The Army Doctor's New Year's Baby (5 page)

Her chest
tightened with longing as she stared into his laughing blue eyes. She hadn't
been able to stop thinking about him since the New Year's ball. Whenever she
had a quiet moment, thoughts of Daniel filled her mind. Every night he swept
into her dreams and kissed her senseless.

He leaned in
to wipe a spot of snow from her cheek with the thumb of his glove. His smile
fell away and tiny lines appeared between his eyebrows, a sudden intensity in
his eyes. "Megan. What I said the other night, after the ball…"

He pulled
off his glove and cupped his warm fingers around her cheek. Were her dreams
about to come true? Was he going to kiss her? As he moved closer, her eyelids
drifted closed. Time slowed; the silence deepened.

Wind hummed among
the pine needles. Megan held her breath, anticipating the blissful moment when
Daniel's lips touched hers. Then the strident chime of her phone cut through
the silence.

Snatching a
breath, Daniel pulled back. He stood and busied himself brushing the snow from
his clothes.

With a burst
of irritation, Megan plucked apart Velcro and snatched the phone from her
pocket.

"Great!
I got you." It was Lyall's voice. Blast him for interrupting.

"What
is it?" she snapped.

"A call
came in to mountain rescue from a teenager who was climbing with his father and
brother. The father's had a fall."

His words jolted
Megan out of her romantic haze and back to reality. Her mountain rescue work
took priority over everything. This was someone's life at stake.

"We'll
be at the pickup point at the bottom of Kinder Fall in fifteen minutes. Can
your dad fetch us then?"

"No
problem. I'll tell him now."

Megan
unbuckled the snowboard bindings and stood, dusting herself off. "We need
to go straight down. I have to work." Romantic kisses would have to wait
for another time.

Angus hit
the accelerator and they bounced over rocks and into potholes like they were on
a fairground ride. Daniel didn't mind being shaken around in the front of the
ancient Land Rover with Megan squashed up beside him. In a small way it made up
for missing out on the kiss he'd looked forward to.

Megan braced
herself against Daniel's side so she didn't end up in his lap. That would not
have been a problem as far as he was concerned. Although from the scowl on old
Angus's face, he might not have approved.

The bumpy
journey ended too soon, the irascible Angus stopping the Land Rover outside the
headquarters of the Kindrogan Mountain Rescue Team. The building was about half
a mile from Kindrogan Castle, housed in a converted farm building.

Angus glared
from beneath his bushy gray eyebrows as Daniel fumbled with the door handle and
climbed out. He wasn't sure what he'd done to upset the old guy, but he
obviously didn't like him.

A new Land
Rover was parked nearby with Kindrogan Mountain Rescue and the Scottish
mountain rescue logo on the side.

"All
right if I tag along?" Daniel asked as Megan jumped out.

"You
want to come on the rescue?"

He nodded.
He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. "I might be able to
help."

She frowned
in thought. "Don't see why not. You can handle yourself in the snow and
you have avalanche training. Come on, let's go inside and see who's turned up.
If there's a spare place on the team, you can come."

Megan shoved
open the door to a small office full of men. The conversation quieted when they
entered and the group parted to let her through.

Lyall stood
by the far wall, pointing at a map. "Good, you're here," he said.
Megan went to stand at his side.

Daniel
stepped in beside Megan's younger brother, Hew, and nodded in greeting. Hew was
a younger, leaner version of Duncan, and a man of few words. Daniel had never
gotten more than a nod or brief greeting from him.

Leaning a
shoulder against the back wall, Daniel crossed his arms, happy to keep a low
profile, watch, and learn.

"What
have we got?" Megan asked.

"A
father and his two teenage sons were climbing here." Lyall tapped the map
with his finger. "The father fell, about fifty feet by the sound of it.
Apparently he blacked out for a while but he's conscious now. The two boys
climbed down to reach him."

"Are
the kids injured?"

"Not
that we know of. The helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth has been scrambled. It'll
pick us up at Kinder Flat in twenty minutes."

"I
reckon they should drop us at Glen Duff. We can hike in from there," one
of the older guys said.

There was a
general mumble of agreement in the room.

"Before
we go, let me introduce Dan." Megan extended a hand in his direction.
Everyone looked around. "He'll be coming with us."

"We
don't have time for passengers," Lyall snapped.

"He's
no passenger. He's an army doctor working with Duncan at the institute. He's
had avalanche training."

