The Children's Doctor's Special Proposal
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Kate Hardy
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CHAPTER ONE
‘WELCOME back.’ Lynne greeted Katrina with a broad smile. ‘So how was Italy?’
‘Fabulous. Italy in late September is just perfect. It’s my new favourite place in the world,’ Katrina said. ‘Pompeii was stunning. And the Blue Grotto. And…’ She laughed. ‘That isn’t what you really want to know, is it? Yes, I brought Italian biscuits back for the ward. Seriously nice ones.’ She dangled a carrier bag in front of the charge nurse. ‘A big tin of them.’
‘Good girl.’ Lynne patted her on the back. ‘Just what we all wanted to hear. Though I’m glad you had a good time on holiday.’
‘How’s Sadie doing?’ Katrina asked, walking with Lynne to the kitchen and placing the biscuit tin on the worktop along with a note saying, Help yourself, with love from Kat.
‘Fine. Though she’s been missing your stories and wants to know when Doc-a-rina’s coming back.’
‘Oh, bless.’ Sadie, a two-year-old with a clicky hip that had been reset by the orthopaedic surgeon, was one of Katrina’s favourites; even though lying on a cot in traction must have been uncomfortable for the little girl, she never once complained and always had a huge smile for the medical staff. ‘I’ll go and see her in a minute before I start the ward rounds.’ Katrina switched on the kettle, then she slapped a hand to her forehead. ‘I almost forgot. The new consultant.’ He’d started the day after she’d gone on holiday, and she’d been off duty the day he’d come for his interview and a look round the ward, so she hadn’t yet met him. ‘What’s he like?’
Lynne nodded with obvious approval. ‘Gorgeous. And as soon as you hear that voice you just want it to start whispering sweet nothings to you.’
‘Except he’s unavailable because, like you, he was snapped up as a teenager?’ Katrina teased.
‘Nobody has a clue, but I’d say probably not. He’s excellent with the children, he’s polite and pleasant to the parents and the staff, but as for what makes him tick…’ Lynne shook her head ruefully. ‘Your guess is as good as mine. He’s refused every single invite to a team night out so far—politely, but very definitely.’
Katrina frowned. Most new consultants would accept every invitation going in the first couple of weeks, to help them get to know the team outside work and bond with them. ‘He’s not one of those who spend the bare minimum of time here and as much as possible in private practice, is he?’ she asked.
Lynne shook her head. ‘Far from it. He puts in the hours. He stays late—and if he does leave early, he’ll either ring in or come back to chase up some results.’
A workaholic, then, Katrina thought. Just as long as he didn’t expect everyone else to follow his lead—it wouldn’t be fair on colleagues who happened to have young families. ‘What’s he like to work with?’ she asked.
‘Quick, intuitive and—well, you’re about to find out for yourself. He’s just walked in.’ Lynne glanced towards the door. ‘Morning, Dr Morgan.’
‘Rhys,’ the doctor corrected with a smile.
And what a smile.
Lynne was right, Katrina thought. Rhys Morgan was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, with dark hair and fair skin and blue, blue eyes—pure Celtic colouring. And with a name like Rhys Morgan, she would’ve been very surprised had his voice not had that faint Welsh lilt.
That incredibly sexy Welsh lilt.
And an incredibly sensual mouth.
She pushed the thought away. Rhys Morgan was her new colleague, and she didn’t date colleagues. Not since Pete. She didn’t make the same mistake twice.
‘Good morning, Lynne,’ he said.
‘Rhys, this is Katrina Gregory, our senior house officer.’ Lynne introduced them swiftly. ‘Kat, this is Rhys Morgan, our new consultant.’
‘Hello, Rhys. Good to meet you,’ Katrina said, and stretched out her hand.
When he took it, she was surprised by the jolt of awareness that shot through her. One that was clearly mutual and just as surprising for him, judging by the way his eyes widened very slightly. But then he seemed to regain his control and gave her a polite smile, releasing her hand. ‘Hello, Katrina.’
‘The kettle’s about to boil and our rounds don’t start for another ten minutes. Coffee?’ Katrina asked.
‘Thanks. Black, no sugar, please.’
She spooned instant coffee into three mugs, adding sugar to Lynne’s and milk to her own before pouring on boiling water and handing the first mug to Rhys. ‘Help yourself to biscuits while you still get a chance. As soon as Lynne spreads the word, they’ll be gone.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘And if you’ll excuse me, I want to pop in and see Sadie before we start, to let her know I’m back.’
‘Sadie? The little girl with the clicky hip?’ he asked.
Katrina nodded. ‘Lynne tells me she’s been missing my stories.’
He looked slightly disapproving. ‘As a doctor, you need to keep a certain amount of distance. Don’t get too emotionally involved with your patients.’
‘I hardly think telling a story to a little girl who’s bed-bound is getting emotionally involved.’ And just who did Rhys Morgan think he was, telling her what to do? He may be the new consultant and, strictly speaking, her senior, but that didn’t mean he could tell her how to do her job. In her experience, taking a little extra time with their patients often did wonders—it helped them to settle, and she believed that anything that made the hospital a less scary experience for them was a good thing. ‘I enjoy my job, and I’m not going to apologise for taking five minutes of my own time to make a child’s day that little bit brighter. Excuse me,’ she said coolly. ‘I’ll be back in time for ward rounds.’
