The Shy Nurse's Rebel Doc

The peal of childish laughter made Blake, and everyone else around him, turn. It was a welcome change from the sounds children usually made here and there were smiles breaking out everywhere as a toddler came towards them at speed, crowing with delight. An adult was in hot pursuit, arms outstretched to catch the escapee.

Hands that were almost in contact with the small person whose nappy was now loose enough to hamper chubby legs.

Hands that had fingernails with polka dots.

‘Gotcha...’

The toddler didn’t seem to mind being captured. With another gurgle of laughter he wrapped his arms around the nurse’s neck. She planted a kiss on the curly head and then turned to take him back to where he was supposed to be—presumably the paediatric area. The moment she became aware of her audience was very obvious. Her eyes widened and her smile was fading as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

Then her gaze collided with Blake’s and a flush of colour instantly stained her cheeks.

And, for the second time in a single day, he was blindsided.

She’d had her face half covered the first time he’d seen her so he hadn’t realised...

He hadn’t realised that this was the most beautiful woman he’d ever clapped eyes on in his entire life.

Sun-kissed blonde hair and the bluest eyes imaginable. A cute little nose and a generous mouth clearly designed for smiling—or for being kissed...

He couldn’t drag his gaze away from her.

She was tall and slim, as well. A model masquerading as a nurse. A Disney princess who probably had a tiara and frothy ball gown tucked away in her locker.

He was still staring as she hurried away with the toddler peering over her shoulder. As if mocking him, a small hand was waving at Blake.

‘Oh, dear...’ Emily murmured. ‘She’s not having the best first day, poor thing.’

Blake’s inward breath made him realise that he hadn’t taken one for a while. ‘Who is that?’

‘Samantha Braithwaite. She’s come here from Sydney Central with impeccable references including postgrad qualifications in trauma management.’

There was a moment’s silence, then, possibly because Blake’s tone had finally filtered through to his colleague.

‘Oh, no...’ Emily sighed. ‘Do I have to warn her of your reputation?’

Blake grinned at her. ‘Do I have a reputation?’

She laughed. ‘Go away. Do your work. What you do in your personal life is none of my business.’

He pretended not to hear her final murmur as he headed for cubicle three.

‘And thank goodness for that...’

CHAPTER TWO

‘OH, MY GOD, Harriet. I can’t go back tomorrow...’

Ignoring the glass of wine her friend had put in front of her, Sam buried her face in her hands.

‘Don’t be daft. It’ll be fine.’

‘Everybody thinks I’m an idiot.’

‘That’s not true and you know it.’

Sam reached for her glass and took a long sip. Okay...maybe not everybody thought that but one person certainly did and he wasn’t just one of the senior doctors in her new department and therefore her boss.

He was, quite possibly, the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in her entire life. Emily had been quite right that Blake Cooper looked different in his scrubs. When she’d seen him later today, thanks to chasing that wayward toddler, his hair was pulled back, sleek against his head, the length of it hidden in a kind of knot at the back. And, without the distraction of those rock god tresses, it was his eyes that grabbed attention. Eyes that were so dark you couldn’t distinguish the pupils. Brooding eyes.

Drop dead sexy...

But also capable of delivering a withering glance. As they had, in that first moment he’d noticed her thanks to that unfortunate bedpan incident.

Sam was staring at her glass of wine, now. ‘Has it ever occurred to you that chardonnay looks a lot like urine?’

Harriet let out a peal of laughter that made heads turn in this trendy wine bar with its glorious view of the beach.

‘Let it go.’ She was grinning.

‘I can’t. I practically threw a full bedpan of the stuff at the feet of one of Bondi Bayside’s top emergency consultants. You were there. You must have seen the way he glared at me.’

Pushing her fingers into her hair loosened strands that escaped the coil she had created so carefully in the early hours of this morning. She pulled the clip from the back of her head and let the rest of it escape as well. Maybe that would help her try and move on from her disastrous day.

‘I think he had other things on his mind,’ Harriet told her. ‘Honestly, he’ll have forgotten all about it by tomorrow. And, if he hasn’t, he’ll make a joke about it.’

