The Celebrity Doctor's Proposal (5 page)

Michelle nodded, her expression anxious. ‘Why? Why would that make her ill?'

‘Because wasps crawl into cans of fizzy drink,' Sam said grimly, turning back to the child and checking her mouth and throat. ‘Our guess is that she may have swallowed a wasp.'

‘Oh, my God.' John's face was pale. ‘You think she's been stung in her throat?'

‘Possibly.'

John closed his eyes briefly and then looked at his wife and shook his head. ‘We had no idea.'

‘Lucky you brought her here as quickly as you did,' Sam said. ‘Her breathing is improving and her heart rate is good. We'll get her transferred to the
hospital and they'll keep her in overnight just to be sure.'

‘Keep her in?' Michelle stroked Lucy's hair to keep her calm. ‘But if she's better…?'

‘There's a chance she might have a relapse,' Anna explained, glancing towards the window. ‘I can hear the ambulance now. We'll transfer her to hospital and they can take a good look at her throat.'

‘A wasp in the can. I can't believe I didn't think of that,' Michelle groaned, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘And I think I'm such a careful mother.'

‘Accidents still happen, Michelle, and you're a great mother,' Anna said quietly, walking towards the door as the paramedics hurried in, guided by Glenda. ‘Hi, Todd. We need to get this little one to hospital quickly.'

She explained what had happened, gave him a summary of the care they'd given and then looked at Sam. ‘One of us ought to go in the ambulance with her. You or me?'

‘I'll go,' Sam said immediately. ‘You might be needed here. I'll grab a lift back from someone.'

Now that the immediate danger to the child had passed, Anna swept her dark hair away from her face and gave a reluctant grin. ‘Good work, McKenna. Maybe you're not as rusty as I thought.'

‘If that's supposed to be a compliment then I'd say you need more practice.' He returned the smile and straightened. ‘You didn't do badly yourself, Riggs. Good teamwork.'

Teamwork.

She frowned, slightly unsettled to realise that that was exactly what had happened. They'd worked as a team. A very effective team. And it wasn't at all what she would have expected. In the pressure of an emergency there had been no dissention between them—in fact, they'd hardly needed to speak. Each had worked smoothly alongside the other, instinctively anticipating each other's needs.

And then she noticed the camera. Her smile faded. ‘You've been filming? You filmed what just happened?'

A girl with a clipboard murmured something in the producer's ear and Polly smiled. ‘It will make fantastic television. But obviously only with the family's permission. And I agree that it was amazing teamwork.' The producer stepped forward, an awed expression on her face. ‘The two of you were so slick. It was like watching a medical drama! Better, because it was real.'

Anna gritted her teeth and Sam drew in a breath, clearly anticipating a problem. ‘Anna—'

‘You shouldn't have filmed without the patient's permission.'

‘We put a notice up saying that anyone not wishing to be filmed simply has to say so.'

Anna glanced at the wall, scanned the notice and scowled. ‘Well, the Craddocks weren't exactly reading the notices on the wall when they came in here, were they? They wouldn't even have seen it!'

John Craddock rubbed the back of his neck and
cast a glance towards his daughter, who was now sitting on his wife's lap. ‘Can't honestly say I mind if they show it, Dr Riggs. Not if it saves someone else. What do you think, Michelle?'

His wife gave a wavering smile. She was still very pale from the experience. ‘To be honest, I'm only too pleased for other people to learn the risks of not drinking straight from cans in the summer. It had never even occurred to me. And I worry about everything when it comes to the kids!'

Anna released a breath, unable to argue with that. It was an important health education message, that was true, and something that people often overlooked in the summer months when the weather was hot and wasps were abundant. ‘Well, I suppose if you don't mind…'

John grinned. ‘Just tell me when it's going to be shown, so that I can tell everyone who knows me.'

‘We'll certainly do that.' The producer smiled, standing to one side as the paramedics prepared to take Lucy to the hospital. ‘It'll be part of our series on summer health.'

