Saving Dr Cooper

Tears filled her eyes and she saw Ross frown in concern. “What is it? What have I done?”

“It’s not you, Ross. It’s me. I should never have let things reach this point.”

“How can you say that?” he exclaimed, trying to draw her into his arms.

“Please don’t. I’m sorry, Ross.…”

“For God’s sake, Heather, stop it! Don’t do this to yourself or to me.” He didn’t try to touch her again but the pain in his voice was more than enough to gain her attention. Heather’s heart ached afresh because it was all her fault that he was suffering.

“Don’t push me away, Heather. Talk to me. Tell me what the problem is and then maybe we can find a solution. I—I know this has something to do with Grace’s father and I swear I’ll understand.”

Dear Reader,

Every woman dreams of finding a hero to share her life, but imagine how difficult it must be, loving a man who constantly puts his life at risk? That idea was the starting point for this book and, as I wrote it, I soon realized that if it takes a very special man to be a hero, then it takes a very special woman to love him.

When firefighter Ross Tanner is brought into the emergency room, Dr. Heather Cooper finds herself instantly attracted to him. However, she is determined not to get involved. She has loved one hero and there is no way that she is going to risk falling in love with another one! Heather is content with the life she has made for herself and her small daughter, and she doesn’t intend to let anything ruin it. Nevertheless, she soon discovers it isn’t easy to switch off her feelings. Can she find the courage to overcome her fears?

Ross Tanner is deeply attracted to Heather as soon as they meet. He is confident that he can give Heather the happiness she deserves until he gradually starts to realize how dangerous it is to let her fall in love with him. He might have accepted the risks that come with his job, but would it be right to put Heather through the heartache of loving a man who might not come home one day?

Helping Heather and Ross work through their problems was a joy. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it. There can be nothing better than bringing together two very brave people and watching them find true happiness.

Best wishes to you all,

Jennifer

www.jennifer-taylor.com

Saving Dr Cooper

Jennifer Taylor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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CONTENTS

Cover

Dear Reader

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE call came in shortly before Red Watch were due to go off duty. Up till then the day had been unusually quiet. Weekends tended to be their busiest periods but there had been just one call that afternoon, to a fire started by some teenagers who’d set light to the contents of a skip left in the car park of a local supermarket.

It had taken the crew from Hexton fire station less than an hour to get the blaze under control and arrange for the skip to be collected. They’d been on their way back to the station when the second call had come through. It had been immediately apparent that this one wasn’t going to be anywhere near as easy to deal with.

Ross Tanner nodded as one of the crew finished checking his breathing apparatus and gave him the thumbs-up sign. He waited impatiently while his colleague Terry Green’s equipment was also checked. The fire had started in the basement flat of a run-down Victorian terrace and had spread rapidly through the four-storey building. Even from a distance of several hundred yards, the roar of the flames was deafening.

Crews from neighbouring fire stations had been called in to assist because of the danger that the fire would spread to the adjoining properties. That wasn’t Ross’s main concern, however. A three-year-old child had been reported as trapped inside the blazing building and the sooner they got him out the happier Ross would be.

‘I don’t want either of you taking risks. The upper floors could cave in at any moment. You’re to get the hell out of there at the first sign of trouble.’

Ross listened while the senior divisional officer, Mike Rafferty—who was in charge of the fire ground—issued some last-minute instructions. As Station Officer at Hexton, Ross knew the rule, of course, that no firefighter should needlessly put his own life at risk. He also knew that when there was a child involved none of the men from Red Watch would hesitate. If there was a chance of saving the little boy then neither he nor his colleagues would pull out.

Ross led the way to the front of the blazing building and waited while the crew hosed him down. The equipment he was wearing was both heavy and cumbersome but he spent hours practising the drill each week and he was used to the weight of the air tank on his back and the difficulties of breathing through a mask. He was even used to the ferocity of the heat that greeted him as they entered the smoke-darkened hallway and made their way to the staircase at the rear.

He’d been a firefighter for ten years and he’d attended enough fires during that time to know what to expect. He was trained for this situation. He knew what to do. Now all he had to do was find the child and get him out…alive.

‘Will I be glad when this shift is over. If I see one more person who’s injured himself doing DIY then I swear I shall scream!’

Heather Cooper frowned as her colleague, Melanie Winters, laughed. ‘What’s so funny? Aren’t you sick and tired of washing splinters out of eyes and sewing up cuts?’

‘Oh, I am, I am.’ Melanie grinned at her. ‘It’s just the thought of the oh-so-calm Dr Cooper letting rip which is so amusing. When have you ever lost your cool, Heather? You have to be the most together person I’ve ever met!’

‘Hmm, appearances can be deceptive.’

