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Soulmate: Chapter 3

Page 2 of 9

She sat, cross-legged on the ground, head in hands, elbows on knees. A few blades of grass and skeletons of dead leaves decorated her mac and tangled reddish-gold hair.

Conor jerked his leg free. "Are you all right?" he asked, crouching down beside her.

Slowly she raised her head, blinked at him. "I think I fell," she croaked. "I must have tripped."

An American, he thought. He'd seen armies of them trooping off of coaches and around the picturesque market towns of the Cotswolds, whenever he'd had an odd afternoon off from the surgery. They always seemed to be wearing macs, as though rain was forever imminent, and wielding cameras and camcorders. His suddenly acquired patient was also wearing a mac, but the linen outfit she wore looked more like posh evening wear than travel clothes. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

The woman rubbed the top of her throat before replying. "No. I feel okay," she said, sounding none too sure. "My ears are ringing a bit. Everything sounds kinda distant and weird."

"Does your head hurt? Do you think you've bumped it?"

She shook her head, then swayed slightly. "Whoa. That was not a good thing to do," she murmured.

Possible concussion, he thought. "Can you remember what happened?"

She shook her head again, then steadied herself. "That was not a wise move," she muttered.

"You might be suffering from concussion. Would you mind looking at me for a second? I'm a doctor, as it so happens," he said.

"My lucky day," she whispered, then dutifully met his gaze.

He was relieved to see that her pupils were not dilated. He then conducted the finger test, moving his index finger slowly back and forth in front of her eyes. She followed its movement smoothly. Conor did, however, notice one thing about her eyes. They were the most brilliant blue he'd ever seen.

"You seem to be all right. Perhaps you're just a little dazed."

"Yeah." She shivered. "And kind of cold."

Gently but firmly, he took her wrist to check her pulse. It was strong and steady, but her skin did feel chilly. "It could be you're suffering from a touch of delayed shock, so."

"Yeah," she said. "That's probably it. I feel a little light-headed."

"Look, my cottage is not far from here. I'll fix you a pot of tea, and if you don't feel any better after that, I can always run you up to the hospital. What do you think?"

An appreciative smile touched the corners of her mouth. "Sounds good to me."