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A short time later Luke concluded his conversation with the paediatrician and turned back to her. 'All right?'

'It's very nice.' Annabel cut herself another tiny piece of the delicately flavoured fish. 'Thank you for that, although after all this time I'm surprised you still remembered.'

He smiled. 'The sight of you swelling up like a puffer fish isn't something I'm ever likely to forget.'

Annabel flushed. 'I imagine I must have looked pretty repulsive,' she murmured, lowering her eyes. She'd pursued him to one of the hospital's cafes one day a couple of months into her very earliest infatuation with him but, instead of impressing him with witty lunch-hour conversation, she'd been so flustered she'd inadvertently eaten several mushrooms in a salad. Luke had had to drag her off to Casualty for a shot of antihistamine.

'I wasn't worried about what you looked like,' he said roughly. 'I thought you were going to go into shock on me, Annie. I'd never seen anyone react so fast before.'

'You were annoyed with me for being such a nuisance,' she recalled.

'I wasn't annoyed, I was cold with fear.' He looked impatient. 'I had visions of having to ruin that beautiful neck of yours by cutting a tracheostomy with a pair of plastic cafeteria knives.'

Annabel lifted an involuntary hand to her throat. 'It's just an ordinary neck,' she said faintly.

He sent her a terse look. 'Eat your salmon. You've barely touched it and it'll be getting cold.'

After the sweet course the doctor in charge of proceedings rose again and spoke for a short while about the aims and achievements of the foundation, then began Luke's introduction by saying he was sure he had no need for one. Nevertheless, he proceeded to give him a lengthy, hugely enthusiastic one, and Annabel joined in the applause as Luke walked from the table to the microphone-equipped lectern next to the main table.

Luke thanked the older doctor for his generosity and the audience for theirs. But then, instead of the intellectual discourse about heart disease or a discussion of the research work for which he'd been tipped to win a Nobel Prize the previous year which Annabel half expected, Luke, clearly an accomplished after-dinner speaker, gave a talk that appealed to his audience as a whole, lay people as well as medical members, rather than one tailored to his fellow doctors.

For around forty minutes, while they drank their after-dinner coffee and port, he related an entertaining mix of anecdotes about differences he'd encountered between hospitals and life in general in England and the US and the difficulties he was now experiencing, trying to fit back into English life after six years in the country of his birth.

Annabel found herself frequently joining in the laughter that greeted his stories, and she was pleased to see that Daisy and John, too, seemed to be enjoying the speech, but she, along with the rest of the audience, sobered quickly once Luke moved seamlessly onto the more serious side of his talk, medical research and the sort of work to which the funds they contributed that evening would be put.

'Cardiac disease accounts for around half of all deaths in this country,' he concluded. 'Even small advances have the potential to prevent enormous premature loss of life. Please, give generously.'

After the applause the master of ceremonies returned to the lecturn beside Luke to field questions. There were dozens about Luke's research and about whether he'd be continuing similar work at St Peter's, to which he said yes, and that a guarantee of expanded funding for his work had been part of the reason he'd returned. Then a woman at the table next to Annabel's asked about his reasons for entering the field he had and also about what the trigger had been for his decision to return to London and St Peter's.

'Surprisingly, perhaps, my answers to both questions are closely linked,' Luke said slowly. 'Returning to St Peter's is like coming full circle for me. In many ways I feel very much as if it's where I belong in the world. I spent a year at the hospital as a registrar, but the most significant contact I had with it occurred two days after my ninth birthday when my brother died on the paediatric intensive care unit of heart failure secondary to a viral heart infection.'

Annabel turned cold. The stark hush that followed his words was immediately different to the good-humoured mood of the audience throughout the rest of his talk.

'Justin was only eleven but his disease had been rapidly progressive,' Luke told them quietly. 'He died quietly and courageously within three months of the start of his illness. I knew then that I wanted to do something with my life that might make a difference, something that might one day stop another family having to go through what we went through that year.

'I and my colleagues in the field are still trying to do that. We don't have a cure for cardiomyopathy and our treatments remain limited, but with your help and support we may get a little further along the path. Thank you for your generosity in coming tonight, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your generosity in listening.'

