Children's Doctor, Society Bride. Joanna Neil

      James lowered his hands and moved closer to her, so that she was disturbingly aware of his long, lean body, and the way that he moved, with a suppleness that spoke of lithe energy and keen vitality.

      ‘There’s nothing to stop me from coming and working here, is there—for a few months at any rate?’

      He said it in such a casual manner that it took a moment or two for it to sink in. Louise stared at him. ‘I’m not sure that I heard that right. Did I just hear you offer to come and work in my department?’

      ‘Are you afraid to accept my offer?’ Again, there was that faint hint of amusement that played around his mouth. It was unsettling, as though he could read her like a book, whereas Louise would be hard put to it to say what it was that was bothering her.

      How would she cope with having him in close proximity on a regular basis? He exuded masculinity without even trying, and just knowing that he was around seemed to throw her nervous system into chaos…

      When Joanna Neil discovered Mills & Boon®, her life-long addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical™ Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

       Recent titles by the same author:

      HIS VERY SPECIAL BRIDE

      PROPOSING TO THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR A CONSULTANT BEYOND COMPARE THE DOCTOR’S LONGED-FOR FAMILY

      CHILDREN’S DOCTOR, SOCIETY BRIDE

      BY

      JOANNA NEIL

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CHAPTER ONE

      ‘JUST try to take a drop more for me, cherub.’ Louise gently brushed the teat of the bottle against the baby’s lips and smiled as he began to suckle once more. ‘That’s the way…that’s good,’ she murmured softly. ‘You need to build up your strength, little one.’ Smiling, she leaned back in her chair, nestling the baby in her arms, rocking gently to and fro.

      ‘He’s doing well, isn’t he, considering that he’s recovering from emergency heart surgery?’ Alice, the specialist nurse, came to peer down at her precious bundle.

      ‘He is.’ Louise nodded agreement, and then looked up at Alice with a wry smile. ‘I suppose you’ve come to take him away from me, have you?’

      ‘I have, I’m afraid.’ Her dark hair made a silky swathe as she nodded. ‘His mother’s talking to the surgeon, and I want to have all my observations recorded before she comes back. The doctor’s bound to want to take another look at him, and I need to make sure that he’s ready.’

      Louise gave a soft sigh. ‘Ah, well, he’s finished off all of his milk, so I guess I have no excuse for keeping him to myself any longer.’

      She winded the baby, lightly rubbing his back until he gave a soft burp, and then she reluctantly handed the infant over to Alice’s care. Getting to her feet, she flicked back her shoulder-length auburn hair with a deft twist of her fingers.

      ‘Thanks for letting me steal him for a few minutes. I can’t resist coming over here to the paediatric ward whenever I have a few minutes to spare. It was lovely to be able to sit here and relax for a while. It’s been so hectic in the children’s A&E this morning that I was glad of a chance to come and wind down for a bit.’

      ‘I can imagine. Are you on call for the whole day?’ Alice slid a thermometer into the baby’s armpit and checked the monitor before noting down his pulse rate on to the chart.

      Louise shook her head. ‘It was just for this morning. I’m off to grab myself some lunch now, and then I have to conduct interviews this afternoon. We’re looking for another Senior House Officer to take on some of the workload—though how that will pan out with all the hoo-ha that’s been going on of late, I’m not entirely sure.’

      Alice’s grey eyes took on a sombre look. ‘I can’t believe that they’ll go ahead with it. How can they even think of closing the unit down? What are people going to do if their children become desperately ill all at once or get knocked over by a car? The A&E at the Royal Forest Hospital is almost forty miles away for some people in the outlying areas. And if they close down the children’s A&E, the adult A&E here will go too. I can’t believe that they’ve thought it through properly.’

      ‘Neither can I. It makes me so angry when I think about it. We’ve been so fortunate in having a separate children’s emergency unit here—in some places they are still combined with the adult unit. It’s essential to have a department dedicated to children’s A&E, with specialist staff, and yet now they plan to destroy everything.’ Louise straightened up, her jaw setting in a tight angle. ‘See, I’m getting fractious all over again. I shall have to go and eat lunch in the park just to calm myself down.’

      ‘Have some for me. A crisp salad in a crusty bread roll, along with an ice-cold bottle of fruit juice would do just nicely.’ Alice smiled before turning back to her small patient. Making a swift check of his nappy, she wrinkled her nose. ‘Oh, we’ll have to do something about that, won’t we, pumpkin?’

      ‘See you later, Alice.’ Louise went in search of the lifts. The sooner she was out in the warm, fresh air of the park, surrounded by the green shade of trees and shrubs, the better.

      How could they even think of taking her A&E unit from her? After all the work that had gone into building it up and making it the smooth running enterprise that it was today, it was nothing short of criminal to contemplate pulling the plug. What would happen to children who were grievously injured, or who were suffering from the onset of septicaemia if they had an hour-long journey ahead of them before they reached the skilled team workers in the A&E department at the Royal Forest Hospital?

      She was still aggrieved when she reached the relative sanctuary of the local park. At least there, though, she could take solace in watching the gently flowing waters of the river as it meandered along the valley carved out through meadowland over the centuries. Broad trees that had stood the test of time spread their branches heavenward, and she looked up at the blue of the sky and basked for a moment in the gentle heat of the summer sun. This was just a small part of the beautiful Wye Valley, and she was eternally pleased that she had decided to make her home here.

      Glancing around, she searched for a table where she might sit and eat her sandwiches. Not too far away, children were joyfully kicking a ball over the neatly cut grass and, closer to the water’s edge, a young couple sat and followed the progress of swans as they glided gracefully beneath the arch of a stone bridge.

      A little further in the distance, an elderly man was making his way slowly towards a large oak tree. A bench seat surrounded the massive trunk, and Louise guessed that the man was heading there with the bench in mind.

      He was smartly dressed, wearing a suit and waistcoat, but as she looked closer it occurred to her that he didn’t look at all well. He was coughing, she noticed, and his breath was coming in short bursts. As she drew closer to him, she could see that his lips were faintly blue.

      ‘Are you all right?’ she asked in a tentative voice, her green eyes troubled as she approached him. He must be in his eighties, and because of his frailty she was immediately worried about him. What on earth was he doing out here on his own? Surely someone ought to be looking out for him?

      ‘I’m just a bit short of breath,’ he managed.