Joanna Neil - A Consultant Beyond Compare

‘It’s delicious,’ Katie said, sipping the hot liquid and savouring the aroma. ‘I could almost be tempted to work here just for the coffee alone.’

Alex laughed. ‘So I’m making some headway at last. Wonderful. Do you want a refill?’

‘Let’s not get too excited.’ She lifted her gaze. ‘I don’t often give in that easily to temptation.’

‘You don’t?’ He started towards her as she put the cup down onto the worktop, and came to a halt just beside her. His gaze shimmered over her, pausing to linger momentarily on her soft, feminine curves. His smoky grey glance spoke volumes, his eyes glimmering with darting lights that tantalised and teased all at the same time. ‘That’s a real shame. I would so like to have been able to tempt you.’

Katie was suddenly flustered by his nearness. His body was so close to hers that they were almost touching…almost, but not quite. ‘I didn’t…I meant…’

He’s not just the boss, he’s the best there is!

These heroes aren’t just doctors,

they’re life-savers.

These heroes aren’t just surgeons,

they’re skilled masters. Their talent and

reputation are admired by all.

These heroes are devoted to their patients.

They’ll hold the littlest babies in their arms,

and melt the hearts of all who see.

These heroes aren’t just

medical professionals. They’re the

men of your dreams.

He’s not just the boss, he’s the best there is

www.millsandboon.co.uk

When JOANNA NEIL discovered Mills & Boon ®, her life-long addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical ™Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

COVER

TITLE PAGE A Consultant Beyond Compare Joanna Neil www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR When JOANNA NEIL discovered Mills & Boon ® , her life-long addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical ™ Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EXTRACT

COPYRIGHT

THE ring tone from Katie’s mobile phone sounded, growing louder and more insistent with each passing second. She frowned, flipping open the phone and peering down at the screen in front of her.

What now? Was it totally impossible for her to have five minutes of peace and quiet to enable her to think things through, without someone desperately seeking her attention or needing her to do something for them right away?

Then again, the whole day had been a disaster from start to finish, hadn’t it, so why should anything change now? From the moment she had arrived for work at the rehab centre that morning, things had been going steadily downhill.

First there had been the discovery that one of the workmen on site had drilled through a water pipe, and as if that wasn’t enough to put the seal on the day, shortly afterwards one of the builders doing the renovations had taken a nasty tumble from the main roof.

It was bad enough that the poor man had broken his fall on a lower sloping timber roof and then crashed through it into the patients’ sun lounge, but it could have been far worse. It was only just short of a miracle that no one had been sitting in there at the time.

‘Well, at least we’ve managed to find alternative places for all of our stroke patients,’ Mandy, Katie’s boss, said, coming out into the garden in search of her.

Katie had found herself a calm nook by the arbour, where she could sit on a bench and take in the fresh, clean air. The warmth of the summer sun filtered through the branches of the trees, caressing her arms, making her feel a little less stressed.

‘They don’t seem to have been too badly affected by all the upheaval and I’ve made sure that they’ll be able to go on with their rehabilitation in their new situations.’ Mandy heaved a sigh. ‘None of this bodes well for us, though. With the patients’ sun lounge in a shambles and a hole drilled through the water pipe, it looks as though we’ll have to close down until the renovations are complete. Of course, they’re going to take much longer now.’

‘Yes, I thought that might be the result.’ Feeling a little more in control of herself now, Katie straightened up and brushed back the long sweep of her chestnut hair with her fingers. ‘Has there been any news on the builder?’

‘Apparently he’s in Theatre now, having his leg reset. The doctor confirmed your diagnosis—he had suffered a heart attack, but they think it was a mild one and with proper care he should be all right, given time.’

Mandy gave Katie a long look. ‘I was amazed at how you leapt into action. I’m sure you saved his life. I can’t think what you’re doing working in rehab when you have those skills at your fingertips. You should be in a hospital emergency department, where your talents would be recognised.’

The thought of that sent a minor chill along Katie’s spine. She had made up her mind that she would never again work in A and E, and it had been some months since she had properly used her medical skills. From the moment she had come across the injured man, though, her actions had been triggered as if by remote control. She hadn’t given it a second thought. It was as though she had been an automaton, going through a series of well-rehearsed actions without giving them any conscious attention.

In a way, the man was fortunate, because after he’d fallen through the broken timbers, he had somehow managed to land on a wicker sofa. Any other kind of landing might have resulted in him not being around any longer to tell the tale.

Katie had rushed over to him, picking her way through the debris of wood and broken glass, and had immediately started to attend to his injuries, while Mandy had phoned for the ambulance. All Katie’s A and E skills had come back to her in that moment as she’d applied pressure to his wounds to stem the bleeding. It had only been afterwards that she had broken out into a cold sweat.

Mandy frowned as the phone continued to ring. ‘Aren’t you going to get that?’

‘Yes, I suppose I must.’ Katie pressed a button and the noise stopped instantly. For a moment or two she sat and simply absorbed the silence, a sense of relief washing over her.

‘I’m glad he’s not in too bad a way.’ It had been fairly obvious to her from the outset that the builder must have had some kind of heart attack, and she had concentrated all her efforts on doing what she could to stabilise his condition until the ambulance had arrived. It had only been after she had seen him safely handed over to the care of the paramedics that she had been able to take full stock of what had happened, and shortly after that shock had begun to set in.