Daredevil and Dr Kate

Dear Reader

I’m delighted to present my new story, DAREDEVIL AND DR KATE. Once again I have chosen to set a story in the glorious rural district of Mt Pryde in southeast Queensland. For those of you who have read and enjoyed my previous stories centred around the medical practice in Mt Pryde, you’ll be pleased to know that familiar characters will be popping up regularly in this new story.

In DAREDEVIL AND DR KATE we meet Kate Preston, the new doctor at the Mt Pryde practice. A widow with two young children, Kate just wants to pull her weight in the medical team and enjoy a settled life with her kids. She doesn’t bank on having her safe world rocked off its axis by roguish, out there Dr Aiden O’Connor! Kate thinks she can ignore his overtures, but Aiden thinks winning Kate is an enticing challenge—one he can’t ignore. It’s a bumpy ride—especially when Kate is torn between her role as a mother and her needs as a woman.

I hope you will enjoy DAREDEVIL AND DR KATE.

With warmest wishes

Leah Martyn

LEAH MARTYN loves to create warm, believable characters for the Medical™ Romance series. She is grounded firmly in rural Australia, and the special qualities of the bush are reflected in her stories. For plots and possibilities, she bounces ideas off her husband on their early-morning walks. Browsing in bookshops and buying an armful of new releases is high on her list of enjoyable things to do.

Daredevil and Dr Kate

Leah Martyn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

KATE looked critically at her reflection in the full-length mirror. It was her first day flying solo in her new job at the Mt Pryde surgery and she wanted to look good. More than that, she wanted to feel good.

Stepping back from the mirror, she completed her inspection. Her dark pants and fitted pin-striped shirt looked just right. Professional. Her hair was neat, her make-up minimal but perfect.

And why was she preening like a teenager? Impatiently, Kate turned away from the mirror. She was a sole supporting parent with two dependent kids. If that didn’t keep her feet on the ground, nothing would. Pushing a wad of tissues into her shoulder bag, she zipped it closed.

‘Come on, kids,’ Kate called, as she left her bedroom. ‘Get your backpacks. We need to go.’

Within a couple of minutes, having done it a thousand times, she’d settled her children into the back seat of her silver-grey Lexus. As she started the engine her stomach began rolling and hitching like a hot-air balloon coming in for a landing. Don’t you cave on me, she warned the offending stomach silently as she reversed out of the driveway and drove towards the children’s primary school.

‘Mummy, are you a real doctor?’ six-year-old Mia asked as they drove.

Kate bit down on a smile. Her little daughter was so cute, her questions always out of left field. ‘Yes, darling. I’m a real doctor. Why do you ask?’

‘‘Cos I found a story book at Grammy’s an’ the doctor wore a long white coat. You don’t wear a long white coat.’

‘That’s probably a very old story book,’ Kate said. ‘Doctors don’t bother with white coats these days.’

‘Mum?’ Eight-year-old Luke’s voice rang with childish impatience. ‘Where can I practise my soccer?’

Kate racked her brains. ‘Honey, I don’t have an answer to that. Maybe we can find a park nearby, when we’ve time to look.’

‘There’s no room in the garden at home,’ Luke grumbled. ‘I wish we were still out at the farm with Grammy and Pa.’

Don’t we all. Kate suppressed a longing. It would have been so easy to move in with her parents and offload some of her responsibilities. But there were no choices here, no shorts cuts. She and the children had to live in town, her job and their schooling demanded it.

And, talking of schools, here they were. Kate pulled neatly into the kerb.

‘What if we don’t like the school?’ Luke asked anxiously as he trundled out of the car.

‘You will,’ Kate reassured him, helping Mia out of her safety seat. ‘Just do your best and you’ll be fine.’

With Luke and Mia having been welcomed by their teachers and shown their desks, Kate felt free to leave. It was only a short distance across town to the Mt Pryde Medical Centre. She began to reconnect with her own day. She’d been so fortunate to get this job with hours arranged more or less to fit in with the needs of her children. And with her parents being only twenty kilometres away, her decision to move to south east Queensland seemed a sound one.

Subconsciously, she braced herself as she turned her car into the designated parking space at the rear of the surgery. Oh, rats! I shouldn’t be feeling this nervous, she berated herself, trying for nonchalance as she crossed to the rear entrance of the building. Like she’d told Luke, she’d do her best and no one could ask for more than that.

