by Dianne Drake
Seeing Lorna sitting there, cradling and rocking a baby, knocked the breath out of him.
She would have been a beautiful mother. Even now, with someone else’s child, she almost glowed. And the expression on her face as she talked to the child—or was she singing a lullaby?—was as close to perfect contentment as he’d ever seen.
He tried not to think of it too often, about losing their child. Sometimes, though, in the empty moments, he still fantasized about what it would have been like being a father. At times he pictured himself as a father to a little boy, playing ball and all the games little boys liked to play. Then there were times when he was the father of a beautiful little girl. She looked like Lorna—same smile, same wide eyes. Then his heart broke, because that would never happen.
Did Lorna still think about it? Did her heart still break?
Sighing, he headed over to the food tent for a cup of bitter coffee, then wandered over to the supply tent to check the rescue grid and plot the next group out. As he passed by the hospital tent he didn’t look in at Lorna, didn’t look in at the child she still sat with. He couldn’t. Not right now. Not while the fantasy of Lorna sitting next to the bed of their child, singing a gentle lullaby, was ripping at his heart.
Dear Reader,
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love animals! It’s a passion that drives me to adopt abused and abandoned dogs and cats. Several years ago, I met a medic who trained rescue dogs. Naturally, I had to ooh and aah over the dog, but after the medic told me how it had saved lives, I was speechless.
That’s when I knew I wanted to write a story about the dogs that save lives and the people who make that possible. Gideon Merrill, my hero, is a rescue doctor. He puts his life on the line to save lives because that’s what he has to do. It’s his purpose. He has his dog, Max, to help him. Together, Gideon and Max are heroes in this story, saving children and others who might have otherwise perished in a mud slide.
When Lorna, a medical journalist, is assigned to cover the rescue operation run by her ex-husband, she agrees with great reluctance. Will she be able to do her job? Will Gideon be too distracted by her presence to do his? Lives are at stake here. Lorna finally agrees to take on the assignment, and what she finds on the muddy hillside in Brazil is a man she has never stopped loving. For the first time, she sees Gideon in his element, a real hero doing the thing he was meant to do. That’s when she knows that she never knew him as she should have the first time. But getting to know him now is a risk, considering their history. They do rediscover their love, but can it work for them this time around?
Writing The Rescue Doctor’s Baby Miracle gave me the wonderful opportunity to chat with several people about their rescue dogs, and I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Wishing you health and happiness!
Dianne Drake
The Rescue Doctor’s Baby Miracle
Dianne Drake
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER ONE
“WHY the hell did you say yes?” Dr Gideon Merrill slung the backpack over his shoulder and headed to the airplane door. It had been a long, bumpy flight in, he was moderately airsick from all the tossing and turbulence, and now this! He had half a mountain sliding down on top of a favela—house upon house built up the side of a mountain—more than twenty people reported missing, and who knew how many injured or dead. Two straight days of hard-hitting rain, and the river on the outskirts of town had burst its banks, flooding the streets down below with mud and water and debris washed down from the mountainside village. According to the weather experts, this little area of Brazil had been pounded by two months’ worth of rain in two days. Six different neighborhoods had been washed out, and he had a keen suspicion that twenty people missing in all this was a hugely conservative estimate. Time and experience had taught him never to trust the first casualty estimates.
And if that wasn’t enough, Lorna was coming. Of all the people in the world, Lorna! It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough headaches already, just getting the operation up and running. “Big headache, big pain in the…” he muttered.
Shoving a crate of shovels and other digging tools over to the door, Gideon’s partner, Jason Getty, stopped just at the edge and looked down at Gideon. “I said yes because better exposure means more money, and more money means a new airplane, or at least a significant overhaul to the old one.” A year younger than Gideon, who was thirty-six now, Dr Jason Getty was the polished edge to the rescue group, Global Response. He worried enough for the whole lot of them, but he kept them on the practical line, business-wise. He’d been Gideon’s only choice as partner when the ownership title for the outfit had been transferred to him a year ago. Co-owners of an operation that didn’t turn a profit…not very impressive on the résumé, or in the bank accounts. But it had its share of rewards. “And where are we going to get better publicity? Her name is pure gold, you know that! People love her. She’s smart, she’s sassy, and she’s not bad on the eyes. A nice package all the way around, and on top of it, she’s a doctor, so she understands why the need is so crucial. Pretty good deal for us, I’d say!”
“Pretty good deal? You didn’t even have the decency to ask me before you let this…this TV medical guru come down,” Gideon grumbled as he helped offload the crate of shovels. It wasn’t raining at the moment, but this was December, and December in Brazil meant only one thing. More rain. “Or even mention that you were thinking about it.”
“Get over it. Deal is done. She’s on her way.”
“And we can’t have them turn the plane around?”
Jason scowled across the wooden crates at his partner. “When you took me on, it was as an equal partner. Equal all the time, Gideon. Not just when it suits you. And you specifically said you didn’t want to be involved in any of the business aspects of the operation. This is a business aspect, so butt out! Lorna Preston is coming and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Except keep her the hell away from me.” Way the hell away.
