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decide how to proceed from there.’

      Candice looked across at them. She was positively preening under the neurosurgeon’s gaze. ‘I’ll check that they’re free upstairs, shall I?’

      David flashed her a grin and Candice blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘That would be helpful,’ he said.

      Sally looked relieved that she didn’t have to make a decision just yet. Olivia gave her shoulder one final squeeze and went in search of Kelly. She had only got a few steps when she heard Dr Stuart’s voice coming from behind her.

      ‘Good thing I was in the department.’

      She whirled around. ‘I’d have seen it eventually, Dr Stuart.’

      ‘It’s David.’ He cocked his head to the side and regarded her from his silvery eyes. ‘But you might have wasted time getting the Infectious Disease consult. You can cancel them.’

      ‘Shouldn’t we wait?’

      ‘Absolutely not. I’m almost certain. Brad needs the blockage cleared—either an angioplasty or clot aspiration—and the sooner the better. I’m the attending, so the decision is mine.’

      Olivia’s pulse was racing and she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it had something to do with the way his grey-blue eyes locked onto hers. She shook her head slightly in an attempt to regain her focus. He was right. This was his area of expertise. She was letting her peculiar reaction to him make her flustered, behave out of character and question his judgement.

      ‘I’m happy to wait to see what the radiologists have to say,’ David continued mildly, ‘but I’m convinced they’ll confirm my diagnosis. We can discuss it before speaking to his wife about his treatment options. Okay?’

      Olivia forced a smile. ‘Fine by me.’

      She turned to the head ER nurse, who had been watching the exchange with obvious amusement. ‘Kelly, is there anything you need me for in the next hour or so?’

      ‘If there is, I’ll page you. There are other doctors on duty, you know.’ It was a barbed reference to the fact that Olivia liked to be involved in as many cases as she could. Apart from Kelly, Olivia was often first in and last out. As chief resident, the work of the interns was her overall responsibility—a responsibility she took very seriously indeed. Just because she was going on maternity leave in a few months was no reason to let her standards slip.

      David reached across Olivia and swooped down on the box of doughnuts. ‘Worth coming down here just for this,’ he said as he took a bite out of one.

      Olivia glanced at her watch. ‘We don’t have time.’ She reached across and removed the remains of the doughnut from his hand and chucked it in the bin. David stared. He lifted an eyebrow and grinned.

      Kelly looked at Olivia and then at David. ‘You’re causing a bit of a ruckus in my department, young man. I just hope you’re as good a surgeon as everyone says you are.’

      Upstairs in Radiology, Olivia watched as they injected dye through the arterial catheter in Brad’s groin. David murmured something to the radiologist when almost immediately a blocked vessel showed up on the screen. ‘There’s our culprit. The vessel wall looks quite normal so it must be blocked by a fresh blood clot,’ David said. He turned to Olivia. ‘There’s no time to talk to his wife—we have to remove it.’

      The radiologist inserted a suction adapter onto the groin catheter and Olivia held her breath as he carefully sucked out the clot. Within minutes Brad’s eyes opened briefly to the call of his name and he appeared to look at them purposefully.

      David lifted his head and grinned at her. ‘Pretty impressive, huh?’

      Olivia nodded. It was a procedure she hadn’t witnessed before. And as David had said, it was pretty dramatic.

      ‘I’ll let his wife know he’s regained consciousness,’ she said.

      She left the X-ray suite and hurried back downstairs, Kelly’s words echoing in her mind. David might be as good a surgeon as everyone said he was. Pity about the rest.

      Olivia tossed her car keys onto the table by the door before going into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water. The remainder of her shift in the ER had been hectic. Not long after she’d come back down from Radiology a multiple RTA had come in. It had been an hour after her shift was due to finish when they’d finally sorted everyone out and either sent them home or to the OR. Thankfully all the casualties had survived.

      She tipped some dog food into Bouncer’s bowl, which he devoured in three quick mouthfuls. When he looked up at her hopefully she shook her head.

      ‘No, you know you’ll get fat, Bouncer. I’m doing this for your own good. I’ll take you for a walk in a moment.’ Bouncer, her three-year-old Labrador, attended doggy day care whenever Olivia was on duty. It meant a detour on the way to and from the hospital, but he was worth it. She shouldn’t really have a dog at all, she knew that, not with the hours she worked, but he was company for her and taking him for long walks kept her fit.

      Taking her water through to the sitting room, she eased off her shoes and rubbed her aching feet. Bouncer plonked himself next to her and laid his head on her knee, nudging her arm with his wet nose.

      ‘Okay, bossy boots, I get the message. You want your head scratched.’ Rubbing Bouncer’s golden fur, she clicked on the TV remote. Not that she really wanted to watch the news or follow some trashy reality show, it was more to fill the house with noise. When she and Richard had first viewed the house in Sea Cliff, they’d both known instantly it was the perfect forever home for them. It had spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific, and with its six bedrooms and three reception rooms had been more than large enough to entertain Richard’s business colleagues and clients. Most importantly, though, it was spacious enough to be filled with the children they had both longed to have together.

      Now, without him in it, it just felt big and cold and empty. She’d considered selling it several times since Richard had died, but at first she hadn’t wanted to leave the house that still smelled of him, still held his memory in every room—especially the uncompleted nursery. Then, when the shadow of grief had lifted and she’d returned to work, she’d simply been too busy. Perhaps now was the right time to find a new home for her and the baby? Somewhere cosy with a smaller, more manageable garden and a playroom? Of course she would always miss Richard, and she would have his baby to remember him by, but the life they had shared was in the past. Hadn’t she promised herself a new start? Wasn’t having this baby the beginning of that? But with work and her pregnancy it was unlikely she’d get around to finding somewhere else to live now.

      It wasn’t as if money was a problem. Richard had left her so well off that she’d never have to work again if she didn’t want to. But she did want to work. It was what kept her sane. She’d have to stop, of course, for a while at least, when this baby came along, but eventually she’d go back. Being single, she’d have to employ a nanny but, assuming she found the right person, that would be okay. She’d already asked an agency to start looking.

      She placed a hand over her swelling stomach. ‘Not too long now, baby,’ she whispered. She should be relishing this brief interlude of peace and quiet, because when the baby came there wouldn’t be much of it. Not that she didn’t yearn to hold her child. Even another twenty-two weeks seemed an eternity.

      She rested her head on the back of the couch and unexpectedly an image of David filled her mind. What was it about him that made her react the way she did? She’d never been attracted to his type before. The type that thought all he had to do was smile and a woman would melt.

      She grimaced. To be honest, she had melted. Just a little bit. She’d liked the frank and blatant approval in his eyes. It had made her tingle, and that had made her feel good. More than good—it had made her feel alive. What woman wouldn’t feel flattered being admired by such a devastatingly attractive man? Until he’d seen her bump, of course. Then she had disappeared so far off his radar she might as well have been in outer space. Olivia tutted.

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