-mug to the sink. 'You really got an earful this morning.'

'Water off a duck's back,' Toni said cheerfully. 'I think Oliver took it to heart, though. He didn't look too happy.'

Oliver Spencer still didn't look too happy on Wednesday morning but Sophie managed to keep out of his way until lunchtime. She could hear him talking to Josh in the staffroom as she walked down the hallway.

'Great legs! She's perfect for you, Oliver.'

Sophie glanced down at the skirt she was wearing. She couldn't see much of her legs. She knew they weren't overly chunky and they did their part to contribute to her height of five feet five, but she would never have described them as great.

'I suppose I should apologise,' Oliver responded to Josh. 'I was a bit rude yesterday.'

'That would be a good start.' Josh was nodding approvingly as Sophie entered the room. Oliver got to his feet hurriedly.

'I've got a house call to make,' he excused himself. 'See you later.'

'What's Oliver making a good start on?' Sophie asked curiously. 'He didn't look very enthusiastic.'

'He will.' Josh grinned. 'I'm just giving him a push in Christine Prescott's direction. Might stop him pining over you.'

Sophie was saved having to think up a suitable response by Toni's abrupt entrance.

'Deborah McQueen just rang, Josh.'

'Oh, no!' Josh made a pained face. 'I knew there was something about today I'd forgotten to tell you.' He looked at his watch and groaned. 'Was she furious?'

'I explained that you had an unavoidable emergency and would be with her as soon as possible,' Toni said primly. 'I also suggested that it was merely one of the downsides of a relationship with a doctor and that even important lunch dates had to take second place to patients.' Toni was almost smiling. 'I suggested she had another cappuccino while she waited.'

'You're a life-saver, Swampy. I'll be back in an hour.' Josh was already halfway through the door again. 'I owe you one.'

'You owe me a hell of a lot more than one,' Toni responded wryly.

'Who's Deborah McQueen?' Sophie enquired as she followed Toni back to the front desk.

'Oh, just the feminine flavour of the month,' Toni told her casually. 'She won't last. In fact, if she's half as rude to him about being kept waiting for lunch as she was to me, I'd say we probably won't hear from her again.'

'Where does he find them all?' Sophie wondered aloud.

'They find him,' Toni muttered darkly. 'And some of them don't want to disappear. He has a sort of fly paper sexual attraction.'

'He is pretty attractive,' Sophie conceded.

'You don't mean...?' Toni looked vaguely alarmed.

'Heavens, no!' Sophie laughed. 'He's not my type at all. Besides...' Sophie was unable to finish her sentence. She couldn't voice another blatant lie about being a happily engaged woman. She cleared her throat. 'Oliver seems a bit more restrained in that direction.'

Toni nodded, her face relaxing. 'There's been the occasional woman over the last few years but nothing serious. I think his divorce put him off.'

'Did you know his wife?'

'No, the marriage was over well before he came to St David's. From what I've gathered, it didn't last very long anyway. Short and not sweet. Oliver's never said much but Josh once held him up as a shining example of what damage marrying the wrong person could do. A situation our Josh would never contemplate risking.' Toni shook her head a little wearily but then smiled at Sophie. 'I got some sandwiches for you when I popped down to the bank. Have you got time before you head off for your tutorial at the hospital?'

Sophie glanced at the wall clock, repressing her curiosity to know why Oliver's marriage had been such a disaster. How could any woman not be happy, being married to Oliver and having his undivided attention? Maybe the attention hadn't been undivided. Sophie collected her errant thoughts quickly. 'I've got half an hour. I'll come and get the sandwiches when I've sorted out what I need to take. Thanks, Toni:— you really look after us all. Are you having lunch?'

'Sure am. It's finally calmed down around here and no one's due for another hour. We'll finally get to have that chat. I
still
have no idea what your wedding dress will look like.'

You and me both, Sophie thought with dismay. Maybe lunch wasn't such a good idea. It took only a minute to collect her white coat and check her supply of pens and notepaper. When she returned to the front desk she found Toni talking to someone else.

'I'm afraid Dr Spencer has been called out to visit a patient. He won't be back for some time. And Dr Cooper is out. He isn't starting his afternoon clinic until 2 p.m. Both the doctors are fully booked in any case. We could fit you in tomorrow morning.' Toni flipped the pages of the appointment book. 'Or is it something that our practice nurse, Janet, might be able to help you with?'

'No.' The woman looked tired. Sophie moved to collect the packet of sandwiches Toni had put aside for her, glancing into the reception area as she did so. The woman walked over to where her toddler was emptying the toy basket. 'It doesn't really matter,' she said quietly.

Sophie sensed that something mattered rather a lot. 'I have some time now, Toni,' she murmured. 'If it would help.'

Toni glanced pointedly at the wrapped sandwiches. Sophie shrugged. 'I can eat in the car.' She smiled and Toni nodded, turning back to the woman.

'Would you like to see our GP registrar, Dr Bennett, Mrs King?'

'Oh, yes—please. My mother thinks she's wonderful.'

Sophie ducked her head modestly at the grin which accompanied Toni's raised eyebrows.

'Leave Laura out here if you like,' Toni suggested. 'I'll keep an eye on her.' She tapped an entry into the computer, glanced at the patient number and moved with unerring accuracy to extract a file-from the huge shelf that covered the end wall.

Sophie took it on her way out. 'Come with me, Mrs King.' She looked down at the file. Felicity King. 'Oh!' she exclaimed. 'Are you Mrs Murdock's daughter?'

'That's right. I've been hearing wonderful things about you, Dr Bennett.'

Sophie laughed. 'Not half as wonderful as what I hear about you, I'm sure.' She ushered Felicity King into her consulting room. 'Please, sit down and tell me how I can help,' she invited.

Felicity sat down with a heavy sigh. 'I think I might be pregnant,' she said flatly.

It was clearly not a welcome possibility. 'What makes you think you might be, Mrs King?'

'Felicity,' her patient corrected. 'I've missed my period. That's never happened before except when I was pregnant.'

'Any other signs?'

'No.'

'Have you done a home test or anything?'

'No. I was putting it off. I really couldn't cope if it was bad news.'

'Well, the first thing to do is to test you. We can do that right now if you can give us a small urine specimen.'

Felicity nodded wearily. Sophie looked at her thoughtfully. The mental image she'd had of Ruby Murdock's extraordinary daughter, who dashed about and looked so much younger than her thirty-four years, did not match the woman before her. There was more to this visit than worry about a possible pregnancy.