Kate Hardy - The Children's Doctor's Special Proposal

‘Hello, Rhys. Good to meet you,’ Katrina said, and stretched out her hand.

When he took it, she was surprised by the jolt of awareness that shot through her. One that was clearly mutual and just as surprising for him, judging by the way his eyes widened very slightly. But then he seemed to regain his control and gave her a polite smile, releasing her hand. ‘Hello, Katrina.’

‘The kettle’s about to boil and our rounds don’t start for another ten minutes. Coffee?’ Katrina asked.

‘Thanks. Black, no sugar, please.’

She spooned instant coffee into three mugs, adding sugar to Lynne’s and milk to her own before pouring on boiling water and handing the first mug to Rhys. ‘Help yourself to biscuits while you still get a chance. As soon as Lynne spreads the word, they’ll be gone.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘And if you’ll excuse me, I want to pop in and see Sadie before we start, to let her know I’m back.’

‘Sadie? The little girl with the clicky hip?’ he asked.

Katrina nodded. ‘Lynne tells me she’s been missing my stories.’

He looked slightly disapproving. ‘As a doctor, you need to keep a certain amount of distance. Don’t get too emotionally involved with your patients.’

‘I hardly think telling a story to a little girl who’s bed-bound is getting emotionally involved.’ And just who did Rhys Morgan think he was, telling her what to do? He may be the new consultant and, strictly speaking, her senior, but that didn’t mean he could tell her how to do her job. In her experience, taking a little extra time with their patients often did wonders—it helped them to settle, and she believed that anything that made the hospital a less scary experience for them was a good thing. ‘I enjoy my job, and I’m not going to apologise for taking five minutes of my own time to make a child’s day that little bit brighter. Excuse me,’ she said coolly. ‘I’ll be back in time for ward rounds.’

When Katrina walked into the cubicle, Sadie’s delighted smile took away that rattled feeling she’d had since meeting Rhys Morgan. ‘Doc-a-rina!’

‘Miss me, poppet?’ Katrina sat on the chair beside her, and ruffled her hair. ‘What a lovely welcome-back smile.’

‘Story?’ Sadie begged.

‘Later today. After you’ve had your lunch and I’m on my break,’ Katrina promised. ‘Hello, Jo,’ she said, turning to Sadie’s mother. ‘I’ll be doing the ward rounds in a few minutes, but I wanted to pop in and see you first. How’s it going?’

‘Dr Morgan says she’s doing really well. Hopefully we can go home at the end of the week—not that it’s horrible here,’ Jo hastened to add.

‘But there’s no place like home,’ Katrina finished, understanding just what Jo meant.

‘Good holiday?’ Jo asked.

‘Brilliant, thanks. I must be three inches shorter after all that walking, but it was worth it.’

Jo laughed. ‘If I’d known you wanted to be three inches shorter…’

‘Sorry. My cousin Maddie has first dibs on my spare height,’ Katrina teased back. ‘I’ll see you later. And my story for you today, Miss Sadie,’ she added, smiling at the little girl, ‘is all about a princess. Because when I was away I actually saw a magic cave—the one where a princess met the prince from under the sea.’

‘Mermaid,’ Sadie said happily.

‘Something like that,’ Katrina said. ‘See you soon.’

When Katrina joined Rhys for the ward rounds, she discovered that he was exactly as Lynne had described. Pleasant to the children, polite to their parents and patient enough to answer every single question and explain in more detail when it was needed. Professionally, she couldn’t fault him. And yet there was a reserve about him. Some kind of invisible wall. Like Lynne, Katrina couldn’t quite work out what made him tick.

She put it out of her mind so she could concentrate on her patients in the children’s assessment clinic for the rest of the morning, and then caught up with her cousin over lunch.

‘Welcome home, hon.’ Madison hugged her. ‘You look fabulous. Though I still think you were mad, going on a walking tour of the Amalfi coast.’

‘I saw a lot more than I would’ve done if I’d been stuck on a beach,’ Katrina pointed out.

‘So did you meet a gorgeous Italian prince while you were away?’

Madison really was incorrigible, Katrina thought. ‘No, but I’m making up a story for Sadie. About the prince from under the sea.’ She laughed. ‘Right up your street. Or it would have been, had you not met Theo.’ She paused. Madison had her finger on the pulse. She might know more about Rhys Morgan. ‘Have you met our new consultant yet?’ she asked, trying her best to sound casual.

‘Rhys Morgan?’ Madison nodded. ‘I called him into Theatre last week during a difficult birth—and the baby was absolutely fine, before you ask. He’s a nice guy. Knows his stuff but doesn’t throw his weight around.’

Oh, doesn’t he? Katrina thought, remembering what he’d said about Sadie.

Madison’s eyes sparkled. ‘Since you’re asking about him, Kat, does that mean you’re—?’

‘No, it doesn’t,’ Katrina interrupted, guessing what her cousin was about to ask. Since she’d found happiness with Theo, Madison had been trying to find the same for her cousin, and the matchmaking was driving Katrina crazy. ‘He’s nice enough, as you say—a good doctor—but he’s a bit reserved. And he told me off this morning for getting too emotionally involved with my patients.’

‘He has a point, hon. You do get too close to your patients,’ Madison said gently.

Katrina rolled her eyes. ‘I love my job. I love the ward. And, actually, telling stories to the kids is good for me . It’s the best stress-reliever I know, going off into a world of make-believe and seeing all these little faces smiling back at me.’

‘But you still worry about them when you get home. You never quite switch off.’

‘It goes with the territory.’ Katrina glanced at her watch. ‘I’d better get back. I promised Sadie a story over lunch, and I don’t want to upset the new consultant by being late for ward rounds this afternoon.’

‘Sounds to me as if you just got off on the wrong foot with each other. Give the guy a chance. He’s OK.’ Madison paused, looking concerned. ‘Not all men are like Pete, you know.’

‘I know that.’ Katrina rolled her eyes. ‘But not all men are potential partners, either. I’m happy to keep men as friends and colleagues.’

‘Hmm. When you find the right one, you’ll change your mind.’

Katrina ruffled her cousin’s hair. ‘I know you’ve found Mr Right, but it doesn’t happen for everyone. Anyway, I like my life as it is. I love my job, I have good friends, and I have the best family in the world. Not to mention the fact I’m going to be an auntie and godmother to the most gorgeous little girl in about four months’ time.’ Madison’s amniocentesis results had come through just before Katrina had left for Italy; to everyone’s huge relief, all was well. ‘I don’t need anyone, Maddie. I’m happy as I am.’

‘If you say so,’ Madison said.

‘I do.’ And the fact that she couldn’t get Rhys Morgan’s incredibly blue eyes out of her head, the fact that they reminded her of the colour of the sea on the Amalfi coast—well, that was just post-holiday silliness, Katrina told herself sternly. ‘I’ll see you later.’

She had enough time to tell Sadie a story about the princess and the merman meeting in the magic grotto, and then it was time to face Rhys again.

‘I see you admitted a couple of patients from the assessment clinic this morning,’ Rhys said.

He’d been in a different clinic that morning—so when had he had time to check what she’d been doing? Or maybe he’d just caught sight of the ward’s whiteboard where they listed the patients and their named nurses and he wanted a quick rundown on what she’d done before they did the ward round. Fair enough. She didn’t have any doubts about her clinical judgement.