Sam finally picked up her glass and took a sip. ‘Why were you there, anyway?’

‘I heard someone screaming for help in the car park. And then I saw Blake leaping over the fence like some hero in an action movie. Joining in was automatic—it was like a training exercise for the team or something.’

‘But you don’t work in ED.’

‘I mean the SDR. I’ve told you all about that. Wasn’t it one of the reasons you wanted to come and work on this side of town?’

Sam nodded. She’d long been envious of Harriet’s involvement with the Specialist Disaster Response team. How exciting would it be to get dispatched as a first response to major incidents like floods or fires or an avalanche, maybe? To be working in the field facing the kind of challenges that you’d never experience in a nice, safe emergency department. She fully intended to try and join the team herself and, given that she wasn’t a firefighter or a paramedic, the first step in that ambition had been to become a member of Bondi Bayside Hospital’s staff.

Her heart had just sunk a little, however. Had Harriet just made her aware of a possible fly in the ointment? A fly the size of an albatross?

‘Blake’s in the SDR?’

‘Are you kidding? It was pretty much his baby right from the start. He told me once that he’d been planning to join Médecins Sans Frontières. He’d been through the selection process and was just waiting for his first posting but then his mum had a stroke and she’s pretty dependent on him now so he couldn’t go anywhere. He had a mate in the fire service who got him into USAR and that’s when he came up with the idea of a medical team that could add another level of skill to a first response.’

‘USAR?’

‘Urban Search and Rescue. I’ve done a course myself. You learn how to find victims in situations like collapsed buildings. It’s awesome. I think most firies do it and a lot of paramedics. Not so many doctors or nurses but it’s attracting more interest now. You have to do it if you’re in the team. Blake’s actually one of the regional instructors now. Plus, he’s winch-trained for helicopters. I’m thinking of doing that training myself, actually. Bit scary, though...’

Sam was nodding but her thoughts were skidding off in another direction. Blake Cooper was getting more intriguing with everything she heard about him. He was obviously a born leader. He wasn’t afraid of danger.

And he loved his mother.

He was also clearly at the top of the SDR ladder.

‘Um... Who gets to decide if someone’s allowed to join the team?’

‘There’s a committee. People have their names put forward by someone who’s already on the team and there’s a discussion and a vote to see if they’re going to be invited to a training session to try out. And then there’s another vote to decide whether they get to join.’ Harriet raised her eyebrows. ‘Want me to put your name forward?’

‘Sure. But, if Blake gets to vote, I think I might have killed my chances.’

‘By throwing a bedpan at him?’

‘It wasn’t just that. He saw me later today, too. Chasing down a toddler who’d taken off from the paediatric area. He must think I’m totally incompetent.’

She knew that for a fact, thanks to the second time they had made eye contact today. The moment the chase had ended when she’d scooped up that adorable little boy, she could feel the intensity of his gaze. And his expression...well, the only interpretation she could put on it was complete incredulity. As if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing—that she was still working in his department?

Harriet shrugged. ‘He’ll soon find out you’re not. He’s one of the smartest guys I know and he can read people pretty well. I could tell him myself, just to speed up the process.’

‘No, don’t do that, Harry. It feels like I’d be trying to get something the easy way. Breaking some unwritten rule for a team that must have to rely on everyone being super competent. I’ll just have to impress him at work somehow, if I get the chance. And then you could put my name forward.’

‘Don’t try too hard,’ Harriet advised. ‘He likes to make his own decisions. If he gets pushed he’s likely to walk off and do his own thing. He’s a...what’s the word for it...when someone’s a law unto themselves kind of thing?’

‘Fascinating’ was the first word that sprang to mind. Or maybe ‘irresistible’...

‘Maverick, that’s it.’ Harriet’s nod was satisfied.

‘Hmm... I guess he is. I mean, that hair...’

‘I know. Not my thing but it doesn’t seem to put other girls off.’

‘And he was still wearing jeans under that scrubs top. And...and cowboy boots?’