When Katrina walked into the cubicle, Sadie’s delighted smile took away that rattled feeling she’d had since meeting Rhys Morgan. ‘Doc-a-rina!’
‘Miss me, poppet?’ Katrina sat on the chair beside her, and ruffled her hair. ‘What a lovely welcome-back smile.’
‘Story?’ Sadie begged.
‘Later today. After you’ve had your lunch and I’m on my break,’ Katrina promised. ‘Hello, Jo,’ she said, turning to Sadie’s mother. ‘I’ll be doing the ward rounds in a few minutes, but I wanted to pop in and see you first. How’s it going?’
‘Dr Morgan says she’s doing really well. Hopefully we can go home at the end of the week—not that it’s horrible here,’ Jo hastened to add.
‘But there’s no place like home,’ Katrina finished, understanding just what Jo meant.
‘Good holiday?’ Jo asked.
‘Brilliant, thanks. I must be three inches shorter after all that walking, but it was worth it.’
Jo laughed. ‘If I’d known you wanted to be three inches shorter…’
‘Sorry. My cousin Maddie has first dibs on my spare height,’ Katrina teased back. ‘I’ll see you later. And my story for you today, Miss Sadie,’ she added, smiling at the little girl, ‘is all about a princess. Because when I was away I actually saw a magic cave—the one where a princess met the prince from under the sea.’
‘Mermaid,’ Sadie said happily.
‘Something like that,’ Katrina said. ‘See you soon.’
When Katrina joined Rhys for the ward rounds, she discovered that he was exactly as Lynne had described. Pleasant to the children, polite to their parents and patient enough to answer every single question and explain in more detail when it was needed. Professionally, she couldn’t fault him. And yet there was a reserve about him. Some kind of invisible wall. Like Lynne, Katrina couldn’t quite work out what made him tick.
She put it out of her mind so she could concentrate on her patients in the children’s assessment clinic for the rest of the morning, and then caught up with her cousin over lunch.
‘Welcome home, hon.’ Madison hugged her. ‘You look fabulous. Though I still think you were mad, going on a walking tour of the Amalfi coast.’
‘I saw a lot more than I would’ve done if I’d been stuck on a beach,’ Katrina pointed out.
‘So did you meet a gorgeous Italian prince while you were away?’
Madison really was incorrigible, Katrina thought. ‘No, but I’m making up a story for Sadie. About the prince from under the sea.’ She laughed. ‘Right up your street. Or it would have been, had you not met Theo.’ She paused. Madison had her finger on the pulse. She might know more about Rhys Morgan. ‘Have you met our new consultant yet?’ she asked, trying her best to sound casual.
‘Rhys Morgan?’ Madison nodded. ‘I called him into Theatre last week during a difficult birth—and the baby was absolutely fine, before you ask. He’s a nice guy. Knows his stuff but doesn’t throw his weight around.’
Oh, doesn’t he? Katrina thought, remembering what he’d said about Sadie.
Madison’s eyes sparkled. ‘Since you’re asking about him, Kat, does that mean you’re—?’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Katrina interrupted, guessing what her cousin was about to ask. Since she’d found happiness with Theo, Madison had been trying to find the same for her cousin, and the matchmaking was driving Katrina crazy. ‘He’s nice enough, as you say—a good doctor—but he’s a bit reserved. And he told me off this morning for getting too emotionally involved with my patients.’
‘He has a point, hon. You do get too close to your patients,’ Madison said gently.
Katrina rolled her eyes. ‘I love my job. I love the ward. And, actually, telling stories to the kids is good for me. It’s the best stress-reliever I know, going off into a world of make-believe and seeing all these little faces smiling back at me.’
‘But you still worry about them when you get home. You never quite switch off.’
‘It goes with the territory.’ Katrina glanced at her watch. ‘I’d better get back. I promised Sadie a story over lunch, and I don’t want to upset the new consultant by being late for ward rounds this afternoon.’
‘Sounds to me as if you just got off on the wrong foot with each other. Give the guy a chance. He’s OK.’ Madison paused, looking concerned. ‘Not all men are like Pete, you know.’
‘I know that.’ Katrina rolled her eyes. ‘But not all men are potential partners, either. I’m happy to keep men as friends and colleagues.’
‘Hmm. When you find the right one, you’ll change your mind.’
Katrina ruffled her cousin’s hair. ‘I know you’ve found Mr Right, but it doesn’t happen for everyone. Anyway, I like my life as it is. I love my job, I have good friends, and I have the best family in the world. Not to mention the fact I’m going to be an auntie and godmother to the most gorgeous little girl in about four months’ time.’ Madison’s amniocentesis results had come through just before Katrina had left for Italy; to everyone’s huge relief, all was well. ‘I don’t need anyone, Maddie. I’m happy as I am.’
‘If you say so,’ Madison said.
