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CHAPTER ONE

ISLA TOOK A deep breath outside the staffroom door. Today was her second day at the emergency department of the London Victoria Hospital, and she was still finding her place in the team. She’d liked the colleagues she’d met yesterday, and hopefully today would go just as well—with new people who didn’t know her past and wouldn’t judge her. She pushed the door open, then smiled at the nurse who was checking the roster on the pinboard. ‘Morning, Lorraine.’

‘Morning, Isla. You’re on cubicles with Josie and Harry the Heartbreaker this morning,’ Lorraine said.

‘Harry the Heartbreaker?’ Isla asked.

Lorraine wrinkled her nose. ‘I guess that’s a bit of a mean nickname—Harry’s a good doctor and he’s great with patients. He listens to them and gives them a chance to talk.’

‘So he’s very charming, but he’s a bit careless with women?’ Isla knew the type. Only too well.

‘Harry dates a lot,’ Lorraine said. ‘He doesn’t lead his girlfriends on, exactly, but hardly anyone makes it past a third date with him.’

And lots of women saw him as a challenge and tried to be the exception to his rule, Isla guessed. ‘Uh-huh,’ she said. She certainly wouldn’t be one of them. After what had happened with Stewart, she had no intention of dating anyone ever again. She was better off on her own.

‘OK, so he’d be a nightmare to date,’ Lorraine said with a wry smile, ‘but he’s a good colleague. I’m sure you’ll get on well with him.’

So professionally their relationship would be just fine; but it would be safer to keep Harry the Heartbreaker at a distance on a personal level. Isla appreciated the heads-up. ‘Everyone else in the department has been lovely so far,’ she said, smiling back. ‘I’m sure it will be fine.’

Though she hadn’t been prepared for quite how gorgeous Harry the Heartbreaker was when she actually saw him. The expression ‘tall, dark and handsome’ didn’t even begin to do him justice. He would’ve been perfectly cast as one of the brooding heroes of a television costume drama, with dark curly hair that was a little too long and flopped over his forehead, dark eyes, a strong jaw and the most sensual mouth she’d ever seen. On horseback, wearing a white shirt, breeches and tailcoat, he’d be irresistible.

Harry the Heart-throb.

Harry the Heartbreaker, she reminded herself.

Luckily Josie had already triaged the first patient and was ready to assist Harry, which meant that Isla had enough time to compose herself and see the next patient on the list.

Harry was a colleague and that was all. Isla had no intention of getting involved with anyone again, no matter how gorgeous the man looked. Stewart had destroyed her trust completely, and that wasn’t something she’d be able to put behind her easily.

Harry finished writing up his notes and walked into the corridor to call the next patient through. He knew that Josie had gone to triage her next patient, so he’d be working with the newest member of the team, Isla McKenna. He’d been on leave yesterday when she’d started at the London Victoria and knew nothing about her, other than that she was a senior nurse.

He eyed the nurse in the corridor with interest. Even without the double giveaways of her name and her accent, he would’ve guessed that Isla McKenna was a Scot. She had that fine porcelain skin, a dusting of freckles across her nose, sharp blue eyes and, beneath her white nurse’s cap, dark red hair that he’d just bet looked amazing in the sunlight. Pure Celt. It was a long time since he’d found someone so instantly attractive. Not that he was going to act on it. For all he knew, she could already be involved with someone; the lack of a ring on her left hand meant nothing. ‘Isla McKenna, I presume?’ he asked.

She nodded.

‘Harry Gardiner. Nice to meet you. How are you settling in to the ward?’ he asked as they walked down to the cubicles together.

‘Fine, thanks. The team seems very nice.’

‘They’re a good bunch,’ he said. ‘So where were you before you moved here?’

‘Scotland,’ she said, her face suddenly shuttering.

Clearly she thought he was prying and she’d given him as vague an answer as she could without being openly rude. ‘Uh-huh,’ he said, lightly. ‘Just making polite conversation—as you would with any new colleague.’

She blushed, and her skin clashed spectacularly with her hair. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude,’ she muttered.

‘Then let’s pretend we’ve never spoken and start again.’ He held out his hand. ‘Harry Gardiner, special reg. Nice to meet you, and welcome to the London Victoria.’

‘Isla McKenna, sister. Thank you, and nice to meet you, too,’ she said.

Her handshake was firm, and Harry was surprised to discover that his skin actually tingled where it touched hers.

Not good.

He normally tried not to date colleagues within his own department. It made things less complicated if his date turned out to have greater expectations than he wanted to fulfil—which they usually did. And instant attraction to the newest member of their team definitely wasn’t a good idea.

