The Doctor's Baby Surprise - An Accent Amour Medical Romance

by Gill Sanderson

  THE DOCTOR’S BABY SURPRISE

  Gill Sanderson

  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Book 2

  It was a devastating shock for playboy Dr Toby Sinclair when he discovered he had a son and apparently was the little boy’s closest relation. He acknowledged he had to face up to his responsibilities, but how? He knew nothing about bringing up children. In desperation he turned to Dr Annie Arnold -even though he he’s behaved badly towards her in the past.

  Annie feels there is nothing left between her and Toby, but she can’t refuse to help a defenceless child. She is needed. Together they struggle to construct a life for infant Charlie and she grows to love the child. She also realises that she still loves Toby and suspects that he loves her. After all they’ve gone through, could they become the happy family she has always dreamed of?

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Other Titles by Gill Sanderson

  CHAPTER ONE

  The nurse held the baby, gently but firmly, on her side. Annie had cleansed the tiny back and injected lignocaine, a local anaesthetic. Now she found the space between vertebrae four and five, and positioned the needle. A quick glance upwards at Jack Sinclair the neonate surgeon. He nodded. Annie pushed in the needle.

  Baby Matilda had a possible central nervous disorder—meningitis was suspected. The quickest way to diagnose was by taking some cerebrospinal fluid.

  It was important not to push the needle in too far, and Annie checked frequently to see there was no blood in the specimen. But eventually she was able to obtain her few drops of fluid and transfer them safely into the specimen bottles. She withdrew the needle and pressure was kept over the area until no more CSF appeared. Then a spray dressing was applied. The specimens were dispatched straight to the lab and Annie’s job was done.

  She had finished for the day now, and Jack had work somewhere else. But for a minute they had time to sit in the doctors’ room, drinking coffee out of plastic cups.

  ‘Your first neonatal lumbar puncture,’ Jack said with a smile. ‘How did it feel?’

  She thought about it, her emotions still mixed. ‘I was nervous at first, but then I think I got into the swing of it. Once I saw that I was doing it right, it felt easier.’

  ‘Good. You did a competent job. Would you be happy to do it again on your own?’

  There was no doubt about the answer to this. ‘Yes. It wasn’t all that different to doing a puncture on an adult.’

  ‘Only a question of size. The innards are all the same—just smaller.’

  She nodded. ‘That’s it. Smaller. I can work on adults with no problems at all. But cutting or sticking needles in babies as tiny as these, when they’re newborn and they seem so perfect—it still seems a bit unfair.’

  ‘Just think of the consequences if we didn’t stick needles or cut,’ he advised her. ‘And think of our success rate compared with even a dozen years ago.’

  ‘I do think of it. It’s one reason why I thought of training to be a neonatal surgeon.’

  Jack nodded. ‘You’re still happy now you’ve changed your mind? You still want to specialise in O and G? You’ve worked with me; I think you could have the makings of a very good surgeon.’

  She had thought for hours about this decision but had finally made up her mind. ‘I think I’m happiest with O and G.’

  He laughed. ‘A good reason. Now, let’s move from professional to personal. You are coming to our engagement party tonight?’

  She saw the hesitancy in his eyes and realised he was worried that she wouldn’t come. When she didn’t reply at once he went on, ‘I want you there, I really do. That is both of us, both me and Miranda, we want you there. We want you to be happy for us.’

  Her voice was cheerful—genuinely cheerful. ‘Jack, nothing would keep me away from your engagement party. I feel I did my bit in bringing you two together, and I want to celebrate that.’

  She could joke about it now, and she eyed him wryly. ‘You’re worried about how I’ll react when I see your brother, aren’t you? You’re worried that I won’t be able to cope.’

  She saw the hesitancy in his eyes again and reached over to touch his hand, to reassure him. ‘Jack, it’s all over now. Perhaps there was something between us but now it’s over and Toby and I can be friends. I’m sure we can work together and get on. It’ll be fine, I’m certain of it.’

