The Doctor is in the House

England seemed a million miles away for her right now. Leaving the rain dampened coolness of Old Blighty was a sure shock to her system, especially when she was bombarded by the heat in Coffs.  

The decision was made and here she was, opening a new practice in a new place. It was a bit daunting to her. She hardly knew anyone here and there’d be plenty of new patients which meant new records to keep and all that. The new shingle arrived today and she was bound and determined to get it in place at once.  

She should have waited for him to get there before she tackled the job of hanging her shingle out front. Doctor M.E. Knight struggled for an hour to get the sign level but it still looked crooked. Maybe it was her. Maybe she was cross-eyed from the long flight over.  Maybe she just didn’t know how to use a hammer and one of those funny looking screwdrivers that she fished out of Terry’s tool box.  

He never did anything normal. Even his tool looked like they were from another planet.  

Bloody hell, if she could perform surgery in her office, she could hang a bloody sign. M balanced the damn thing on her shoulder as she tried once again to get the hook and eye level. She’d get this right if it killed her.  

After three falls, a bruised hip and a bashed thumb she finally had it hung again. Her hair was pulled halfway out of the tight plait she usually wore it in and she was a heck of a sight but she did it, the sign was hung!  

Standing back to check it out she felt damn proud of herself. It looked as if she paid a professional sign hanger to do it and it didn’t cost her a single quid.  

“That’ll show you.” she growled as she raised the hammer in the air. It was a sign of victory , of defeating something she’d never managed to do before. Carpentry was not her forte. Tonsils, lurgys, broken bones and the likes were and she occasionally took care of old Mrs. Sander’s dog, but that was her secret.  

As she blew out a breath to send the shock of hair that hung over her nose upward, he startled her.  

“Nice work, love. I’m proud of you but you should have waited for me.”  

M turned to look right into the grey blue eyes of Terry Thorne.  What the hell was he smiling about?  

“I would have waited but I thought you left town. What took you so long?”  

Terry was standing there smiling, just like the cat that ate the canary. His arms were behind his back and he winked at her before bringing his right arm around. He held a bouquet of local flowers out to her. Lowering his head, he looked at her over his brow. “I thought I’d bring you a housewarming gift.” Reaching to take her hand, he noticed her swollen thumb.  

“Bloody hell, Mystery, look what you’ve done to yourself.” Raising her hand up, he pursed his lips and touched them to the sore spot. “What am I going to do with you?”  

She took the flowers from his hand with a grin. “I would tell you to call a doctor for me, but so far I’m the only one in town.”  

“You’re the only one I love too.”  

“Do you now?” she teased as she threw an arm around his neck. “You’re going to have to prove it to me, Terry.” 

“I can do that.  You want to play doctor? This time you can be the patient. I promise to warm my stethoscope.”  His arms went around her waist and he clasped them under her bum culling a sudden yelp from her. He released her at once.  

“Tell me you took a fall, love.” he scolded.  

She gave him one of those coy little girls looks and added the shrug of a shoulder. “I can’t tell you I took a fall, Terry because I didn’t take just one.”  

He gave her a worried glare. “How are you going to doctor this town if you can’t keep yourself healthy?”  

“I guess we’ll have to figure that one out.” she replied.  

Terry shook his head and took her in his arms again, this time being careful not to touch her bottom. “It’s one of the many reasons I call you Mystery. I’ll never figure you out. It’s part of your charm, M.” he paused to look into her eyes. “I like it that way.”  

“You better.” she kissed the tip of his nose. “We better get inside so you can kiss me where it hurts. I have a feeling things will be getting busy around here.”  

They walked into the house, kissing, cuddling but the moment the door closed the sign fell down. They’d fix it later, or at least he would.