Tapping out the security code that would admit her to the building, she made her way inside to what was now her consulting room, feeling a little sliver of pride to see her name, Dr Kate Preston, on the door.

Kate was taking the place of Jo McNeal who had just begun maternity leave. Kate had spent the last week working with her as she’d handed over her patient list. Jo’s husband Brady also worked at the practice, along with Angelo Kouras and Aiden O’Connor.

The medical team seemed like a good mix of personalities, Kate thought, arranging her own bits and pieces on the desk. Angelo rather serious, although Kate suspected he had a droll sense of humour bubbling away not too far from the surface. His wife, Penny, was the anaesthetist at the local hospital, and he’d been the longest in the practice.

Then there was Brady. Kate had felt at ease with him at once. ‘If you come up against an emergency with the kids at any time and need cover, just yell,’ he’d said kindly. ‘I know what it’s like to be a sole parent and trying to hold down a responsible job.’

He’d gone on then to tell Kate he’d had the care and custody of his infant son before he’d met and married Jo. Now little Andrew was almost three and he and Jo were expecting their own baby in a few weeks.

Then there was Aiden.

Suddenly Kate’s throat felt as dry as dust. Meeting Aiden O’Connor had made her feel flustered for want of a better word. And an odd awareness that something was missing from her life had begun niggling and wouldn’t be ignored.

Damn. Kate moved to open the slatted blind to let in the clear morning light. Out of the blue, she felt her skin heat with just the thought of being in the same workplace as him. Day after day.

Kate began to sift through the mail their receptionist, Vicki, had left on her desk. Oh, good. She drew out the envelope containing the X-rays Jo and she had been waiting for. But now, of course, with Jo on leave, all decisions on patient care would be down to Kate. Thoughtfully, she placed the first of the X-ray films on the viewing screen.

She turned at the rat-a-tat on her door. ‘It’s open.’

‘Morning, Kate.’ Aiden poked his head in.

Kate felt her composure drain away, her stupid heart bouncing like a trampoline, juggling for space inside her chest. ‘Good morning.’

Aiden breezed in and parked himself on the edge of her desk. ‘I’ve been commissioned to tell you coffee’s up and to twist your arm if necessary.’ He ran teasing blue eyes over her. ‘You’re not a workaholic, are you, Dr Preston?’

Kate brought her small chin up. ‘No more than anyone has to be in a busy practice.’ She caught her lower lip between her teeth, exercising gentle pressure, trying anything to sideline her thoughts from savouring the detail of ‘Dr Distraction’, as she’d begun to call him in her head: the way his charcoal-grey shirt accentuated the broad sweep of his shoulders; the narrow hips in his black jeans; the fact that there was a lean athleticism beneath his well-fitting clothes.

Her gaze connected briefly with his clear blue eyes and flicked higher, lingering on his hair, short, toffee brown, spiked with gold, as if naturally streaked by the sun. She guessed his tan was an all-year-round attribute, enhancing the outdoorsy look of him. Well, that figured. Aiden O’Connor was sports mad according to the practice grapevine. Mountain-climbing, snow-boarding and extreme sports positively turned him on—the pursuits Kate had once enjoyed but now had serious reservations about. She released the pressure from her lip and swallowed. O’Connor was possibly the best-looking man she’d ever met. She’d not risked such thinking until now but it was the inescapable truth.

‘So, Kate.’ Aiden slid off his perch to peer over her shoulder. ‘Whose foot do we have here?’ He gestured to the skeletal framework thrown up by the X-ray.

‘Fifty-four-year-old male.’ Kate took a breath to steady herself. ‘He’s a processor worker. Stands on a cement floor for most of his working day. He complained of tenderness in his right instep.’

‘You were thinking of a spur, perhaps?’ The blue eye lit enquiringly.

‘Certainly a possibility.’

Aiden’s mouth went firm for a moment. ‘Well, clearly it’s not a spur from what we have here. No other bony lesion presenting either.’

‘Seems not.’ Kate’s unwilling gaze followed the stroke of his thumb as it moved rhythmically across his bottom lip in concentration. She whipped her gaze back to the viewing screen and told her heart to settle and her sensible head to reassert itself. ‘There are a couple of cysts in the first metatarsal head.’ She indicated the shaded outline. ‘But they shouldn’t present a problem.’

