She stared at the line on the stick, checked the packetâs instructionsto make sure she was reading itproperly, checked the line again,then gave a whoop of joy.
She was pregnant! It had happened!
She couldnât stop smiling. To have a babyâto have a child on whom she could lavish a motherâs loveâthe love sheâd missed out on as a child. Yes, her father had been wonderful, but she knew instinctively a motherâs love was different.
Theo!
How could she be so excited when she felt, deep in her heart, Theo really didnât want another child?
Although now they knew each other better, might things not work out?
Might she not be able to have Theo and a child?
But the excitement sheâd felt when she first saw the confirmation failed to return. She might have fallen in love with Theo, but in no way had he indicated he had similar feelings for herâ¦
At least sheâd have his childâ¦
Meredith Webber says of herself, âSome ten years ago, I read an article which suggested that Mills and Boon were looking for new medical authors. I had one of those âI can do thatâ moments, and gave it a try. What began as a challenge has become an obsessionâthough I do temper the âbutt on seatâ career of writing with dirty but healthy outdoor pursuits, fossicking through the Australian Outback in search of gold or opals. Having had some success in all of these endeavours, I now consider Iâve found the perfect lifestyle.â
Recent titles by the same author:
THE HEART SURGEONâS SECRET CHILD>** CHILDRENâS DOCTOR, MEANT-TO-BE WIFE>â THE SHEIKH SURGEONâS BABY>* DESERT DOCTOR, SECRET SHEIKH>* A PREGNANT NURSEâS CHRISTMAS WISH THE NURSE HEâS BEEN WAITING FOR>â
**Jimmieâs Childrenâs Unit
*Desert Doctors
â Crocodile Creek
JIMMIEâS CHILDRENâS UNIT
The Childrenâs Cardiac Unit, St Jamesâs Hospital, Sydney. A specialist unit where the dedicated staff mend childrenâs heartsâ¦and their own!
CHAPTER ONE
SHE was tall, she was blonde and she was beautiful. Theo Corones watched from the back of the team meeting as all the men in the room, most of whom were married, registered this fact.
âGrace Sutherland, paediatric cardiac surgeon, trained in Cape Town, South Africa, then further studies in the UK. My main area of expertise is paediatric heart transplants.â
âOf course, youâre a South African and following in famous footsteps,â Alex Attwood, the head of the paediatric cardiac surgery team at St Jamesâs Childrenâs Hospital, teased gently.
Was it because he was still thinking how beautiful she was that Theo saw the puzzled look on her face? She was intelligent enough to know from his voice that Alex was teasing her, so it seemed she wasnât used to being teased.
Theo thought back to the briefing notes heâd had on the two new surgeons. Jean-Luc Fournier was from France, thirty-four years old and already considered good enough to head up a new unit at a hospital in Marseilles, and Grace Sutherland, thirty-fiveâ¦
Surely by thirty-five youâd got used to being teased.
The meeting proceeded and Theo turned his attention to it, but that expression on Grace Sutherlandâs face was like a missed note in a piece of music, so it stuck in a corner of his mind.
âGrace, youâll be working on Philâs team, while Jean-Luc will work on mine. This is only for the first three months, then youâll swap over so you both have a chance to see the two of us at work. Not that youâll be observersâno, youâll be operating with us and, when weâre not available, for us. And for that reason itâs important you know the whole team. Maggie Park, Philâs wife, usually works as my anaesthetistâtake a bow, Magsâwhile Aaron Gilchrist is the anaesthetist on Philâs team.â
Aaron waved his hand at the two newcomers, while Alex went on to introduce the other theatre staff, nurses, registrars and residents who worked with the team.
âAnd so we come to Theo, who works on both teams. At the moment we only have the one bypass machineâwell, we have three but two are being modified to different specifications. Theo is working with the engineers in what spare time he getsâso he works with whoever is doing a procedure that requires bypass.â
Theo nodded his acknowledgement of the introduction but as both newcomers turned towards him he saw Grace Sutherlandâs eyes for the first time. A pale clear blue, like the aquamarine stone in a ring his mother woreâlike morning sky after a night of rain had cleared the dust and smog from the cityâ¦
âTheo!â
Alexâs voice wasnât exactly sharp but it made it clear Theo had missed some part of the conversation.
âSorry, Alex, you were saying?â
âI was telling Grace and Jean-Luc you also ran the ECMO machines and would walk them through the way we use both machines later today.â
âIâd be glad to,â Theo replied, annoyed with himself for missing this conversation the first time. He was always focussed on work. And to be distracted by a blonde with aquamarine eyesâimpossible!