Harriet was laughing again. ‘I guess when you’re that brilliant at what you do, you can get away with pretty much anything. He’s a nice guy, Sam. As long as you don’t get too close.’

‘Oh? What happens if you do?’

‘Well, you don’t. That’s just it. You get a broken heart, that’s all. Oh...speaking of hearts.’ Harriet glanced at her watch. ‘I’ve got to run. Pete’s taking me out to dinner and that doesn’t happen very often. I think...’ She bit her lip, hazel eyes sparkling beneath her tumble of auburn curls. ‘I think he’s going to ask me to move in with him.’

‘Really?’ Oh, my God, Harry. That’s almost a proposal. Are you going to say yes?’

Harriet grinned. ‘You have met Pete, haven’t you?’

‘Of course I have.’

She’d met Harriet’s boyfriend more than once. A tall, very fit fireman who was also part of the SDR, Pete had sun-bleached blond hair thanks to his favourite hobby of surfing and a body that was a testament to the number of hours he spent at the gym. He was undeniably good looking and seemed like a perfectly nice guy but...

Sam gave her head a tiny shake as she reached for her bag. There was no ‘but’. Her parents would be rapt if she brought someone like Pete home. They would be horrified if she turned up with someone like...

Like Blake Cooper.

Good grief...one glass of wine on a sunny afternoon and it had gone straight to her head, hadn’t it?

‘I hope Pete takes you somewhere really romantic.’

‘I don’t care if it’s a fast food joint, to be honest. You coming to the bus stop?’

‘No. I left my car at work.’ She hugged her friend. ‘And I’ve got some shopping to do. Catch you tomorrow, maybe?’

Luckily there was a pharmacy in the group of local shops near the wine bar. Sam headed in and grabbed an item that had been at the back of her mind all day.

Nail polish remover.

* * *

The little red car was still there.

Blake Cooper was finally heading home after a long shift. He had already worked more than his allocated hours and he would have stayed longer still so that he’d had a chance to get up to the paediatric wing and check on the baby he’d resuscitated this morning but he had another place he needed to be and someone who needed him to be there.

It made him smile to see the car again. He’d have to tell his mum about it, he decided, as he climbed onto his bike and rocked it free of its stand. A trip down memory lane for both of them was one of her favourite things. Maybe he’d even have a dig in those old boxes at the back of the garage and see if that box of toys was still there somewhere.

His smile died as he lifted his head to put his helmet on.

No way...

It couldn’t be...

But it was. The woman walking towards the little red car was none other than the new nurse from ED.

Samantha Braithwaite.

The name had burned itself into his memory banks instantly, with a similar lightning bolt kind of finality as what she looked like.

And, if he’d thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in that moment, it paled in comparison to what he was seeing now.

She’d been wearing scrubs then. With her hair no more than a lumpy knot at the back of her head.

Right now, she was wearing a gypsy-style, loose white blouse and faded denim shorts with frayed hems that showed off an incredible length of slim, bronzed legs. And her hair... Released from that knot, it was astonishingly long, reaching her waist in a fall of gentle waves that the summer evening breeze was playing with.

Forget the impression of being a princess or a model. What Blake was looking at now was more like an image from one of those magazines he’d hidden under his bed as a teenager.

Every man’s fantasy.

And she owned the vintage MG roadster? Apparently so, given that she’d climbed inside and was now rolling the soft top back.

Blake’s breath came out in a snort. Of course she did. It was probably a gift from a rich father. Or husband. A boyfriend at the very least. Women who looked like that were never alone in life.

Maybe she’d had those stupid dots painted on her nails to match its paintwork, even.

This was ridiculous. Why was he even giving this woman and her questionable life choices any head space at all? Blake jammed his helmet onto his head and kicked the engine of his bike into life. He took off with perhaps a bit more acceleration than was strictly necessary so it really shouldn’t have surprised him that she turned her head to stare at him.

What did come as a surprise was that he rather liked the idea that she was watching him.

* * *

‘How long will I have to wait?’

