Cedar Bluff’s Most Eligible Bachelor

Laura Iding

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Copyright

About the Author

LAURA IDING loved reading as a child, and when she ran out of books she readily made up her own, completing a little detective mini-series when she was twelve. But, despite her aspirations for being an author, her parents insisted she look into a ‘real’ career. So the summer after she turned thirteen she volunteered as a Candy Striper, and fell in love with nursing. Now, after twenty years of experience in trauma/critical care, she’s thrilled to combine her career and her hobby into one—writing Medical™ Romances for Mills & Boon. Laura lives in the northern part of the United States, and spends all her spare time with her two teenage kids (help!)— a daughter and a son—and her husband. Enjoy!

Dear Reader

Thanks to all of you who wrote to me about how much you’ve enjoyed my Cedar Bluff trilogy. I’m always honoured to hear from my readers, and I’m glad you enjoyed the trilogy as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’m thrilled to announce the debut of Simon’s story. Simon Carter was just a secondary character at first—a friend of Jadon’s—but soon I realised he deserved his own story. And deserved a strong heroine as his match.

Hailey and Simon both have guilty secrets in their respective pasts. Neither one of them is ready for a relationship when they literally crash into each other’s lives. But soon they discover that only by working together can they free themselves from the mistakes they’ve made in order to fall in love.

I hope you enjoy CEDAR BLUFF’S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR. And don’t hesitate to visit my website and drop me a note.

Sincerely

Laura Iding www.lauraiding.com

Dedication

This book is for you, Olga. Always be true to yourself.

CHAPTER ONE

HAILEY ROGERS walked into Cedar Bluff’s emergency department on Saturday afternoon, fluffing her blonde hair to get rid of her helmet head.

“Hi, Hailey,” Rachel, one of her nursing colleagues, greeted her when she approached the desk. “You’re working arena team two today.”

“Sounds good.” Hailey had started at Cedar Bluff hospital about two months previously, but she’d worked in the emergency trauma center at Trinity Medical Center in Milwaukee for several years, so she hadn’t needed long to learn Cedar Bluff’s way of doing things. Rachel had been her preceptor but they’d quickly grown to be friends.

“I’ll be right next to you in team three,” Rachel said cheerfully. “So if you need something, or have questions, just let me know.”

“Thanks.” Hailey appreciated Rachel’s sincere offer. The other nurses were friendly too, but most of them were married with children so they weren’t exactly anxious to stop for a bite to eat after work, or go to a movie. Rachel was single, and she and Hailey had bonded after a particularly stressful shift a few weeks back.

Moving to Cedar Bluff had been a good decision for her. She loved the homey atmosphere of the hospital and the town. Plus, her apartment was only a few miles from the hospital, making it easy to ride her bike to work every day.

Hailey glanced up at the assignment white-board and couldn’t suppress a tingle of excitement when she noticed the physician leader assigned to her team was none other than Dr. Simon Carter. She knew who he was, of course. His chocolate-brown eyes, mink-colored hair and broad shoulders stood out dramatically, in her humble opinion, among the rest of the physicians. But in the two months since she’d started in the ED, they’d only worked together a few times and those had all been during her orientation, with her preceptor primarily interacting with him.

He seemed like a nice guy. And one of the few not married. Rachel had warned her that Dr. Carter didn’t date any of the staff at Cedar Bluff, ever, but she couldn’t seem to control her physical reaction to him. But it didn’t matter because she wasn’t in the market for a relationship either, so Hailey was more than happy to admire him from afar. She’d noticed all the staff called the doctors by their first names, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow their example. Especially with Dr. Carter. Using his first name, Simon, seemed far too personal.

Heaven knew, it was bad enough that Dr. Carter’s handsome face managed to invade her dreams.

Shaking off the inappropriate thoughts, Hailey quickly took report on the patients in her team from Alyssa, the day shift nurse in team two. With sixteen-month-old twin girls at home, Alyssa only worked one shift per week, and often that shift was a weekend.

“Hailey, do you have any questions?” Alyssa asked, when she’d finished her rundown. “Because if not, I need to go, I have to pick up the girls from their grandma. As much as my mother-in-law enjoys babysitting, I think it’s getting to be a bit much for her now that the girls are walking.”

“No questions,” Hailey said reassuringly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to take care of twins.”

Alyssa laughed. “It wasn’t too bad until Grace and Gretch learned to walk. They were preemies and a bit delayed in reaching their milestones, so they didn’t figure it out until just a few days ago. Now it’s like they’re each on a different mission, heading off in opposite directions. Keeps us running.”

“No doubt,” Hailey agreed, ignoring a twinge of envy. Alyssa’s husband, Jadon, was one of the ED doctors she enjoyed working with. They made a beautiful couple.

Once she’d envisioned a similar future for herself. Husband. Babies. Happily ever after. But not anymore.

Moments after Alyssa left, Leanne, the charge nurse, came over. “Hailey? I just put a new patient in room seven. Here’s the paperwork.” Leanne thrust a clipboard into her hand. Most of their nursing documentation was on computer, but the registration and consent for treatment forms were still on paper. “Fifty-five-year-old guy with abdominal pain.”

“Thanks.” Hailey took the clipboard and glanced up in time to catch Dr. Carter staring at her. The moment their gazes collided, he seemed to go still, and then tore his gaze away.

Had she imagined the flash of interest in his eyes? Most likely. Rachel had confided that she’d tried to ask Dr. Carter out several times, but he’d always politely declined.

Not that Hailey was interested in dating him, the way Rachel had been. Still, it felt good to be noticed.