  Reassured, Jack smiled. ‘I’m glad. Like you said, you helped in bringing me together with Miranda, and I’ll always be grateful.’

  He glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘Time I was moving. See you tonight, then.’

  And he strode away.

  Annie smiled to herself, wondering if he entirely believed what she had just said. But he had no need to worry. Whatever there was—whatever there had been—between her and Toby Sinclair was now dead. She was over him, could look forward to a new life, perhaps find a new love. And she had just done her first neonatal lumbar puncture.

  Everything was right in her world. Annie drove to her flat thinking that the future held nothing but good for her. She was established in her profession, and in eighteen months’ time she would no longer be an SHO but could apply to be a junior registrar. She wanted to specialise in O and G. She thought she was doing well at the work. Her friend was getting married. And she was over her affair with Toby Sinclair. He was nothing to her now. Who was to tell? Perhaps soon, perhaps even this evening, she might meet the man who was the one for her.

  But it had been a long day and it was going to be a longer evening. She seized the rare chance and relaxed for half an hour. She sat in her flat, eyes closed, feet stretched along the couch, a mug of tea in her hand. The flat was quiet, her flatmate Miranda now spending most of her time at Jack’s flat. Annie had quite enjoyed living with Miranda. They had gossiped, talked about Miranda’s on-off relationship with Jack. Annie thought about it. Seeing Miranda find love and happiness after the most doubtful of beginnings—it made her feel that perhaps she too could find an equally special relationship. There must be a chance for her somewhere.

  Inevitably she started to think about Toby Sinclair, Jack’s younger brother, like her an SHO but in his second year. She only thought of him because, well… he had been the man she had been most involved with. No feelings for him now, of course. She was just indulging herself. What he had done to her had been awful.

  A quick vision of him flashed before her eyes and she had to admit he was gorgeous. It wasn’t just that he was tall and broad-shouldered. Or that his hair was slightly too long and sometimes flopped over his face. Or even his clothes—Toby liked to look good and he certainly did.

  It was odd, because although Toby was a very skilful and dedicated doctor, people remembered him because of his smile. It showed that he felt that everyone was his friend. And everyone was. Toby loved people and showed it. The trouble came when they started loving him back, as she had started to love him back.

  But now the agony was over. For a while it had hurt—had hurt desperately. It had even hurt that she’d had to hide from him just how much he had hurt her. But she had her pride. And now the hurt had gone.

  She was over Toby Sinclair, had made herself get over him. She remembered the light-hearted ‘good, bad and ugly’ nicknames given to the three Sinclair siblings by hospital staff, with sweet-n
atured Carly as the good, playboy Toby the bad and Jack, with his craggy yet compelling face, the ugly. Toby had definitely been bad, but not for her any more. Now she had so much more to look forward to. She was pressing on with her life and it showed so much promise.

  Annie had bought new clothes for this party; it was going to be a party to remember. After a long luxurious soak in the bath she slipped into her new underwear. New underwear always made her feel special. For a while she sat at her dressing table in her tiny scraps of pink silk and dried her shoulder-length dark curls. Then she dressed in a bias-cut black skirt and a new scarlet silk top.

  A touch of make-up followed: lipstick, mascara, a smear of moisturiser. She looked at herself approvingly in the mirror. Yes, she looked good. Then, last of all, a dab of scent on her wrists, behind her ears, in her cleavage. Having never really bothered with perfume before, she had bought this particular scent deliberately, after her split with Toby. It was to mark her moving back into the real world, a self-assured, attractive young woman who was ready to meet any man—but on her terms.

  She phoned for a taxi. Tonight she might have more than the two small drinks which were her strict ration when she was driving. As she picked up the engagement present for Miranda and Jack, she wondered how the evening would turn out. Might she meet the man who could make her as happy as Jack made Miranda happy? No matter, in time he would turn up. There must be some good men somewhere. Not all were like Toby Sinclair.

