She remembered Zac so vividly beneath her hands that she couldn’t help the slow curl of anticipation that grew in her stomach. She tried to keep it in check, but damn it. Just once more, if she got the chance, yes, she would fight for him one more time. She stepped towards him and waited for a break in the conversation.

‘Anything you’d like me to do, Doctor?’ Ava’s voice came out quietly, but still it made him freeze without turning. He tilted his head as if the cadence seemed familiar, and for a heart-stopping moment she thought he remembered, but when he slowly turned to look at her she knew he hadn’t.

‘Hello, Ava,’ he said.

She extended her hand, forcing him to touch her. He hesitated, but she stood in front of him with fingers outstretched and she gave him no choice. When he did his hand felt warm and wonderful beneath hers, and she felt his shock at the moment of contact. They dropped hands.

‘You look well,’ he said. Yes, her scar was healing well and the bruising was gone, but she didn’t feel as well as he suggested. Her heart played up.

He’d gained a little weight and his shoulders seemed broader, and the colour in his cheeks meant his skin shone with health even under the emergency department’s fluorescent lights. She dragged her eyes away from him to the patient waiting behind him, to ground herself. She smiled vaguely at the fellow.

The man lifted a finger but kept texting on his phone, so the silence between them remained.

‘Your holiday is over?’ Zac’s voice broke the unexpected trance completely.

She cleared her throat. Right. ‘Yes. I’ve been seconded down here from maternity. I hear you’re busy. Is there something I can do for you?’

He indicated the man beside him. ‘I’ve suturing to do, I thought in SR 1, if you’d like to set up for that? Thank you.’

She walked towards the little suture room and pushed open the door. She’d done this many times, but until Zac walked in pushing the gurney she’d forgotten how small the room was. The best thing she could do would be to concentrate on setting out the instruments. Work. There was always enough of that.

Ava felt strangely content to hover quietly and pass Zac the instruments he needed, although the job felt successfully completed in too short a time. Assisting him soothed her and the sight of him, so tall and vital, eased the part of her that still woke sweating with memories of when she’d thought he’d died. He, on the other hand, seemed a little distracted and she wondered if her arrival had unsettled him. She mentally crossed her fingers. She damned well hoped so because that was only fair.