‘No!’ Unaware of what she was doing, she protested, trying to hold onto him. ‘Please.’
His hands cupped her face and she struggled to open her eyes, staring dazedly into the heated green depths of his, her heart racing, each ragged breath searing her lungs. He held her away from him, fighting for control. Part of her wanted to weep because he had stopped and she needed him so badly, while another part of her was ashamed that she had so lost control that she would have let him—made him—take her here in a public car park, and damn the consequences.
Conor wanted to cry with frustration. Dazed, disbelieving, he held onto Kate and fought to regain his senses, cursing fate for doing this to them.
‘I’m sorry, we have to stop.’
‘Conor?’
‘We’re needed. Listen.’
His shaky, breathless words seemed to permeate Kate’s confusion as she turned her head towards the source of the insistent background noise before glazed brown eyes struggled to focus on his face. ‘What?’
‘Someone’s in trouble.’
The last thing in the world he wanted was to let her go. He wasn’t even sure he could move because his knees were so shaky and he was so painfully aroused, all his senses in a spin after what had to be the most mind-numbing kiss he’d ever shared in his life.
What the hell had happened to them? It was crazy. One moment he’d brushed her lips with his, the next it had been as if the whole universe had imploded, spinning him away in a vortex of heat and pleasure, and he’d been lost in her sweetness, the clamouring rush of sexual demand. Dear heaven.
He looked down at her flushed face and the dusky-rose lips still trembling and swollen, groaning aloud as he forced himself to move, to set her away from him before he lost it again, still shocked that he’d been so carried away that he’d forgotten where they were. As much as he needed her, he certainly didn’t want their first time together to be some rushed and thoughtless moment against his car in a public place. No way. He wanted to take his time and savour every inch of her body, every second of loving her.
Dragging a shaky hand through his tousled hair, he stumbled away from her, every atom of him screaming to finish what they had started, but he could see the woman who had been calling for help as she emerged from the path into the car park. In her sixties, dishevelled, tears streaming down her face, she hurried towards them.
‘Please, someone, help!’
‘What’s happened?’ Conor called.
‘My husband, Angus,’ the woman sobbed. ‘It’s his heart.’
Taking the woman by the arm, he steered her to the car, somehow managing to organise his thoughts as he used his mobile to call for emergency assistance, asking for the local park ranger as well as the nearest paramedics or the air ambulance, whichever would be quicker to reach this remote spot. He was thankful to note that Kate had similarly snapped into professional mode, at least on the outside. Inside he imagined she was as wired as he was. His whole body throbbed with unfulfilled want, her fragrance and her taste filling his senses. As Kate took his keys and went to the boot of the car, he pushed his own needs aside and focused on the distressed woman, trying to extract a medical history.
‘What’s your name?’
‘R-Rose,’ the woman cried.
‘OK, Rose. We’re both doctors. We’ll do all we can to help him. Does Angus have a history of heart trouble?’
The woman nodded, her whole body trembling as she leaned against the car. ‘Yes. For years. He’s already had one triple bypass,’ she explained, giving details of his medications.
‘Does he have a pacemaker fitted?’ The woman shook her head and he was sympathetic to her distress while cursing the wasted time. ‘Whereabouts is Angus, Rose?’
‘Down the path by Bruce’s Stone.’
He nodded as Kate took the emergency bag and automated external defibrillator from the secure compartment in the boot of his car before running on ahead. ‘I’ll bring the oxygen and be right behind you,’ he told her, turning back to Rose. ‘I know this is hard but I need you to keep calm. Please, wait here and direct the park ranger or paramedics to us. Can you do that?’
‘Yes. B-but—’
‘Rose, we’ve no time to waste if we’re to help Angus.’
Leaving the poor woman at the car, he grabbed the oxygen from the boot and took off after Kate. When he caught up with her, she was kneeling by the man who was lying on the path. She already had his shirt open and the adhesive electrode pads that recorded ECG and delivered the shock attached to the chest.
‘How is he?’
