Medical Romance December 2016 Books 1-6. Sue MacKay

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СКАЧАТЬ rumour that she’d heard was that she’d decided she didn’t need a man and had just used a sperm donor to have a baby on her own. If only it were true.

      She’d stopped watching the news channel. Apart from weather reports and occasional badly behaved sportsmen, it seemed that her favourite news channel had developed an obsession with the upcoming royal wedding in Montanari early next year.

      News was obviously slow. But if she saw one more shot of Seb with his arm around the cut-out perfect blonde she would scream. She didn’t care that they looked a little awkward together. She just didn’t want to see them at all.

      She smiled at Ruth. ‘I’m doing fine, thanks. Just had my check-up. Six weeks to go.’ She waved her hand at the array of cots. ‘I’ve got three babies to review. I’m hoping we can get at least two of them home for their first Christmas in the next few days. What do you think?’

      As she said the words her Head Neonatal Nurse appeared behind Ruth. She’d worked with Annabelle Ainsley for the last year and had been more than a little surprised when it had been revealed that Annabelle was actually Max’s estranged wife. She hadn’t been surprised that it had only taken them a week to reconcile once he’d started working at Teddy’s. For the last couple of weeks Annabelle hadn’t stopped smiling, so she was surprised to see her looking so serious this afternoon.

      ‘There’s someone here to see you.’ The normally unfazed Annabelle looked a little uncomfortable.

      Sienna picked up the nearest tablet to check over one of her patients. ‘Who is it? A rep? Tell them I don’t have time, I’m sorry.’ She gave Annabelle a smile. ‘I think I should maybe hand all the reps over to Max now—what do you think?’

      Annabelle glanced at Ruth. ‘It’s not a rep. I don’t recognise him and didn’t have time to ask his name. He’s insisting that he’ll only speak to you and...’ she took a breath ‘...he won’t be kept waiting.’

      Sienna sat the tablet back down, satisfied with the recordings. Her post-surgery baby was doing well. She shook her head. ‘Well, who does he think he is?’ She looked around the unit and paused. ‘Wait? Is it a parent of one of the babies? Or someone with a surgery scheduled for their child? You know that I’ll speak to them.’

      Annabelle shook her head firmly. ‘No. None of those. No parents—or impending parents. It’s something else entirely.’ She handed a set of notes to Ruth. ‘Can you check on little Maisy Allerton? She didn’t take much at her last feed.’

      Ruth nodded and disappeared. Annabelle pressed her lips together. ‘This guy, he says it’s personal.’

      Sienna felt an uncomfortable prickle across her skin. ‘Personal? Who would have something personal to talk to me about?’

      The words were out before she even thought about them. Nothing like making herself sound sad and lonely. Did people at Teddy’s even think she had a personal life?

      Annabelle’s eyes darted automatically to Sienna’s protruding stomach, then she flushed as she realised Sienna had noticed.

      Sienna straightened her shoulders. She’d never been a fan of anyone trying to push her around. She gave Annabelle a wide smile. ‘Oh, he’s insisting, is he?’

      Annabelle nodded then her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms across her chest. She’d worked with Sienna long enough to sense trouble ahead.

      Sienna kept smiling. ‘Well, in that case, I’ll review my three babies. Talk to all sets of parents. I might make a few phone calls to some parents with babies on my list between Christmas and New Year, and then...’ she paused as she picked up the tablet again to start accessing a file ‘...then, as a heavily pregnant woman, I think I’ll go and have something to eat. I missed lunch and—’ she raised her eyebrows at Annabelle ‘—I have a feeling a colleague I work with might insist I don’t faint at work.’

      Annabelle smiled too and nodded knowingly. ‘Not that I want to be any influence on you, but the kitchen staff made killer carrot cake today. I think it could count as one of your five a day.’

      Sienna threw back her head and laughed. ‘You’re such a bad influence but I could definitely be persuaded.’ Her eyes went straight back to the chart. ‘Okay, so let’s see Kendall first. Mr I-Insist is just going to have to find out how things work around here.’

      Annabelle gave a smile and put an arm at Sienna’s back. ‘Don’t worry. Somehow I think you’ll be more than a match for him. Give me a signal when you come back. I can always page you after five minutes to give you an escape.’

      Sienna nodded. She didn’t really care who was waiting for her—her babies would always come first.

      * * *

      Seb was furious. He kept glancing at his watch. He’d been in this room for over an hour—his security detail waiting outside.

      The sister of the neonatal ward had seemed surprised at first by his insistence at seeing Sienna. Then, she’d explained Sienna was at another appointment and would be back soon. What exactly meant soon at the Royal Cheltenham?

      He’d paced the corridors a few times looking for her with no success. The doors to the neonatal unit had a coded lock, and, from the look of the anxious parents hurrying in and out, it really wasn’t a place he wanted to be.

      He’d been stunned when Oliver Darrington had phoned him to discuss his own difficult situation—after a one-night stand a colleague was pregnant. A colleague who he had feelings for. Oliver had been Sebastian’s friend since they’d attended university together, even though they were destined for completely different lives.

      He hadn’t told Oliver a thing about his weekend with Sienna, so when Oliver had mentioned that Sienna too was pregnant, Sebastian had felt as if he couldn’t breathe.

      His tongue had stuck to the roof of his mouth and his brain had scrambled to ask the question he’d wanted to, without giving himself away. According to Oliver she was heavily pregnant—due to have her baby at the end of January.

      For a few seconds Seb had felt panicked. The dates fitted perfectly. He didn’t have a single doubt that her baby could be his.

      He could hardly remember the rest of the conversation with Oliver. That made him cringe now. It was a complete disservice to his friend.

      He’d had things to deal with.

      Since Sienna had stormed out of his chalet retreat his life had turned upside down. He’d followed his parents’ wishes and allowed the announcement of the engagement. Theresa had seemed indifferent. Uniting the kingdoms had been important to her too. But marrying someone she wasn’t in love with didn’t seem any more appealing to her than it was to him.

      If Sienna hadn’t happened, maybe, just maybe, he could have mustered some enthusiasm and tried to persuade Theresa their relationship could work.

      But his nights had been haunted with dreams of being tangled in the sheets with a passionate woman with ash-blonde hair, caramel-coloured eyes and a firm, toned body.

      She’d ignited a flame inside him. Something that had burned underneath the surface since she’d left. He’d been a fool. A fool to let his country think he would take part in a union he didn’t think he could make work.

      His parents had СКАЧАТЬ