Sarah Morgan: High-Altitude Doctor

The man in him saw soft curves, creamy skin and green eyes that sparked and teased. He saw temptation and seduction in every graceful movement of those long limbs. Dr. Finn McBride saw guts mingled with a vulnerability that could cut a man off at the knees.

The doctor in him wondered whether Dr. Juliet Adams had enough body fat to make the strenuous assault on the world’s highest mountain. He knew that about fifteen percent of body weight was lost after three months at high altitude. He had a better than fair experience with women’s bodies and he was willing to bet money that Dr. Adams couldn’t afford to lose fifteen percent.

Would she make it to the top of Everest?

With a soft curse, Finn reminded himself that her fitness wasn’t his problem.

The fact that she was trekking to one of the most inhospitable places on earth, wasn’t his problem.

So why did he have a powerful urge to bundle her straight back on that terrifying flight and return her safely to Kathmandu?

Dear Reader,

I’m always happiest in the mountains. I like to walk in the Lake District and ski in the Alps, but the one place I’ve always yearned to visit is the Himalayas. I’m fascinated by the growing interest in high-altitude medicine and also by the drive that makes climbers risk their lives to tackle summits over eight thousand meters high.

As remote areas of the world become more accessible, more people are exposed to the effects of altitude, and I decided that this would make a different and interesting setting for a medical romance.

The research was extensive but stimulating, and I wrote this book during the period of time that the various teams were tackling Everest. Tracking their progress on a daily basis helped to bring the book to life for me.

My heroine, Juliet, has her own demons to beat. She knows that mountains are dangerous and she won’t give her heart to a man who risks his life. But love cannot always be easily set aside, and Finn McEwan isn’t a man to take no for an answer.

This is a book about bravery and determination, about grit and courage when life seems to demand the impossible.

If you have your own personal Everest to climb, then I wish you the strength and courage to make it to the top.

Love,

Sarah

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To Julian, for being perfect in every way and

for making me so happy.

Love always

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

Kathmandu, Nepal, 1300 metres above sea level

SHE was going to die.

The flight from Kathmandu to the tiny village of Lukla in the foothills of the Himalayas took only forty minutes and it was the longest, most terrifying forty minutes of her life. If there’d been any other practical way of travelling across this part of Nepal, she would have taken it.

Juliet closed her eyes tightly and tried to focus on something, anything, other than the clouds, the mountains hidden behind them and the ground that taunted her as it flashed beneath the aircraft.

‘Hey, doc…’ The bearded man in the next seat leaned towards her. ‘You’re looking green. You OK?’

‘I will be when we land.’

‘That bad, huh?’ He laughed in surprise. ‘And I was told you were gutsy.’

Juliet kept her eyes closed. ‘My guts are back in Kathmandu. If you want to fly back and get them, Neil, that’s up to you, but I’m only taking this flight once.’

The twin-engined Cessna only had sixteen seats and at that precise moment Juliet sincerely wished that there hadn’t been room for her. At Kathmandu Airport hordes of people had jostled for a place on the flight but the exchange of rupees had been sufficient to ensure that all the climbers and trekkers had gained seats. Including her.

She wished she’d left a month earlier and walked.

She heard Neil give a sympathetic chuckle. ‘We’ll be landing soon.’

‘And that’s supposed to make me feel better?’ Juliet opened one eye and shot him a baleful look. ‘We both know what the runway is like at Lukla.’

She liked Neil Kennedy a lot. They’d climbed together in the Alps and the Himalayas and he had proved himself to be a skilful and reliable team member. He was calm, level-headed and able to smooth over the trickiest situations—a general, all-round good guy.

‘They’ve actually built a runway?’ Neil pretended to look surprised. ‘That’s the best news I’ve had all day.’

Maybe not such a good guy.

‘Very funny, I’m sure.’

‘Well, runway is a generous description for a bit of dirt with a cliff at the end.’

‘Thanks for reminding me what it’s like.’

‘You were here last year. You know exactly what it’s like.’

‘Which is why I prefer to close my eyes.’ She did so, but carried on talking. ‘Are the trekkers doing OK? Anyone lost their breakfast yet?’

Four trekkers had opted to join them on the trek up to Everest base camp and Juliet knew that none of them had had any experience of high altitude before.

Neil swivelled in his seat. ‘The two guys are trying to look tough and macho, one of the girls looks white and the other one is gawking out of the window at the view. She obviously doesn’t know about the runway. Ten more minutes to landing and then she’ll be as green as you. But so far their insides seem to still be inside.’

‘Good.’ She didn’t want to have to think about delivering medical care to anyone at the moment. She was too busy looking after herself. ‘I haven’t even had a chance to get to know them yet. Do they look as though they’ll make it all the way?’

‘To Everest Base Camp?’ Neil settled back in his seat again and gave a shrug. ‘Who knows? Altitude is a great leveller, as you’re always telling me. They’ve got all the gear and they’re enthusiastic enough. And they’ve certainly paid enough for the privilege of trekking with Dr Juliet Adams, expert in high-altitude medicine. They think you walk on water. If anything goes wrong, they’re expecting you to fix it with one wave of your magic stethoscope.’

Despite the teasing note in his voice, Juliet didn’t open her eyes. At the moment she didn’t feel like an expert in anything and the only thing she wanted to fix was her churning stomach. ‘Well, I just hope they’re impressed so far.’

‘They’re probably wondering how a woman who can’t open her eyes in a plane managed to climb halfway up Everest last year.’

Juliet felt a flicker of regret. ‘Not the top, Neil. I had to turn back at Camp III.’ Driven back by bad weather and another climber with a severe case of pulmonary oedema who had needed to be escorted down to Base Camp. The frustration and disappointment still festered inside her. Would she have made it to the top? ‘I’m fine as long as my feet are on the ground. That’s natural. It’s flying that’s unnatural.’

‘There’s nothing natural about climbing Everest,’ Neil said dryly, leaning across her to stare out of the window. ‘And I still don’t understand what a nice girl like you is doing in a place like this. You should be at home, looking after a man and raising babies.’