‘Unresponsive. No pulse and he’s not breathing.’ She checked the trace on the machine while administering chest compressions. ‘Conor, he’s in VF.’
While the machine charged, ready to deliver a shock, Conor tilted the man’s head back and raised his chin, working swiftly to clear the airway and insert an endotracheal tube. ‘Bilateral breath sounds,’ he confirmed once the oxygen was attached and he monitored the adequate chest rises.
‘I’ll get a line in if you can take over here.’
He prepared to continue uninterrupted chest compressions, calling ‘Clear’ as the machine readied for the first shock and he watched Kate attend to the oxygen before pressing the button. The machine recharged and a series of three shocks was delivered without altering the VF rhythm. Resuming the oxygen supply, he returned to chest compressions as Kate struggled to find a vein, muttering darkly as her first two attempts failed. ‘Cannula in. 1 milligram of adrenalin?’
‘Yes. Flush with 20 to 30 mils of saline.’
‘OK.’
There were no anti-arrythmic drugs in the bag so they continued with the cycle of shocks, compressions and flush of adrenalin, the trace on the machine showing the irregular wave form of VF. Once they appeared to have Angus back, the AED trace confirming a change in rhythm, a carotid pulse vaguely discernible, but within minutes the machine alerted them to a return of VF and they renewed the sequence of adrenalin, shock and compressions.
‘Hello?’ a voice called, and Conor glanced up, seeing one of the park rangers he knew running down the path.
‘Here, Gavin.’
‘I didn’t know it was you, Conor. That’s a blessing. Air ambulance ETA is five minutes. They were nearby after a patient transfer. The closest landing site with road access is three miles away,’ the ranger explained with a grimace. ‘We’ve arranged to drive them up straight away and will transport your patient down when you’re set to go.’
Conor nodded. ‘Thanks, Gavin. Is someone taking care of the wife, Rose?’
‘It’s being done.’
Gavin went to organise things but it seemed for ever before two paramedics arrived, a couple of volunteers waiting nearby to help with the stretcher. ‘What have we got, Doc?’
Conor filled them in on Angus’s known history, what they had done, the drugs administered and the time they had been attempting resuscitation. ‘Do you have amiodarone?’
‘I do. Standard 300 milligrams IV bolus diluted in 20 mils of 5 per cent dextrose?’
‘Thanks.’
‘Lucky you happened to be here,’ the first paramedic commented, and Conor glanced at Kate, seeing her flush, remembering all too clearly what they had been doing before they had been interrupted by the emergency.
They worked as a team to do all they could for Angus, but Conor feared the outcome was not hopeful, despite all their efforts. When the AED trace confirmed Angus had the return of an output, Conor began clearing his things. ‘Let’s get going before we lose him again.’
As post-resuscitation care continued, willing hands helped carry the stretcher to the car park and slid it into a park vehicle for the journey to the air ambulance.
‘We have room if one of you wants to come with us,’ a paramedic suggested.
‘I’ll go,’ Kate offered. ‘Then you can bring Rose in the car.’
Not wanting to waste time, Conor nodded, following the convoy of park vehicles to the site where
the yellow helicopter awaited them. Asking a distressed Rose to wait for him, Conor ran to help the others load Angus on board, checking his precarious condition and ensuring Kate was OK.
‘You sure you’re all right to do this?’ he said.
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘I’ll drive his wife down and meet you there.’
He hated sending Kate off without him but in the circumstances there was no time to waste. Every second counted for Angus. Conor squeezed Kate’s hand for a second before he was forced to stand back as she climbed inside. All he could see was Kate’s face at the window as, moments later, the aircraft lifted into the sky and headed south-east. Filled with an urgency to go to her, he hurried back to the car, doing his best to comfort Rose as they started the longer road journey to town.
CHAPTER NINE
ANOTHER day was over but even with Fred back full time, work was still hectic. Louise Kerr had been for another follow-up consultation, still nervous but happy to report some improvement in her various symptoms. The urine sample had shown no signs of diabetes and Kate hoped she could persuade the young woman to go for the ultrasound when the appointment came through from the hospital. It was going to be a long haul but it was rewarding being able to help someone in need. She was sad she wouldn’t be there long term to see Louise through her whole journey.
