by Donna Fasano
"It was my fault," the boy whispered.
"I'm sure your dad doesn't blame you."
"One of my gloves blew away and Dad gave me his. He couldn't hold on 'cause his hand got cold."
Daniel glanced at the man but his hands were now covered. He turned his attention back to the boy. "How long did you go without a glove, Kieran?" It wouldn't take long for this freezing wind to do damage to unprotected fingers.
"I don't remember."
"Show me the hand that lost the glove, son." It was obvious which one it must be. The glove on his left hand was far too big. Daniel helped him ease it off, his breath stalling at the blotchy white skin. He had definitely suffered tissue damage; the question was how badly.
He gently slid the glove back in place. There was nothing he could do for Kieran here. "Does your hand hurt?"
The boy nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Daniel grabbed a sling out of Megan's medical kit and strapped the boy's arm against his body to protect the hand. With luck, the damage was only mild frostbite and the tissue would recover. It would take a few weeks to be sure. If it turned out to be serious, Daniel would offer to operate.
The skin, subcutaneous tissues, and blood supply were things he knew a lot about from his work as a cosmetic surgeon, which was why his expertise meshed so well with thermal medicine. If this child was likely to lose fingers, he needed a surgeon who could preserve the function of the hand as much as possible.
Daniel was not one for false modesty. He was an excellent plastic surgeon, certainly as good as his brother. They needed to take this child to the army institute where Daniel could look after him.
~*~
Staring at Megan across the table as she licked ice cream off her spoon, Daniel really wished the phone hadn't interrupted them earlier when they were on the ski slope.
He wanted to kiss her very much. The reasons he'd had for holding back now seemed unimportant. Fighting the attraction was tying him in knots rather than helping him concentrate on work.
And as for Megan being his commanding officer's sister, that could turn out to be a good thing. She knew army doctors had to go where they were posted. She wouldn't expect him to always be around.
"You obviously enjoyed that dessert," he said with a grin.
She set aside her bowl with a satisfied smile. "Fancy a mug of cocoa spiked with a wee dram of whiskey? We can finish off the evening in front of the fire."
"Sounds like heaven." After the day they'd had, Daniel couldn't think of anything he'd rather do than curl up in front of the fire with Megan.
He was fit, but snowboarding followed by a stint with the mountain rescue team had taken its toll. He was more than ready to relax.
Megan heated milk and Daniel spooned cocoa powder and sugar into two mugs. After she poured out the milk, he slopped in a generous splash of Scottish double malt. His father would consider it sacrilege to waste a fine whiskey this way. The thought made Daniel smile. Crazy as it seemed, he missed his overbearing father. When he returned from his upcoming cold weather training in Norway, he would go home for a visit.
"Angus lit the fire earlier. It should be nice and warm in the drawing room."
Daniel followed Megan along the corridor, the two Westies, Bruce and Torrie, trotting at his feet. Duncan had gone to Edinburgh for the weekend and the dogs seemed to have adopted Daniel as their surrogate master. They'd been curled on his bed when he arrived home.
Stepping into the drawing room was like stepping back in time. The electric wall lights were candle-shaped and cast a pale glow over the room. The huge roaring log fire was topped with a mantel lined with antiques and hunting trophies. Oil paintings of majestic Scottish scenes adorned the walls along with a couple of shields, some crossed spears, and a stag's head. Light from the fire flickered over the scene like something from a bygone era.
Bruce and Torrie went straight to the mat in front of the fire and claimed prime position, staring up at him with their black button eyes. He crouched to stroke them, waiting to see where Megan settled before choosing his own seat. She plopped down in an armchair to one side of the fire and curled her feet beneath her, wrapping her hands around her mug.
No cuddling up on the leather sofa then. Daniel took the armchair facing her. The dogs immediately came to lie at his feet. "I'm not sure what I've done to deserve such adoration." He laughed.
Without commenting, Megan stared up at him from beneath her lashes, a knowing smile on her face.
