shore. The crystal clear water, viewed from the cliff tops, revealed every rock on the sea bed for a long way out. The little fishing village, now turned holiday resort, where she was based was small and charming, although at this time of year the population of the island appeared to be pretty much in the Budleigh Salterton age bracket. This didn’t bother her as she wasn’t there for the nightlife. It was a wonderfully quiet, peaceful place and she was pleased to see that no trace now remained of the wrecked cruise ship that had hit the rocks, and the headlines, in 2012.
The diving school was owned and run by a German couple and they did a very good job. As Lucy reached the end of her course, she was already beginning to feel quite comfortable underwater, without any of the ear problems some of her fellow trainees had been suffering. It had definitely been a good choice to come here. While on the island she had had enough to do to stop her feeling bored, but at the same time she had been able to continue her programme of R&R. As the days went by, she felt her batteries recharging, no doubt fuelled at least in part by the excellent seafood on offer in the island’s restaurants.
Then, on the final evening of the course, as she was sitting at a table with the other members of the group, proudly clutching her precious PADI Open Water diving certificate, she received a phone call. It was Bruno.
‘Ciao, Bruno. How’re you and Virginia?’
‘Lucy, ciao. It’s good to hear your voice. We’re fine, thanks. How’s life on the island?’
They chatted for a minute or two before he came to the point of his call.
‘I… we were wondering if you had made any decisions about your future. Are you going back to Médecins Sans Frontières?’
‘To be honest, I haven’t really come to any conclusions, but I imagine unless something else comes along I’ll go back to MSF and ask to be sent to somewhere a bit safer.’
‘I see. Right, well, you see, it’s like this. A vacancy’s come up here at the clinic and I mentioned your name to my boss in case you might feel like coming to work with us. He’s very keen to meet you.’
Lucy waved apologetically at her fellow diners, got up and walked down the wooden steps that led to the beach. As she moved further away from the noise of the restaurant, she asked him for more information.
‘We have an opening for a general surgeon. This is not to replace somebody who’s leaving, but a brand-new position. The problem with Mr Lorenzo and the gunshot wound has brought home to us that we may have got too specialised over the past few years and we need to broaden our base. The director’s decided we don’t just want to focus on cosmetic surgery, orthopaedics and physical rehab. We need to be able to respond to all sorts of cases – although hopefully no further shooting incidents. He thinks – and so do I – that your qualifications, background and wide experience are exactly what we’re looking for. If you think you might be interested – and I really hope you will be – he says he’ll get somebody to email you all the details. Do you think this might be something that appeals to you?’ He sounded genuinely keen.
Lucy perched on a rocky outcrop and thought about it. On the face of it, it sounded wonderful. If she took the job she would find herself in a state-of-the-art hospital, set in just about her favourite place in all the world, and it promised to be a rich and varied position and, most important of all, without black mambas and with nobody trying to kill her. What did worry her, however, was the idea of going into private medicine which, by definition, would be reserved for the privileged few, when she felt sure her heart lay in helping those less fortunate than herself. Would she be ignoring all her natural instincts? She decided to buy herself some time.
‘Thank you so much, Bruno, that really does sound most attractive. I don’t want to let anybody down so I need to speak to my boss at MSF first to see that they haven’t already made plans for me, but, in principle, I’m very interested. If you’d like to ask the director to send me the details, I’ll think it through and