Beautifully solid.
She took time to take him in. Detail seemed important. Detail meant real.
His face was tanned and strongly boned. His deep blue eyes were crinkled at the edges. Laughter lines? Weather lines? Weather maybe. His near black hair—a bit unkempt, a bit in need of a cut—showed signs of sun-bleaching. That’d be from weather. He was wearing cream chinos. His short-sleeved shirt was open at the throat—this guy was definitely ripped—and his stethoscope was hanging from his top pocket.
Welcome to the other side?
Gorgeous fitted the other side description, she decided. Doctors didn’t.
‘Doctors aren’t in my version of heaven,’ she said, trying her voice out. She was vaguely surprised when it worked. Nothing felt like it should work this morning.
‘It’s definitely heaven,’ he said, smiling a wide, white smile that made him look friendlier—and more heart-stoppingly gorgeous—than any doctor she’d ever met. ‘In the other place the pillows are lumpy and we’re big on castor oil and leeches.’
‘And here?’ she managed.
‘Not a leech in sight, we reserve our castor oil for emergencies and there are two pillows for every bed. And because you were soggy the angels have decreed you can have more.’ He waved an expansive hand around her not-very-expansive cubicle. ‘Luxury.’
She smiled at that. She was in a two-bed cubicle that opened out into the corridor. The nurses’ station was on the other side, giving whoever was at the station a clear view of her bed. Luxury?
‘And heaven also means your medical care’s totally free,’ he added. ‘Especially as your documents say you have travel insurance.’
Her documents?
There was enough there to give her pause. To make her take her time about saying anything else. She looked at Dr Riley Chase and he gazed calmly back at her. She had the impression that he had all the time in the world.
‘Dr Chase?’ a female voice called to him from the corridor. Maybe he didn’t have all the time in the world.
‘Unless it’s a code blue I’m busy,’ he called back. He tugged a chair to her bedside and straddled it, so he was facing her with the back of the chair between them. She knew this trick. She often wished she could use it herself but it was a guy thing. Guy thing or not, she appreciated it now. It gave the impression of friendliness, but it wasn’t overly familiar. She needed a bit of distance and maybe he sensed it.
‘You’re on suicide watch,’ he said bluntly. ‘We have a staff shortage. Are you planning on doing anything interesting?’
She thought about that for a bit. Felt a bit angry. Felt a bit stupid.
‘We’re struggling with priorities,’ he said, maybe sensing her warring emotions. Feeling the need to be apologetic. ‘Olive Matchens had a heart attack last night. She’s a nice old lady. We’re transferring her to Sydney for a coronary bypass but until the ambulance is free I’d like a nurse to stay with her all the time. Only we need to watch you.’
‘I don’t need to be watched.’
‘Okay, promise I have nothing to worry about?’ He smiled again, and his smile … Wow. A girl could wake up to that smile and think it had been worth treading water for a night or more or more to find it. ‘You need to know you’re at risk of that cod liver oil if you break your promise,’ he warned, and his smile became wicked. Teasing.
But there was seriousness behind his words. She knew she had to respond.
‘I wasn’t trying to do anything silly.’ She tried to sound sure but it came out a whisper.
‘Pardon?’
‘I was not trying to suicide.’ Her second attempt came out loud. Very loud. The noises outside the cubicle stopped abruptly and she felt like hauling her bedclothes up to her nose and disappearing under them.
‘Your mother’s frantic. She’s on her way to Heathrow airport right now,’ Dr Chase told her. ‘With someone called Roger. Their plane’s due to leave in two hours unless I call to stop them.’
Forget hiding under the bedclothes. She dropped her sheet and stared at him in horror. ‘My mother and Roger?’
‘They sound appalled. They know you’re safe, but you’ve terrified them.’
‘Excellent.’
‘That’s not very—’
‘Kind? No, it’s not. My mother still wants me to marry Roger.’
‘This sounds complicated,’ he said, sounding like he was beginning to enjoy himself. Then someone murmured something out in the corridor and he glanced at his watch and grimaced. ‘Okay, let’s give you the benefit of the doubt, and let Roger and Mum sweat for a bit. What hurts?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You know, I’m very sure it does.’
She thought about it. He watched as she thought about it.
He saw more than she wanted him to see, she decided. His gaze was calm but intent, giving her all the time in the world to answer but getting answers of his own while he waited. She could see exactly what he was doing, but there was no escaping those calm, intelligent eyes.
‘My chest,’ she said at last, reluctantly.
‘There’s a bit of water in your lungs. We’ve X-rayed. It’s nice clean ocean water and you’re a healthy young woman. It shouldn’t cause problems but we’re giving you antibiotics in case, and you need to stay propped up on pillows and under observation until it clears. Your breathing’s a bit ragged and it’ll cause a bit of discomfort. We’re starting you on diuretics—something to dry you out a bit. There’ll be no long-term issues as long as you obey instructions.’
‘My arms …’
‘Harness,’ he said ruefully. ‘We try and pad ’em.’
‘We?’
‘New South Wales North Coast Flight-Aid.’
There was an echo—the way he said the name. Some time last night those words had been said—maybe even on the way up into the helicopter.
‘New South Wales North Coast Flight-Aid, ma’am, at your service.’
Same voice. Same man?
‘Were you the one who pulled me up?’ she asked, astounded.
‘I was,’ he said, modestly. ‘You were wet.’
‘Wet?’ She felt … disconcerted to say the least.
‘Six years in med school,’ he said proudly. ‘Then four years of emergency medicine training, plus more training courses than you can imagine to get the rescue stuff right. Put it all together and I can