Out on the slopes when they'd been having fun together, it was much easier to get close to Megan. Being at Kindrogan with her was like stepping into a more genteel world. All his usual flirtatious small talk seemed frivolous or inappropriate. Normally if he was attracted to a woman, he knew how to behave. The people in his circle understood how the relationship game was played. For the first time in many years, he was unsure how to proceed.
"I'm tired," she said, letting her head rest on the chair back. "It's been a long day."
"I enjoyed the skiing this morning."
She smiled. "Me too. It's a shame we were interrupted."
"My thoughts exactly." He sipped his cocoa, enjoying the kick of the whiskey as it reached his stomach.
For a moment, he recalled lying in the snow with Megan, the anticipation of the kiss. Then his thoughts drifted on to the fallen climber, and to Kieran Smyth. His pleasure dimmed slightly. The poor kid had a tough time ahead of him.
"I'm worried about the Smyth boy. You know that after the hospital warmed up his hand, they just dressed it and sent him home with a few painkillers? The presenting symptoms might not look like much now, but there's a strong risk of necrosis. The poor boy might end up losing some of his fingers. They should keep him in for observation and pain management."
"You're not in the ivory towers of private practice anymore. Welcome to the real world of budget cuts and bed shortages in the National Health Service." Megan heaved a resigned sigh.
She scooped back her silky hair and let it fall over her shoulders in a mesmerizing red-gold cascade that distracted Daniel from the conversation.
He cleared his throat and gathered his thoughts. "When I trained, I did the usual rotation in the National Health hospitals like you did."
"Well, you've forgotten the reality, then."
"I guess you're right." This was exactly why he'd wanted to get his feet back on the ground and really help people, rather than cater to the whims of the über wealthy.
"By the way, you did a great job noticing the lad was injured. I was so occupied with the father, I would have missed it."
Daniel shrugged. "You focused on the serious casualty. I'd have done the same if I were on my own."
As they were talking, it seemed like a good time to ask a question that had been bugging him. "By the way, what's the deal with you and Lyall? Are you dating or something?"
She burst out laughing, spitting drips of cocoa down her front. "Now look what you made me do." She pulled a tissue from her pocket and mopped herself.
When she'd finished, she leaned back with an amused sigh. "Lyall's like a brother to me. He's Angus's son. We grew up together. I can't wait to tell him you thought we were dating. He'll have a good laugh at that."
No, he won't, Daniel thought. The poor guy was obviously in love with Megan and she had no idea. Daniel almost felt sorry for him.
Tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair, he watched her finish her cocoa and set the cup aside. He longed to kiss Megan, but first he wanted to romance her, to make her feel special. He wanted to make up for hurting her feelings after the New Year's ball.
An iPod docking station sat on a chest beside a stuffed fox. Setting his mug aside, Daniel pulled out his phone and selected a romantic track, one they could dance to. He rose, stepped over the dogs, and slotted his phone in place, pressing play.
The soulful strains of a slow song filled the air. He extended a hand towards Megan. "Will you dance with me, sweetheart?"
Her
eyes widened in that deer-in-the-headlights look she did so well, appearing cute and vulnerable rather than startled. As she stared at him, he had a tense moment when he feared she might refuse. Then she rose to her feet and slid her slender fingers into his palm.
~*~
Megan let Daniel draw her into his arms, hanging on to her good sense by a thread. She would not let the pleasure of his embrace turn her into a senseless ninny like it had at the New Year's ball. Flirting obviously came to him as naturally as breathing, but he'd made it absolutely clear the first night they met that he didn't want a romantic relationship with her.
He was just passing the time and having a bit of fun. She was the only woman here, so if he wanted to flirt, it was with her or not at all.
He drew her closer, his hand sliding up to cradle the back of her head and ease it against his shoulder.
"Relax," he whispered.
She wanted to. Her heart had gone all warm and fuzzy, her muscles soft with desire, but her common sense retained a corner of her brain. Even as his hand stroked warm circles of sensation on her back, his words from New Year's Eve played through her mind.
He didn't want a relationship with her.