‘No.’ Aiden O’Connor gave a quick smile, the action cutting interesting grooves into his lean cheeks. ‘So, Kate, what treatment will you recommend for your patient?’

Miffed, Kate flicked off the X-ray light. She wasn’t aware she’d asked Dr O’Connor to consult with her. Her thoughts began scrambling. And she felt stifled by his nearness, the intimate whisper of peppermint on his breath.

She blinked, then swallowed, flying into professional jargon. ‘I’d recommend physio as a priority to try to regain some flexibility.’

‘Perhaps a change in the style of his regular work boots or at least some modification could be an option as well. Just suggestions,’ he added quickly, interpreting her less-than-impressed look by holding up his hands defensively. ‘I won’t step on your toes again.’

‘You might if we were dancing,’ Kate deadpanned. She winced inwardly. Had she really said that?

But O’Connor seemed highly amused. ‘Are you inferring I’m a rubbish dancer, Dr Preston?’

‘I don’t know. Are you?’

‘Maybe you’ll find out one day,’ he answered softly.

Kate wished she could control the odd feeling in her chest when he looked at her. What was it about him? Was it the tantalising stirrings of sexual attraction? The allure of possibility? Whatever it was, it felt different from merely the rush of hormones.

And decidedly uncomfortable.

‘We should get this coffee,’ she said stiltedly. ‘They’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.’

He smiled. ‘Let’s tell them we got sidetracked.’

Well, that was one explanation for what had just happened here, Kate thought as she stifled the complexity of her feelings and accompanied him along the corridor to the staffroom.

No doubt, she was a looker. Aiden allowed himself a few lazy seconds to observe Kate anew. She was slender, tallish, matching his stride easily. Her eyes were a deep brown, her skin peach perfect. And she was a natural brunette if he was any judge; hair so shiny he could almost see his face in it.

He shook his head as if impatient with his train of thought. He was staring and he’d better stop. He and Kate were colleagues—nothing more.

‘Welcome to the zoo,’ he said, stretching in front of her to open the door of the staffroom.

Kate’s ‘Good morning’ was met with an answering chorus from the other staff members. Vicki, began pouring coffee into a willow-patterned mug. ‘Kate, white with none, right?’

‘Thanks, Vic.’ Kate smiled. ‘But you don’t have to wait on me.’

‘It’s mandatory on your first day,’ Aiden quipped.

‘What is?’ Angelo’s dark head came up from the journal he was reading.

‘Being nice to Kate on her first day,’ Vicki bubbled. ‘I brought in a chocolate cake as well.’

‘We are blessed.’ Angelo’s dark eyes behind the silver-framed spectacles glinted with dry humour. ‘You’ll be brilliant, Kate,’ he said, getting to his feet, collecting his journal and moving towards the door. ‘Anything you need to consult about, I’m available, as well as Brady and Aiden. Don’t hesitate to call on us.’

‘Thanks, Angelo. I appreciate that.’ Kate took a mouthful of her coffee, feeling it make a warming trail down her throat. They were all being so nice to her.

‘Kate, when you have a second, I’ll need to clarify one or two points on your personnel file, please?’ Monica Lowe, the practice manager, said. ‘Nothing urgent.’ She smiled, dropping a tea bag into a mug.

‘It’ll seem odd without Jo.’ Natalie Wellings, the practice nurse, said thoughtfully. ‘And speaking of your wife, how is she this morning, Brady?’

‘Supposedly taking it easy.’ Brady’s mouth quirked. ‘But she said something about rearranging the nursery and colour co-ordinating the baby stuff on the shelves.’

Vicki, who had a one year old tot herself, joked, ‘As if that’ll last long.’

‘Jo’s nesting,’ Kate came in quietly. ‘I remember feeling just like that before both of mine were born …’

Aiden felt something shift inside him as he saw another side of Kate’s personality. Suddenly she seemed in her element, her face alight as the baby reminiscences tumbled out. He shrugged inwardly. He didn’t have kids. He had nothing to contribute to the conversation. He exited the staffroom quietly.

Kate’s day settled into a rhythm, her confidence growing as each patient left, seemingly satisfied with their consultation. And the swarm of butterflies that had been stirring endlessly in her tummy had well and truly settled.

Swinging off her chair, she stretched and prepared to call it a day.

