Daring to Date Her Boss

by Joanna Neil

  ‘That sounds like a good idea.’ She looked around the emergency room, a little anxious now that they were in Michael’s territory. She certainly didn’t want to hang around here any longer than necessary, because every minute meant there was more danger of running into him. Her head felt muzzy and she wasn’t in a fit state to deal with him right now.

  She’d spoken to him on the phone, wanting to know why he was trying to jeopardise her career, but the answer had been simple. ‘I want you back here,’ he’d said.

  That was never going to happen. It had been bad enough after the accident when Sam and Megan had been brought here. She’d had to liaise with Michael, and that had brought all kinds of tensions to the fore. He hadn’t been responsible for saving their lives, but he had been the man in charge and she’d not been able to avoid him initially. She was beginning to bitterly regret ever getting involved with him.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  Startled out of her reverie, she looked at Tyler. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Coffee would be great. It might help to clear my head—perhaps I’m still suffering some of the effects of the carbon monoxide.’

  ‘Fresh air will help. We’ll find a table by an open window.’

  They went to the restaurant and Tyler picked out sticky buns to go along with their coffee. ‘That should give you a bit of a boost,’ he said, smiling as he slid a plate towards her. He stirred brown sugar crystals into his coffee and said cautiously, ‘You seemed distracted back in A and E. Were you worried you might come across Michael Drew?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose I was.’ She was surprised by his perception. ‘Not worried, exactly, but I really don’t want to have to deal with him just now.’

  He gave her a thoughtful look. ‘Had you been dating for some time?’

  ‘About a year. He seemed like a good man, caring and attentive, and at one time I thought we had a good chance of being happy together.’ She frowned. ‘But he started to become possessive, wanting to know who I was with and where I was going. That was just the beginning of it. Later he tried to tell me what kind of clothes I should wear and how much make-up I should use. He said we needed to spend more time together and tried to stop me from seeing my friends.’

  Tyler pulled a face. ‘That sounds pretty awful. I’m not surprised you wanted to break free.’ He tested his coffee for heat and then took a careful swallow. ‘Have you dated anyone since?’

  ‘No. He was the last. After the way things were, I’m not sure I want to get heavily involved with anyone again. It seems to me that relationships are fraught with problems and none of them turn out really well.’ She grimaced. ‘I should have learned a lesson from my parents’ example. Somehow they managed to make a complete mess of things.’

  ‘Oh?’ His expression was quizzical. ‘What went wrong with them?’

  She wriggled her shoulders, as though that would rid her of the disturbing memories. ‘I suppose, basically, it was that my father couldn’t settle for one woman. His head was easily turned.’ Her lips flattened. ‘He always made promises, said he was going to change, but he never did, and in the end my mother decided enough was enough.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ His blue gaze was sympathetic. ‘That must have been difficult for all of you, not just for your mother.’

  ‘Yes, it was. Sam and I were still young, and we saw my father fairly often at first after he left. But that changed. He couldn’t stick to arrangements that had been made. Instead, he’d come up with all sorts of reasons why he hadn’t been able to come to a birthday celebration or why at the last minute he couldn’t come with us on a trip to the zoo, or whatever.’

  ‘There were a lot of disappointments, then?’

  ‘Yeah.’ She took a sip of her coffee. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love my father—I just don’t have any respect for him. And I think it’s taught me to be cautious around men. The experience with Michael just intensified that feeling. I can’t say that I hold out any hope for a relationship with long-term stability.’

  He frowned. ‘But your mother married again, you said. Doesn’t that do anything to make you feel better about things?’

  She made a wry smile. ‘A bit, I suppose, but I can’t help seeing her weaknesses—the way she let my father ride roughshod all over her—and I don’t want to go down that same route. She’s not good at sorting her life out. She used to look on me as a kind of agony aunt, someone who could help her to work through her problems. I did what I could, but for myself I couldn’t bear to be tossed this way and that on a wave of emotional upheaval every time my love life went wrong. My mother went to pieces when my father strayed, and I’m not going to let that happen to me. I know the pain she went through.’

