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THE EMERGENCY
DOCTOR'S PROPOSAL

Joanna Neil

A Professional Engagement!
Accident & Emergency doctor Sarah Mitchell is having trouble with her new boss.
Consultant Mark Ballard is challenging and demanding - yet somehow he’s awakening Sarah’s desires.
As they work together he develops a professional respect for Sarah that she secretly hopes will become personal. And when Sarah receives another job offer - from a former lover - Mark knows he can’t afford to keep his distance any more.
He knows he wants her to stay, professionally and personally. It’s time to take a stand for the woman he loves!

'Do
you
think you'll be all right here, Hannah?' Sarah asked, giving her sister a concerned look. 'I hate to leave you like this, but I have to go out to work. I'm on a special training week just now and it's not something that I can get out of easily.'

'I'll be fine. Don't worry about me.' Hannah's voice was low, her mouth a little stiff around the edges, as though it was taking a lot for her to keep going, and Sarah wished there was some way she could smooth things out for her.

'You could always ring Dad,' she suggested. 'He would probably be glad to help, and you know he dotes on Jamie. He thinks the world of his little grandson.'

'No. I can't do that.' Hannah shook her head, an instinctive reaction, and the words came out quickly, running over themselves. 'Later, perhaps.' She composed herself and said more soberly, 'I need time to think, and Dad will only start asking questions, and he's bound to blame me for getting involved with Ryan in the first place. He'll start telling me that I acted foolishly, and I'm just not up to dealing with all that right now.'

Sarah grimaced. 'I think you're wrong,' she said with a faint lift of her shoulders, 'but it's up to you, of course. I'm sure that he only wants what's best for you, but in the end it has to be your decision.'

She frowned and looked around the small kitchen. Her cottage was cramped, short on space at the best of times, but they would make do somehow. At least there was a pocket-handkerchief-size garden where four-year-old Jamie could play in safety.

'You know that you and Jamie are welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Kingston, too.'

The yellow Labrador was asleep by the door, his head on his paws, but now, at the mention of his name, he languidly raised a brow. He was frowning, as though the upheaval had been all too much for him, but after a moment or two, seeing that nothing untoward was happening, he sank back into oblivion.

'Thanks.' Hannah's features were strained. 'I'm sorry to put you through all this. I just didn't know what to do for the best. I was worried about Jamie. He's so young and he was getting upset at the thought of Ryan coming back and causing trouble. I know it was late, and I'm sorry for disturbing you when you were fast asleep, but you were the first person I thought of.'

'You did the right thing,' Sarah said in a soothing tone. 'You'll be safe here. Ryan doesn't know where I live—as I recall, he was away, working in Switzerland, when I bought the cottage—so he isn't likely to turn up on my doorstep.'

'I suppose that's true. I didn't really stop to think. I just felt that we had to get away. I knew that you would
think of something, and that you would help me to sort things out.'

'I told you, anytime you need me, you only have to call and I'll do whatever I can to help. I'm your sister— I need to know that you're safe, and that Jamie is all right.' Her features softened. 'I'm just glad that he's sleeping peacefully now. It was upsetting for him, poor little mite.'

She had looked in on him just a short while ago, watching him while he slept, tucked up in her second bedroom, and she reflected on how angelic he looked, snuggled down under his duvet, his thumb in his mouth for comfort. 'He must have been worn out, poor thing.'

Just then, her mobile rang, interrupting their conversation, and Sarah found herself tensing instinctively. She glanced down at her watch and, seeing the time, it was simple enough to guess who the caller would be. Answering the insistent ring tone, she said her name briefly and then listened.

'Where are you, Sarah? I was expecting you some ten minutes ago. You know that if you're not here when the first call comes in, we'll have to leave, don't you? We can't wait around for you.'

Mark Ballard's voice was gravelled, authoritative and threaded through with a hint of impatience. Sarah swallowed and said carefully, 'Yes, I know, I understand. I did try to ring you a while ago, but you weren't answering. I think your phone must have been switched off.'

'I was probably on my way to work.' He paused momentarily. 'Perhaps you should have left a message.'

'Yes, you're right.' She winced. Why was she always on the wrong foot in her dealings with Mark? Working with him didn't ever get any easier, did it? 'Look,' she murmured, 'I know that I'm later than we agreed, but it really couldn't be helped and I'm on my way. If I don't make it before you and the ambulance crew have to leave, I'll catch up with you at the first venue. I'll ring you to find out where that will be.'

'Do that,' he said. He didn't waste any time in small talk, but cut the line without further ado, and she stared down at her phone, feeling aggrieved and on edge. OK, so she was late. Wasn't she allowed any leeway? It was hardly as though she made a habit of it.

Hannah made a face. 'I'm sorry to be such a nuisance. Was that your boss? I know you said you were going out with the ambulance crew today. This is all my fault.'

Sarah glanced at her. 'Don't blame yourself. The crew isn't officially on duty for another twenty minutes, and the world isn't going to end because I'm not where I'm supposed to be. No one's that indispensable and, besides, the paramedics usually work alone. This time, because of the training commitment, they'll have two doctors going along with them.'

Even so, she was tense at the thought of letting Mark Ballard down. Theirs had been a strained working relationship from the beginning, and this could only serve to make life more difficult.

