Cari Webb - The Doctor's Recovery

When a doctor and a filmmaker reconnect...

Just who is healing whom?

Two years ago, Dr. Wyatt Reid shared an unforgettable goodbye kiss with Mia Fiore. Now a scuba diving accident brings the daredevil documentary filmmaker into his San Francisco ER. Could this be their shot at a real relationship? But Wyatt, haunted by family tragedy, saves lives, and Mia risks hers every day. Can they find the way to a future on both their terms?

CARI LYNN WEBB lives in South Carolina with her husband, daughters and assorted four-legged family members. She’s been blessed to see the power of true love in her grandparents’ seventy-year marriage and her parents’ marriage of over fifty years. She knows love isn’t always sweet and perfect—it can be challenging, complicated and risky. But she believes happily-ever-afters are worth fighting for.

Also By Cari Lynn Webb

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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Doctor’s Recovery

Cari Lynn Webb

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08500-7

THE DOCTOR’S RECOVERY

© 2018 Cari Lynn Webb

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Wyatt leaned toward the bed and held Mia’s good hand between both of his.

The contact satisfied nothing. He wanted a reaction. He wanted her to wake up, squeeze his fingers and reassure him that she really was alive. How pathetic had he become?

Mia Fiore needed someone to watch out for her and keep her from putting her life at risk again. She needed someone to show her that she was worth more alive than dead. She needed someone to love her beyond all reason.

That someone wasn’t Wyatt. He only lived within reason. When he was with Mia, he lost every bit of common sense. That was an unacceptable flaw. He’d been trained to be a doctor, not a lovesick fool.

He held on to her hand, reluctant to let go. He’d forgotten how well her hand fitted inside his.

Dear Reader,

My mother is a retired RN. She worked full-time through her first three pregnancies. When I came along (the last of four and the only girl) she stopped working, as raising four children required full-time hours. When I was in seventh grade, my mom decided to go back to nursing. A few weeks into her return to work, she came home and told me that she was considering quitting. She’d been out of the medical field for a while and the learning curve had increased over those years.

My mom says that I told her that she wasn’t allowed to quit. That she wouldn’t let us quit something until we’d given it a year, or a full season if it was a sports team. I also added if she gave up, she’d be teaching me that it was okay to give up, too. I don’t remember this conversation, but I love the memory my mom gave me. My mom never quit all those years ago and just like my mom, I knew I couldn’t give up on my dream of writing because I didn’t want my daughters to ever give up on their dreams. I have her to thank for that childhood lesson that has stuck with me.

I love to connect with readers. Check my websiteto learn more about my upcoming books, sign up for my mailing list, or chat with me on Facebook ( carilynnwebb) or Twitter ( @carilynnwebb). If you know someone in the medical field, give them a hug today and tell them thanks for all they do.

Cari Lynn Webb

To my daughter, Hannah, who believes in dragons, too. I love you more than you can imagine. Don’t ever stop believing in magic.

Special thanks to Diane S. for your guidance with all things hospital related and Michelle W. for sharing your physical therapy expertise. To Melinda Curtis and Anna J. Stewart for your support and friendship. And thanks to my husband and family for their patience and understanding during deadlines and for keeping me focused, even when I just wanted to watch TV with you guys.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

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

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

CHAPTER ONE

MIA FIORE COLLAPSED on the deck of the Poseidon . Hands tugged, rolling her over. Faces blurred above her. The ringing in her ears dulled the shouts snapping into the wind. Her arm burned from wrist to elbow. Her toes and legs tingled as if pricked by a thousand sea urchins. Every breath hurt as if her skintight wet suit crushed her ribs together. An oxygen mask covered her mouth. And when she considered drifting into the beckoning oblivion, one of her crew yelled for her to keep awake.

Each smack of the dive boat against the choppy surf of San Francisco Bay pounded through her body, short-circuiting her thoughts as if rearranging time itself. Her brain skipped through images like a slide show on fast-forward: the predive equipment check, the pair of leopard sharks posed for a picture, her dive knife drifting to the ocean floor, fishing line—so much fishing line—wrapped around her, no air to ascend. Dinner with her film crew in the city. Her father’s laughter. A different dinner with the crew. In a different time. Different place.

Another jolt of her body against the unrelenting bay waters. Another command from her dive partner, Eddy, for Mia to stay with them.

More hands lifted her from the boat onto something soft. The straps across her legs drove those tingles deep into her bones. A woman with calm blue eyes and a paramedic uniform replaced Eddy beside Mia. She rattled off numbers and ordered Mia to stay with her before the sirens drowned out every thought.