The GP's Meant-To-Be Bride

‘It would mess up the surgery rosters,’ she said, tongue in cheek.

‘Too damned right it would,’ he said with a half smile, afraid that she would realise that he was genuinely worried about her.

The thought shook him. Ross turned away and hurried over to the boy, feeling more confused than ever. For three years Gemma Craven had existed on the periphery of his life. He’d had no feelings for her, one way or another, yet all of a sudden he seemed to be awash with them. Why was it happening today of all days? Was it the shock of having his plans ruined that was causing him to behave this way?

It was the only explanation that made any sense. His life had been turned on its head today and all of a sudden he was seeing everything in a completely different light. It was strange that he should be so fixated on Gemma, though. She certainly didn’t fit his ideal of the perfect woman, didn’t tick all the right boxes…although she ticked a lot of others.

His mind slipped its leash again, haring headlong down a route he knew he would regret. Gemma was beautiful and sexy and far more feminine than any woman had a right to be. She had the most fabulous figure, gorgeous legs, hair that made his fingers tingle whenever he imagined touching it, and that was just for starters. She was also kind and sympathetic, good at her job and blessed with a sunny nature that made light of the most arduous tasks.

Tick, tick, tick. Box after box was being checked off and there was nothing he could do to stop it happening. Some were the same boxes he’d ticked for Heather, but there seemed to be even more to tick for Gemma. As he put a comforting arm around the boy’s shoulders, he had to force down the feeling of panic that assailed him. For the first time in ages, he was responding instinctively and that was why he was finally seeing Gemma for what she was—a beautiful, sexy and desirable young woman. A woman he wanted.

The thought shocked him so much that Ross had to take a deep breath before he was able to speak. Turning the boy to face him, he performed a quick visual scan while he checked for injuries. Apart from a gash on his forehead, the child appeared unharmed, although he was obviously very frightened.

‘My name is Ross and I’m a doctor,’ Ross said gently. ‘Can you tell me your name, son?’

‘Jamie,’ the boy whispered tremulously.

‘Right then, Jamie, can you tell me if you’re hurt?’

‘My head hurts a lot,’ he muttered. Tears suddenly welled to his eyes. ‘I thought that crane was going to fall on top of me!’

Ross quickly sat Jamie down on the ground when his face turned paper white under his shock of bright red hair. ‘It’s OK, son. You’ve had a fright and that’s why you’re feeling a bit dizzy. Just put your head between your knees for me and you’ll feel much better in a moment or two.’

He crouched down and waited until the colour came back to the boy’s cheeks then checked him over. ‘It doesn’t look as though you’ve hurt yourself too badly. That gash on your forehead must be sore, though. It may need a couple of stitches, but that will be sorted out at the hospital.’

He glanced round, mentally crossing his fingers that Jamie’s father wasn’t amongst the severely injured. The site had been closed to the public for several months while work was being carried out, but it wouldn’t be the first time a parent had allowed his child to accompany him to a job. ‘I take it that you’re here with your dad, so do you know where he is?’

‘I didn’t come with my dad,’ Jamie admitted, looking guilty. ‘Mum and Dad have gone Christmas shopping. My sister was supposed to look after me, but her boyfriend phoned and Becky told me to get lost and stop pestering her. I thought I’d come and have a look at the crane ’cos I’ve been dying to see it.’

‘Ah, I see. So I take it that your mum and dad don’t know you’re here, then?’ Ross said, rapidly filling in the gaps. He sighed when the boy shook his head. ‘Right, then the first thing we need to do is let them know what’s happened.’

He asked Jamie for his phone number and called his home. Jamie’s parents were back from their shopping trip and frantic with worry because he’d gone missing. Ross explained what had happened and assured them that Jamie wasn’t badly injured. They agreed to go straight to the hospital, so he handed the boy over to the paramedic who would take him there in the car. At least he hadn’t had to break bad news to them, he thought as he watched the paramedic usher him away. The situation could have been a lot worse, although he suspected that Jamie and his sister might find that Santa wasn’t quite as generous with his presents this year!

Ross hurried over to the crane and carefully climbed up into the cab. The driver was unconscious and it was immediately apparent that he was in a very bad way. He grimaced as he eased himself between the broken spurs of metal. A lack of Christmas presents was the least of this poor fellow’s worries.

* * *

Gemma watched as Ross hurried over to the boy, then turned and headed towards the nearest casualty, a young man in his twenties. Kneeling down beside him, she drove all other thoughts from her mind. She wasn’t going to worry about what seemed to be bugging Ross, certainly wasn’t going to compromise her patient’s well-being by not staying focussed. Maybe Ross had been uncharacteristically sharp with her, but he had a lot on his mind, with the wedding being cancelled, so it was understandable. She certainly mustn’t go reading anything into it.

‘Hi, my name is Gemma and I’m a nurse. Can you tell me your name and where it hurts?’

‘Aidan Donnelly and my right arm is killing me.’ The young man groaned as he tried to move his injured arm and Gemma quickly stopped him.

‘Lie still. I’ll check you over and do what I can. OK?’

‘Fine.’

Aidan lapsed back onto the grass, groaning as she gently felt from his shoulder to his wrist. There was little doubt in her mind by the time she finished that the humerus was fractured mid-shaft. She checked his fingers next as this type of break could cause damage to the brachial artery and discovered that they felt cold to the touch and were turning blue, both worrying signs.

She quickly checked the pulse in Aidan’s right wrist and her fears were confirmed when she couldn’t detect one. Although the injury wasn’t life-threatening, ischaemia—an inadequate blood supply—could result in long-term damage and she was anxious to prevent that happening.