‘Oh, Kate?’ Vicki tapped and popped her head round the door. ‘I’ve a patient looking really ill. Simone Butler. Could you see her? She said she was due to go on shift at the supermarket but felt so ill she detoured here.’ Vicki paused for breath. ‘I know you have to pick up your kids soon and I wouldn’t ask, but Aiden is on hospital visitation and both Brady and Angelo are on long consults.’

‘Ah …’ Kate blinked and with the merest glance at her watch, saw her hopes for a reasonably early end to her first day fly out the window. But patients had to come first. ‘Of course I’ll see her, Vicki. Just give me a minute to call the school and rearrange things for the kids, then show Simone in.’

‘I think I’ve caught flu.’ Simone sagged into the chair beside Kate’s desk. ‘Feel so grotty …’

‘Well, if it’s flu, there’s not much we can do for you, Simone, except to prescribe the usual rest, paracetamol and fluids.’ Kate began a preliminary examination of the young woman. Her temperature was certainly raised and she looked flushed and uncomfortable.

‘I took a strong headache tablet at lunchtime,’ Simone said as Kate prepared to look down her throat.

‘Didn’t help?’ Kate asked.

‘No.’

‘Do you get migraines?’

‘Never.’

So scrap that theory, Kate thought. ‘How about aches and pains in your joints?’

‘Mmm. And my back. Feel so sick.’ Simone grimaced and scrunched up her eyes. ‘Could you close the blinds? Light is killing me …’

In a second, Kate’s watchful manner changed to red alert. Her mind reacted like quicksilver, spinning through her patient’s symptoms. There were no conclusions but, by heaven, there were some distinct markers.

Meningococcal?

Kate’s stomach clenched but her mind stayed clear and calm. There was no room for guessing games here. She needed to act and act quickly. ‘Simone, I’m going to give you an injection.’

Checking her patient wasn’t allergic, Kate moved with lightning speed across the corridor to the small dispensary. Kate hit the code that would unlock the drugs cabinet and whipped out a prepared dose of penicillin.

She was going by her gut instinct here. That was all she had. But it had never let her down. If Simone had indeed contracted the deadly virus, then vital minutes, even seconds may be all Kate had to save her life. She ran back to her patient.

‘I feel c-cold …’ Simone’s head had dipped forward like a rag doll’s.

‘Hang in there, honey.’ Kate quickly swabbed and plunged the lifesaving drug directly into the vein, knowing full well, they didn’t have a proper diagnosis yet. All she could do was buy Simone time. She prayed there was no sign of a rash. But she had to check.

Helping Simone out of her simple shirt-dress uniform, Kate’s examination was meticulous. She knew what she was looking for: a minute scratch mark, a blister, a purple pinprick, any or all of them indicating that bacteria was already present, multiplying by the second in the blood vessels under Simone’s skin. If they were there, then Simone’s entire body organs were in danger of collapsing.

With relief, Kate saw there was no evidence of a rash. Yet. But she wasn’t waiting for the possibility.

Instinctively, she began following protocol, snatching up the phone and pressing the key that would connect her with Reception. ‘Vicki, would you call an ambulance, please? Tell them we have an emergency hospital admission. And stress the patient is critical.’

‘Expect them within a few minutes,’ Vicki said. ‘I’ll run out and open the back doors so they can reverse in.’

‘Thanks. Is Natalie about? I could do with some help.’

‘She had to leave early,’ Vicki sounded dismayed. ‘Could I—?’

‘No, Vicki. It’s fine.’ Kate felt put on her mettle. But she’d cope. She needed a space blanket. Diving across the corridor to the treatment room, she searched blindly for a second until she located them. She pulled one from the stockpile and turned to retrace her steps.

‘Kate!’

Distracted momentarily from her mission, Kate’s head spun towards the voice and saw Aiden striding along the corridor towards her. She slipped back to her consulting room with Aiden on her heels.

‘What’s up?’ He demanded shortly.

‘Suspected meningococcal.’

Aiden swore under his breath. ‘Ambulance called?’

‘On its way.’ Kate began tucking the space blanket around her patient.

‘What can I do to help?’

‘I’ve done all I can for the moment. But I’ll need to scribble some notes for the admitting MO. Just keep an eye on Simone, if you would.’

‘I think she’d be more comfortable if we get her up onto the treatment couch.’ So saying, Aiden lifted the young girl as though she weighed no more than an armful of feathers and laid her down gently on her side. She moaned softly.