There was a brief pause followed by a burst of applause which Luke acknowledged by lifting his hand as he came back to his seat beside Annabel who was still concentrating fiercely on preventing herself crying again.

She had known his only brother had died in childhood because Luke's mother had mentioned it once in passing. But she hadn't known how exactly or when or what his disease had been or the significance of it, and at the time she'd felt she hadn't known Luke's mother well enough to have questioned her further. Luke had changed the subject abruptly the only time she'd ever tried to talk to him about it.

As the applause abated, the chairman thanked Luke solemnly for sharing his experiences with them, then moved on to what he termed the 'business' end of the evening— the auction, the depositing of written pledges into the circulating buckets and the drawing of the raffles they'd all bought tickets for earlier.

Annabel sat through all of it in a daze, for once barely aware even of Luke although, turned as they all were in their seats to face the auctioneer, he was directly behind her.

Afterwards there was to be dancing but when the music started and the first couples began emerging onto the cleared floor she turned back towards the table and felt Luke's eyes on her immediately. 'Dance with me, Annie?'

'Perhaps later,' she said softly. 'I'm on call. I have to go and check the hospital.' Sitting next to her the way he was, she understood that it would be natural for him to ask her, that the others at the table might even be surprised if he didn't, but right then she was feeling too emotional. The last thing she could cope with was trying to maintain a front of social casualness while being held in his arms in public. Avoiding looking at him, she excused herself from the table.

'Nothing much happening on our side at all,' Hannah told her when she called St Peter's and had the registrar bleeped. 'By the looks of it so far, we've picked a great weekend to be on call. Mark and I have been in the mess most of the night, eating pizza and watching telly, and I haven't had any calls about possible admissions. The surgeons must be busy, though, because we saw a couple of the registrars running down the main corridor a little while ago, but I haven't heard what that's about yet. How's Daisy doing?'

'Coping,' Annabel told her, knowing the younger doctor had shared her concern about allowing her out so early. 'Just. Her colour isn't good and I was worried when she didn't eat anything but she and John were first up on the dance floor.'

'That's young love for you,' Hannah said.

Annabel felt wistful. 'Let me know if anything comes in,' she told the younger doctor. 'I'm leaving now so I should be on my home number in about twenty minutes.'

Her bleeper sounded just as she was letting herself into the house, but before she could answer it her telephone rang anyway. 'Hello,' she said breathlessly, picking it up quickly as there was only one person who could be calling her at this hour. 'What is it, Hannah?'

However, it wasn't her registrar but Tony Grant who answered her. 'We've got a heart,' he told her rapidly. 'We're still going through final testing but it's looking like a possible match for Daisy Miller.'

'I've
bleeped Daisy to come in now,' Tony continued, 'along with one other potential recipient with the same blood group. Theatre's scheduled at this stage for one-thirty.'

Annabel's watch read eleven-thirty. 'I'll be there in fifteen minutes,' she decided quickly. Her role, if she were needed, would be purely advisory, but she preferred to be on site.

Hannah meet her on J ward. 'You look nice, Dr Stuart. Daisy's upstairs,' she told Annabel. 'Professor Geddes drove her from the dinner. John's with her and her aunt's on her way in. Mr Grant thinks she's going to be the closest match.'

Annabel's heart had leapt at the mention of Luke's name but she told herself he'd be long gone now. She made a dismissive gesture towards her dress. She'd grabbed a white coat from the ward but she hadn't taken time to change into casual clothes. 'Who's the other woman?' she asked as they headed for the stairs.

Hannah told her the name and she nodded. Annabel knew her but she wasn't one of her patients.

'Is Daisy OK?'

Hannah grimaced. 'Scared,' she said flatly.

Annabel saw what Hannah meant as soon as she saw Daisy. The younger woman smiled at them but behind her oxygen mask her face was white and tense. She was sitting bolt upright in bed, wearing a white cotton theatre gown which she'd forgotten to tie behind her.

'John's just gone to ring his parents,' she told them huskily. 'I said there's no point because there's no way of knowing yet, but he wanted to let them know anyway. Dr Stuart, I feel sick.'