‘I’m not sure, Jess.’ Sam had come into one of the cubicles assigned to her on this shift, to do the obs on a patient who’d been brought into the ED by ambulance earlier this morning. She watched the drip rate of the IV fluids and slowed them a little by turning the small wheel on the line. These fluids were running simply to keep a vein open in case medication was needed at some point. ‘I can make a call and try and find out, if you like?’

She knew which of the phones on the main desk she could use. And who to call. After a week in her new department, Sam was comfortably familiar with where things were, subtle differences in protocols and her new group of colleagues, both in the department and the consultants who got called in. They were a great bunch of people and Sam knew she was going to make new friends here. She particularly liked Kate Mitchell, an O&G surgeon, who was apparently also a member of the SDR team although she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet. She lived in the same apartment building as Harriet so maybe she should suggest that they all meet up for a drink one evening, or something.

‘That would be great.’ Jess nodded. ‘I’ve let them know at work that I’m going to be late but I haven’t worked there that long, you know? I don’t want them to think I’m a liability.’

‘I get it. I’m pretty new here, myself. Let me just do your blood pressure and things and I’ll get on it.’

At twenty-five, Jess was only a few years younger than Sam so she already felt an affinity with this patient. That she wanted to impress people at a new job gave them another connection. Sam smiled at her as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm. Not that she’d managed to impress anybody here yet, as far as she was aware, but at least she’d been able to keep her head down and work hard and had, thank goodness, avoided calling attention to herself for any less than desirable incidents.

She still felt like she was on probation, however, whenever Blake Cooper was in the near vicinity. Which seemed to be an awful lot of the time. She’d developed a kind of internal radar that alerted her to his presence in the department, even when he wasn’t visible, which was a bit weird but she’d proved herself correct often enough to trust it now. It was like some kind of energy that gave a recognisable crackle to the atmosphere.

She wasn’t into auras or anything like that, but it wasn’t hard to recognise charisma and she’d already been intrigued by this man. When she’d seen him roar off on his motorbike that evening last week, the jolt of what could only be described as pure lust had been shocking enough to explain the crackle she was now so aware of. It was also the reason she was avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. It wasn’t easy, either, because that feeling of being on probation came from the knowledge that he was keeping an eye on her.

Watching what she was up to and whether she was doing her job to an acceptable level of expertise.

How embarrassing would it be if he could see how attractive she found him?

She noted a normal blood pressure and then picked up the tympanic thermometer.

‘I’m sure I don’t have a temperature,’ Jess told her. ‘I don’t feel sick.’

‘We’re just keeping an eye on things. An infection is one of the things that could be interfering with your anti-epileptic medication.’

‘I don’t even think I had a seizure. I just fainted or something.’

‘You may as well get checked out properly while you’re here.’

‘I wouldn’t be here, if that cop hadn’t been in the coffee shop when it happened. He was the one who called an ambulance.’

‘I might have done the same thing myself, if I’d noticed your MedicAlert bracelet.’

‘But I was fine by the time it arrived. If he hadn’t threatened to call my parents if I didn’t go to the hospital, I’d be at work now and wouldn’t be here wasting people’s time.’

‘When was the last time you had an EEG?’

‘After my last seizure, nearly two years ago. Oh...’ Jess groaned. ‘I was just about to be able to get my driver’s licence back, you know? This really sucks...’

‘I know.’ Sam wrote the normal temperature onto the chart. ‘It’s a bit stressful starting a new job. Have you been sleeping okay? Eating well?’

They were all questions that had been asked by the junior registrar who’d been assigned this patient but, sometimes, people found it less intimidating to chat to their nurse and new information could be forthcoming.

But Jess just shook her head. ‘You’re starting to sound like my mother.’

‘Sorry.’ Sam grinned. ‘Helicopter parent, huh? I know what that’s like.’

‘You’d think I was still six years old, not a responsible adult.’ Jess sighed heavily, leaning her head back on her pillows. ‘I don’t blame them, you know? My brother died in a car accident when he was seventeen. They’ve been watching me like a hawk ever since and I know how much they care. That’s why I can’t let them know I’m in here. My mother would totally panic.’

Sam had frozen for a moment, after clipping the chart back onto the end of the bed.

‘I understand,’ she said quietly.