‘Would you recheck for any sign of a rash, please, Aiden?’ Kate was scribbling furiously.

‘Nothing.’ He replaced the space blanket. ‘She’ll need bloods taken on arrival.’

‘All requested.’ Kate slashed her signature at the bottom of the notes.

‘Ambulance is here, guys.’ Vicki appeared at the door.

‘Coming through.’ A male’s deep voice and the squeak of rubber-soled boots echoed along the corridor. Within a very few seconds Simone was loaded onto the trolley.

Kate briefed the paramedic and handed over her notes. ‘Thanks for responding so quickly.’

‘No worries, Doc. We’ll cane it to the hospital now. See you.’ The paramedic acknowledged both doctors briefly before heading off.

Kate looked lost for a second. She took a step towards her desk and faltered.

Aiden’s hand shot out to her shoulder, heavy and warm. ‘Not what you needed on your first day.’

‘I’m fine,’ Kate said, too quickly. She went to move away but his hand was still on her shoulder and her breath felt fluttery. ‘Really.’ She firmed her voice. ‘I’m fine.’

‘Sure?’

‘Yes.’ She moved from under the weight of his hand. Did he not think of her capable of handling an emergency? ‘I’ll need to chase up Simone’s recent contacts,’ she said, thinking aloud. ‘Her workplace, home and so on, and check their immunity.’ She saw the end of her working day slide further and further away.

‘I’ll do that.’

‘Are you saying I can’t do my job?’

Aiden frowned. Why was she so prickly? She looked pressured and he just wanted to help. ‘I’m merely suggesting you delegate. I have no patients booked for the rest of the day. Whereas, you’re needed elsewhere. You have children to collect from school, don’t you?’

Kate dipped her head. She couldn’t believe he’d remembered that small detail. And somehow, in ways she couldn’t explain, it made her feel vulnerable around him. ‘Take some jabs with you in case people’s immunity is in question,’ she reminded him.

‘Kate, I’ll handle it.’

Of course he would. She turned away, waiting for her computer to close down. ‘I just want Simone safely in isolation and under minute-by-minute observation.’

‘And thanks to your quick action, she’ll have that.’

‘It could still be too late …’

‘Don’t think like that.’ Aiden was firm. But they both knew the effects of the deadly virus. Circulation could fail in the body’s extremities—the fingers, toes even whole limbs. Amputations followed. And sometimes death. ‘And we don’t know for sure it is meningo.’

Kate knew. She’d seen enough cases in her time to be ninety-nine per cent certain. And now she just wanted to collect her kids and hug them to bits. Life was so precious.

Her eyes clouded. It had been an exacting first day and if she being honest she did feel drained, both physically and mentally, but that would pass as things both at work and home began settling into a rhythm …

What the hell was she still hanging around for? Aiden’s mouth compressed briefly. She seemed lost in thought, miles away. ‘Kate, there’s no more you can do here,’ he said. ‘Your children must be waiting for you.’

Kate pushed up from her desk. ‘They’re being well taken care of.’

Watching her face, Aiden saw her bottom lip pull into a tight little moue. What now? Did she think he was criticising her parenting? A muscle worked in his jaw. She’d wrong-footed him again. And he didn’t like the feeling one little bit.

Kate blinked uncertainly. Why was O’Connor staring at her like that—as if she’d grown an extra nose or something? She’d handed over to him and he should be gone. ‘Vicki will have Simone’s details.’

‘I’m on it. And I’ll brief Angelo and Brady. Want me to give you a call later and report my findings?’

‘If you wouldn’t mind.’ The doctors exchanged mobile numbers as a matter of course.

‘Why would I mind?’ He shrugged, the movement of his shoulders drawing attention to the interplay of muscles under his close-fitting shirt.

Kate looked down quickly, searching the bottom of her handbag for her keys. Locating them, she hitched up her medical case. ‘Thanks for your help.’

‘Yep.’ Their eyes met and he could see the wariness, the uncertain flicker in her gaze. He moved to the door with her. ‘Drive carefully.’

She gave him a taut smile. ‘Kids in the car. Always do’

Watching her departure, Aiden felt as though an invisible punch had landed in his solar plexus, robbing him not just of oxygen but of plain common sense as well. His gaze stayed riveted on the sassy swing of her hips, her slender waist, the toss of her dark head as she pulled open the outer door to the car park.