Frowning, she raised her arms above her head, closing her eyes as she stretched her body, trying to tease out some of the knots that tightened her muscles—muscles that hadn’t fully recovered from the hours hiking in the hills with Conor three days ago. No. She didn’t want to remember Sunday for all sorts of reasons.
‘Would you like me to give you a massage?’
The teasing suggestion had her eyes snapping open, warmth heating her cheeks as Conor appeared at her consulting-room doorway, two steaming mugs held in his hands.
‘No, thanks,’ she declined, suppressing a shiver at the thought of feeling Conor’s touch on her body again.
‘You only have to ask if you change your mind.’
Kate knew he was talking about much more than the massage and her stomach tightened, warmth prickling through her. Wary, she watched as he crossed the room, the scent of hot chocolate teasing her and making her mouth water almost as much as the memory of their erotic kiss.
‘Thanks,’ she murmured as he set a mug down for her, perturbed at their shared passion for hot chocolate.
Shared passions with Conor was a taboo subject. Especially after Sunday’s lapse in self-control. She could feel his gaze on her as he sat down, cupping his own mug in his hands, and she prayed he wasn’t going to raise the thorny subject of the kiss again. He was frustrated with her because she had panicked at what could have happened, at her brazen behaviour, and she had insisted she didn’t want to talk about it—or repeat it. Which was a lie, because her body wanted to, whatever her head tried to tell it. Everything was so complicated in her life and she felt so edgy, but she was grateful that, although Conor didn’t understand, he’d respected her wishes. So far. How long either of them could keep up the pretence she was too nervous to consider.
‘I had a chat with Rose today,’ he said after a few tense moments of silence, and a wave of sadness hit her, her own concerns set aside as she glanced up and saw the understanding in Conor’s green eyes.
‘How is she coping?’
‘As well as can be expected. She’s going home to Manchester tomorrow. Her son has flown home from his business trip to Germany and is coming up to fetch her.’ He paused a moment, sipping his drink. ‘You were out on house calls when she rang but she asked me to thank you for all you did.’
Kate frowned. ‘Whatever that was.’
Angus had never regained consciousness. His condition had remained unstable on the short helicopter journey and he had crashed again at the hospital, the efforts of the emergency team failing to resuscitate him. The latest massive event had been too much for Angus’s heart to bear and by the time Conor had arrived at A and E with Rose, Angus had died.
‘We did all we could, Kate,’ Conor reassured her, the warm huskiness of his voice sending a customary tingle down her spine. ‘With his past medical history and the state in which we found him, Angus’s chances of survival were poor from the outset.’
‘I know.’
The incident with Angus had made her think of other lives she might have saved had her skills and her nerve been adequate, but she couldn’t explain that to Conor, had never talked about it, not even with her father or the professor. She couldn’t talk about it. Couldn’t face it herself. Closing her eyes to evade Conor’s observation, she leaned back and tasted her drink, her thoughts returning to Sunday. It had been late by the time they’d arrived back in Glentown and she had insisted Conor drop her at the flat, knowing he had been confused and concerned by the distance she had placed between them. But she hadn’t been able to face him, too vulnerable to put herself in the danger zone again and be tempted to forget everything in his arms. It would be good but reality would return afterwards. Somehow, if she wanted to regain her career and her life, she had to face all the issues that Conor had so scarily and correctly identified were eating her up inside.
Her eyes opened, finding him watching her, and a ripple of unease went through her. She wasn’t sure she had the courage to confront those demons, scared that if she let go she would never put the pieces back together again.