  There was a feeling of excitement in the hospital social club. Or perhaps it she was who was excited. This was a good day for her! She dropped off her coat and was shown to a large, cheerfully decorated room. There was a banner with MIRANDA and JACK printed on it, the words surrounded with a border of interlinked hearts. There was a bar, a buffet being set out and a band warming up. Only a few guests were there. Annie had deliberately come early as she wanted to talk to Miranda before she became too busy.

  Miranda was sitting down—her recent operation meant she still had to take things very carefully. Annie walked over, kissed her friend on the cheek, and offered her a box, skilfully wrapped in silver paper. ‘Congratulations, honey. If you hadn’t picked Jack, I’d have had him myself.’

  Miranda grinned at her friend. ‘Annie! You look absolutely fabulous. I’m so glad you could come. What’s this?’

  ‘Engagement present. When you get married you can have something worthy and boring, like cutlery or bed sheets. But getting engaged—something frivolous.’

  ‘Jack! Come over here. Annie says she’s bought us something frivolous.’

  Jack was standing near the bar. He turned when Miranda called him and then smiled happily when he saw Annie. ‘Something frivolous?’ he asked as he walked over to join them. ‘My serious and dedicated SHO—buying something frivolous?’ He gave her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Annie, it’s good to see you here. Thank you for coming.’

  ‘Open it,’ Miranda said, thrusting the box towards Jack. ‘I want to see what’s inside.’

  Annie watched apprehensively as Jack ripped away the silver covering, opened the box inside and from the masses of tissue paper took out a large engraved glass with two handles. It was always hard, choosing a present that fitted an occasion perfectly.

  ‘It’s a loving cup,’ she said. ‘It symbolises your togetherness. If you have a banquet you’re supposed to drink out of it alternately.’

  Miranda’s eyes filled with tears. ‘It’s lovely, Annie. I’ll have it on the table when we get married. It’ll be the first thing we drink out of.’

  Jack stooped and kissed his future wife’s cheek before smiling at Annie. ‘Might have expected something like this from you,’ he said. ‘I think it’s lovely too.’

  Miranda flapped her hand at him. ‘Go and put this on the table with the other presents. Make sure it goes at the front. I want just a five-minute chat with Annie before the party starts properly.’

  Jack winked at Annie. ‘Starting as we intend to go on,’ he said. ‘Miranda orders, I obey. We’ll have a talk later.’

  Annie looked at the way he smiled down at Miranda, caught the expression on Miranda’s face and, for a moment, felt envious. She wanted someone to look at her like that. Still… plenty of time.

  ‘Miranda, before I forget, I wanted to talk to you about the flat,’ she said. ‘We both know you’ll never come back, and although you’ve said you want to, I’m not having you paying half of the rent. So I’ve found someone else to move in.’

  ‘Someone I know?’ Miranda was curious.

  ‘He’s called Calvin Winterson, he’s a friend of Carly’s from Chicago. Joining the infectious diseases department for six months.’

  Miranda grinned wickedly. ‘A man!’

  Annie laughed, shaking her head. ‘He’s fifteen years older than me and married. His wife is in London. He loves her dearly and will go down to London every weekend to see her. Sorry to disappoint you.’

  ‘Well, he sounds OK,’ Miranda said thoughtfully. ‘You’re sure you’ll be all—’

  ‘I’m certain. Calvin is perfect.’ She grinned. ‘Calvin will be peaceful. He won’t be filling the flat with handsome young men when I’m trying to get changed. In fact, I suspect I’ll hardly ever see him. But, anyway, have you decided on the wedding date yet? And do I get to be a bridesmaid? And most important, if I am a bridesmaid, can I choose my own dress?’

  Then, for a split second, the world stopped.

  Of course she had known it would happen, was expecting it. But, still, there was that little thrill of disturbance when she saw him for the first time. As Miranda talked dresses, Annie saw Toby walking into the room with a couple of his friends. Typically, he looked wonderful. He was wearing a dark grey suit, the jacket slung casually over his shoulder. His shirt was expensive, by a well known designer—she remembered it so well because he had been wearing it the first time that they… Did he have to wear it today when he knew that? Annoyed, Annie pulled herself together. She was being stupid! What was a shirt?