“Your choice. There are plenty of other people who will make a good story.”
“From the perspective of a doctor who probably doesn’t remember one end of the stethoscope from another.” It was a waste of good medical talent, using it all on the telly, answering questions people should be asking their own doctors. None of his business, though. He practiced his medicine and she practiced hers.
“She’s big time, buddy, whatever you think of her. When Lorna Preston wants to go with you to film a documentary, you’d have to be crazy to refuse her. I’m not crazy, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. So, if you can’t cooperate or get along, stay away. OK? I don’t want your mood messing this up for us.” He tossed a sack of alcohol swabs at Gideon. “And you’re so damned crabby, you will.”
“Fine! I’ll stay away from her. No big deal.” he said, defensively. As far away as he could.
“I mean it, Gideon,” Jason warned. “I don’t know what it is about Lorna Preston that sets you off, but I worked hard to get her here and I don’t want you so much as looking cross-eyed at her!”
Point taken. Lorna Preston, or as she’d once been called, Lorna Preston Merrill, was valuable to them. He’d put his feelings aside because of that. Simple enough. Except, there was nothing simple about his feelings for her. Yes, she was the opportunity of a lifetime for t
hem right now, but he’d thought along those same lines seven years ago, when they’d pronounced their marriage vows. Not that the marriage had gone very far.
Gideon huffed out an impatient sigh. Now wasn’t the right time to tell his partner that an ex-wife didn’t make the best tag-along, when the partner didn’t even know there’d been an ex-wife in his past. “Well, since it’s a done deal, I’ll be good. No cross-eyed looks…”
“No cross words.”
Jason had no idea what he was asking. Cross words were just about the only thing he remembered from their marriage. Cross words, and their baby. “No cross words. But I’m warning you. Jason, we don’t have time to deal with her since we’re already short-staffed on this trip. She’s on her own. No one gets assigned to escort her, wait on her, or pamper her the way she’s used to being pampered. She’s here at her own risk and she gets nothing from us other than the story she’s after.”
“Fine.”
“No special privileges, and if she gets in the way—”
“Fine!” Jason snapped before Gideon was even through speaking. “I get it. We’ll keep her on a short leash. One shorter than we keep the dogs on. Does that make you happy?”
Gideon shook his head, and finally conceded a smile. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re right. The publicity will do us some good. Every time we get called out it seems the resources get tighter and tighter, so a little attention from Lorn…” Lorn, his pet name for her. She was already intruding and she wasn’t even here. “A little attention from Lorna Preston can’t hurt.”
“If that’s an apology, I’ll accept it,” Jason responded, finally sounding a little less tense.
Gideon nodded. Jason might be right about this, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Global Response was suffering, however. Never enough supplies and equipment to go around. This time they simply didn’t have the resources to haul in everything they needed, given the rescue operation they were about to start. They’d had to go shy on bringing in a full crew of medics and rescue workers in order to get all the medical and rescue equipment in, because they didn’t have the means to bring along an abundance of both. So, it all boiled down to pick and choose. Which wasn’t acceptable for a rescue response, even though it was the best they could do. “Yeah, it’s an apology,” he said, and meant it. Jason’s idea to draw attention to their work was brilliant. But, damn it, this was Lorna. Of all the journalists in the world, why her?
“She’s promised to stay out of the way. Do her filming on the sidelines, and respect any rules we lay down for her. She understands what we’re dealing with and, in my opinion, it doesn’t get more co-operative than that.”
Co-operative maybe, but his definition of out of the way for Lorna was a swank hotel all the way up in Rio. Better yet, back in the States. Unless she’d had some kind of major life change, Lorna simply wasn’t suited for this kind of a rescue operation. Never had been. She was spoiled, pampered. Couldn’t step out of the house without her make-up. And, yes, animosities aside, he’d watched her make her way, these past years, as a media medical expert. Call it curiosity, call it nostalgia, call it anything you liked, but he’d been glued to her career. Ask Dr Lorna was her daily five-minute segment on the national morning news program, where people called in or e-mailed with health questions. Then there were the health documentaries she produced, and books and articles she’d written.
OK, he’d admit it. He was a little impressed by it all. When they’d started their marriage all she’d wanted was a traditional practice. At least, that’s what she’d said. And he’d liked that. But by the time they’d ended, she had been well on her way to being Ask Dr Lorna. They’d never discussed it, she’d never even mentioned she had been thinking of taking her career in a different direction. One day out of the blue, only a month after they’d taken their marriage vows, she’d casually mentioned that an unusual opportunity had come up. One of her patients, a television producer, had made her an offer…
Just like that, his wife had become a journalist. His wife, his parents…his upbringing had always been a bit of an uproar, with both parents being journalists who never knew where their next assignment would take them. Living that way throughout his childhood had been one thing, but it certainly hadn’t been what he’d expected in his marriage.