Heather summoned a smile as she turned to the board to check which cubicles were still in use, but her soft grey eyes held more than a hint of pain.

None of the people she worked with could guess how hard it had been to get her life together in the last three years because she’d never discussed her past with any of them. It had been too difficult to talk about that terrible period in her life so she’d made the decision when she had accepted the job as senior registrar in the accident and emergency unit of St Gertrude’s Hospital in south-east London not to tell anyone what had happened.

She picked up a duster and wiped the last patient’s name from the board, feeling the tremor that coursed through her as the memory of those dark days came flooding back. After Stewart had died she’d come so close to giving up that at times it had been all she could do to get out of bed each morning. Even the fact that she’d been pregnant hadn’t helped because all she’d been able to think about had been that she’d not had a chance to tell Stewart they’d been expecting a baby.

It had taken the birth of their daughter to give her the strength to carry on. Now Grace was her whole world and Heather wanted nothing more than to make sure that her precious little girl was safe and happy. Never again would she risk falling in love and leaving herself open to being hurt.

‘Looks as though now might be a good time to take your break,’ she suggested, turning to the younger woman with a smile that betrayed little of her true feelings. ‘Why don’t you go to the canteen and I’ll go when you come back?’

‘If you’re sure…?’ Melanie grinned when Heather nodded. ‘Rightio, then. I did just happen to spot the gorgeous Dr Carlisle heading toward the lift. This could be the perfect opportunity to show him what’s been missing from his life up till now, i.e. me!’

With a wave of her hand, the young nurse hurried away. Heather sighed. At twenty-three, Melanie was only ten years younger than she was, but at times it felt as though she was old enough to be Melanie’s mother. Had she ever been that carefree? Would she ever feel that way again?

It took a determined effort to shake off the moment of introspection but Heather had become adept at controlling her emotions in the months since Grace’s birth. Children picked up on mood swings so quickly and she refused to do anything that might upset the little girl. Far better to keep her feelings to herself than risk letting them affect her precious daughter.

She made her way to the end cubicle and pushed back the curtain, smiling politely at the young woman perched on the end of the bed. ‘It’s Tanya Harvey, is it?’

‘That’s right.’ The young woman tossed back her streaked blond hair and regarded Heather sourly. ‘I thought they said in the papers that the health service had improved recently. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to be seen? Over two hours, and it’s just not good enough!’

‘Unfortunately, we are extremely busy in this department.’ Heather gave the young woman no opportunity to complain further as she picked up the clipboard and quickly read her admission notes. ‘I see that you have a sore throat, Miss Harvey. Don’t you think it would have been more sensible to visit your GP’s surgery rather than the accident and emergency unit?’

‘It’s closed on Saturday afternoons which is why I came here.’ Tanya glared at her. ‘I hope you’re not refusing to treat me because I know my rights.…’

‘I am merely pointing out that this department is for the treatment of urgent cases. It isn’t an alternative to visiting your general practitioner’s surgery outside of normal working hours.’

Heather took her penlight out of her top pocket and switched it on before the girl could reply. ‘If you’d just open your mouth so I can take a look at your throat.’

She quickly examined the woman and wasn’t surprised to discover that although Tanya Harvey’s throat was red and a little swollen, there was nothing to indicate the problem was serious. Mild antibiotics would clear up the infection so she washed her hands then wrote out a prescription and handed it to her.

‘These should clear up the problem but make sure you finish the full course of tablets,’ she explained coolly. ‘One tablet to be taken three times a day with water.’

‘And where am I supposed to get them from?’ Tanya demanded belligerently. ‘It’s gone six now and the chemist’s shop will be shut. Can’t you just give me the tablets?’

‘I’m afraid we don’t dispense antibiotics from this department. The hospital has its own dispensary in the foyer which is open until nine p.m. Take the prescription there and they will sort it out for you.’

Heather could tell that the young woman was about to say something else—another complaint, no doubt. However, just then Rob Bryce, their newly acquired houseman, poked his head round the curtain.

‘Sorry to interrupt, Heather, but we’ve got an emergency on the way in. ETA five minutes.’

‘That’s OK, Rob. I’d just finished here.’ With a last, brief nod at the young woman, Heather followed Rob out to the corridor. ‘What do we know so far?’

‘A three-year-old child trapped in a house fire.’ Rob scanned the scrap of paper in his hand, mercifully missing her swiftly indrawn breath. ‘Doesn’t appear to be too badly burnt from what the paramedics say but he’s suffering from smoke inhalation, as is the fireman who rescued him, apparently. They’re bringing him in as well.’

‘I see.’ Heather managed to control her expression but burns cases were the most difficult of all for her to deal with. She ran her hand over her honey-brown hair to smooth a few stray wisps back into the neat chignon she favoured for work then let her hand fall to her side when she realised it was trembling. Stewart had been involved in a fire, too….