‘So who’s next?’ he asked. Hopefully focussing on work would get his common sense back to where it should be—firmly in control of his libido.

‘Arthur Kemp, aged seventy-three, suspected stroke,’ Isla said, filling him in. ‘The paramedics did a FAST assessment—’ the Face Arm Speech Test was used in cases of suspected stroke to check whether the patient’s face seemed to fall on one side or if they could smile, whether they could hold both arms above their head, or if their speech was slurred ‘—and they gave him some aspirin on the way here. I’ve done an initial assessment.’

‘ROSIER?’ Harry asked. Recognition of Stroke in the Emergency Room was a standard protocol.

She nodded. ‘His score pretty much confirms it’s a stroke. I checked ABCD2 as well, and the good news is that his score is nil on the D—he’s not diabetic. His blood sugar is fine.’

Harry picked up immediately what she was telling him—there was only one section of the test with a nil score. ‘So the rest of it’s a full house?’

‘I’m afraid so,’ she said. ‘He’s over sixty, he has high blood pressure and residual weakness on his left side, and the incident happened over an hour ago now.’

‘Which puts him at higher risk of having a second stroke in the next two days,’ Harry said. ‘OK. Does he live on his own, or is he in any kind of residential care?’

‘He has a flat where there’s a warden on duty three days a week, and a care team comes in three times a day to sort out his meals and medication,’ Isla told him. ‘They’re the ones who called the ambulance for him this morning.’

‘So if he did have a second stroke and the warden wasn’t on duty or it happened between the care team’s visits, the chances are he wouldn’t be found for a few hours, or maybe not even overnight.’ Harry wrinkled his nose. ‘I’m really not happy with that. I think we need to admit him to the acute unit for the next couple of days, so we can keep an eye on him.’

‘I agree with you. His speech is a little bit slurred and I’m not happy about his ability to swallow,’ Isla added. ‘He said he was thirsty and I gave him a couple of sips of water, but I’d recommend putting him on a drip to prevent dehydration, and keep him nil by mouth for the next two or three hours. Nobody’s going to be able to sit with him while he drinks and then for a few minutes afterwards to make sure he’s OK—there just won’t be the time.’

‘Good points, and noted.’

Mr Kemp was sitting on a bed, waiting to be seen.

Isla introduced him quickly. ‘Mr Kemp, this is Dr Gardiner.’

‘Everyone calls me Harry,’ Harry said with a smile. ‘So can you tell me about what happened this morning, Mr Kemp?’

‘I had a bit of a headache, then I tripped and fell and I couldn’t get up again,’ Mr Kemp said. ‘My carer found me when she came in to give me my tablets and my breakfast.’

Isla noticed that Harry sat on the chair and held the old man’s hand, encouraging him to talk. He was kind and waited for an answer, rather than rushing the patient or pressuring him to stop rambling and hurry up. Lorraine had been spot on about his skills as a doctor, she thought. ‘Can you remember, either before or after you fell, did you black out at all?’ Harry asked. ‘Or did you hit your head?’

Arthur looked confused. ‘I’m not sure. I don’t think I blacked out and I don’t remember hitting my head. It’s hard to say.’ He grimaced. ‘Sorry, Doctor. I’m not much use. My daughter’s husband says I’m an old fool.’

So there were family tensions, too. The chances were, if they suggested that he went to stay with his family for a few days, the answer would be no—even if they had the room to let the old man stay. ‘Don’t worry, it’s fine,’ Harry reassured him. ‘I’m just going to do a couple of checks now to see how you’re doing. Is that OK?’

‘Yes, Doctor. And I’m sorry I’m such a nuisance.’

Either the old man was used to being made to feel as if he was a problem, or he was habitually anxious. Or maybe a bit of both, Harry thought. He checked Mr Kemp’s visual fields and encouraged him to raise his arms; the residual weakness on Mr Kemp’s left side that Isla had mentioned early was very clear. And there was a walking frame next to the bed, he noticed. ‘Do you normally walk with a frame?’

‘Yes, though I hate the wretched thing.’ Arthur grimaced. ‘It always trips me up. It did that this morning. That’s why I fell. Useless thing.’

Harry guessed that Mr Kemp did what a lot of elderly people did with a walking frame—he lifted it and carried it a couple of centimetres above the ground, rather than leaving the feet on the floor and pushing it along and letting it support him. Maybe he could arrange some support to help the old man use the frame properly, so it helped him rather than hindered him.

‘Can you see if you can walk a little bit with me?’ he asked.