Yet he confused her. She was halfway in love with the charming man whose company she enjoyed, the kind man who'd taken Kieran Smyth under his wing. But the Daniel she knew didn't connect with what she'd found out about him on Google or what Olivia had said.
The spicy fragrance of Daniel's aftershave filled her nose, his stubble rough against her temple. Dreamy sensation whispered through her, wiping her mind of worries. Being in Daniel's arms was her fantasy. Why was she resisting? His embrace tightened and his lips pressed against her hair.
Daniel Fabian had stormed his way into her heart. Despite her best defenses, she could not resist him.
"I can't stop thinking about you," Daniel whispered.
Even though Megan knew he was just sweet-talking her, she melted inside.
"I love being with you, sweetheart." As he continued, her legs went all wobbly at the knees.
He stopped in front of the fire and put a finger beneath her chin, tilting her face up. Firelight danced over his golden hair, turned his beautiful face into a sculpture of light and shadow. Any doubts Megan had dissolved at the flash of desire in his blue eyes.
"Daniel." Her befuddled brain could manage nothing but his name, whispered in the reverential tone of a prayer. Her heart ached; she loved him so much. She had never felt like this before, never known it was possible to yearn so hard for a man to care for her.
Lowering his head, he brushed his lips across hers. Her breath caught, her heart stumbled, and she fell into the blissful sensation as he deepened the kiss.
After long moments, he pulled back and stroked a finger across her cheek, a smile on his face. "You're adorable."
Daniel Fabian was a master of sweet words that probably meant nothing. Even as she drowned in the pleasure, pain pulsed through her heart.
She hoped the old saying, "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," was true. She had a nasty feeling she would soon find out.
Chapter 6
A young army nurse knocked on Daniel's consulting-room door and popped her head inside. "Kieran Smyth is here to see you, sir. Shall I show him in?"
"No. I'll come out."
Daniel rose, relieved to leave the report he was writing. He couldn't concentrate with thoughts of Megan constantly bugging him. He had barely seen her since their kiss two weeks ago. Most evenings she'd worked late and last weekend she'd disappeared off to a wedding with Lyall.
After the kiss, he'd expected them to grow closer and things to heat up. Instead she'd backed off, or that's the way it seemed.
He'd been certain she liked him. What had he done wrong?
He blew out a frustrated breath and pulled open his door. A short walk down a corridor took him to the waiting room. The clinic was small scale. Being so specialized, only a few civilian outpatients visited. Most of the cases he'd dealt with since he started three weeks ago had been joint forces personnel who were admitted directly onto the ward from active service.
The moment Mrs. Smyth's anxious face came into view, guilt filled Daniel. Here he was moping about his love life, or lack of it, when the poor Smyth family really did have things to worry about.
This was Kieran's third visit to the clinic for his injury to be monitored. "Hello, Kieran." Daniel smiled at the boy. His damaged hand was splinted, bandaged, and held immobile against his body in a sling. "Hello, Mrs. Smyth. How are things?"
The woman rose, her gaze brightening. "Hello, Dr. Fabian. Thank you so much for seeing Kieran again."
"You're welcome. I'm glad to help. I gather Mr. Smyth is making good progress."
Tears filled her eyes and she dropped her gaze. "So they say, but he'll be in the hospital for months. I don't know how we'll manage with him off work."
Daniel placed a hand on the woman's shoulder in silent support, not sure what to say. At least Mr. Smyth was expected to recover. Daniel hadn't seen much of Megan, but she had taken the time to keep him updated on that.
"Come through and we'll talk about Kieran." Daniel led the way to his room and ushered them inside. He tapped the back of the chair nearest his desk. "Sit here, Kieran. We'll take a look at your hand."
The boy and his mother sat down, both tense and pale. "How have you been since I last saw you?" Daniel asked the boy.
"My fingers tingle and burn sometimes, and they throb at night so I can't sleep."
Daniel nodded. The boy had been on a number of drugs: antibiotics, codeine, and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. There was a limit to the type of pain relief Daniel could prescribe for home use. It might be time to admit Kieran to the ward and give him some morphine. That would make him more comfortable and help him sleep.