He remembered the way his young life had always been on the edge. It had been a hard lesson learnt then, not to count on anything. Which was why, when he’d met Lorna and she had been on the path of something traditional, he’d thought he’d found heaven.
But then she’d brought hell to their relationship with a simple announcement, and hadn’t even had to decency to discuss it with him before she’d taken the job.
Then when she’d said she was bringing a baby into it…
Well, apparently Lorna’s life was working well for her, because she was a huge success now. He didn’t begrudge her that, but he did begrudge her tagging along on a rescue operation where she had no business being, especially since he knew her true tendencies. “I trust you to make sure she does know her place. And, Jason, I don’t want to have cameras in my face every time I turn around. The people here deserve some respect and privacy, and they’re not going to get that with Miss Preston tramping around all over them. Make sure she understands that she’s to allow them their privacy.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. OK? She’s not exactly an amateur in these matters, and she’s promised to run everything she films by us before it goes out to the public. Nothing intrusive is going to slip by. Personal guarantee.” He crossed his heart, grinning.
“Well, gee. Now I feel better.” Gideon pulled a case of first-aid supplies out the airplane door as Jason shoved a crate of blankets and clothes at him.
“If I didn’t know better, Gideon, I’d say you’re sounding like a man who has a grudge against the lady. Since I know for a fact that you live the life of a monk…”
“Knock it off,” Gideon chided. “No grudges here.” A few raw, unresolved feelings maybe, but no grudge.
“Gideon!” Danica Fielding called from across the encampment. “Max, Philo and Dag are out of the crates. We’re going to take them for a walk, let them have some exercise, get them acclimatised to the area.” Danica, or Dani, as she was called, was the resident veterinarian for Global Response, the one who went along to take care of the rescue dogs. On top of that, she was a top-notch paramedic, a real gem in the medical field with enough optimism to lift the spirits of the entire medical unit even under the most discouraging circumstances. More than any of his other crew, Dani was a breath of fresh air. “Max is doing fine,” she said reassuringly, as she attached a lead to the dog’s collar. “Do you want to walk him?”
Quickly, Gideon glanced over his shoulder to find Max. The dog fared—these trips better than he did, but he always fretted over him like a protective father would. Rescue dogs were an important part of the effort, and their contribution in finding victims could never be diminished. In short, the dogs saved lives, too. All that aside, he simply loved his dog. Call it mushy, call it impractical. Max was his family. His only family. “Go on ahead,” he called. “I’ve got Priscilla and Harry already on their way to set up a base camp, and Brian and Gwen are making contact with the local authorities already, trying to get the volunteers in place. So you and Tom take the dogs on down that way, and we’ll join you as fast as we can get the gear loaded up.” Tom, a registered nurse, and Dani, were on the verge of being a couple. The signs were all there, and it was only a matter of getting them into the right position, somewhere far, far away from a rescue scene.
Gideon hoped that when it happened they would have better luck at it than he’d had with Lorna.
He glanced out over the supplies, and to the people emerging from nowhere who were already loading them into the transport truck supplied by the local authorities. This was the part that never ceased to amaze him. Ten minutes on the ground and they were already on the move. All the regular rescue workers knew their
roles, and no one had to be told what to do once they went into rescue mode. It was like a well-oiled machine—three doctors, three nurses, two paramedics, and four general volunteers who did everything but the medical work. Plus dozens of volunteers from the local areas. It was such a vast wealth of talent that came together on virtually a moment’s notice, and he wasn’t in the mood to disrupt it with his ex-wife. Or maybe he wasn’t in the mood to disrupt himself with his ex-wife. “When do you expect her ?” he asked Jason, who was pulling the last crate of supplies out of the airplane.
“Why do you care?” Jason asked. “Because, with your attitude, I’m not letting her within a mile of you!”
“Don’t care,” he snapped. “Just curious.”
Jason paused, giving his partner a curious look. “You need a holiday. You’re getting too grouchy. When this one is over, you’re taking a week off, like it or not. By order of this boss! And if you so much as utter one word of complaint, I’m making that two weeks, mandatory.”
Gideon bit back his protest. No use going against Jason. Especially when Jason was as right about this as he was about bringing Lorna there. It had been years since he’d taken more than a day off, and having Lorna here shouldn’t cause him to be so grumpy. He was tired, though. Down-to-the-bone tired. That’s why he was over the top about her. Had to be it. Just tired, that’s all. “Keep backing,” he called to the transport driver. “A little more…keep coming…a little more…Stop!”
Gideon and Jason picked up the first of the folded tents and flung it into the back. “I’ll consider the holiday, and I won’t say another word against Miss Preston. But like I said—”
“I know what you said, and if you want my opinion, you’ll take that holiday and go somewhere with lots of women and re-acquaint yourself with the very finest things in life!”
After the two of them had slung several more tents into the transport, Jason hopped up in the back of the drab green, tarp-covered truck to shove the crates to the front to make more room for the remaining supplies. “I’ve looked,” Gideon growled. “And dated. Don’t need to reacquaint myself with anything.”