He helped Mr Kemp to his feet, then walked into the corridor with him, encouraged him to turn round and then walk back to the cubicle. Harry noticed that his patient was shuffling. He was also leaning slightly to the left—the same as when he was sitting up—and leaning back slightly when he walked. Harry would need to put that on Mr Kemp’s notes to be passed on to any carers, so they could help guide him with a hand resting just behind his back, and stop him as soon as he started shuffling and encourage him to take bigger steps.

Once Mr Kemp was seated safely again, Harry said, ‘I’m going to send you for an MRI scan, because you had a headache and I want to rule out anything nasty, but I think Sister McKenna here is right and you’ve had a small stroke.’

‘A stroke?’ Arthur looked as if he couldn’t quite take it in. ‘How could I have had a stroke?’

‘The most likely cause is a blood clot that stopped the blood supply to your brain for a little while,’ Harry explained. ‘It should be cleared by now because you’re able to walk and talk and move your arms, but I’m going to admit you to the acute medical unit so we can keep an eye on you for a day or two.’ He decided not to tell Mr Kemp that his risk of a second stroke was higher over the next day or two; there was no point in worrying the poor man sick. Though his family would definitely need to know. ‘Has anyone been in touch with your family?’

‘Sharon, my carer—she should have rung my daughter, but Becky’ll be at work and won’t be able to come right away.’ He grimaced. ‘I feel bad about taking her away from her job. Her work is so important.’

‘And I bet she’ll think her dad is just as important as her job,’ Isla said reassuringly.

‘Too right,’ Harry said. Even though he didn’t quite feel that about his own father. Then again, Bertie Gardiner was more than capable of looking after himself—that, or his wife-to-be Trixie, who was a couple of years younger than Harry, could look out for him.

He shook himself. Not now. He wasn’t going to think about the upcoming wedding. Or the fact that his father was still trying to talk him into being his best man, and Harry had done that job twice already—did he really need to do it all over again for his father’s seventh wedding? ‘We’ll have had your scan done by the time your daughter comes to see you,’ Harry said, ‘and we’ll be able to give her a better idea of your treatment plan.’

‘Treatment?’ Mr Kemp asked.

‘The stroke has affected your left side, so you’ll need a little bit of help from a physiotherapist to get you back to how you were before the stroke,’ Harry said. ‘I’m also going to write you up for some medication which you can take after your scan.’

‘Is there anything you’d like to ask us?’ Isla asked.

‘Well, I’d really like a nice cup of tea,’ Mr Kemp said wistfully. ‘If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.’

‘We can sort that out in a few minutes, after you’ve had your scan,’ Isla said. ‘At the moment you’re finding it hard to swallow and I don’t want you to choke or burn yourself on a hot drink, but we’ll try again in half an hour and you might be able to swallow better by then. And I’ll make sure you get your cup of tea, even if I have to make it myself.’

‘Seconded,’ Harry said, ‘though I’ll admit my tea isn’t the best and you’d be better off with coffee if I’m the one who ends up making it.’ He smiled at the old man. ‘We’ll get things sorted out and make sure your daughter finds you.’ He shook the old man’s hand and stood up. ‘Try not to worry. We’ll make sure you get looked after properly.’

‘I’ll be back with you in a second, Mr Kemp,’ Isla said, and followed Harry out of the cubicles.

‘Can you organise a scan and then transfer him to the acute unit?’ he asked quietly when they were outside the cubicle.

She smiled at him. ‘Sure, no problem.’

Her smile transformed her face completely. Harry felt the lick of desire deep inside his gut and had to remind himself that his new colleague might be gorgeous, but she was also off limits. ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I’ll write everything up.’

It was a busy morning, with the usual falls and sprains and strains, and a six-month-old baby with a temperature that wouldn’t go down and had then started having a fit. The baby’s mother had panicked and asked a neighbour to drive them in rather than waiting for an ambulance, and the triage team had rushed her straight into the department.

The baby’s jaws were clenched firmly together, so Harry looked at Isla and said quietly, ‘Naso-pharyngeal, I think.’

Almost as soon as he’d finished talking, she had an appropriately sized tube in her hand and was lubricating the end. Between them, they secured the baby’s airway and gave her oxygen, and Isla was already drawing up a phial of diazepam.

Clearly she’d come across convulsions in babies before.

Between them, they checked the baby’s blood glucose and temperature.

‘Pyrexia,’ Harry said softly. ‘I’m pretty sure this is a febrile convulsion.’

‘So we need to cool her down and check for infection,’ Isla said. At his nod, Isla deftly took off the baby’s sleep-suit and sponged her skin with tepid water while Harry checked with the baby’s distraught mother when she’d last given the baby liquid paracetamol. Once the fit had stopped and the baby’s temperature spike had cooled, Isla prepared everything for an infection screen.