“Good afternoon, Mr. McLeod,” Hailey said with a smile as she walked into her new patient’s room. His wife was there too, standing next to his bed. Hailey quickly introduced herself. “Tell me what brought you to the hospital today.”

The middle-aged gentleman grimaced. “We went out for lunch with my daughter, she’s a sophomore at the university, and ever since we finished eating, my stomach has been hurting. The pain is cramping, and it seems to come and go. Do you think I have food poisoning?”

“Possibly,” Hailey said, as she set the forms down and reached for a stethoscope. “But generally food poisoning sets in at least four hours after the meal. What did you have for lunch? “

“A steak sandwich and French fries,” he admitted. His wife glowered at him and she suspected his wife had wanted her husband to pick a healthier choice.

“Hmm.” She took his blood pressure, which was a bit elevated, either from the pain or because he had high blood pressure already. His pulse was tachycardic at 104 but his respirations seemed normal. “Put this under your tongue,” she directed, holding out a probe for an electronic thermometer. After a minute, the device beeped. “Your temperature is normal, ninety-nine.”

“Maybe it’s just flu?” he said helpfully.

“Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?” He shook his head no. “Have you been told you have high blood pressure?” she asked, logging on to the computer to review his medication history. “Are you taking blood-pressure medicine?”

“No.” He grimaced again, and she glanced back at him in concern. Whatever was going on with him, she doubted it was food poisoning. His medical history wasn’t too significant for anything other than heart disease.

“Okay, Mr. McLeod, I’m going to talk to the doctor about your case. I think we may need to do some blood work, just to make sure there’s nothing going on with your heart. And then you might also need some X-rays or CT scans to see what’s going on in your belly. I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”

“Can’t he have something for pain?” Mrs. McLeod asked, a worried frown in her brow.

“I’ll check with the doctor. I don’t know if he’s going to want to wait until we know what’s going on with your husband first.” She pulled up a chair for the woman. “Please sit down so you’re comfortable while you’re waiting.”

“Okay.”

Hailey made a few notes on the computer and then left the room to find Dr. Carter. Mr. McLeod didn’t appear too sick, but her intuition was screaming at her that something more serious was going on with his abdominal pain.

The sooner they could get tests ordered, the better she’d feel.

Simon glanced up to find Hailey striding purposefully toward him. Keeping his expression friendly but distant took more of an effort than it should have. “Dr. Carter? I need you to take a look at Mr. McLeod in room two. I’m concerned about his abdominal pain.”

He frowned. “Appendicitis?”

“Maybe, but he said he doesn’t feel sick to his stomach and he’s not running a fever. He does have a cardiac history, and ate a steak sandwich and fries for lunch.” Hailey’s expression was troubled. “His blood pressure is up a bit. One-seventy over ninety-two.”

“So we’ll do a full work-up, then,” Simon decided. “Draw a cardiac panel, basic chemistry panel and blood count. If he has an infection, his white blood cell count will be elevated.” He could feel Hailey’s piercing blue eyes on his back as he headed for their patient’s room.

He introduced himself to the couple. “We’re going to do several types of blood test, to see if we can narrow down what’s going on with your abdomen. Once Hailey gets your blood sent to the lab, I’m going to order a CT scan.”

Hailey came into the room holding a fistful of empty blood tubes. “Should I put him on the cardiac monitor too?” she asked.

“Cardiac monitor? It’s his stomach that hurts, not his chest,” Mrs. McLeod protested.

“Yes, put him on the cardiac monitor,” Simon agreed. He turned toward the patient’s wife. “Sometimes chest pain can radiate to other parts of the body. We don’t want to miss anything, so we’re going to do a full work-up.”

“All right,” the wife agreed.

“I’ll be fine, Myra,” Mr. McLeod said, patting his wife’s hand. “I’ll be out of here in a jiffy. I’m sure this is nothing more than food poisoning.”

Simon suspected the gentleman was downplaying his symptoms for his wife’s sake. He took out his stethoscope to listen to his patient’s heart and lungs. Hailey came in close beside him, reaching around him in order to put the electrodes on Mr. McLeod’s chest and then reaching up to turn on the monitor. He’d picked the wrong side of the bed, since the monitor cables were on the same side he was standing. Hailey’s scent, something fresh, like the scent of the ocean, teased his senses. He eased away, as far as his stethoscope would allow.

When Hailey finished getting Mr. McLeod connected to the monitor, she went around to the other side of the bed, where the supply cart was located. Simon relaxed and finished his exam, verifying normal heart and lung sounds.

He moved his stethoscope to his patient’s abdomen, expecting hyperactive bowel sounds. Instead, the normal gurgling sounds were diminished.

“Tiny poke here,” Hailey warned. She deftly slid a needle into his vein, filling up her numerous blood tubes.

“I’m going to call Radiology to schedule you for a CT scan,” Simon told him. “You’re heart looks okay so far, but I think you may have something going on with your abdomen. A CT scan is the best thing to show us what’s going on.”

“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Mr. McLeod asked skeptically. “I’m sure I’ll be fine in a while.”

Simon frowned. “Yes, I do think this test is necessary,” he said firmly. Hailey lifted a brow but didn’t say anything as she slipped out of the room, no doubt to send their patient’s blood to the lab. He sharpened his gaze on his patient. “You may have appendicitis or something worse, like a pocket of infection or an aortic aneurysm.”

“Hank, please.” Mrs. McLeod was practically wringing her hands at the list of potential problems. “Don’t argue with the doctor. Have the CT scan, please.”

“All right, I’ll have the scan.” A mutinous expression darkened the patient’s eyes. “But I’m already feeling better. I’m sure there’s nothing seriously wrong with me.”

