Even in simple green scrubs and a tied hair cover, Miklo would have commanded the attention of every woman in the area.
The simplicity of his attire peeled away everything except the man. He didn’t draw attention to himself intentionally, but something about him drew her to him, and she shivered, trying to resist the whisper of attraction that swept over her.
As if sensing her gaze, Miklo turned toward her. His dark brown gaze met hers and she held her breath for a second, startled at the intensity of his stare. He was serious, intense and focused. Only a nod acknowledged her, but that simple gesture released her…
Molly Evans has worked as a nurse from the age of nineteen. She’s worked in small rural hospitals, the Indian health service, and large research facilities all over the United States. After spending eight years as a Travelling Nurse, she settled down to write in her favourite place—Albuquerque, New Mexico. Within days she met her husband, and has been there ever since. With twenty-two years of nursing experience, she’s got a lot of material to use in her writing. She lives in the high desert, with her family, three chameleons, two dogs, and a passion for quilting in whatever spare time she has. Visit Molly at www.mollyevans.com.
The Greek
Doctor’s Proposal
Molly Evans
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Albuquerque, NM, USA
SO MANY times Jeannine Carlyle had walked into a hospital as a nurse. Then for a time she had been a patient. This time as she entered the pediatric ICU of a large teaching hospital, she was going to put the last six months behind her and put her life back together. So much about her had been changed, but being a nurse and wanting to help people had not. Lying flat on her back after a life-threatening miscarriage and months of rehab hadn’t changed that, but had only made her conviction stronger.
After entering the ICU, she approached the nurse manager. “Hi, Arlene.”
“Jeannine, glad to see you here bright and early.” Arlene glanced over Jeannine, assessing her attire. “You found the right color scrubs, I see.”
“Sure did,” Jeannine said, and looked down at her royal blue outfit. “Slightly different than the last place I worked, but I needed new scrubs anyway.” The weight loss she had suffered recently had made her previous scrubs entirely too large. Though spring had blossomed and the weather was warming, she wore a longsleeved T-shirt beneath the scrubs to cover the healing marks on her arms. Trying not to be overly conscious of them, she tried to ignore them, hoping that if she didn’t draw attention to them no one else would notice her disfigurement. There were no scars on her face, but she felt every one of them as if they were all visible. She knew they would heal, but the inside of her that hurt the most might never recover.
“Well, glad to have you on board.” Arlene began to walk down the hall further into the PICU. “We’ll be having grand rounds soon. Our medical director, Dr. Kyriakides, will be presenting a very interesting case we had a few months back. I can introduce you to some of the staff first.”
“Sounds great.” A good way to get to know some of the staff without having to jump in with both feet on her first day on the job. What a relief.
Arlene hesitated outside a large conference-room door. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? Coming back to work, I mean?”
Jeannine felt her stomach slide. “Are you having reservations about me being here?”
“No, I’m not. Your résumé and references more than proved you’re a very capable nurse. It’s just that the pediatric ICU can be a very emotionally difficult place to work at times.” Arlene’s compassionate gaze searched Jeannine’s face.
“Yes, I know,” Jeannine said, and hoped the redness she felt in her face wasn’t too visible. “But I have to start somewhere sometime, don’t I?” No place was going to be easy, but with her finances having dwindled to next to nothing, she couldn’t afford to be off from work any longer. She needed this job to keep her life going.
“You’re right. But please let me know when you need a break. Look at the schedule and make sure you give yourself adequate time off, not too many days in a row, okay?” Arlene gave her a sad smile. “You’re a strong woman to have survived your ordeal, so I know coming back to work must seem a piece of cake after that.”
Jeannine gave a small laugh. “Maybe not quite a piece of cake, but something I have to do. Starting over, starting fresh, is what I need right now.”
During the interview process she had had to disclose why she had been out of work for so many months. She hadn’t been on vacation for months at a time and she hadn’t been terminated from her last job. A life threatening miscarriage had forced her to quit her job. Being a patient had given her a whole new perspective on life.
“There is a certain amount of difference between the ER and the ICU, so it may take some adjustment for you. Don’t expect to learn everything at once.”
“I won’t. Moving from ER to ICU will hopefully give me a buffer. Never knowing what was coming through the doors in the ER was always stressful. I didn’t realize how stressful until I left there.”
“Well, in any case, I’m glad you’re here.” She nodded toward the conference room. “Let’s get in there before all the bagels are gone.”
Jeannine grabbed half a bagel and found a seat in the back of the small room crammed with chairs. She nodded to staff members entering the room, but focused on the pastry in her hand.
When an amazingly handsome man entered the room, she nearly dropped her bagel