"The district nurse popped in to change the dressing as you requested," Mrs. Smyth said. "She said Kieran's fingers didn't look as bad as she expected."
"That sounds promising." Daniel gave them a smile, silently hoping the district nurse was right. He gently removed the boy's injured hand from the sling. "If you stretch out your arm, we'll take off the dressing and have a look, shall we?"
Daniel pulled on gloves, unwrapped the bandage, and set it aside in a plastic tray. He held the boy's left hand by the wrist and angled it to check the fingers. The skin had blistered and scabbed over in places, but the injury was proving to be less extensive than he'd feared. The nail on the little finger would fall off and the tip of that finger and the ring finger would need to be amputated, but the middle finger and index finger would not need surgery. The serious problem was going to be the thumb.
Supporting the damaged hand, he examined the thumb in more detail, carefully schooling his expression. "Okay, thank you." He rested the boy's hand back on the arm of his chair. "In a moment I'll ask a nurse to redress that for you."
"Will he need an operation?" Mrs. Smyth said.
"Yes. Let's talk about that. See where the ends of the two smallest fingers have discolored?" Mrs. Smyth nodded and Kieran stared at his hand. "That part of Kieran's fingers got frozen and will need to be removed. The good news is that once it heals, you'll quickly adapt and it shouldn't affect how you use your hand."
"What about my thumb?" Kieran tried to flex it and winced.
Daniel feared both the soft tissue and bone were necrotic. "Some of your thumb will have to be taken away, but I have lots of experience with reconstructive surgery. I'll make sure you can still use your thumb."
With five years of experience reshaping faces, often having to break bones to transform noses, cheekbones, brow bones, and jaws, repairing Kieran's thumb would be a cake walk. "It'll be a simple procedure. I'll replace the two small bones in the end of your thumb with a metal post and take a skin graft from your forearm to build you a new thumb."
"Will it hurt?" The boy's voice wobbled.
"You'll be asleep when I operate, but it will be
sore for a while once it's done."
"And it'll work like his old thumb?" Mrs. Smyth asked.
"It won't feel quite the same, but with practice I'm sure Kieran will get used to it."
The boy nodded and gave Daniel a weak smile. Daniel returned it with feeling. He was a brave kid. Daniel would do his best to repair his thumb.
~*~
Megan added some sliced haggis to the pan beside the sizzling sausages and strips of bacon. Lyall stood a few feet away, his hip propped against the kitchen counter, cradling his coffee cup in his hands.
They were a sorry pair. Saturday morning and they were hanging out together because neither of them had significant others. Lyall was a good-looking man. He dated tourists sometimes, but his problem was the same as Meg's—nobody stuck around for long up here in the middle of nowhere. They all scurried back to the bright lights of the cities.
"Any plans for today?" Lyall asked.
Megan glanced over her shoulder to where Fergus sat in his high chair, chomping on toast and peanut butter fingers. Most of the peanut butter was spread over his face, hands, and tray by the look of him. "Babysitting all day."
"If you have to stay with the bairn, I'll keep you company."
"Thanks." She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice. They had been best friends forever. She enjoyed his company, but she hoped to see something of Daniel this weekend. Last Saturday and Sunday, she and Lyall had gone away to a mutual friend's wedding. Add in the evening surgeries she'd been stuck with when a colleague was sick, and she had seen little of Daniel these last two weeks.
Her gaze drifted to the door to the hall for the umpteenth time, eager for him to come down.
"The Sassenach major is not for you, Meg."
Lyall's uncompromising tone snapped her attention back to him. "Says who?"
"Have you not seen the articles on the Internet about him? He likes fast cars and fast women. He'll not settle down here with you, lass."
"When I want your opinion on the matter, Lyall Stewart, I'll ask for it." Megan banged about, taking her irritation out on the cast iron skillet as she turned the bacon, sausages, and haggis. What annoyed her most was that Lyall had voiced her own fears.
