Tempted by the Hot Highland Doc

It always took her back to the fact that she wished Jess had stayed on the line a little longer—just once. It might have made the difference. It might have let her know she was safe to confide how she was feeling and didn’t have to hide it.

Occasionally she would get a flashback to part of that first night. Hospitals were a place she’d generally avoided ever since, associating the sights and sounds with the memories of that night. It was part of the reason she’d been reluctant about this gig.

But now she was realising it was something more. Last month, with John Henderson’s body, and this time, when she’d glanced at the cot upstairs—patiently waiting for its baby—she’d felt a sweep of something else. Pure and utter dread. The kind that made her heart beat faster and her breathing kind of funny.

Her heart had sunk as the helicopter had disappeared into the distance, not knowing what the outcome would be for Magda and the baby. She didn’t care about the show right now. She didn’t care about anything.

And all that she could see was this great hulking man standing in front of her with the strangest expression on his face. His hands brushed against hers as he closed them around the cushion, gripping it.

He gave a tug towards himself. ‘I think it would be best if you go now.’

She couldn’t understand. ‘But the room...’ She let go of the cushion and held out her hands, looking over at the birthing pool and wondering how on earth it would be emptied and taken down. ‘You’ll need help to clean up.’

She wanted distraction. She wanted something else to think about. Anything to keep her mind busy until there was news about mother and baby.

‘I’m sure Magda and David would prefer that their house be fixed up by friends.’ He emphasised the word so strongly that she took a step backwards and stumbled, putting a steadying hand on the window frame behind her.

It was then she saw it. The flash across his face. He needed distraction just as much as she did. Probably more. He must be worried sick. Of course he was.

She’d only just met this pregnant woman. He’d known her for—how long? She wouldn’t even like to guess. She knew they’d been workmates in the practice but she hadn’t really had a chance to hear much more.

‘I want you to go now,’ he said as he turned away. ‘We’ll let you know how things are.’

It was a dismissal. Blunt. She wanted to grab him by the arm and yank him around, ask him who he thought he was talking to. In another life she might have.

But if she fell out with Dr Gillespie the whole show could be up in the air. So instead she pressed her lips together and looked around for her bag, grabbing it and throwing it over her shoulder, walking out the room and leaving the disarray behind her.

Gerry was standing at the door. She didn’t care if the camera was on or not. ‘I hate him,’ she hissed in a low voice as she walked past.

* * *

Rhuaridh knew he’d just been unreasonable. He knew that Magda had agreed to the TV crew filming. But none of them had expected the outcome that had just happened.

His heart felt twisted in a hard, angry knot. Every possible scenario was running through his head right now—and not all of them were good.

He wasn’t an obstetrician. The limited experience he’d had had been gained when he’d been a junior doctor. He knew the basics. He knew the basics of a lot of things. But island communities were different from most. The water cut them off from the mainland. There was no quick road to a hospital with a whole variety of specialists and equipment at his disposal.

In the last few months there had been a mountain climber with a severe head injury, a few elderly residents with hip fractures, a diver with decompression sickness, and now an obstetric emergency. All situations where he’d felt helpless—useless even. He hated that his patients needed to wait for either a ferry crossing or an air ambulance to take them where they could get the help required. He hated that he had to stand and look into their eyes, knowing that on occasion that help might actually be too late. And today, when it had been his friend and colleague, he had felt as though he was being gripped around the chest by a vice.