Brought Together by Baby. Margaret McDonagh

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      With special thanks to:

      Dr Nick Edwards, author of In Stitches, for help with my research

      John and Jennifer,

      for all your help and kindness

      Fiona, Craig, Jackie, Lesley, Irene, Fiona, Janet,

      Gwen, Caroline, Christina, Maggie, Pam, Wolfie, Anne, Richard and Fiona, for being there for me

      Jo—editor extraordinaire— for your support, patience and encouragement

      All the staff at the local sanatorium,

      aka The Madhouse! Words are insufficient to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, in so many ways, and for all your kindness and care.

      CHAPTER ONE

      ‘YOU won’t believe this, Gus, but the air ambulance is on its way in.’

      Dr Gus Buchanan glanced up from the notes he was writing as Carolyn, the nurse assigned to assist him, returned to the treatment cubicle after seeing out their most recent patient. ‘Again?’

      ‘Again,’ Carolyn confirmed, her tone and wide-eyed expression echoing his own incredulity.

      The warm and sunny June day should have been unremarkable, but he was eight hours into his shift and Strathlochan Hospital’s A&E department had been bedlam for every minute of it. The chaos showed no sign of abating: every treatment cubicle was in use, the emergency phone continued to ring non-stop, and now the air ambulance, which had already responded to a record number of calls since early morning, was back in action once more.

      Gus snapped the file closed and pocketed his pen. ‘What the hell is going on today?’

      ‘Heaven knows. It’s the craziest shift I’ve had in the five years I’ve been here,’ his colleague informed him, shaking her head. ‘How many patients have we treated and sent home?’

      ‘I’ve lost count.’

      ‘Me, too. And the Minors waiting area is still full to bursting. They’re at breaking point in Resus, too, and have already called in off-duty staff to help. If it carries on like this I wouldn’t be surprised if they had to call for more.’ As she talked Carolyn busied herself clearing up the debris he’d left after stitching a pensioner’s nasty leg wound. ‘The helicopter must be attending something especially serious, Gus, because Kathleen all but threw the emergency phone at Laura in Reception before rushing off to alert Robert Mowbray. I’ve never seen her that upset before.’

      Nor had he. Gus frowned. The fact that Kathleen O’Leary, the unflappable department manager, was acting so out of character highlighted the unusualness of the day, but it was hearing how overstretched his colleagues were that increased his frustration. He’d spent the day stuck in Minors rather than being in the thick of the action as part of a Resus team. All the doctors rotated round the A&E department and, whilst he generally enjoyed taking his turn in Minors—where he had more time and saw a wider variety of patients—it was the adrenalin rush of emergency medicine that called to him, testing his skills and giving him the buzz on which many trauma doctors thrived.

      As Carolyn washed her hands and applied antibacterial gel to them before setting about restocking the dressing trolley, Gus slid off the high stool he’d perched on to write the notes and stood up. ‘While you prep things here, I’ll find out what’s next on our agenda.’

      ‘OK, Gus.’

      He didn’t admit it aloud, but he was secretly hoping that Robert Mowbray, the head consultant on duty, would notice him and reassign him to help out in Resus, despite the queues in Minors.

      ‘Thanks, Carolyn. Grab yourself a cup of tea when you’re done.’

      His suggestion earned him a rueful smile. ‘The chance would be a fine thing! No one has stopped all day, yourself included, and I can’t see any sign of that changing.’

      ‘Not if the patients keep coming at the same rate,’ he agreed, masking his fatigue, knowing it was shared by all his colleagues.

      Caroline sent him a quick grin. ‘One of the registrars has dubbed today Wild Wednesday.’

      ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into Tempestuous Thursday and Frantic Friday, too,’ Gus countered, returning her smile.

      ‘Don’t even joke about it!’

      Carolyn’s chuckle followed him as he left the cubicle and negotiated his way along the busy corridor. She was a pleasant and competent young woman to work with, Gus reflected. All the nurses were. Apart from department vamp Olivia Barr, whose professional standards left much to be desired and whom he avoided whenever possible. But neither Carolyn nor any of the other nurses was as naturally skilled or as instinctively on the same wavelength with him as Holly had been.

      His step faltered.

      Holly …

      For a moment the breath caught in his throat as everything within him tightened and his mood darkened. Holly was the nurse with whom he had become so close following his arrival in Strathlochan the previous August. Now even thinking about her was forbidden and upsetting—although that didn’t stop his mind lingering on her far more often than he cared to admit. Holly had burrowed into his psyche and, try as he might, he hadn’t been able to banish her.

      Things