Simon wasn’t so sure, but since Hank McLeod had agreed to have the scan, he wasn’t going to waste any time in getting it ordered. “Someone will be in soon to take you to Radiology,” he promised.

While he was on the phone with the radiologist, he realized Hailey was standing beside him, chewing her lower lip anxiously, obviously waiting for him to get off the phone. When he finished his call, he glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”

She let out a sigh. “Do you think it’s possible Mr. McLeod has an abdominal aortic aneurysm? Everything about his presentation reminds me of a patient I had about six months ago back in Milwaukee. Same type of abdominal pain, same relatively stable vital signs, except for the high blood pressure, and even the same stubborn denial that anything was wrong.”

Simon was impressed by her gut instinct. “It’s one of my differential diagnoses, yes. And if he does have one, we’ll find it on the CT scan. They’re finishing another patient now, but they’ll be ready for him in about ten to fifteen minutes.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to give Jimmy and his mom discharge instructions and then I’ll be ready to go with Mr. McLeod. I just need you to write out his prescriptions.”

“Jimmy?” Simon had to think for a minute to figure out who she was talking about, and then he nodded. “Oh, yeah, the kid with the dogbite.” He logged on to the nearest computer and quickly pulled up the sixteen-year-old’s record. He entered in the medications and then printed the prescriptions. “Make sure he understands he has to finish all the antibiotics.”

She chuckled. “I will.”

Simon handed Hailey the scripts and then turned his attention to the other patients in their team. There was a twenty-two-year-old female patient with a severe headache that he was still waiting for Neurology to clear before he could consider sending her home. He figured she was suffering from migraines, since everything else had come back negative, but wanted the specialist to see her just in case.

Twenty minutes later, he got a call from the lab on Mr. McLeod’s blood count. The gentleman’s hemoglobin and hematocrit were on the low side, reinforcing Hailey’s suspicion that he might have a leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm.

As Simon was on the phone with the lab tech anyway, he took all the blood-work information, relieved that the cardiac injury panel was completely negative. The patient’s white blood cell count was negative too, which made the drop in his hemoglobin and hematocrit even more suspicious.

The minute he hung up the phone, his pager went off. He read the text message. McLeod’s BP is dropping, come to CT stat.

Simon didn’t waste any time heading over to the scanner, thankfully located right around the corner in the emergency department. When he arrived, Hailey glanced up at him, her expression grim.

“I told them to keep the IV in place. Do you want me to start a vasopressor to bring his blood pressure back up?” she asked.

“Yes, let’s start norepinephrine titrate to keep his blood pressure above 90 systolic.” He reached for the phone to stat page Leila Torres, the on-call surgeon working today. He quickly punched in the number for the CT scan, followed by a 911 so she’d know to come straight over. “How much of the scan were you able to complete?” he asked as he hung up the phone.

“Maybe half?” Hailey said as she pulled the IV medication out of the crash cart and hung it on the pump.

He crossed over to the reading room to look at the images. They hadn’t quite been able to get half the scan done, but he could still see there was the slightest hint of blood leaking near the guy’s descending aorta.

“What’s happening?” the patient asked Hailey. “Is the test over?”

“Your blood pressure dropped a little too low,” she explained. “We’re starting you on some medication to bring it back up.”

He caught Hailey’s hand. “Tell Myra I love her,” he said.

Simon caught the agonized look in Hailey’s eyes. “I will,” she assured him.

Leila strode into the room, glancing at Simon with an arched brow. “You rang?”

Simon pulled her into the reading room and indicated the worrisome spot on the CT scan. He kept his voice low so the patient couldn’t hear. “The only abnormal lab test he has is a low H/H. He just dropped his blood pressure so we couldn’t finish the scan. I think he has an aneurysm that’s about to rupture.”

“I think you’re right.” Leila was a petite woman with a hint of Asian heritage, and Simon had all the respect in the world for her skill as a surgeon. “I’ll take over from here.”

While Leila explained to Mr. McLeod what was going on, he called the OR to let them know an emergency case was on the way. Then he informed the radiology tech they needed a couple of transporters to run the patient up to surgery.

“We can’t forget his wife,” Hailey murmured, as they prepared to wheel Mr. McLeod down the hall.

“We’ve got it from here,” Leila told them. “Go back to the ED. Tell his wife I’ll talk to her when the surgery is over.”

“All right.” Simon stood next to Hailey as the team whisked the patient to the nearest elevator. This was the most difficult part of his job, giving bad news to families.

He turned and headed back to the arena. He was a little surprised when Hailey followed him into Mr. McLeod’s room. Some of the nurses left the bad news up to the doctor. He appreciated her support as Mrs. McLeod looked up at them questioningly.

“Where’s Hank? Have you finished his scan?” she asked, her gaze bouncing nervously between the two of them.

“Mrs. McLeod, your husband has an abdominal aortic aneurysm. What that means is that the biggest artery going from his heart down through his abdomen has a bulging section, where the artery wall is weakened.”

“A weak artery is causing his pain?” she asked, her brow wrinkled in a puzzled frown.

“It’s actually more than a weak artery, Mrs. McLeod,” Hailey said. “This is a very serious condition that needs immediate treatment.”

Simon nodded. “Your husband’s blood pressure dropped while he was getting his CT scan. We started him on some medication to bring it back up, but we think the weak spot of his artery has started to give way. I’m sorry to tell you this, but he was taken to the operating room for emergency surgery.”

“Emergency surgery?” Mrs. McLeod paled at the news. “But he’ll be all right, won’t he? I mean, you caught it in time, didn’t you?”