‘I’ve never seen anything like that before. Is Erin going to be all right?’ the baby’s mother asked.

‘She’s in the best place and you did the right thing to bring her in,’ Harry reassured her. ‘I think the fit was caused by her high temperature, but we need to find out what’s causing that—if it’s a virus or a bacterial infection—and then we can treat her properly.’

‘Will she have any more fits?’ Erin’s mother asked.

‘Very possibly,’ Isla said, ‘but that doesn’t mean that she’ll develop epilepsy. Having a high temperature is the most common cause of fits in children between Erin’s age and school age. We see this sort of thing a lot, so try not to worry.’

Worry, Harry thought. Parents always worried themselves sick over small children. And so did their older siblings—especially when they were supposed to be taking care of them and things went badly wrong.

He pushed the thought away. It was years ago, now, and he was older and wiser. Plus nowadays Tasha would give him very short shrift if he fussed over her too much; she was fiercely independent. And you couldn’t change the past; all you could do was learn from it. Harry had most definitely learned. He never, ever wanted to be responsible for a child in that way again.

‘I’m going to admit her,’ Harry said, ‘purely because she’s so young and it’s the first time she’s had a fit. Plus I want to find out what’s causing the infection. We’ll keep an eye on her in case she has more convulsions. But you can stay with her.’

‘I’ll take you both up to the ward and introduce you to the team,’ Isla said.

‘And she’s going to be all right?’ the baby’s mother asked again.

‘Yes,’ Harry said, and patted her arm. ‘I know it’s scary, but try not to worry.’

Ha. And what a hypocrite he was. He knew that panicky feeling all too well. Would the baby be all right? The overwhelming relief when you knew that the baby would survive. And then the guilt later on when you discovered that, actually, there was a problem after all … Harry’s mistake had come back to haunt him big time.

‘Is there anyone we can call for you?’ Isla asked.

‘My mum.’ Erin’s mother dragged in a breath. ‘My husband’s working away.’

‘OK. As soon as Erin’s settled on the ward, we’ll get in touch with your mum,’ Isla promised.

Harry worked with Isla on most of his list of patients that morning, and he liked the fact that his new colleague was incredibly calm, had a sharp eye, and her quiet and gentle manner stopped patients or their parents panicking. The perfect emergency nurse. He had no idea where she’d trained or where she’d worked before—Scotland was a pretty big area—but he’d just bet that she was sorely missed. She’d certainly be appreciated at the London Victoria.

They hadn’t had time for a coffee break all morning and Harry was thirsty and ravenous by the time he took his lunch break—late, and he knew he’d end up grabbing something fast in the canteen so he could be back on the ward in time. When he walked into the staffroom, Isla was there.

‘Hi, there. Do you want to come and grab some lunch with me?’ he asked.

She gave him a cool smile. ‘Thanks, but I don’t think so.’

He frowned. ‘Why not?’

Her expression said quite clearly, do you really have to ask? But she was polite as she said, ‘It’s nice of you to ask me, but I don’t think we’re each other’s type.’

He blinked, not quite following. ‘What?’

She looked uncomfortable. ‘I, um, might be new here, but that doesn’t make me an instant addition to a little black book.’

Then the penny dropped. She thought he was asking her out? Some of the other staff teased him about being a heartbreaker and a serial dater, but that was far from true. He always made sure that whoever he dated knew it was for fun, not for ever. And he hadn’t been asking her out on a date anyway. Obviously someone had been gossiping about him and she’d listened to the tittle-tattle rather than waiting to see for herself. ‘Actually,’ he said quietly, ‘as you’re new to the team, I was guessing that you hadn’t had time to find your way around the hospital that well yet and you might not have anyone to sit with at lunchtime, that’s all.’

Her face flamed, clashing with that spectacular hair. ‘I—um—sorry. I’d just heard …’ She broke off. ‘Sorry. I’m putting my foot in it even more.’

‘Heard what?’ The words were out before he could stop them.

‘You have, um, a bit of a reputation for, um, dating a lot.’

He sighed. ‘Honestly, where the hospital grapevine’s concerned, you can’t win. If you don’t date, then either you’re gay or you’ve got some tragic past; and if you do date but make it clear you’re not looking for a serious relationship, then you’re at the mercy of everyone who wants to be the exception to the rule and you get called a heartbreaker. Not everyone’s desperate to pair off and settle down.’

‘I know.’ She bit her lip. ‘Sorry.’

But he noticed that she still hadn’t accepted his invitation to join him for lunch. Which stung. Was his reputation really that bad?