She blanked out the thought.

‘Get onto the burns unit and put them on standby in case we need their input. Sometimes the severity of a burn isn’t immediately apparent. And you’ll need to phone the canteen and ask Ben and Melanie to come back down. We’re going to need everyone available if we have two patients to deal with. We’re running on minimum staffing as it is.’

She ran a quick mental check-list of what needed doing, knowing from experience that it would be easier to deal with the situation if she focused on practicalities. ‘Ask Abby to check Resus and make sure that we have enough dressings and saline. Stocks were running low last time I was in there. Also get her to contact Ambulance Control and check if there are any more casualties expected. On second thoughts, I’ll do that myself.’

‘Will do.’ Rob hurried away, muttering under his breath as he tried to remember everything he’d been asked to do. It was only his third day in the job and Heather knew how overwhelming it was to be thrown in at the deep end this way.

Normally, they only accepted housemen who had gained experience in one of the other departments, but there had been a shortage of suitable candidates so they’d had no option but to take Rob fresh from med school. He seemed to be shaping up well enough but Heather made a note to keep an eye on him. An emergency like this could be extremely harrowing for everyone involved.

Once again, she steered her mind away from what might confront her in a few minutes’ time. She quickly dialled through to Ambulance Control and breathed a sigh of relief when they assured her that there were no more casualties on their way. It would be just the child and the fireman to deal with.

The sound of a siren alerted her to the fact that the ambulance was drawing up outside. Heather replaced the receiver and took a deep breath. She had to put aside her personal demons. There were people depending on her and she mustn’t let them down.

‘OK, Ross, I’m going to take you straight through to Resus. They’ll soon get you sorted out.’

Ross eased the oxygen mask away from his face. His throat felt raw and swollen as a result of all the smoke he’d swallowed but he was less concerned about himself than the child. ‘Don’t worry about me. Just make sure the kid is attended to.’

‘I think you can safely leave it up to us to prioritise treatment. Now, if you would put that mask back on…’

A cool hand brushed his cheek as the oxygen mask was firmly fitted back into place. Startled, Ross glanced round but the woman had already moved away. He just had time to catch a glimpse of a slender back beneath the folds of a crisp white coat before she disappeared through swing doors at the far side of the room, but it was enough to intrigue him. Who was she?

He might have attempted to voice the question out loud but the woman’s intervention seemed to have galvanised the paramedics into action. Before Ross knew what was happening he found himself being wheeled through the same doors into what was obviously the resuscitation unit.

His gaze skimmed around the room and he felt a ripple run through him when he spotted a familiar white-coated figure bending over one of the beds. Once again the woman had her back to him and Ross found himself willing her to turn round as the paramedics got him safely ensconced on another bed. He had no idea why he should be so fascinated by her but he was desperate to know who she was.

His view was suddenly interrupted when a nurse appeared and began attaching him to the state-of-the-art monitoring equipment standing beside the bed. Adhesive pads were stuck to his chest and an array of electrodes clipped into place, then his finger was clamped with a plastic peg and the monitor was switched on. The young nurse smiled reassuringly as she adjusted the settings on the machine.

‘Dr Carlisle will be here in a moment to check you over. Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.’

Ross tried to smile back but it was difficult to perform any facial manoeuvres with the mask biting into his nose and mouth. It was starting to make him feel a bit claustrophobic but he wasn’t sure it would be wise to remove it again and maybe earn himself another rebuke….

His pulse leapt as the woman across the room suddenly turned and he got his first proper look at her face. He blinked because his eyes were still a little hazy from all the smoke…or, at least, he assumed that was what was wrong with them. Surely it was the only explanation for why it felt as though he was looking at the face of an angel rather than a real, live, flesh-and-blood woman?

In a dazzled sweep Ross drank in each of her features from the generous curve of her mouth to the wonderfully soft grey eyes in their frame of sooty black lashes. Her nose was short and straight, her forehead smooth and unlined, her cheekbones so perfect that surely only a sculptor could have created them.

Her golden-brown hair was twisted into an uncompromising knot at the back of her head, but the severe style simply highlighted her beauty rather than detracted from it. It also made his palms tingle in the strangest way to imagine how it would feel to pull out all those pins and allow her hair to tumble around her shoulders in wanton disarray….

She turned away when one of the nurses came back with a bag of saline. Ross sucked in as deep a breath as his swollen throat and burning lungs would allow. What the hell was going on? Why had this unknown woman had such an effect on him? Was it all the smoke he’d inhaled that had addled his brain?

He closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate on the mundane matter of keeping a steady supply of oxygen flowing into his body. But it was alarming how that beautiful face seemed to have impinged on his consciousness. Even with his eyes closed he could still see her…his very own, very beautiful angel.