“We acted as quickly as we could, and he has an excellent surgeon taking care of him.” No matter how much he wanted to gloss over the risks, he knew she needed to hear the truth. “As Hailey said, this is a very serious condition. A life-threatening condition. He has a good chance of making it through this surgery alive, but there is a twenty-eight percent chance he might not make it.”

“No. Oh no. Hank, poor Hank.” Mrs. McLeod’s stoic expression crumpled. “Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. Thirty-five years! I can’t lose him. Don’t you understand? I can’t lose him!”

Hailey put her arm around Myra McLeod’s shoulders and the woman sagged against her, sobbing as if her heart were breaking. Despite his resolve to keep a safe distance from his colleagues, a lump lodged in Simon’s throat when he noticed Hailey’s eyes filling with tears, several fat drops slipping down her cheeks. As she comforted the patient’s wife, his gaze locked with Hailey’s in unspoken, yet shared agony.

Hoping and praying Hank McLeod wouldn’t die.

CHAPTER TWO

ONCE she’d managed to get the poor woman to calm down, Hailey took Mrs. McLeod to the family center waiting area, leaving her in the kind, compassionate care of the elderly volunteer behind the desk.

It was the nature of the emergency department to move quickly from one patient to the next. She loved emergency nursing but sometimes, like now, she regretted not being able to follow patients for longer than a few hours.

As she tried to get caught up with the rest of the patients on her team, she couldn’t prevent her gaze from straying to Dr. Carter. Those moments when they’d stared at each other while Mrs. McLeod had cried in her arms had touched her heart—a heart she’d assumed was long frozen.

Cedar Bluff was so different from the big city trauma center where she’d worked before. Here, it seemed as if everyone took their patient’s welfare more seriously. No, not more seriously, that wasn’t the right word.

Personally. The staff took their patient’s welfare personally. Maybe because the community was so close. Because they ran into each other at the grocery store, at church or even at the park.

“Hailey, I put another admission for you in room seven,” the charge nurse informed her.

“Okay, thanks.” It was just after six o’clock in the evening and she was somewhat surprised she hadn’t had a new admission sooner. Not that she was complaining. The slightly slower pace made it easier to be thorough with every patient.

She enjoyed working with people, mostly because it helped her to remember that everyone had difficult situations to work through. Some worse than others.

She glanced down at her paperwork as she headed toward room two. A seven-year-old boy with a dislocated shoulder and possible broken arm. Her steps slowed as a chill snaked down her spine. One of the things every emergency nurse learned early on was to look out for the various signs of suspected abuse. A dislocated shoulder could be the result of a parent yanking on a child’s arm, and abuse cases often presented with broken limbs.

Quelling her nervousness, she entered the room, mentally prepared for the worst. A young boy was lying on the cart, dried tears on his face. His mother, a pretty and obviously pregnant woman, was sitting beside him, holding his uninjured hand.

“Hello, my name is Hailey and I’ll be your nurse for this evening,” she said, quickly introducing herself. Deliberately focusing her gaze on the child, she crossed over to the other side of his gurney. “Ben, can you tell me what happened? “

The child glanced up at his mother, as if seeking permission, and the pregnant woman offered a strained smile. “Go ahead, Ben. Tell the nurse what happened.”

“I was climbing the tree and I slipped,” he said. “My arm hurts real bad.”

“I know—we’re going to give you something for the pain. But can you tell me what happened after you slipped? How did you hurt your arm?” Hailey sensed the boy’s mother was frowning at her, but she kept her gaze on the boy. His story seemed a bit fishy.

“When I fell, I grabbed a branch, but it broke.” He sent another nervous glance at his mother.

“It’s okay, Ben. I’m not mad at you,” the woman told him softly.

“But I wasn’t supposed to climb the tree,” Ben said in a wobbly voice, sniffling loudly.

“No, you weren’t. But I’m not mad at you. Go ahead and finish your story.”

Hailey glanced at the pretty honey-blonde-haired mother, acknowledging that she sounded sincere. But she wasn’t going to let the woman off the hook yet. “What happened after the branch broke, Ben? Did you fall to the ground?”

“No, I didn’t fall, I jumped. The branch didn’t break all the way. I was hanging in the air when I felt my arm start hurting. When I jumped, I fell backwards on the same arm.” His wide eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Shh, it’s okay, Ben.” The pregnant mother sent Hailey a resigned glance. “It’s not the first time Ben’s had a broken bone. He’s a bit accident prone.”

Accident prone? The hairs on the back of her neck lifted. She highly doubted it. The way the child was so afraid of his mother’s reaction didn’t sit well with her at all. “All right, Ben, I need to look at your arm for a minute.”

She gently palpated the extremity, reassured that there was a good pulse in his wrist. “I’m going to get the doctor to take a look at this arm, Ben. I think you’re going to need X-rays. Do you know what an X-ray is?”

“Yeah. I know. It doesn’t hurt.” The calm acceptance in the child’s eyes bothered her. No child should be that familiar with X-rays.

Hailey left Ben’s room and crossed over to the closest computer, intent on bringing up the child’s past medical history to look more closely at his most recent accidents.

“Where’s Ben?” a male voice demanded. She glanced up in time to see Dr. Seth Taylor standing near Dr. Carter. The expression on Dr. Taylor’s face looked grim. “Kylie told me to meet her here.”

Hailey glanced at her patient’s name. Sure enough, Ben Taylor. Was this the reason no one had looked closely at this child’s multiple injuries? Because he was the son of a doctor on staff?

“I don’t know, Seth. But calm down, we’ll find him.”

“Um, Dr. Taylor?” Hailey spoke up. “Ben was just placed over here in room seven.”