  Miranda had felt her friend stiffen. In an elaborately casual voice she said, ‘Oh, look, there’s Toby.’

  ‘So it is.’ Annie turned to face her friend and, smiled. ‘Miranda, don’t worry, all that Toby business is over.’

  Miranda wasn’t convinced. ‘Are you really sure?’

  ‘Of course I’m sure. I’m a bright twenty-five-year-old doctor with my future in front of me. I was a bit upset at first—but I’m not going to ruin my life because of one small mistake.’

  ‘Do you see much of him?’

  Annie shrugged. ‘We don’t try to avoid each other but we don’t seek out each other’s company either. We’re just doctors who sometimes work in the same department.’

  ‘Good, I’m glad. I want you to be happy. And I know Jack’s been worried. He thinks a lot of you, partly because you’re a good worker and partly because you’re my closest friend. And then he loves his brother—even though they’re vastly different in character.’

  Annie was curious. ‘Do they see much of each other outside the hospital?’

  ‘Apparently more than they used to, say, a couple of years ago. But Jack says Toby is different—as if he has his own demons he can’t deal with.’

  ‘Well, it’s not me. He dealt with me very fairly—I suppose.’

  ‘Perhaps just the work getting on top of him. Jack rides him pretty hard.’

  Annie shook her head. ‘It’s not that. Jack rides us all hard, which is why we like him. Well, Toby will have to find his own salvation.’ They both looked at Toby, now the centre of a group of laughing friends. ‘He doesn’t look very worried now,’ she said.

  The room was filling up now and people were making their way over to Miranda. Annie knew she shouldn’t monopolise her friend, so she touched her gently on the shoulder and said, ‘You’ve got to greet your guests so I’m going to circulate a bit. We’ll have another talk later.’ Then she walked away.

  Annie walked to the bar and was offered a glass of champagne. She
took it then moved to a shadowed corner of the room. She knew practically everyone there so she would have no difficulty in finding a group to stand with, to chat to. But for the moment she thought she’d like just to stand and observe.

  Inevitably, she looked at Toby. In some way he was the most outstanding man in the room. It wasn’t just his size, the fact that he looked—she had to admit—gorgeous. It was because he seemed always to be smiling. Annie watched as he wandered through the crowd, noticed how many people seemed genuinely pleased to see him. She noticed that he spent as much time chatting to an elderly member of the cleaning staff as he did talking to senior members of the department who could influence his future career.

  Vaguely she wondered just how useful a happy smile or happy personality could be to a practising doctor. He made all his patients feel that he was their friend, that he loved them. In fact, that had been the first thing that had…

  Stop it! They’d had their fling, they had parted. She was not to think about him any more. And now she had to look forward to her future. A future without Toby. She knew she could do it. Though it would be hard.

  And now it was time to join the party and be happy for her friends.

  Toby took a mouthful of champagne and wondered if he was getting old. He didn’t seem to have the same delight in parties as he used to have. Of course, this was a good party. He was happy for his brother, even, perhaps, slightly envious. Jack’s joy was obvious for everyone to see. Toby wondered how long it had been since he had felt so joyful.

  Still, this was a good party. There were old friends to catch up with, perhaps new friends to meet. He looked round the now filling room, and saw Annie Arnold.

  She had her back to him, she was wearing clothes that he hadn’t seen before but he recognised her at once. As he looked, she half turned to speak to someone and he caught his breath as he saw her smile and reacted to that unconscious, casually provocative pose, his gaze captured by the delicious curve of her figure and her silky dark hair.

  He sighed and for a moment wondered what he had given up. He hadn’t seen much of her recently and she seemed to have changed. Was her face thinner? When she wasn’t smiling it made her look wistful—sad even. He didn’t like to think of her sad.