She looked round when she heard voices and was relieved when she saw Ben and the paramedic coming towards her. She went to meet them, lowering her voice so that Aidan wouldn’t overhear them. ‘This chap has a fractured humerus. There’s no pulse in his right wrist and his fingers are cold and turning blue.’

‘That needs sorting, asap,’ Ben said, turning to the paramedic. ‘Can you ferry him back to hospital as well, Charlie? He should be OK to travel by car once you’ve splinted his arm. Make sure ED knows that he requires immediate treatment. That artery needs to be freed and the blood supply restored pronto if he’s to regain full use of his hand and wrist.’

‘I’ll go and check on the others,’ Gemma said once she was sure that Aidan was being taken care of.

She told Aidan that he would be going to hospital then made her way to the next casualty, a middle-aged man. A section of metal had fallen on him, pinning him to the ground. He was lying face down, his hard hat obscuring his face. Gemma checked for a pulse at both neck and wrist but there was none. It was impossible to turn him over because of the weight of the metal, but she knew there was nothing she or anyone else could do for him. She left him there and hurried to the next person, arriving at the same time as Ben. He grinned at her as they both knelt down.

‘Not quite what I’d planned on doing today.’

‘Me neither,’ Gemma agreed, glancing across at the crane. Ross was leaning into the cab while he attended to the driver. He seemed oblivious to the danger he was in or maybe he didn’t care. Maybe his apparent calm was all a front and inside he was so devastated about losing Heather that he no longer cared what happened to him.

The thought was sheer torture. Gemma knew she couldn’t cope with it if she hoped to do her job properly. She dragged her gaze away and forced herself to concentrate on the injured man. There was a lot of blood on his face and that worried her until Ben discovered that he had broken his nose. That explained the heavy bleeding and a quick examination along with a few pertinent questions—name, age, what day of the week it was—soon established that he hadn’t suffered a serious head injury. He would need to be checked again when he reached hospital, of course, but she and Ben were happy to move on to the next casualty.

‘I hate to interrupt but I need a hand over there.’

All of a sudden Ross was standing beside them, sounding unusually curt again as he addressed himself to Ben. Gemma felt her heart ache because it was so unlike him to speak to anyone this way. He was always totally professional in his dealings with the staff at the surgery, never lost his temper, and was always calm and reasonable. He must be devastated by what had happened to behave so out of character, and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it, either.

‘Typical. Gemma and I were just doing a bit of bonding and now you want to drag me away.’ Ben leered at her so comically that Gemma couldn’t help smiling then wished she hadn’t when she saw Ross’s expression darken.

‘Well, I’m sorry to spoil your fun but you’re the expert here. I’m just a humble GP, don’t forget.’

Ben whistled softly as Ross stalked away. ‘Ouch! That put me in my place, didn’t it? This wedding business has hit him really hard. It’s not like Ross to bite people’s heads off like that. I knew it was odd this morning when he told me what had happened. I mean, he didn’t even sound upset. He must have been bottling it all up until now.’

‘Probably,’ Gemma agreed sadly. ‘I just wish there was something we could do.’

‘To get Ross and Heather back together, you mean?’ Ben’s face lit up. ‘Great idea! It’s a crying shame, them breaking up like that. He and Heather are just perfect for each other. They’re so well matched that it’s disheartening, really. You just know that you’ll never find anyone as perfect yourself, or, more to the point, someone who thinks you’re perfect for them.’ His smile dimmed. ‘I certainly won’t.’

Gemma had a feeling there was more to that comment than Ben was admitting. However, there was no time to ask him to explain when there were so many lives at risk. She finished attending to their patient while Ben went to help Ross, using a wad of lint to clean away the blood. By the time that was done, the police had arrived, bringing with them more members of Dalverston’s rapid response team, although as one wit pointed out they might need a new name after today seeing as their response had been far from speedy.

It was good to have so many experienced people around, though. Gemma did whatever she was asked, unconcerned when at times she found herself acting as gofer. She wasn’t too proud to admit that other people knew more about emergency procedures than she did and was happy to learn from them. It was different in the surgery—she was completely at home there and confident that there was little she couldn’t handle, but this wasn’t her natural element.

Her gaze strayed once more to Ross, who was in the thick of things, helping the team attend to the crane driver. Even as she watched, she saw him issue instructions to one of the paramedics and saw the man obey them. No matter where Ross worked, or in what capacity, he would feel completely sure of himself. Heather had been exactly the same. No wonder they’d been so right for each other. Two good-looking, talented, perfect people who should have had a perfect life together.

Tears filled her eyes and she hurriedly turned away. She wasn’t perfect and she never could be. The scars on her body might have faded but they were still there, still looked repulsive to anyone who saw them. Even if Ross and Heather never got back together, even if Ross realised that he could find someone else equally perfect for him, it wouldn’t be her.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘THERE’S no way we can risk lifting him out of here even on a spinal board. We’ll need the air ambulance to winch him out.’

Ross sank back onto his heels, curbing the urge he felt to question Ben’s decision. He wasn’t sure why he felt so bloody minded. After all, his friend dealt with injuries like this every day. Normally, he would have deferred to Ben’s expertise without a second thought, so what was different today? Was it pique over the way Ben and Gemma seemed to have become best buddies all of a sudden?

The thought did nothing to enhance his mood. Fortunately, another voice entered the conversation then, sparing him from having to reply. ‘I’ll get the police to radio back to base and request the helicopter.’

Sam Kearney, one of the newer additions to Dalverston’s rapid response team, hurried off to set things in motion, giving Ross a very necessary breathing space. He took advantage of it, breathing in and out a couple of dozen times, although it didn’t achieve very much. Ben and Gemma an item? No way!

‘Can you help me get this collar on him?’