Man...she had way more in common with this patient than an age group or a new job.

‘And I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. That’s really rough.’

She knew exactly how rough. Not that her brother had died in a car crash. No. Alistair had been feeding his adrenaline addiction and climbing a mountain. He’d been twenty-five. Sam had only been sixteen and the loss of her only brother and her best friend had been devastating. Her parents were never going to get over it.

‘It wasn’t his fault. They said it was, because he was driving but I don’t believe it. One of his mates in the car said he collapsed at the wheel but he’d had a head injury and nobody believed him.’

There were tears rolling down Jess’s face. ‘It changed everything, you know? It was when I had my first seizure and knew how terrified my parents were. We all miss him...so much...’

Jess was sobbing now. Sam moved to put her arms around her patient. She needed to comfort her. Emotional distress like this wasn’t going to help. It could even possibly trigger another seizure.

And, even as the thought appeared, she could feel the sudden change within her arms. The instant lack of any muscle tension.

‘Jess? Jess...?’

The lack of any response was no surprise. Swiftly, Sam removed the pillows from behind Jess’s head and tilted her chin to ensure her airway was open before pressing her fingers to her neck to check her pulse. The sudden jerking beneath her hand made it impossible to feel anything. All she could do now was to make sure that she kept Jess safe for the duration of this seizure. And to alert the registrar, Sandra, of this new development.

The movements weren’t violent enough to put Jess in danger of falling off the bed so Sam took a quick step back to flick the curtain open far enough to call whoever was closest and ask them to find Sandra urgently.

There was only one person close enough to call.

And this was not an appropriate moment to avoid eye contact.

Oddly, she didn’t need to utter a word.

And, even more oddly, it felt like she’d known that since the first time she had made eye contact with this extraordinary man. It was exactly why she’d been avoiding this—it felt like he could see anything that she might be trying to hide.

Not that she was trying to hide anything right now. She needed back-up and it took only a split second. With two strides, Blake was behind the curtain with her, his intense gaze on Jess as he took in the uncontrolled movements of her body.

‘This is Jess, twenty-five years old,’ Sam told him rapidly. ‘History of epilepsy. She was brought in by ambulance nearly an hour ago and is waiting for an EEG. She...um...got upset when we were talking. Sudden loss of consciousness and the seizure started maybe fifteen seconds later.’

‘Draw up some midazolam,’ Blake ordered. ‘Five milligrams. We’re going to need it if this lasts more than five minutes. Grab some valproate as well, in case the midaz isn’t enough.’

Sam’s hands were rock steady as she swiftly found the ampoules, double checked the name, dose and expiry date with Blake and drew up the drugs.

He checked his watch. ‘Three minutes,’ he murmured. He was resting his hand on the arm that had the IV line inserted, to protect it from being knocked out of place. ‘What was she upset about?’

‘She was telling me about her brother who died in a car crash when he was a teenager. Her epilepsy got diagnosed not long after that.’

‘Oh?’ Blake slanted a glance towards Sam and, again, there was a moment of communication that went beyond the words being spoken. They both found this snippet of information interesting.

‘Apparently, one of the passengers in the car thought he might have collapsed suddenly at the wheel.’

Blake’s glance sharpened with what looked like curiosity.

‘What are you thinking?’

A lot of people wouldn’t have jumped in with both feet the way Sam did. She was a nurse. It wasn’t her place to suggest that a doctor’s diagnosis might have been wrong. But maybe she recognised the significance of something others might have dismissed and she had the feeling that Blake was on the same wavelength.

‘What if it’s not epilepsy at all?’ Sam suggested quietly. ‘But something like long QT syndrome?’

Surprise replaced curiosity in that dark gaze. ‘What do you know about long QT syndrome?’

‘It’s a delayed repolarisation of the heart that can lead to episodes of torsades de pointes and can cause fainting, seizures and sudden death due to ventricular fibrillation. It can be hereditary and run in families.’

‘She must have had ECGs done.’

‘They did a twelve lead in the ambulance this morning. It was reported as sinus rhythm and NAD.’

No abnormalities detected.