Free A Surgical Affair by Shirley Summerskill

didn’t know then, and such a lot still to learn.”
    Diana didn’t speak, but sat thinking how much Mark’s mother must have depended on him after his father’s death, and how she must be missing him now.
    Mark suddenly looked very tired. He was fit and strong, a surgeon had to be. But she knew that without seven hours sleep he would be no use in the morning, and they had a long list in front of them.
    “I mustn’t be seen leaving here too late. What about your reputation?” he said, as if he had read her mind.
    They stood up, laughing. “The time seems to have gone so quickly,” sighed Diana, feeling pleasantly sleepy.
    “I like the way your eyes screw up when you laugh,” Mark told her quietly. “Do you know something? You’re very pretty. I’ve just noticed it for the second time. The first time was at Tony Spring’s party.” He put a firm hand on her arm. “If I stay any longer, I might be tempted to kiss you.”
    He was not smiling now, his face was serious.
    “I—I like talking to you,” Diana said weakly, confused and unable to think clearly when he touched her.
    “Is that all?” Mark looked at her intently for a moment and then added, “does Richard make love to you?”
    She replied calmly. “No. In fact he doesn’t ever kiss me, properly,” amazed that she should have told him this.
    “That’s what I like about you, Diana. You’re asked a straight question, and you give an honest answer. No evasive replies, no pretending to be something you’re not. It’s rare in a woman.” At last his hand left her arm, and she regained her composure.
    “Thank you for our little party. I’ve had a lovely birthday.”
    “See you in the morning,” he said dreamily.
    At she was getting into bed, Diana stepped on something hard on the carpet. Looking down she saw it was the champagne bottle cork. She picked it up and put it away in the drawer of the table. “I’ll always keep that, whatever happens,” she thought. Lying in the silent darkness, it comforted her to be near Mark. Diana imagined how pleasant it would be to spend the rest of her life at Mansion House Hospital, working for Mr. Cole, with Mark Royston as her registrar.

 
    CHAPTER EIGHT
    Three weeks passed, weeks that drew Diana and Mark together. They were often in the theater for an emergency operation before the early morning sun had risen. Or, in the middle of the night, awakened from a sleep not two hours old, they were treating the broken, mutilated leg of a boy, another victim of the motorcycle. During the day there were hernias to repair, cancerous growths to remove, appendixes to take out, more varicose veins to strip off and always fractures to set.
    Each week Diana learned more, and Mark had to explain less. In the theater, she was able to anticipate his next move and knew he could rely upon her to assist him well. She copied the way he examined the patients and made the diagnosis. It always followed the same pattern and soon became a habit with her. The trust and confidence Mark inspired in his patients was soon shared by Diana.
    Together so much, they came to know one another well, and jokes and secrets were shared. If one of them was tired or sad, the other would always notice. When a patient died, sometimes after they had struggled for weeks to save her, both of them, without speaking of it, understood the intense disappointment, sadness and frustration, which the other was feeling.
    Diana hoped tha t nobody was aware of this bond that had grown between them, that to everybody in the hospital they were Mark Royston and Diana Field, registrar and houseman, conscientious, hard-working.
    But she wasn’t sure. Perhaps Sister Baker had seen the color appear in her cheeks when a remark, was made about Mark?
    Things were different, though, when they were all off duty. Diana would often see Mark, changed into his gray suit, run downstairs two steps at a time and disappear into the night.
    Maybe he went to see Alec Neal? “He’s