Sam picked up his bag, helped himself to a few extra pieces of equipment that he thought he might need and gave Anna a nod. ‘I won't be long. I'll just hand over and then catch a lift back.'

‘Fine. I've got paperwork to do anyway. We'll delay that lunch. If there's going to be a camera stuck in my face every time I turn round, I definitely want to be part of the discussion.'

 

In fact, they didn't need to delay lunch for long.

Sam was back within the hour and the news on Lucy was good. ‘She's stable now but they're keeping her in overnight. Now, let's get on with the meeting before the sandwiches curl. Glenda, are you joining us for this?'

‘Oh, Dr McKenna…' Slightly breathless, Glenda glanced at them nervously, her hand shaking slightly as she smoothed her hair. ‘I was thinking of popping home in my lunch-break, if that's all right with you. But I could come if you'd rather…'

‘Not at all,' Sam said easily, giving her a smile that made Glenda visibly relax. ‘Have a nice lunch. See you later.'

Glenda vanished through the door so hastily that her bag tangled on the handle. With a murmured exclamation she tugged it free and hurried off without looking back, clearly in a hurry and very flustered.

Sam's smile faded. ‘There goes a very stressed woman.'

Anna nodded, pacing over to the window and watching as Glenda virtually sprinted down the street towards the harbour. She knew that the receptionist would be home within five minutes. But why the hurry?

‘You're right,' she said quietly. ‘Something is very wrong and I feel very guilty that it took you to point it out.'

Sam strolled across the reception area and stood next to her. ‘Just one of the advantages of having an injection of fresh blood in the practice.'

‘Don't.' She glanced up at him, her expression troubled. For once she wasn't in the mood to argue with him. ‘It worries me that I didn't notice.'

‘Why should you have noticed? You're not superwoman.' He lifted a hand and brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face. The gesture was so unexpected that she jumped as though she'd received an electric shock.

‘Just because we've managed to be civil to each other for the past half an hour, don't think you can take liberties, McKenna.' Thoroughly unsettled by the sudden wild increase in her pulse rate, she glared at him and he glared back.

‘Just clearing your vision, Riggs. You need a haircut or you're going to trip on the stairs.'

She resisted the temptation to lift a hand to her hair. She always wore her hair long and he knew it.

‘You know, it would make for riveting television if you let us film the two of you working together for the whole series.' The voice of Polly came from behind them and they both turned. ‘There's a tremendous chemistry between you. The room just pulses with energy whenever you're together. And the best thing is that you two don't even seem aware of it.'

Chemistry?

Anna gaped at her. ‘The sort of chemistry that causes an explosion,' she muttered darkly, and Sam grinned.

‘I don't think our Anna sees herself as a film star, Polly.'

The producer looked thoughtful. ‘Well, a lot of
people are resistant to the thought of being filmed but once they get used to it they usually find they forget about the cameras and just get on with the job. That's one of the reasons that these fly-on-the-wall documentaries are so successful. The viewers feel as though they're genuinely part of what's going on.' The producer tipped her head on one side and narrowed her eyes. ‘Even without looking at what we just filmed, I can tell that you're going to look fabulous on camera. Gorgeous.'

Anna glared at both of them. ‘I do not want to be filmed.'

‘Fine by me.' Sam suppressed a yawn. ‘Personally I think it would be pretty hard to find your good side anyway.'

The smooth working relationship was gone. Back was the constant needling.

‘You are unbelievably shallow.'

Polly glanced between them and grinned. ‘If you're both willing to suspend hostilities, the sandwiches are looking particularly tempting.'

‘Yeah, we're ready.' Sam strolled across the reception area and made for the stairs that led to the staffroom.

Aware that the producer was still staring at them in fascination, Anna followed more self-consciously.

Chemistry.

It was utterly ridiculous to suggest that she and Sam shared any sort of chemistry. And as for looking good on the camera—the whole idea was totally ridiculous.