‘I do.’ And the fact that she couldn’t get Rhys Morgan’s incredibly blue eyes out of her head, the fact that they reminded her of the colour of the sea on the Amalfi coast—well, that was just post-holiday silliness, Katrina told herself sternly. ‘I’ll see you later.’
She had enough time to tell Sadie a story about the princess and the merman meeting in the magic grotto, and then it was time to face Rhys again.
‘I see you admitted a couple of patients from the assessment clinic this morning,’ Rhys said.
He’d been in a different clinic that morning—so when had he had time to check what she’d been doing? Or maybe he’d just caught sight of the ward’s whiteboard where they listed the patients and their named nurses and he wanted a quick rundown on what she’d done before they did the ward round. Fair enough. She didn’t have any doubts about her clinical judgement.
‘There’s Jennie Myerson—the GP sent her in because her face was swollen, her blood pressure and temperature were up, she said her joints hurt, and there was blood in her urine,’ she explained. ‘She’s not on medication for anything, so it’s not an allergic reaction, but apparently she did have a sore throat a couple of weeks ago. So I wonder if it’s a staph infection causing interstitial nephritis.’
‘You’ve given her something for the blood pressure and paracetamol to deal with the pain and get her temperature down,’ he said, reading swiftly through the notes.
‘I also took bloods and I asked if her urine output could be measured. Are the results back from the lab yet?’
‘Not according to these notes.’
‘Then I’ll chase them after the ward round. But if I’m right and her ESR and urea are up, I’d like to do a renal ultrasound.’
‘I think you’re going to be right,’ he said, surprising her. ‘Her urine output’s way below what it should be. Did you ask if she’s allergic to penicillin?’
‘Yes, and there’s no family history, so they don’t think so.’
‘Good. You talk to the lab while I sort the ultrasound on her kidney. If the blood results are what you think they’ll be, we’ll start her on penicillin. This sort of condition can make a little one feel really rough.’
He went through the other patients on their list equally thoroughly, taking account of what Katrina said and also of the observations recorded by the nurses. Definitely a team player, Katrina thought. Someone who listened to others. Which was a good thing, as far as the ward was concerned.
So why was there still that wall between them?
Because, although Rhys was great to work with—intuitive, quick to sum up what was going on, understanding how their patients felt and calming the parents’ worries as they went from bed to bed—she was aware of a definite barrier between them. He barely even made eye contact with her.
Had it not been for Lynne’s comment earlier, she would’ve thought maybe it was just her. Although he hadn’t seemed to have a problem with her clinical judgement, he’d made it clear earlier that he thought she was too emotionally involved with their patients.
And there had been that weird prickle of awareness when he’d shaken her hand, which she was pretty sure he’d felt, too. Maybe this distance was his way of telling her that he had no intention of acting on it.
Well, that was fine by her. Because she didn’t want to act on it, either. She’d learned her lesson well: getting involved with a colleague was the quickest way to heartache. Never, ever again.
Later that afternoon, Rhys was walking past the ward’s playroom to his office when he heard laughter. Loud laughter. As if the children in the playroom were watching some kind of show, rather than being the general hum of noise of little ones playing independently. He couldn’t remember anyone talking about a visitor coming to entertain the children, and he knew there wasn’t a television in the playroom. So what was going on? Curious, he looked through the doorway.
And there at the far end of the room was Katrina. Sitting on a beanbag, with her feet tucked under her, surrounded by the more mobile children from the ward and what looked like most of the children from the waiting room. At first he thought she was reading them a story—and then he realised that she wasn’t holding a book. The story she was telling was straight out of her head, illustrated by a couple of glove puppets. She was getting the children involved, too—asking them questions so they made suggestions to shape the story, and persuading them all to join in with a simple song or a chorus.
He glanced at his watch. She should have been off duty half an hour ago. Yet here she was, entertaining the children.
This went beyond dedication.
Katrina Gregory clearly loved her job.
And the children clearly loved her all the way back. He’d noticed on the ward rounds how the newer parents turned straight to her for comfort, how the older ones greeted her as a friend. How the children brightened when they saw her and even the sickest ones could summon up a smile for Dr Katrina. Her warmth suffused everyone.
Even himself.
And, lord, he was tempted. Katrina was gorgeous. And it wasn’t just her personality: her midnight-blue eyes were stunning and her mouth was lush enough to make any man sit up and beg. When she’d shaken hands with him that morning, he’d been incredibly aware of her—of the softness of her skin, the light floral scent she wore, the quiet yet clear voice.
Irresistible.
He’d wanted her immediately.
And had held himself back, because it was highly unlikely a woman that attractive would still be single. Even though she didn’t wear a ring at work—he’d actually caught himself checking, during the ward round—she probably kept it on a chain round her neck, tucked inside her shirt for safety and staying close to her heart. And even if he’d got it wrong and Katrina was free, he was hardly in a position to offer her anything. His last girlfriend had told him he was so distant he might as well have been in Australia when they’d gone out together—and he knew she’d had a point. He was lousy at relationships, so it was best to stick to what he was good at. Work.
Katrina Gregory was his colleague—full stop and end of story.
Quietly, Rhys left the doorway and headed for his office.