‘Not as bad as I’d feared. I’d like the burns reg to take a look at this area above his left ankle but, apart from that, he’s been extremely lucky.’

Heather was pleased to hear how calm she sounded. In truth, she didn’t feel at all calm yet the panic that was welling inside her didn’t owe itself purely to the stress of dealing with this type of emergency. What was it about the way that fireman had been looking at her that had unsettled her so?

She summoned a smile for the little boy lying on the bed, hoping that the rest of the team hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Ben Carlisle was attending to the fireman so at least she wouldn’t have to deal with him, which was a relief. Deliberately, she blocked him from her mind.

‘You’ve been a really brave boy, Damien. Nurse is going to give you some special medicine to stop your leg hurting and then another doctor will come and see you.’

‘Want my mummy,’ the little boy wailed, his eyes filling with tears.

‘I know you do, poppet.’ Heather gently patted his hand then glanced at Melanie. ‘Is his mother waiting outside? It might be better if we let her come and sit with him. There’s no point in him getting upset.’

‘She didn’t come with him.’ Melanie lowered her voice so the child couldn’t overhear. ‘From what I could gather she’d gone out and left him in the flat on his own. A neighbour alerted the fire crew when they arrived and told them the child was still inside the building.’

‘But he’s only a baby!’ Heather found it impossible to hide her dismay. ‘How on earth could any mother leave a child that age on his own?’

‘No idea, but it happens all too often, I’m afraid.’ Melanie glanced across the room and sighed. ‘Evidently, the fireman who rescued him was lucky not to be killed. The whole place caved in just seconds after he got the kid out.’

Heather shuddered, unable to stop the rapid play of images that flashed through her head. They were part of the nightmare that had haunted her since Stewart had died. Everyone had said that he’d been a hero but it was hard to find comfort in that fact when all she could think about was what she had lost that day.

‘Heather, are you OK?’

‘Fine. I was just wondering if we should ask the police to find the mother,’ she said briskly when she heard the concern in Melanie’s voice. She mustn’t think about what had happened to Stewart. She must focus on what needed doing, instead of allowing her emotions to run away with her. ‘If they questioned the neighbours then someone might be able to tell them where she went.’

‘Want me to have word with them?’ Melanie offered. ‘There’s a policeman waiting outside so I could ask him.’

‘No. It’s OK. I’ll do it. The burns reg should be here any minute….’ Heather glanced round as the door opened and Alan Fontain appeared. ‘Ah, here he is now.’

She quickly relayed everything that had been done for the little boy for the benefit of the other registrar. Alan was of the same opinion as her, that the child had been extremely fortunate to have got off with such a small area of damage. He made arrangements to admit Damien to the burns unit then hurriedly left.

‘If you’ll take Damien to the burns unit, Mel, I’ll have a word with that policeman,’ Heather began, only to stop once more when Ben approached her.

‘Would you mind taking a look at this chap for me, Heather? I don’t think the damage is too severe but I’ve not handled any cases like this before and I’d hate to miss anything.’

The young registrar’s handsome face broke into a rueful smile. Ben had caused quite a stir since he’d started working in the accident and emergency unit but, so far as Heather was aware, he’d not asked any of the nurses out yet. ‘The effect of smoke inhalation is not something you see very often in the maternity unit, which was my last rotation!’

‘I don’t suppose it is,’ Heather conceded, trying to hide her dismay. However, the fact that she should feel the least bit worried about dealing with a patient alarmed her. What was it about this patient that disturbed her so much?

‘I’ll ask the police to chase up the mother,’ Melanie put in helpfully, shooting a megawatt smile at Ben.

‘Thanks.’ Heather formed her mouth into a smile but her lips felt as though they’d been turned to rubber all of a sudden. She would have to help Ben, of course, because it would be unforgivable to endanger a patient’s life by missing some vital sign which the younger doctor had overlooked.

In silence she crossed the room and took the notes Ben handed her, using the few moments it took to read through them to calm her racing heart. Then, when she could delay no longer, she handed back the clipboard and turned to the man lying on the bed.

‘My name is Heather Cooper and I’m the senior registrar in the accident and emergency unit.’

She couldn’t have counted the number of times she had introduced herself that very same way, yet for some reason the words sounded unfamiliar, as though it was the first time she’d ever said them, the first time they had really mattered.

Her shocked grey eyes flew to the man’s face and stopped, held by the expression in the hazel ones which were regarding her with exactly the same degree of bewilderment. In that moment Heather knew that it wasn’t her imagination that something odd was going on because he could feel it, too. And the panic she’d felt before was nothing to the fear that suddenly gripped her.