“Thanks.” Relief flared in his eyes as he headed straight for Ben’s room. Dr. Carter crossed over to where she was standing.

“What happened to Ben Taylor?” he asked.

“Dislocated shoulder and possible broken arm,” Hailey answered. “I’m worried about him. Hasn’t anyone considered getting Child Protective Services involved? “

“Child protective services?” Dr. Carter stared at her for a few seconds and then started to laugh. “For Seth and Kylie? No, Hailey, you’re way off base.”

She bristled at his casual dismissal. “Oh, really? Just because his father is a doctor here doesn’t mean this boy isn’t the subject of physical abuse.”

Simon’s laughter ended abruptly. “You’re serious!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening comically. “Come on, Hailey, I know Seth and Kylie. They’re not hurting Ben.”

“Then why is Ben so accident-prone?” She’d pulled up the boy’s medical record. Six months ago he’d had a gash to his leg that was deep enough to need stitches. And another six months before that he was admitted for hypothermia after falling into Lake Michigan. And before that he was hit by a car while riding his bike.

Accident prone was an understatement.

“Because he’s a mischievous kid who’s probably looking for attention now that his mother has another baby on the way,” he pointed out reasonably.

“Maybe.” She couldn’t deny his theory made sense, if Ben was telling the truth about climbing the tree against his mother’s wishes. She glanced at the boy’s history again. Falling into Lake Michigan couldn’t be construed as abuse. Neglect? Maybe. But his mother hadn’t been the one driving the car that had hit him. More neglect?

Or was she simply overreacting?

“Seriously, Hailey, you have to trust me on this. Seth and Kylie are good people. They love Ben. They would never hurt him.”

“If you’re sure,” she finally agreed. She didn’t need Dr. Carter’s approval to call Child Protective Services—anyone could make a referral. But Cedar Bluff was a small town and the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed that if something like physical abuse was going on, others would know about it.

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Dr. Carter said quietly. “Actually, you did the right thing by raising the question. Sometimes we see these people so often, here at work and out in the community, we don’t even think about the fact that something horrible could be happening behind closed doors. Having new people work here is a good way to keep us on our toes.”

He was being nice, trying to make her feel better. Surely someone with integrity, like Dr. Carter, wouldn’t ignore a case of child abuse. “Thanks,” she murmured. “You’d better go in there to see him. He’ll need X-rays for sure.”

“Will do.” He flashed a quick smile before disappearing into Ben’s room. She followed and halted in the doorway, watching as Dr. Taylor and his pregnant wife hovered over Ben with obvious concern.

A family united.

Feeling foolish about her original suspicions, and maybe a bit envious at their closeness, Hailey turned away to check on her other patients.

After the fiasco with Ben, the rest of her shift flew by. Several times she thought about calling upstairs to the intensive care unit to find out how Hank McLeod was doing, but other issues needing her attention prevented her from following through.

But after her shift was over, Hailey couldn’t leave without checking on him. She didn’t call the ICU but simply walked up the few flights of stairs until she reached the third-floor surgical ICU.

Worrying her bottom lip with her top teeth, she read through the names on the census board. She didn’t immediately find his name and her stomach clenched, fearing the worst. But then she found him at the bottom of the list in the very last room.

She went down the hall toward his room, only to discover he was in the middle of a sterile procedure, a central line placement from what she could tell. She glimpsed at his vital signs on the monitor, reassuring herself that he was relatively stable, before she backed away.

Not an appropriate time to check with his wife to see how things were going. Maybe tomorrow she’d stop up to see Mrs. McLeod. As Hailey walked back out of the unit, she came face to face with Dr. Carter, who was apparently on his way in.

“Hi, Dr. Carter. Guess we’re both here for the same reason,” she said with a sheepish grin. She was impressed he’d cared enough to come up to check on their patient. “You can go in, but they’re in the middle of placing a central line on Mr. McLeod.”

“Ah, then I won’t bother them.” He stood for a moment, his hands tucked in the pockets of his lab coat as if he wanted to say something. “Hailey, stop the Dr. Carter stuff. You need to call me Simon.”

Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard. “I’ll—uh—try,” she hedged, stepping to go around him. “I have to run. I’ll—uh—see you later.”

“Wait, this is important,” he called, halting her escape. “I’m not trying to come onto you or anything.”

She sucked in a quick breath at his bold statement. “I never thought you were!” she said hastily, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Good grief, this was awkward.

Now it was his turn to avoid her gaze. Still, he continued, as if needing to clear the air. “The administration here at Cedar Bluff is working on a new initiative where we all work together as a team, keeping the patient at the center of all we do.”

“Okay,” she agreed slowly, trying to figure out where he was going with all this. “I’m all for making our patients a priority—why else would we be here?” And what in the world did that have to do with calling him Simon? She could feel her cheeks reddening at the thought of being on a first-name basis with him.

“Of course, we all do. But I think you’re missing the point. The most important part of achieving the goal of patient-centered care is teamwork. Cedar Bluff doesn’t want us to view ourselves as a hierarchical organization. Instead, they want us to have a team approach, where everyone has an equal say in what we do for our patients.”

“Really?” She couldn’t help the sliver of doubt in her tone.

Now his expression seemed a bit exasperated. “Haven’t you noticed how big the first name is printed on our hospital ID badge? Or heard everyone calling everyone else by their first names?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes. But I’m used to calling doctors by their formal titles. It’s a sign of respect. And I figured you all knew each other well enough to use first names, but I’m still new here.”

He looked a little taken aback by that statement. “Not at all. I mean, I know some of the people really well but others I don’t. Regardless, it’s about being a team. Not a doctor versus a nurse, or a tech versus a nurse. A team. Got it?”

