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Morgan dropped her Kindle into her lap and turned to Alex. “I came in to check on you. You were sound asleep within the hour, so I turned the TV off.”

“Was I?” Her eyes widened at Morgan. “I haven’t done that since…well, it’s been a long time.”

Shrugging, Morgan picked up her Kindle again. “What can I say?”

When the door opened again, Francine had one foot in before she noticed her seat and the hat that stared up at her from it. Her gaze fell on Morgan, eyes narrowed. “Well, played, Doctor. Well, played.”

Morgan smiled and continued to read but said nothing.

“What? What did I miss?” Alex said, bemused by the pair of them.

Now, Morgan looked up at Francine, still saying nothing, ready to take her cue from the American.

“The Doctor and I had a small wager last night, and it seems as though I lost and need to eat my hat.”

Alex frowned. “Really? What was the bet?”

“You,” she replied, sinking her teeth into the rim of the hat theatrically.

“Me? How so?”

Morgan placed her Kindle down. “Francine didn’t have any faith in you doing as you were told, and I proved her wrong.”

“The cheek of it.” Alex chuckled. “Next time, I want in on these wagers.”

A two-hour drive took Alex, Morgan, and Francine from Salisbury to Exeter, the furthest point west on the trip. Mikekept to a reasonable 70 MPH for the most part, and the journey was barely noticed as Morgan continued to read and the other two discussed the day's events.

“We can do the interviews right before the sound check and then straight back to the hotel. It worked well in Salisbury, I don’t see the need to alter it,” Alex said. “That way, I can spend a few hours with my leg up at the hotel before I need to leave and then rest again all evening.”

Francine glanced again at Morgan, who just read her book, smiling.

“Who are you?” Francine asked. “What have you done with the pain in my ass?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alex sniggered and looked away out of the window. She caught Morgan’s face reflected in the glass every time they passed something big enough to cut off the sun shining against the window and forced herself not to turn and look.

“Uh huh, well, I am not complaining. You keep this up. It’s much easier to deal with than the other version.” She glanced at Morgan again. “I guess this is your doing?”

Morgan held her hands up. “I just administer medical advice. I have no sway on anything else.”

“Uh huh,” Francine repeated before settling back into her seat. “So, I got nothing else to do all day then, once I organise the interview time changes.”

“Well, you can hang around. I do like you hanging around,” Alex said.

“Or go and enjoy the spa,” Morgan offered. “I really enjoyed it.”

The face Francine pulled made them both burst out laughing. The idea that workaholic Francine would take an afternoon off to pamper herself was hilarious.

“Oh, laugh it up the pair of you,” she said, trying to hold a straight face before succumbing to the laughter. “I’ve got plenty of work I can do to keep me busy.”

Before anyone noticed, Mike pulled off the motorway and the scenes outside changed from open fields to a more built-up landscape, more cars, and then more people. The fourth leg of this journey was about to commence.

The hotel room was, yet again, out of this world. Morgan moved around the room just looking at everything while the manager gushed about how excited they were to have someone so prominent and talented as Sasha staying at their establishment.

Eventually, Francine guided her away and left Morgan to deal with Alex and the leg rest.

“Like it?” Alex asked, already taking her seat on the couch with her leg up.

“It’s just…” Morgan twirled around. “It certainly beats triage and the emergency room at work.” She smiled before taking the space at the other end of the couch and reaching for Alex’s foot.