The Surgeon She's Been Waiting For. Joanna Neil

certainly looks as though it must be uncomfortable,’ Megan agreed. ‘You also have a low-grade fever, according to your chart.’ She pulled her stethoscope from the pocket of her white jacket. ‘I’ll just need to listen to your chest, and we’ll check your blood pressure once more. From the earlier reading it appears to bea touch low.’ She quickly examined the woman and then gave her an encouraging smile. ‘I’m going to take some blood for testing and arrange a special kind of CT scan so that we can see what’s going on more clearly. In the meantime, we’ll give you oxygen to help you breathe more easily.’

      Going to the side of the room, she spoke in a low voice to the nurse. ‘It looks as though there might be a blood clot forming in her vein, so I’m going to get her started on anticoagulation therapy to prevent things from getting any worse. We need to get the CT scan done as soon as possible. The technician will inject a contrast dye into her blood vessels and that will show up any clots that have already formed.’

      Some time later, after she had set up an intravenous line in her patient’s arm, she said, ‘I’ll organise the scan and I’ll be back to see you in a while, but in the meantime, please let the nurse know if your symptoms change or begin to get worse. We’ll get you some compression stockings to see if that will help make you more comfortable, and I’m going to place a couple of pillows under your leg to raise it a little.’

      Satisfied that she had done all she could for the time being, she spent the next hour or so dealing with a steady stream of patients, checking every now and again to see if any lab results had come back.

      There was still no report from the CT technician, so she headed for the central area to see if she could hurry things up. Coming to a sudden halt, she was disconcerted to see that Theo Benyon was standing by the reception desk.

      John Edwards’s words came back to her… ‘Don’t let him escape.’ But how was she supposed to keep him there when she had a job to do? Quickly, she paged her boss. His meeting would obviously have to take second place if this was so important to him.

      ‘Hello again,’ she said, going over to Theo, and he turned to look in her direction. His appearance had a decidedly unsettling effect on her. Long and lean, and once again immaculately dressed in a dark-coloured suit, he was lounging negligently against the desk, deep in conversation with the young nurse who was monitoring admissions there. She appeared to be basking in his attention.

      ‘You’re quite a frequent visitor around here, aren’t you?’ Megan added. ‘Is there anything at all that I can do for you?’

      His mouth tilted attractively. ‘Now, there’s a tempting proposition,’ he murmured, his blue gaze moving over her. ‘I’m sure I can think of all manner of things that might fit the bill.’

      She pulled in a quick breath and pinned him with a cool, grey stare. Did the man have no shame? Even with his wife desperately ill in hospital, he was still prepared to try out his charm on all and sundry. Perhaps it came naturally to him, as easily as breathing air.

      Her mind drifted back in time. Only the other day he had caused Sarah’s cheeks to flush with warmth, hadn’t he? And she couldn’t help but notice that the nurse on reception duty was looking all of a flutter.

      Well, he would find that she was one woman who wasn’t going to be drawn by his magnetic lure. ‘Of course it will be Mr Edwards that you’re wanting to see,’ she murmured, ignoring his remark. ‘I’ve paged him, so he should be down here at any moment.’

      His head went back a fraction. ‘You didn’t need to do that. All I want to do is drop off a couple of paintings that he asked for. If they’re not suitable, he can easily let me know and I’ll drop by and pick them up next time I’m here.’

      She nodded. ‘I guess you and Harry must be getting quite used to this place by now.’ Glancing around, she discovered that there was no sign of his young son. ‘Is Harry with his mother?’ she asked.

      He shook his head. ‘Not today. Sometimes these visits can be upsetting for him, so I’ve been limiting the number of times I bring him along. Anyway, I’ve managed to enrol him in the local school, so at least he’ll have the opportunity to make new friends, and it will help to keep his mind off what’s going on here. He wasn’t too happy about it, but all this change in his life has been unsettling for him, and he needs to get back to normality as much as possible.’

      ‘Poor boy.’ Megan’s gaze clouded. ‘I can imagine it must be difficult for both of you.’ She frowned slightly, trying to make sense of what was going on. ‘Mr Edwards told me that he had operated on Harry’s mother. Is there any chance that she will make a quick recovery? Do you mind me asking? Only Mr Edwards didn’t say what was wrong.’

      Theo grimaced. ‘Francie suffered a cerebral haemorrhage. It came on very suddenly when she complained of a terrible headache, like a blow to the head, and then she collapsed. It turned out that it was a burst blood vessel in her head and we were very worried that she wasn’t going to make it. John was down in Somerset at the time on an exchange visit and offered to work with the team who operated on her. I’m sure it was his expertise that pulled her through.’

      ‘I’m so sorry.’ Megan was shocked. Many patients didn’t survive such a devastating incident, and those who did often faced a long road back to health. ‘How is she? Was the operation a success?’

      ‘In the sense that she survived, I suppose so, yes.’ He half turned away from her, as though he would hide the emotions that suddenly ravaged him, but she was watching him intently and she saw that his features had become shadowed, tinged with grief and regret. ‘Of course, she’s suffered badly as a result of the initial damage from the haemorrhage, and she’s paralysed down one side, so that she can’t walk, or use her arm, and her speech has been lost. The only consolation is that she’s young, and that gives her a fighting chance for recovery.’

      ‘That’s why you brought her here, isn’t it? So that she would be treated in the new stroke centre?’

      ‘Yes.’ He lifted his head, facing her once more. ‘I heard about the work that was being done here, and I wanted her to have the very best of care…along with the fact that Harry’s grandparents live near by. He needs their support right now. He’s very young and he hasn’t managed to come to terms with what has happened to his mother just yet.’

      ‘That will probably take some time.’

      He nodded. Then, as though he wanted to change the subject, he said briskly, ‘About these paintings—I’ve stacked them behind the reception desk for the time being. Do you think you could let John know that they’re here? Then I’ll be on my way.’

      ‘Oh, no…’ Megan suddenly remembered that, quite apart from her own interest in this man, her boss was still hoping to speak to him. ‘Do you really have to go right now? I mean, I was hoping that—’ She broke off as the receptionist interrupted.

      ‘Megan, a message has just come through for you from the CT technician,’ Rhianna said. ‘The scan showed a deep vein thrombosis, but as she was doing the scan, the patient’s condition worsened. It looks as though a portion of the clot has broken off and travelled to her lung. She’s having difficulty breathing and her heart rate is galloping.’

      ‘Oh, Lord, that’s the last thing we need.’ Megan had to think quickly. ‘Check that there’s an operating room available for me, will you, Rhianna, and assemble a team? Ask Sarah to prep the patient for me. I’ll have to do a pulmonary angiography to see if there’s any way I can dissolve the clot.’ She turned to Theo. ‘Is there any chance at all that you could stay? I would have liked to talk to you about your paintings…’

      It was true enough, but she could see that he was sceptical about that, and perhaps it would not be wise at this moment to remind him that her boss might put in an appearance any time soon. He didn’t seem too keen on meeting up with him.

      As a last desperate measure to keep him around, she tacked on, ‘I don’t suppose you’d care to come along with me, would you? I’ve heard about your expertise as