‘It would be great if we could incorporate more of your accident and emergency skills, Sam,' Polly was saying as Anna grabbed a cup of coffee and took her seat at the table. ‘I know we need the routine stuff, too, but a bit of that does get the adrenaline pumping.'

‘What accident and emergency skills?' Anna helped herself to a sandwich. ‘Since when did you have accident and emergency skills?' Then she remembered the calm, competent way he'd reacted to the crisis downstairs and something clicked in her brain. ‘What jobs have you been doing in London, McKenna?'

Polly smiled. ‘When he's not doing his usual surgery and working for us, he does nights at the A and E department of…' She named a busy London hospital and Anna put the sandwich back on her plate untouched, her eyes on Sam.

‘You're working nights in an A and E department? Why?'

His eyes gleamed. ‘So that my medical skills don't become as rusty as a garden fork, Riggs, that's why. We see a range of conditions in the London practice but there's nothing like nights in A and E to hone your skills.'

She stared at him. ‘That explains why you were able to get that line into the child.'

‘I've done it a few times, yes.'

She glared at him. ‘You should have told me.'

‘You shouldn't have assumed that I was useless.'

‘Now, now, children.' Polly's expression was amused. ‘It's always fun to watch the two of you in action, but we're already pushed for time so can we move on to the matter in hand? We need to discuss our plans for filming this summer.'

Anna bit hard into her sandwich and glared at Sam. But her anger with him for deliberately deceiving her was tinged with respect. The guy clearly knew what he was doing. And he was an impressive doctor.

It was just a shame that she wanted to strangle him.

 

That evening, despite the heat, Anna decided to go for a run on the beach. She always found exercise good for tension, and the tension in her life had rocketed ever since Sam had walked into her surgery.

Despite all their reassurances during the lunch-time meeting that the patients would love the idea of being ‘on the telly', she still had serious reservations about filming. They'd agreed to seek permission from every patient but still Anna couldn't quite imagine that people would want their lives exposed on television. For herself, she couldn't think of anything worse. She liked her privacy too much and she never had been able to understand why some people craved public attention.

Despite the fact that it was past seven o'clock, the beach was still crowded with families and Anna jogged slowly down to the water's edge and then
lengthened her stride, enjoying the cool breeze blowing off the sea.

This was a popular surfing beach and the water was still crowded with teenagers determined to make the most of the waves.

By the time she returned to the McKennas' house she was panting and uncomfortably hot. She ripped off her running gear and stepped straight under a cold shower, moaning with relief as the water cooled her heated flesh. Bliss. She was tempted to stay under the water all evening but her stomach was rumbling and she knew she had to eat something after such a long run.

She slipped on a short linen dress, padded down to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

‘I cooked last night so I guess tonight has to be your turn.' Sam lounged in the doorway, a beer in his hand, watching her.

Anna turned. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you look more like a beach bum than a doctor?'

His hair was slightly too long, his jaw rough with stubble and he wore a pair of long surf shorts and a loose T-shirt that clung to the powerful muscles of his shoulders.

He gave her a lopsided grin that made her heart kick uncomfortably against her chest. ‘You want me to wear a suit and tie?'

‘I don't care what you wear.' She yawned and turned back to the fridge. ‘It isn't looking promising. The only thing I can cook is omelette and we're right out of eggs.'

Sam strolled over to her and peered over her shoulder. ‘So you'd better buy me dinner.'

She wrinkled her nose and slammed the fridge shut, forcing him to step backwards or risk injury. ‘Why should I buy you dinner?'

‘Women fight to buy me dinner, Riggs.' He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts, his blue eyes mocking. ‘This could be your lucky night. I'm making you an offer you shouldn't be able to refuse.'

Her heart kicked against her ribs and she wished he'd move away slightly. He was standing far too close.

‘I have no trouble refusing.' But then her stomach rumbled and she remembered how hungry she was. And how empty the fridge was. ‘On the other hand, I'm starving. What exactly did you have in mind?'

‘That new place on the beach? Plates of seafood. Lashings of garlic butter. Chilled white wine.'