Emergency: Mother Wanted

Zach’s quiet words of praise brought a faint colour to her cheeks and she suddenly felt deliciously warm inside. Maybe she would be as confident as him one day. He was the consultant after all.

Zach lifted the ECG trace and stared down at it. ‘All right, Keely, you’re the one who wants to be a cardiologist. Take a look at that and tell me what you see?’

He handed her the ECG trace and waited while she looked at it.

‘Prolonged PR interval and QRS widening.’

‘Right.’ Zach took the trace back. ‘Consistent with a tricyclic overdose. Let’s give him 8.4 per cent sodium bicarbonate.’

Nicky turned away to do as he’d instructed and Zach turned back to Adam. ‘He needs to be admitted to CCU for cardiac monitoring. Can you bleep the medical reg and I’ll have a word with him?’

Half an hour later the man was stabilised and had been admitted by the medical team.

‘Will he live?’ The student nurse stared at Zach, her eyes wide and slightly stunned.

‘Probably. And he’ll probably do it again,’ Zach said calmly, folding the ECG trace and putting it carefully in the notes.

‘You were amazing, Mr Jordan. You knew exactly what to do. You saved his life.’ She stared at him with a mixture of awe and reverence and Keely felt some empathy with the girl. Watching Zach in action was a humbling experience. Not only was he clearly a skilled doctor but his cool self-confidence had transmitted itself to the rest of the staff. There was no panic with Zach around.

The student nurse was still round eyed with admiration and Keely saw Zach frown slightly as he registered her longing gaze.

How would he react? Would he demolish the girl? No, that wasn’t his style. Look how kind he’d been to her for a start.

But she sensed that his style had changed over the years. The easy charm was still there on the surface but underneath she sensed a cynicism, a hard edge that hadn’t been part of the Zach that she’d known all those years ago. Was it just maturity? Or something else? Had something happened to change him?

‘Saving lives is what we do in A and E.’ His tone was matter-of-fact and a touch impatient as he addressed the student nurse. ‘It’s the job. Any of the doctors here would have done the same.’

Keely could tell by the look on the young nurse’s face that she didn’t believe him, that she’d suddenly turned Zach into some sort of god with supernatural powers.

Nicky had obviously noticed, too, because she dealt with the situation quickly.

‘You’re needed in the dressing clinic, Bella,’ the A and E sister said hastily, ushering the young student nurse out of the room before she could say anything else.

Zach made no reference to the incident, instead thanking them all for their help and issuing a few final instructions to Nicky before striding out of the room to talk to the patient’s friends who were waiting in the relatives’ room.

Keely exchanged looks with Nicky. ‘Does he have that effect on everyone?’

Nicky nodded as she started to clear up the debris in the room.

‘Everyone female. They soon get over it when they realise he isn’t interested.’

Keely threw some rubbish in the bin and tried to sound casual. ‘Isn’t he?’

‘Never.’ Nicky glanced up and shook her head slowly as she looked at her. ‘Oh, no. Not you, too.’

Keely stiffened. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I recognise that expression on your face. I’ve seen it too many times before not to. Don’t fall for him, Keely,’ Nicky warned, lowering her voice as she spoke. ‘It’s a quick route to a broken heart.’

Keely licked dry lips. ‘Do lots of women fall for him?’

‘What do you think?’ Nicky pulled a face and tilted her head to one side. ‘Zach Jordan is so good-looking he can’t walk down a street without women getting neck ache as they stare at him. He’s clever—very clever—and on top of that he’s got this air of calm confidence that women find irresistible. Pretty devastating combination of qualities. Of course lots of women fall for him.’

‘Is he married?’

Now, why on earth had she asked that question?

Nicky’s expression was suddenly remote and discouraging. ‘I can’t discuss Zach’s private life—it wouldn’t be right. But take it from me, he’s not available.’

Keely frowned slightly, wondering why Nicky hadn’t just answered her question.

‘Forget him, Keely. He’s a colleague and nothing more.’ Nicky opened a laryngoscope to check the bulb. ‘I know he’s good-looking but, like I said, falling for Zach is a quick route to a broken heart.’

Unfortunately her warning was about eight years too late, Keely thought gloomily as she ripped off her gloves and tossed them in the bin. She’d fallen heavily for Zach when she’d first met him and she had a nasty feeling that nothing much had changed. He still had the power to turn her insides to jelly.

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_c54e2b0c-dad7-54d5-91a5-a51209348766)

‘FANCY a drink?’ Nicky opened her locker and pulled out her coat and bag. ‘There’s a lovely pub just across the road. Log fire, nice staff, dishy barman…’

Keely grinned. ‘In that case, definitely.’

It had been a long and stressful day so maybe a drink was just what she needed. A drink and the chance to stare at a dishy man who wasn’t Zach. With any luck she’d fall madly in love with the barman.

‘I’ll just give Fiona and Adam a shout,’ Nicky said, fastening her locker and putting on her coat. ‘They’re both off now, too.’

Keely took a deep breath. ‘And Zach?’

Nicky shook her head. ‘Not Zach. Zach never joins us and anyway…’ she frowned at Keely ‘…I’ve already warned you.’

‘I know.’ Keely wrapped a wool scarf around her neck and smiled brightly ‘Just being sociable, that’s all. He is one of the team.’

‘At work, yes,’ Nicky agreed, walking across the staffroom and tugging open the door, ‘but out of work—no. Zach keeps himself to himself.’

Didhe? Why?

Keely followed her down the corridor, waited while she hassled the two SHOs into joining them and then walked out into the bitterly cold January night and across to the pub.

The pub was warm and cosy and a welcome alternative to her chilly flat.

‘I need to find somewhere decent to live.’ Keely sipped her orange juice and passed her crisps to Nicky. ‘Because I was living and working in London until last week, I didn’t have much time to hunt around so I took the first thing I saw. Believe me, it’s less than exciting and, frankly, the landlord gives me the creeps.’

‘My wife and I are renting a house in Ambleside until we decide where we’re going to settle,’ Adam told them, savouring his beer with obvious enjoyment. ‘What about you Fiona?’

‘Oh, I’ve got an aunt who lives about ten minutes from the hospital, so I’m staying with her for now. She’s great fun, actually.’ Fiona ripped open another packet of crisps. ‘Where do the rest of the staff live?’

Nicky settled back in her chair and stretched out her hands towards the log fire. ‘Well, the senior consultant, Sean, lives about fifteen minutes’ drive away in a converted barn with his wife and three utterly delectable children. Zoe, the staff nurse you probably met today, lives with her boyfriend in Ambleside and I live with my husband in a cottage about ten minutes away towards the Langdales.’

‘Nice. I want to live somewhere more rural. At the moment I’m stuck in a tiny flat in the middle of town.’ Keely pulled a face. ‘What I really wanted was to live in a rural retreat. You know, views of the fells, sheep at the bottom of my garden and an appalling trip to work every time it snows.’