'It's normal to be nervous,' Annabel said soothingly. She also felt sick. She went behind Daisy and gently knotted the ties of her gown. 'Have they been to take blood yet?'

'About ten gallons of it,' Daisy answered. 'And I've had another chest X-ray and an ECG. I'm not allowed to have anything to eat or drink and they've given me a tablet to make my stomach empty. When do you think they'll know?'

'Mr Grant will come and see you as soon as he hears anything.'

'What about the person who died?' asked Daisy. 'Was it an accident? Do you know what happened to them?'

Annabel shook her head. She tucked one of Daisy's blonde ringlets back behind her ear from where it had fallen across her oxygen mask. 'I haven't heard.' If the family of donors agreed, the recipient could find out details about the donor and even meet the family, but she knew nothing yet.

'The dinner was good, wasn't it?' Daisy sent her a wan look. 'We raised a lot of money. I was waiting for you to dance with Professor Geddes but you left and you didn't come back.'

'I was tired.' Annabel looked up as John appeared at the door to the room with a cup of coffee. 'Hannah and I will go and see if we can find your ECG and X-ray,' she told Daisy. 'We'll be back in a little while.'

She hesitated when she saw Luke, still in formal dress, at the main desk, talking with Tony Grant. Ignoring Hannah's appreciative sigh and the way the registrar looked on the verge of swooning beside her, she took a deep breath and made her slightly wobbly way—she still wasn't used to wearing heels again yet and her nervousness made walking more difficult—towards them again. 'Any news, Tony?'

'Not yet.' The surgeon turned towards her, blinked, then grinned. 'Wow!'

Annabel felt herself colour. Her hands fumbling, she gathered her white coat around her and buttoned it firmly. 'I was at a fund-raising dinner tonight.'

'So Luke was just saying.'

'Thank you for driving Daisy and John back,' Annabel said huskily, lifting her eyes to her ex-husband. 'That was kind of you.'

'My dance partner had vanished and John looked so nervous there seemed a fair chance he'd crash the bike,' Luke said neutrally. 'We looked around for you but you were nowhere in sight. Where did you disappear off to so fast? If you were scared about dancing with me, Annie, you only had to say no. I couldn't have forced you. Not in public.'

Annabel's flush deepened hotly. Both Tony and Hannah, looking startled, suddenly developed urgent things needing their attention and the pair melted away, leaving Annabel facing Luke on her own.

'Thanks,' she said weakly. 'That's really great, Luke. Great. Now I'll have to put up with Hannah's curious little looks for the next month while she ponders whether we're having some secret affair. And that's just exactly what I need. I went home. Is that good enough for you? I was tired and I went home.'

'Without telling anyone?' he remarked doubtfully.

'The dinner was virtually finished—'

'You used to enjoy dancing with me.'

But the way dancing with Luke had once made her feel was exactly the reason she'd been so afraid of him tonight. 'That was a long time ago.'

'Frightened I'd step on your toes?'

'Terrified,' she agreed. 'If that's Daisy's X-ray you're holding, may I see it, please?'

Wordlessly he slid the film out of its blue envelope and snapped it up onto the X-ray board beside the desk, staying silent while she inspected it.

'Have you seen her ECG around anywhere?'

'One of the anaesthetic registrars has it. I was here so I had a look at it when it was done and there was no change.'

'Thank you.' Annabel fastened then undid the top button on her coat, then bit her lower lip and looked at him. 'I... Luke, I'm sorry about your brother. I didn't realise how he died.'

'It was a long time ago.'

'Nevertheless, I'm sorry I never understood. I'd always assumed there was some...selfishness in your pursuit of your career, and tonight for the first time I realised that I was the selfish one. Your research work in Boston could be the start of something that will eventually help thousands of people. If you'd gone two years earlier when they first invited you, perhaps by now—'

'The date I went was irrelevant,' he told her quietly. 'We worked as a team there. What we achieved was a reflection of that teamwork, not of my own achievements. Temporarily I was in charge of the project and that meant I was given credit for what we achieved, but the work started before I was there and it's still ongoing.'