What he was saying made some sense. She reluctantly agreed, “Got it.”

He looked relieved. “Good.” There was another awkward silence and he cleared his throat and then glanced at his watch. “I have to get home, too. Goodnight, Hailey.”

His expectant gaze forced her to respond in kind. “Goodnight, Simon.”

His name sounded strange when she spoke it out loud and for a moment there was a simmering awareness hovering between them. After a few moments he deliberately turned and walked away, breaking the intangible connection.

When he headed for the elevators, she decided to slip down the stairs to go to the staff locker room.

In the privacy of the female locker room, she peeled off her scrubs and pulled on her skin-tight florescent striped biking gear, reliving those few tense moments when Simon had told her he wasn’t coming onto her.

Had she given him the impression she wished he would? Or that she thought he was? Good grief, talk about humiliating.

He couldn’t know that the last thing she wanted was a relationship. With him or anyone else.

“I can’t believe you’re still here!” Rachel exclaimed, coming into the locker room and interrupting her tumultuous thoughts. “Don’t tell me you rode your bike today. I know it’s spring, but it’s freezing outside. Not to mention dark. Why would you ride this late? It’s close to midnight.”

Hailey offered a weak smile. “Biking is good exercise and I don’t live very far. Don’t worry, this fluorescent gear keeps me safe.” Despite the budding friendship she felt toward Rachel, there were some secrets that were too dark to share, no matter how strong the friendship.

After all, she’d come here to Cedar Bluff to escape the past, not dwell on everything she’d lost.

“You’re crazy,” Rachel said, slamming her locker door shut as Hailey pulled on her bike helmet. “Truly crazy. Are you sure you don’t want a ride home?”

“I’m sure,” Hailey responded firmly. She pulled on her gloves and then opened the locker-room door. She had to shut this conversation down before Rachel asked any more questions. “Bye, Rachel. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Hailey. Ride safe.”

“I will.” Outside, true to Rachel’s word, the cold wind cut through her sweat-wicking biking gear. She clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering. After deftly unlocking the bike, she jumped on and followed the familiar path towards home.

She’d come a long way since those dark days after Andrew’s death. In the fourteen months that had passed, she’d recovered both emotionally and physically from the accident that had stolen everything that had been important to her.

But no matter how much she’d healed, she still couldn’t bring herself to get behind the wheel of a car.

Simon mentally smacked himself in the forehead as he rode the elevator down to the first floor, putting as much distance between himself and Hailey as possible.

Idiot. How could he have been such an idiot?

I’m not coming onto you or anything.

I never thought you were!

Shaking his head, he strode out to the parking structure towards his car. He’d made a complete fool of himself. But at least Hailey would know that he wasn’t interested in anything more than a nice, friendly working relationship. Teamwork, just as he had said.

He shouldn’t have assumed anything, he acknowledged as he drove home. Just because Rachel Connell had asked him out a few times, it didn’t mean every single female would.

Hailey was beautiful enough that some other guy would surely snatch her up in no time.

And why that thought annoyed him, he had no idea. Normally he couldn’t care less who dated whom.

Simon didn’t live far from the hospital, so he made it home in less than fifteen minutes. He walked inside his small ranch-style home and tossed his keys on the counter.

The blinking light on his answering-machine gave him pause. Most of his friends used his cell phone. He only kept the land line because of the need to be on call for the emergency department. He’d started out using just his cell phone, but he’d slept through the first call he’d ever received because the ringer on his phone, even at maximum volume, just wasn’t loud enough.

Maybe his parents had called? He hadn’t talked to them in over a month, he realized guiltily.

He pulled a beer out of the fridge, twisted off the cap and took a long drink before walking over to look more closely at the answering-machine.

Three messages, all from a blocked phone number. He frowned. Not his parents. Unless they’d changed to a blocked number for some reason? He pushed the play button.

The sound of a dial tone echoed in the room.

He deleted that message and played the next. More dial tone. The third one was also nothing but dial tone.

Three hang-up phone calls. All from blocked numbers.

Dread painfully twisted his stomach.

Erica had left hang-up messages. Especially in those final weeks before he’d finally picked up and moved, without telling anyone where he was going. Not only had he kept quiet about his true destination, he’d claimed he was moving to Arizona to be closer to his parents. He’d even gone as far as applying for an Arizona medical license.

No one, outside his parents, knew he’d come to small-town Cedar Bluff in Wisconsin instead.

Almost two years had passed. Surely Erica hadn’t found him. Why would she even bother after all this time? She must have moved on with her life by now.

Hadn’t she?

CHAPTER THREE

BY THE next morning, Simon had convinced himself that telemarketers had left the three hang-up messages. It was the only explanation that made sense. He needed to remember to update his number on the national do-not-call list.

He sipped at a mug of coffee, thinking about his plans for his day off. He found he was oddly disappointed that he wouldn’t be seeing Hailey.

Stupid, since nothing would ever come of it.

He was through with relationships. After everything that had happened with Erica, he couldn’t imagine allowing anyone to get close.

To this day, he still felt guilty for what had transpired between them. He’d had no idea she was the clingy type of woman when they’d started to see each other. She’d been a nurse working in the same Chicago Children’s hospital emergency department he had been. The way she’d call him if she hadn’t heard from him had seemed nice at first, complimentary. Deep down, he’d been thrilled to know how much she liked him. And she was sweet, too.

But then, when he’d tried to pull back a little, needing a little breathing space, Erica had got upset. She’d been so upset that he’d gone back to seeing her, thinking that perhaps he’d overreacted.

