Six Sexy Doctors Part 2. Joanna Neil

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СКАЧАТЬ softly, disengaging himself from her embrace. She looked up at him. Something seemed to shut down in his eyes.

      Oh, God, why had she said that when it was obvious he didn’t feel the same way about her? For a moment they sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

      ‘If we stay much longer, they’ll send the coastguard out looking for us.’ He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. ‘I don’t know about you, but I have spent too much time in their company already this week.’

      Was that all he was going to say? Meagan wondered. But, then, what else had she expected? A proposal? Just because they’d had the most amazing sex, it didn’t mean they were getting married. They should take things slowly. Get to know each other. See if they had more in common than just lust. But even as she thought the words, Meagan knew she was kidding herself. She had never stopped loving him. She found her bikini and pulled it on. She loved Cameron. Against her better judgement. But it was too late. For better or worse, she knew she would love him until the breath left her body. But how did he feel about her? He had said that Rachel wanted him back. Was she going to have her heart broken again? This time Meagan knew there would be no way back.

      Cameron turned to her. ‘There’s one more thing I have to tell you,’ he said. ‘When Rachel agreed to get a divorce and let Ian come back here with me, she made me promise her I’d never get married again.’

      ‘But that’s ridiculous,’ Meagan burst out. ‘She had no right to make you promise anything of the sort.’

      ‘The trouble is she swore that if I ever did, she would fight me for custody of Ian. She knows that I would never allow anyone to take him away from me.’

      ‘But she’d never win custody,’ Meagan protested. ‘He spends all his time with you.’

      ‘That’s just it. He doesn’t spend all his time with me. He spends a large part of his time with Mrs McLeod and Jessie. You know what kind of hours I work. And she would have no compunction about using my domestic arrangements to argue that custody should be given to her. So you may be right,’ he said, ‘but I’m afraid that is a risk I am just not prepared to take.’

      And as they made preparations to leave the beach, Meagan knew that she could never make him choose between her and his child.

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      DESPITE the sun still being high in the sky, Meagan felt a distinct chill in her heart. They swam back to the boat, raised anchor and set sail for home. Although the wind had picked up enough to use the sails, the late afternoon sunshine was still warm and Cameron stayed in his jeans and Meagan in her bikini. As she held the tiller, Meagan sneaked glances at Cameron. Every time she looked at him she felt her heart thrill. How she would love him to stay with her tonight. Maybe, despite the promise he had made to Rachel, they could just enjoy whatever time they had together. For a moment she let herself imagine the two of them snuggling in front of the fire against the evening chill, and then… She felt a shiver of desire. She wanted him again. He must have felt her eyes on him because he looked up and catching her eye, smiled bleakly. She felt her heart sink. Would she be prepared to sneak around, hiding their relationship from everyone? Immediately she knew the answer. If Cameron wasn’t free to love her, openly and proudly, she couldn’t be with him.

      As they approached the bay, Meagan could see that there was someone standing outside her house, shielded eyes looking out to sea. Catching a shimmer of red she recognised the figure as Jessie. She could see from the way Jessie was pacing that something was wrong. She felt a flicker of anxiety. Was something wrong with Effie?

      Cameron noticed Jessie at the same time. He stood, pulling on his T-shirt. ‘Something’s up,’ he said. Quickly he took down the sails. He jumped out leaving Meagan to finish sorting out the boat. As she worked she watched Jessie run towards Cameron. She was gesticulating and clearly agitated. Moments later Cameron jumped into his car and sped off.

      Hastily, Meagan finished securing the boat and ran towards Jessie.

      ‘What is it, Jessie? What’s wrong?’

      ‘It’s Ian. He was complaining of stomach pain this morning. I wasn’t too bothered at first. I thought he had probably caught the same bug Effie had. But now he’s in real pain. I think it’s more serious. When I couldn’t get hold of Cameron, I tried the practice in the south, but I couldn’t get them either. Then I came down here just as you were coming back in.’ The words came out in a rush.

      ‘I’ll just grab my bag, Jessie. Then I’ll go back with you to Grimsay House.’ As she spoke, she ran towards her house, Jessie following. Once there, Meagan darted into her bedroom and pulled a pair of jeans and a top over her bikini. Scooping up her medical bag, she took a distressed Jessie by the arm.

      ‘C’mon, Jessie,’ she said, ushering her into her car. ‘Try not to worry. Kids can seem very ill and then the next minute they’re as right as rain.’

      But she could see that Jessie wasn’t convinced. In a few minutes they were inside Grimsay House. Meagan followed Jessie as she ran up to Ian’s room. There they found Cameron examining his son, a worried look on his face. He turned towards Meagan, frowning.

      ‘I think it’s appendicitis. In fact, I know it’s appendicitis.’

      Ian, his little face pinched, moaned softly.

      ‘I want Mummy, Daddy. Where is my mummy?’

      ‘Shh, my darling. She’s in London. She’d be here if she could. In the meantime, you have to be a brave boy and let Daddy look after you.’

      As he looked away from his son, Meagan could see anguish written all over his face. She touched his shoulder. He flinched away from her touch as if he’d been burnt. She dropped her hand to her side.

      ‘Let me look at him, Cameron,’ she said quietly.

      Cameron stood aside while Meagan examined the little boy. When Ian cried out when she pressed the right side of his abdomen, she knew that Cameron’s initial diagnosis was correct.

      She took Cameron by the arm and, leaving Jessie to comfort the boy, took Cameron to one side.

      ‘I agree,’ she said. ‘It’s appendicitis. What do you want to do?’

      ‘He needs surgery,’ Cameron said. He pulled a hand through his thick dark hair and Meagan’s heart went out to him. She longed to put her arms around him and comfort him, but here in front of his child wasn’t the place.

      ‘Have we time to send him to Stornoway?’ she asked.

      ‘I don’t think so,’ Cameron replied. ‘I think we should go ahead and operate at the hospital.’

      ‘In that case, I’ll do the surgery,’ Meagan said firmly. ‘Could you get hold of someone to anaesthetise?’

      Cameron looked at Meagan. ‘I don’t know. Maybe we should get him airlifted to Glasgow? They have surgeons there who do this every day of the week.’

      He didn’t trust her to operate on his son, even after all they had been through. But could she blame him? They were talking about his child. But neither could he operate on Ian. A doctor needed a certain distance from his patient.

      ‘If you think there is time, yes,’ she said. ‘That’s what we will do.’

      Cameron СКАЧАТЬ