Conor watched the play of emotions cross Kate’s face, having a good idea where her thoughts were travelling. She had panicked after Sunday’s explosive kiss, refusing to talk about it, her assertion that it was unimportant, a momentary lapse, making him annoyed and frustrated. He had reluctantly backed off, concerned he would push her further away if he pressured her because instinct told him there were other issues complicating things. But now Sunday had become yet another no-go area. If Kate thought she could lie to herself that the kiss hadn’t meant anything, so be it, but no way was he going to accept that. What they shared was special and now he’d had a taste of paradise, he was going to fight to keep it. If that meant changing tactics in an attempt to draw her out of her comfort zone until she faced up to whatever she was burying, then he would do it. And to hell with playing fair. This was too important…for both of them.
Sensing her unease, Conor sipped his chocolate, his gaze watchful as he planned the next stage of his campaign. ‘I also heard from Nic and Hannah today,’ he told her, seeing interest vie with the wariness in her soulful brown eyes.
‘Are they OK?’
‘Fine. They’re coming over at the weekend with the kittens.’ He smiled at the flash of excitement she couldn’t hide and leaned forward to set his empty mug on the desk. ‘They said to say hello and that they are looking forward to seeing you.’
Wariness came to the fore again. ‘Oh, but—’
‘I was hoping you’d visit the pet shop with me. I’d be grateful for your help deciding what the kittens will need,’ he interrupted, tempting her before she could formulate an excuse.
‘Well…’ She trailed off, even white teeth nibbling her lower lip and making his gut—and other parts of him—tighten with desire. ‘When did you have in mind?’
Keeping things light and trying not to show his elation that she hadn’t flat out refused, he gave a casual shrug. ‘I thought we could go to Rigtownbrae on Saturday after surgery finishes at lunchtime.’
‘I guess that would be OK.’
‘Great. Thanks, Kate.’ Hiding his relief at her agreement, he rose to his feet, forcing himself to leave it there and not push yet about joining Nic and Hannah at his house for a meal. He had to take a step at a time if he hoped to regain lost ground and reach a point where she trusted him enough to let go and confide in him.
Noting the surprise and confusion on her face as he made to leave, he gave her a friendly smile and headed for the door. ‘I’ll look forward to Saturday.’
‘We’ve bought an awful lot,’ Kate said as she helped Conor unload their purchase
s of food, bowls, litter trays, beds, toys and other accessories when they returned to Glentown-on-Firth late on Saturday afternoon.
‘I’m glad you were there to help me. Thank you.’
She frowned as he smiled and continued to take things out of the car. His behaviour over the last few days had confused her. She had expected him to pressure her but he’d been friendly and warm without overstepping her boundaries. It should have pleased her but she felt even more unsettled and fidgety. Did it mean he’d lost interest? If so, that was a good thing. Wasn’t it? Her frown deepened. If only she could get the feel of him, the taste of him, the memory of that sexy kiss out of her mind. But she couldn’t. And she was even more confused. She wasn’t sure it was a good idea to spend time with him but the thought of the kittens was irresistible.
They had been late leaving as Sheena McIntosh had brought little Callie to the surgery, the child who had made a fuss having her arm stitched. With her teddy bear, still sporting Conor’s stitches, clutched in one hand, she had handed over a sheet of paper covered in abstract blotches of bright colours.
‘I drawed this for you,’ she announced proudly.
Smiling, Conor dropped to his knees in front of her. ‘Thank you, sweetie. I’ll put it in my kitchen.’
Kate’s heart had turned, watching him with Callie, devoting his attention and sweeping her into his arms for a cuddle. He’d make such a wonderful father—if only he wasn’t so against commitment. She looked at him now, adding Callie’s messy picture to the pile of things to be taken inside, knowing many other people would have thrown it away when the child had gone. Turning away in confusion, she concentrated instead on her first sight of his house.
Situated on rising ground at the edge of the village and reached by a short, secluded drive, the house was set back from the road and out of sight of its neighbours. Built of granite, partly painted white, it was long and low, one half single-storey with a flat roof and the other half double-storey under a pitched slate roof with two squat chimneys. From the sweep of the gravel drive she could see part of the huge garden, which was sheltered by trees and shrubs and afforded views over the Firth to the south and to the woods and hills to the north. It was stunning and she loved it the moment she set eyes on it.
A Doctor Worth Waiting For Page 12