All too soon he’d known it wasn’t going to work. So he had broken things off again. And then circumstances had changed and things had gone from bad to worse.

He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing desperately that he’d handled the situation differently. His actions had caused both of them to suffer. And then there was…

No. He shoved thoughts of Erica aside. Two years was a long time. She’d moved on and so should he. Maybe a tiny part of him would never be the same again, but he had created a new life in Cedar Bluff. New friends. And he was being considered for a promotion, the open ED Medical Director position.

He was happy with his new, if lonely, life. And he’d finally realized there was nothing he could do if Erica wasn’t happy in hers.

Nothing he could do to change what had been lost.

While mowing his lawn, a job he liked for the sheer mindlessness of the work, Seth Taylor called him. He had to shut off the lawnmower in order to hear him.

“Simon, I need a favor.”

“No problem.”

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. “I haven’t told you what the favor is yet,” Seth protested.

He chuckled at Seth’s incredulous tone. “Doesn’t matter, Seth. But go ahead and ask me, if it makes you feel better.”

“I need you to cover my three-to-eleven shift in the trauma bay tonight. Kylie has to cover a sick call for the paramedic unit and I don’t want to leave Ben with a babysitter as he’s still having some pain in his broken arm.”

“No problem,” Simon repeated, glancing at his watch. He had a couple of hours until three o’clock. “I’d be happy to cover you.”

“Thanks, man. You know I’ll return the favor some time,” Seth said gratefully.

“I know,” he agreed. Since he was one of the few single guys on staff, he had less reason to need anyone to cover him, but he didn’t mind.

Work was his salvation.

When Simon walked into the ED a few hours later, controlled chaos reigned.

Apparently several staff members were sick with flu, so they were working short-handed. Even with the tight staffing, he was surprised to see that Hailey had been assigned to work trauma with him.

Not that Hailey wasn’t a capable nurse. She’d certainly proved herself with the McLeod case. But Cedar Bluff’s policy was not to put their new nurses into the trauma bay until after six months. Hailey had come to them with trauma experience, though, and from a level-one trauma center to boot, so maybe that was why they’d made an exception in her case.

Secretly thrilled to discover he was working with Hailey after all, he crossed over to talk to Quinn Torres, the day-shift physician in the trauma bay, to find out what was going on.

“Hey, Simon,” Quinn greeted him. “It’s been steady all day, but nothing too overwhelming. The biggest issue is staffing. For second shift the trauma team is also covering team one.”

Double duty. He grimaced at the news, knowing there would be delays with patients in team one if emergency cases arrived. There was nothing they could do, though, other than their best. “All right. What’s the disposition with this guy?” he asked, glancing at the patient who was currently in the trauma bay, hooked up to a cardiac monitor and a ventilator. He noticed Hailey was there getting a report from Claire, the day-shift nurse.

“Fifty-eight-year-old guy with a GI bleed. We’ve dumped several units of blood and fresh frozen plasma into him, so he’s stable for the moment. We’re waiting on an ICU bed—hopefully should get one within the next fifteen minutes or so,” Quinn replied. “They’re moving someone out to make room.”

“So are all hospital beds tight or just critical care beds?” he asked. Without open-floor beds and ICU beds, patient dispositions took much longer, causing back-ups in the ED. Not good on a day when they were already short-staffed.

“Just critical care,” Quinn assured him. “And I think they’re moving a couple of patients out, so you should be fine.”

“Okay. Anything else about this guy I need to know?”

“Not really,” Quinn murmured, glancing over at the patient. “We have an H/H pending and there are four units of PRBCs and four units of fresh frozen plasma on hand if you need them.”

“Sounds good.”

“Excellent,” Quinn said, slapping Simon on the back. “Have a good night, because I know I will.”

Simon had to laugh. “Is that your way of saying Leila is off tonight, too? “

“Yes, and Kane Ryerson is the surgeon on call tonight. Don’t you dare page Leila unless you have a code-yellow situation,” Quinn threatened.

A code yellow was a disaster call, something they’d never had to implement in time he’d been there. “Don’t worry, we won’t.”

After Quinn had left, he went over to stand at the foot of the patient’s gurney, taking note of the most recent vital signs flashing across the screen. Hailey was performing a physical assessment, her head bent down as she listened to his heart and lungs. His fingers itched to tuck the silky strands of blonde hair behind her ear.

He dragged his gaze away with an effort. So what if he thought she was incredibly attractive? Just the fact that she was a nurse on staff made her off-limits.

“Ah, Dr—I mean, Simon?”

He inwardly cursed when just the sound of his name in her voice made his gut tighten with awareness. Get a grip! She’s off-limits!

“What do you need?” he asked, glancing up from the computer screen and keeping his expression neutral.

“His hemoglobin hasn’t come up much—it’s 7.8 now and was 7.5 before the blood transfusion,” Hailey informed him. “Do you want me to start another unit?”

“Yes, that should work. Hopefully he’ll be transferred upstairs to the ICU shortly,” he decided.

“Sounds good.”

Hailey smiled, but he noticed a strange wariness in her blue eyes as she crossed over to the nearest phone to order the unit of blood.

He told himself to be glad Hailey seemed content to keep a professional distance between them.

Because heaven knew, if she were to come on to him, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to turn her down as easily as he had Rachel.

Hailey eagerly transferred her patient up to the medical ICU, thankful for the momentary reprieve from being stuck in close proximity to Simon.

She’d tried to get out of working in the trauma bay for her shift but Theresa, the ED manager, hadn’t given her a choice. The two trauma-trained nurses had both called in sick, leaving her to pick up the trauma shift.