  She bit into the glazed bun, relishing the sweet, sugar rush of energy that it promised. She hadn’t realised how much she’d needed to get that outburst off her chest, and now, surprisingly, she felt much better.

  She looked up, suddenly very conscious of Tyler watching her, his gaze lingering on the moist curve of her lip, and for a moment or two she floundered uncertainly, licking away any stray sugar crystals with the tip of her tongue.

  He seemed to give himself a mental shake. ‘So you have everything under control now, do you? You more or less know where you go from here, how you’re going to deal with situations?’

  She gave a short laugh. ‘Heavens, no. I wish I did. I just get on and deal with stuff and hope I’m doing the right thing. I found out a long time ago that there’s no point in making plans if they’re going to be constantly overturned.’ She put down the bun and licked the stickiness from her fingers. ‘All I’ve ever wanted, really, is to make sure that my brother is okay. We’re quite close in age and we turned to one another when we were small and our mother was too busy with her own problems to notice when we needed comforting or cosseting. So we’re very close. I need to know that he’s going to be all right.’

  Tyler studied her briefly. ‘It seems to me he’s lucky to have a sister like you.’

  ‘Yeah?’ She smiled. ‘Maybe.’ She picked up her bun once more. ‘It’ll be good to see him today, anyway. I’ll try not to keep you waiting for too long.’

  ‘That’s okay. I want to check up on Simon and one or two other patients I’ve transferred recently, just to see how they’re doing. And then I’ll have to organise the transport back home.’

  ‘Oh...yes, of course. I hadn’t thought about that.’ She stared at him, a horrible thought creeping into her mind. They wouldn’t be flying back, would they? And that left just one way of crossing from the mainland to the island—a way that didn’t bode well for her, because her travel sickness pills were in the medicine cupboard back home. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might need them at some point today. ‘Um...how will we be getting back?’

  ‘I’ll book us a couple of seats on a motor launch. They run fairly frequently from the mainland to the islands.’

  She was quiet for a while, absorbing that. How on earth was she going to cope with the journey by sea? Car travel she could manage to a point, and the helicopter ride hadn’t been too bad, but a sea crossing...no way. She’d always had trouble with boats of any kind.

  ‘Something’s on your mind.’ Tyler was watching her and his blue gaze missed nothing. ‘Out with it. What is it that’s bothering you?’

  ‘Um...I get...uh...I have...’ She sighed and decided to come right out with it. ‘I have a bit of a problem with seasickness. Usually, it wouldn’t matter, but unfortunately I...uh...didn’t bring my tablets with me today. I wasn’t expecting that we’d be going anywhere but locally.’

  His eyes narrowed on her thoughtfully. ‘I knew there was something you were keeping back at the interview when James mentioned travelling to the off islands. You suddenly went very quiet.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ She sought for a way around the situation. ‘It’s not usually a problem—I mean, the tablets work
well for me...as long as I take them in good time...if I have some warning that I’ll be needing to travel, that is. It doesn’t mean I can’t cope with sea trips.’ She frowned. ‘Except...maybe today.’ She didn’t relish the idea of spending two hours or so leaning over the side of the boat with her stomach heaving. It would be unpleasant at best and undignified to say the least. ‘I...uh...perhaps I’ll be able to sort something out with the pharmacy here.’

  ‘A bit of a problem, you said. How badly do you suffer from it?’

  She winced. ‘It’s pretty bad.’

  ‘Hmm.’ He was quiet for a moment or two, thinking things through. ‘As you know, most of the travel sickness medications take a while to work, but I could give you an injection. It just means you’ll be quite drowsy for a while, and you might even want to sleep, but we can cope with that, I expect.’