She slipped her phone into her bag and looked around for her medical case. She wanted to have it with her so that she could be sure she had everything she might need. Distractedly, she ran a hand through the mass of her unruly, honey-coloured curls.

'It's all part of a new hands-on initiative that Mark has thought up. He thinks it will keep us all on our toes, help us to communicate better with the paramedics and help us to understand the work they do. He's a great believer in team effort.'

She made a face. 'I suppose he's right, and it's good to get out of the unit and have a change of scene now and again. It's just that I don't feel that I'm quite up to par with what I'm doing in A and E just yet. I've been working there for a few months but I still feel as though I'm finding my feet.' She found her medical bag and started to drop items into it.

'I thought you were keen to work in Emergency?'

'I was, at first. It was what I aimed for when I went into medicine, and I thought it would be a challenge. I wanted to see if I was up to it.' She grimaced. 'Anyway, it's an essential part of my training as a senior house officer.'

She was quiet for a moment, pushing a fresh pack of latex gloves into her case, and then added, 'I hoped that once I learned the ropes I would be able to make a difference and that I would at least have the satisfaction of knowing that I was able to save lives, but I'm still unsure of myself. Everything seems to happen in a much more dramatic and immediate way in A and E than in other forms of medicine.'

'It doesn't sound as though your boss is much help. Does he know that you feel unsure of yourself?'

Sarah shook her head. 'I don't think so, and I don't want him to see that I'm uncertain. I have the feeling that he had doubts about my ability from the first and I'm wary of adding to that impression.'

'Why would he doubt you?' Hannah shot her a quick glance. 'You haven't had any major problems so far, have you?'

'No—well, nothing too serious, but, then, in the past I was always able to turn to Owen if I had any problems. Perhaps Mark thought that we were too close and that Owen was protecting me, covering for my mistakes.'

Hannah frowned. 'It would have been natural for Owen to do that, wouldn't it? After all, you and he were dating at one time, weren't you?' She was quiet for a moment, thinking things through. 'It must have been awkward for you when your boss took over from Owen. Isn't that why Owen left, because the two of them didn't get on?'

Sarah nodded, throwing some rolls of zinc oxide tape into the bag and adding fresh supplies of local anaesthetic. 'Yes, you're right.' She gave a small sigh. 'He didn't want to stay and be subordinate to Mark. As to Mark, I imagine he thought that Owen had been making allowances for me. He didn't seem to be very pleased to have me on his team, anyway.'

She made a face. 'I just feel, more than ever, that I should be able to prove to him that I'm capable of becoming a skilled A and E doctor, but it's turning out to be much more difficult than I imagined.' Her blue eyes were troubled. 'I sometimes feel as though I'm completely out of my depth.'

Hannah frowned. 'Perhaps it takes some getting used to. There can't be many doctors who go in there and feel at home right away. There's a lot of responsibility, I imagine.'

'That's true. You have to think on your feet all the while and you have to make split-second decisions. I do my best, but I'm not convinced that I'm always up to it. I'm apprehensive, afraid that I'll do the wrong thing.'

She snapped the case shut and gave Hannah a brief smile. 'Anyway, enough of my problems. You should try to make yourself at home here. Help yourself to anything that you think you might need. There's plenty of food in the cupboards and the fridge to keep you going.'

She hesitated, looking around and wondering if there was anything that she had forgotten. 'There are fresh towels in the airing cupboard, and if you need a change of clothes, you can take a look through my wardrobe. We're around the same size.' There hadn't been time to gather up very much from Hannah's place. Everything had been done in such a rush because her sister had been anxious to get away.

She glanced once more at Hannah. Her sister's features were pale, emphasised by the fairness of her hair that drifted wispily around her cheeks, and there were shadows under her eyes.

'If I were you, I would try to get some sleep. You had a disturbed night, and once Jamie wakes up you won't have the chance to get any rest.'

'You're probably right. I might go and lie down for a while.' Hannah made a face. 'I just feel so guilty for keeping you from your bed.'

'Don't be.' Sarah was already shrugging into her jacket and reaching for her medical bag. She went over to Hannah and gave her a hug. 'I have to go. I'll see you later. Give Jamie a kiss from me.'

Going out into the hall, she gathered up the morning post from the doormat. There was one letter, and she guessed from the handwriting that it was from Owen. She pushed it down into her jacket pocket before opening the front door and walking to her car.

Some minutes later Sarah manoeuvred her car into an empty parking space in the hospital grounds. Hastily, she climbed out of the driver's seat, locked up and hurried towards the ambulance bay. Was she too late? Would the crew already have gone out on a call? Her breath came in anxious spurts as she negotiated the internal road system and headed towards the meeting point.

As it happened, the crew was just preparing to leave, and the driver had already started up the engine. She broke into a run and was relieved when she saw Mark come around the side of the vehicle. He didn't look too pleased, but he said something to the driver, and then waved her around to the back of the ambulance.

'I'm glad you made it, but this is cutting it a bit fine, don't you think?' he said, his gaze narrowing on her. 'We were just about to go. We've had a callout to attend a boy who's fallen from halfway down a cliff.'

Sarah frowned, her blue eyes troubled. It was horrible to imagine what the boy was going through. 'I'm sorry. I'm just thankful that I managed to make it here before you left.'