Another reason she’d left Trinity Medical Center had been because she’d lost the thrill of working in a level-one trauma center. She liked ED nursing overall, but had told Theresa there was no rush in getting cross-trained to trauma. Hailey had planned on settling in for at least another few months before having to face her first shift there.

Guess not.

She could do it, she told herself for the fifth time. Of course, having Simon on duty with her served as a distraction from her past.

She didn’t linger upstairs, as much as she wanted to, but hurried back down to the trauma bay, knowing another patient could arrive at any moment. Besides, there were still a few patients in team one to follow up on.

Her trauma pager remained silent, though, so when she returned to the department, she left the tech, a new woman named Bonnie, to clean up and restock the trauma bay while she headed back over to team one.

She double-checked on the patient they were treating for flu. The poor woman had thrown up right after getting settled into her room, just missing Hailey’s feet. Hailey glanced up at the IV bag, satisfied to see it was nearly empty. “How are you feeling, Christy?” she asked the young college student.

“Better,” the girl murmured with a wan smile. “At least I don’t feel as much like I’m going to throw up.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Hailey said in a light, teasing tone. “Good to know my shoes are safe. Let’s have you try to eat something, hmm? I’ll get you some crackers and white soda.”

Christy wrinkled her nose and put a hand over her stomach. “Do I really have to?”

Hailey nodded. “If you can keep the crackers and soda down, I’ll get Dr. Carter … er … Simon to discharge you.”

“Dr. Dreamy’s name is Simon?” Christy asked with a heavy sigh, running her fingers through her limp brown hair. “He’s not wearing a wedding ring. Does that mean he’s single?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “I’m not answering that, you’ll have to ask him yourself.” She left the room to get the promised crackers and soda, returning in less than a minute. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” The girl’s eyes brightened despite her pasty complexion and Hailey wasn’t surprised when she heard Simon enter the room behind her. “Hi, Dr. Simon. I’m feeling much better after that IV you gave me.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Simon responded, his deep voice sending a shiver down Hailey’s spine. She didn’t so much as glance at him, concentrating on disconnecting the IV tubing from the pump. “Looks like you’re well enough to leave, Christy.”

Leave? Hailey tossed the bag and tubing in the garbage and turned toward him. “I told Christy she had to eat the crackers and drink the soda first, to make sure everything stays in her stomach.”

There was a slight hesitation before he gave a brief nod. “Good. I’ll get the discharge orders started.”

After Simon left, the young woman let out another sigh. “Maybe I should throw up again, just so I can stay longer.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Hailey said dryly. “A better plan would be to get healthy, and then come back to visit when you look smashing. Doctors aren’t overly impressed with sickly patients.”

“Good idea,” Christy said, with such enthusiasm Hailey knew the girl was starting to feel better.

Barely three seconds after Christy Drummel had been safely discharged, Hailey’s trauma pager went off.

She read the text message with a sinking heart.

Male victim, MVC, pulse 130, BP 80/40, long extrication, suspected chest injuries. ETA three minutes.

“Hailey?” she glanced up when Simon called her name. “We have a trauma on the way. Are you ready?”

No. She wasn’t ready. But she nodded anyway, praying she wouldn’t throw up the way Christy had. “Of course.”

Hailey finished with her other patient’s labs and then took her place in the trauma bay as the paramedics wheeled in the new arrival. The patient was a young seventeen-year-old male, who’d run his stolen car into a tree while being chased by the police.

He’d been wedged inside the car, to the point where it had taken the firemen over forty-five minutes to get him out.

The first glance at his pale and lifeless face made her blood run cold.

Not Andrew.

She kept the mantra running in the back of her mind as she concentrated on getting the new patient connected to the heart monitor. His vital signs were dangerously low.

The monitor began alarming. “I’m losing his blood pressure,” she said sharply, with a worried glance at Simon.

Simon looked up at the monitor, his expression grim. “PEA. Probably a hemothorax with his crushing chest injuries. I need a chest tube.”

Hailey grabbed the chest tube tray at the same time Bonnie, the ICU tech, did. Bonnie stared at her for a moment, and Hailey readily let go, realizing setting up and assisting with the chest tube was something useful the tech could do.

She vaguely heard Simon give Bonnie instructions on prepping the guy’s chest. She hung IV fluids and performed a quick assessment, noticing the young man’s abdomen was taut.

Their patient rebounded as soon as Simon placed the chest tube. Bright red blood came pouring out, though.

“Call Kane Ryerson,” Simon said to Bonnie. “This guy needs the OR.”

Bonnie headed for the nearest phone, but almost immediately the patient’s blood pressure bottomed out again.

“He’s bleeding into his abdomen,” Hailey said, watching in horror as the patient’s belly grew larger right before her eyes. “Simon? Do you see his belly?”

“Yeah. We’re going to have to open him up here.” Simon didn’t look very happy with the prospect.

She tugged the peritoneal lavage tray from the bedside, but before Simon could get the guy’s abdomen opened, his heart rate slowed and then stopped.

“No!” Hailey shouted, unwilling to believe they were going to lose him. She climbed up on a stool to start chest compressions. One and two and three and four and five. Breathe. One and two and three and four and five. Breathe.

We’re not going to lose him. We’re not. We’re not …

“Hailey!” Simon’s sharp tone finally registered. She stopped CPR and glanced up at the heart monitor.

Asystole.

“It’s over,” Simon said quietly. “Time of death, six-forty-two p.m.”

She thought she could handle it. But without warning her eyes filled with tears. “Excuse me,” she mumbled, nearly falling off the stool in her haste to get away.

“Hailey!” she heard Simon shout behind her.

But she disappeared into the staff lounge, shutting the door firmly behind her.

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