Pushing down his exasperation at the hospital grapevine, Harry gave Isla his sweetest smile. ‘OK, but I give you fair warning—if you try and eat a sandwich in here, you’ll be lucky to finish half of it before someone calls you to help out with something.’

‘I guess it’s all part of working in a hospital environment,’ she said lightly.

OK. He could take a hint. ‘See you later,’ he said.

In the canteen, Harry saw a crowd he recognised from the maternity ward and joined them. But all the while he was thinking about Isla. Why had their new nurse been so guarded? Was it just because of whatever nonsense she’d heard about him on the hospital grapevine? Or was she like that with everyone?

Just as Harry had predicted, Isla was halfway through her sandwich when someone came into the rest room and asked her to help out.

She didn’t mind—it was all part and parcel of being part of a team on the busiest department in the hospital.

But she did feel bad about the way she’d reacted to Harry the Heartbreaker. Especially after he’d explained why he’d asked her to lunch; it was just what she would’ve done herself if a new team member had joined the practice where she’d worked on the island. She’d been unfair to him. And, even though she’d apologised, she’d felt too awkward to join him and ended up making things worse. He probably thought she was standoffish and rude. But how could she explain without telling him about the past she was trying to put well and truly behind her?

It didn’t help that she found him so attractive.

Common sense told Isla that she needed to keep her distance. Apart from the fact that she’d seen a few working relationships turn really awkward and sour after the personal relationship had ended, she wasn’t in the market for a relationship anyway. Particularly with someone who had the reputation of being a charmer.

Professional only, she reminded herself. She’d apologise again for the sake for their working relationship. And that would be that.

Isla was rostered on cubicles again with Josie and Harry in the afternoon. Harry had just finished with a patient who’d been brought in with a degloving injury; when he came out of the cubicle, she asked quietly, ‘Can we have a quick word?’

‘Sure.’

Isla took a deep breath. ‘I wanted to apologise about earlier.’

He looked blank. ‘About what?’

‘I was rude and standoffish when you asked me to go to lunch with you.’

His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. Blame it on the hospital grapevine blowing everything out of proportion.’

She felt the betraying colour seep into her face. This would be the easy option because there was some truth in it, but he’d been kind and he didn’t deserve it. ‘Should’ve known better because hospital gossip likes to embroider things,’ she said. Not just hospitals: any small community. Like an island off the coast of Scotland where everybody knew practically everything about everyone. And she of all people knew how it felt to be gossiped about unfairly. ‘I was rude. And I apologise. And maybe I can buy you a cup of tea later to make up for being so horrible.’

‘You weren’t horrible, just a bit … well, offish. Apology and offer of tea accepted. We can have Mr Kemp as our chaperone, if you like,’ he suggested.

How could he be so good-natured about it? It made her feel even more guilty. ‘I guess it’s a good excuse to see how he’s getting on.’

‘Great. It’s a non-date,’ Harry said.

And oh, that smile. It could light up a room. He really was gorgeous. And nice with it. And he had a sense of humour.

It would be all too easy to let Harry Gardiner tempt her.

But this nurse wasn’t for tempting.

They spent their afternoon break in the Acute Medical Unit with Mr Kemp.

‘Thank you for the tea,’ he said.

‘Our pleasure,’ Isla told him with a smile.

‘You won’t get into trouble for being here, will you?’ he checked.

This time, Harry smiled. ‘It’s our afternoon break. We’re allowed to take it outside our own ward if we want to.’

‘I’m such a trouble to you,’ Mr Kemp said.

‘It’s fine,’ Isla reassured him. ‘Has your daughter been able to visit, yet?’

‘She’s coming straight after work. I do feel bad about it. She’s had to get someone to pick up the kids.’

‘All the working mums I know are great at juggling,’ Harry said. ‘I bet you she’s picked up her friend’s children before now. It won’t be a problem. Everyone mucks in to help their friends. How are you feeling?’

‘Well enough to go home,’ Mr Kemp said. ‘If I was home, I wouldn’t be a burden to everyone.’

He was able to swallow again, Isla thought, but he definitely wasn’t quite ready to go home. And he’d be far more of a worry to his family if he was on his own in his flat. ‘I’m sure the team here will sort things out for you,’ she said brightly.

And she discovered that Lorraine had been absolutely on the ball about Harry being great with patients, because he somehow managed to find out that Mr Kemp loved dogs and got him chatting about that, distracting him from his worries about being a burden.

‘You were brilliant with Mr Kemp,’ she said on their way back to the Emergency Department.

Harry gave a dismissive wave of his hand. ‘Just chatting. And I noticed you were watching him drinking and assessing him.’