  The idea of falling asleep while she was with Tyler and supposedly at work didn’t appeal at all. She said carefully, ‘I think I’d prefer to stick with my usual prescription if you don’t mind. Maybe I could take the tablets before I go to see Sam and Megan, and then by the time we go on board the launch I’ll be better able to cope.’

  ‘Okay.’ He nodded. ‘I’ll sort it out for you—if I go and get the tablets for you now, you can take them with your coffee.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Troubled, she glanced at him. ‘Will this make a difference to my keeping this job?’

  He made a face. ‘It all depends whether we can work out some way of managing the unexpected. Perhaps you could take the tablets as a matter of course when you know we’re going to be on call? That way you’ll be covered, even if we don’t need to use the medical launch.’

  ‘Yes, I could do that.’

  ‘Or you could use a hyoscine skin patch, which will last for up to seventy-two hours. Either way, we’ll have to see how the medication affects you. If it makes you too drowsy and unable to think clearly, we might have a problem. We’ll just have to wait and see how things work out.’

  It wasn’t the most encouraging answer but at least he was being honest with her and it was all out in the open at last. She had no idea how things would turn out, but given the start she’d had in this job it was beginning to look as though it would take a miracle for her to keep it.

  Tyler left her in order to go over to the pharmacy, but he was back shortly with the tablets and she swallowed them gratefully. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I’m sure I’ll be fine now for the journey back.’

  He nodded and glanced at his watch. ‘You’d better go and see your brother and his wife. I hope things are going better for them by now.’

  ‘So do I.’ She hurried away, anxious to know what was happening.

  * * *

  The breath caught in Saskia’s throat at the sight of her brother. He was propped up in bed when she went into the intensive care unit, his dark hair spiky against the white pillow. He looked gaunt and his skin was pallid. His eyes were closed and there were rasping sounds coming from his chest.

  ‘He’s very breathless,’ the nurse told her. ‘There’s a lot of fluid on his lungs and the doctor’s had to put in another chest tube to drain the infection. He’s on very strong antibiotics and we’re all hoping they’ll do the trick, but I’m afraid the doctor is very concerned about him.’

  ‘Thank you for being honest with me. I know you’re looking after him really well.’

  She went over to her brother and gently squeezed his hand. ‘I need you to get better, Sam,’ she whispered. ‘We’re all counting on you to fight this.’ He didn’t answer, and she guessed he was too exhausted to acknowledge her. He’d been through such a lot of late—a terrible chest injury that had left him fighting for his life, with only the skill of a watchful surgeon to keep him from slipping away. And now this.

  She stayed with him for a while, distressed by the sight of all the tubes and wires that were attached to him. As a doctor, she knew why they were there, what they were for, but it was heart-breaking to see someone she loved in such a vulnerable state.

  ‘The children are always asking about you and they send you their love,’ she told him. ‘They’ve made some cards and presents to bring with them next time they come here. Please try to get better. We need you.’

  After a few minutes, when the doctor came to administer medication via the catheter in Sam’s hand, Saskia left his bedside and went to find Megan.

  Her sister-in-law was in an equally poor condition and Saskia was more worried than ever when she saw the monitor readings.

  ‘What’s caused her to go downhill like this?’ she asked the nurse. ‘Has she been bleeding internally?’ The bruising and swelling both pointed to that as a reason for Megan’s problems.

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ the nurse answered. ‘The tests we took yesterday revealed a leak from one of the pelvic blood vessels. She’s had surgery to put it right, but it looks as though there’s another problem to worry about—an abscess has formed.’

  Saskia grimaced. That was very bad news, coming on top of all her injuries, and the chances of Megan making a good recovery were lessening by the hour. ‘But they’ve put in a drainage tube?’

  ‘Yes.’ The nurse nodded. ‘And she’s receiving antibiotics to try to stop the infection.’

  ‘Okay. That’s good... Thank you.’

  None of it was good, though, and Saskia left the unit feeling deeply unhappy. Megan was a lovely, sweet-natured young woman, who made everyone around her feel better. To see her suffering like this was soul-destroying.

  Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. By now she’d hoped and prayed that both Sam and Megan would be starting to heal and would be showing signs of recovery, but that prospect seemed further away than ever. It was heart-breaking to see them this way.

  ‘You’ve no colour in your face at all,’ Tyler commented when she met up with him by the main entrance to the hospital a few minutes later. He looked concerned as he studied her bleak expression. ‘Was it bad—worse than you expected?’

  She nodded, unable to find her voice just then.

  ‘Perhaps you should sit down for a while,’ he said. ‘There’s a bench seat over there, where we can be private.’ He led her to a quiet, landscaped corner of the hospital grounds, set back in a green, wooded area to one side of the car park.

  She sat down and as he came to sit beside her he searched her face closely once more. ‘Are you warm enough? You’re looking really peaky.’

  Her shoulders lifted almost imperceptibly. She didn’t know what she felt just then. She felt numb inside.

  ‘They’re both fighting for their lives,’ she whispered. Tears began to slowly spill down her cheeks. ‘Right now, I don’t even know if they’re going to make it.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. He put his arms around her and drew her to him, cradling her head against his chest. She felt the warmth of his body seep into her, and the firmness of his embrace was deeply comforting, shoring her up and giving her the strength that she needed to go on.

  ‘I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to Sam,’ she whispered. ‘He’s everything to me. And Megan—we’re like sisters... How would I cope without them?’

  ‘Don’t think like that,’ he said softly. ‘You need to be strong, for yourself and for the children. They mustn’t see that you have any doubts. You’re all they have.’

  ‘But what if I can’t do it?’ The anguish showed in her face and he lifted a hand to gently caress her cheek.

  ‘Of course you can do it. I’ve seen the way you are with those children, and you won’t let them down. You’ll do whatever’s necessary.’

  ‘You seem so certain of that.’ Her mouth trembled and she looked at him through tear-drenched eyes. ‘I w-wish I could b-be so sure.’

  He moved closer, and it was clear her distress had had a profound effect on him. ‘You’re not on
your own in this,’ he said huskily. ‘I’m here for you. I promise you, Saskia, I’ll help you through it, any way I can.’ His gaze lingered on the soft, vulnerable curve of her mouth and slowly, as though he simply couldn’t help himself, he bent his head and gently claimed her lips.

  The kiss was tender and sweetly seductive, easing her troubled soul like an exquisite soothing balm. He gave a soft, shuddery sigh, as though he’d fought a battle within himself and lost, and now he was like a man drowning in need.

  She, too, lost herself in that kiss, in his comforting arms, in the hands that caressed her and invited a response. She was safe here, nothing bad could happen because he was holding her and he would keep the world at bay. It was like an unspoken promise that hung on the air between them.

  He stroked her hair, his fingers sliding into the silky curls at the nape of her neck. ‘You’ll get through this,’ he said, his voice threaded with emotion. ‘Please, don’t cry. You’ll be all right.’ He held her as though he would take all of her pain away. ‘I hate to see you hurting like this...but you will overcome all these hurdles. I know you will—somehow we’ll get through it, together.’

  He couldn’t know that things would turn out all right, could he? But she nodded faintly, accepting his reassurances, wiping the dampness from her cheeks with the tips of her fingers.

  He cared about her enough to want to protect her, to help her to feel better, and for a few moments he had succeeded. She had been able to cast it all aside and think of nothing but him.

  She carefully eased herself away from him and he watched her slowly straighten up. He moved towards her, edging closer, as though some inner compulsion was urging him to take her in his arms once more, but at the last moment he stopped himself. He seemed wary all at once, guarded, and locked in conflict with himself. She didn’t know what to make of him. Was he already regretting his actions?

  He hesitated before saying what needed to be said. ‘I shouldn’t have kissed you,’ he said quietly. ‘I should have known better, should have had more self-control. I’m your boss, your mentor, so to speak, and I overstepped the mark. I’m sorry, really sorry.’