Lyall's lips
flattened in obvious annoyance. He had the sort of dark good looks women went
for. Daniel wouldn't be surprised if Megan returned the man's interest,
although she hadn't shown any indication of that so far.

"We're
two men short, so Dan will be useful," one of the team said. Most of the
others added their agreement.

A guy near
Daniel slapped him on the back. "Welcome aboard, mate."

Megan pulled
off her fleece hat and retied her ponytail, scraping her silky red hair back in
her hands before slipping the stretchy band on again. Daniel watched Lyall
checking her out and clenched his teeth. He didn't remember feeling this
possessive of a woman before, especially one he wasn't even dating.

"Okay.
Let's pack the gear and go," Lyall said.

They trooped
out of the room and grabbed bags, ropes, climbing gear, a stretcher, and other
stuff from a storeroom. Hew passed Daniel a couple of bags. He carried them out
and tossed them on the rack on top of the Land Rover as the others did. Then he
clambered in the back of the vehicle, squashed in with the rest of the team.

Megan
climbed in the front with Lyall, casting Daniel a smile over her shoulder as
they pulled away. Five minutes later, they stopped at a flat cement area about
a mile from the castle. The sound of a helicopter approaching caught Daniel's
attention as they dragged the packs and equipment off the top of the vehicle.

A yellow RAF
Sea King touched down and they all ran towards it, tossed the gear in the open
door, then vaulted up inside.

"Daniel,
over here." Megan called him to sit beside her near a window. Once they
had taken off, she gripped his sleeve to attract his attention. "Check out
the view," she shouted above the drone of the engine, pointing at the
window.

The
helicopter flew over Kindrogan Castle, giving a fantastic outlook down the Kinder Valley.

Daniel
leaned close to her ear, breathing in a taste of her fragrance before he spoke.
"ETA?"

"Fifteen
minutes," Megan shouted. "We're lucky the weather's good, otherwise
the helicopter wouldn't get into Glen Duff and we'd have to be dropped farther
away and walk in. That makes a rescue take much longer. Today we should be in
and out quickly."

In the week
Daniel had been here, he'd discovered if you took too long to blink the weather
changed. It was so unpredictable. He wouldn’t want to be injured up in the
mountains.

The scenery
slid by the window. Banter flew around the group as they ribbed each other and
traded insults, just like any group of men preparing to face a challenging
situation. Megan remained silent, her gaze fixed in the distance. Her coping
strategy was different.

Daniel
gripped her hand where it lay in her lap and squeezed. "Okay?" he
mouthed.

She smiled
at him and his heart did the flip and bump thing it only ever did when she was
around. The Sea King climbed steadily into the mountains on the other side of
Glenshee, the skiers tiny colored dots against the white snow.

Lyall wore a
headset to communicate with the pilot. "They've spotted three people.
We're about to land." At his words, the banter ceased. Everyone zipped up
their jackets, pulled on their hats and gloves, and prepared themselves.

The
helicopter touched down. As the door was opened, they all grabbed packs and
equipment. Hew took one end of the stretcher and Daniel grabbed the other.

A stiff,
freezing wind whipped into Daniel's face as he climbed out, stealing his
breath. In this temperature it wouldn't take long to get into trouble, even
though the weather looked fine. They traipsed through thick snow, sometimes
slipping on icy rocks, sometimes sinking up to their thighs in snow-filled
dips. A few hundred yards away at the base of a cliff, two people waited in
bright gear beside what must be the injured man.

Megan strode
on ahead. Daniel passed off the stretcher to someone else and hurried to catch
up with her in case she needed him.

She
clambered up the rocks to the casualty, put down her medical pack, and dropped
to her knees. Daniel moved to the other side of the man. He was bleeding from
the mouth and nose, his face covered in multiple lacerations and contusions.
After such a fall, the odds were he had sustained multiple fractures, and a
possible head injury as well.

"Hell,"
Daniel whispered under his breath. The poor guy was a mess. The kids were
terrified, their faces white masks of distress. The older boy was holding it
together, the younger not doing so well. Tears silently poured down his cheeks.

"I'm Dr.
Mackenzie." Megan addressed the older boy. "What's your dad's
name?"

"Marcus
Smyth. Is he going to be all right?"

She didn't
answer, her attention fixed on the casualty. "Marcus, can you hear
me?"

She pressed
her fingers to the carotid pulse in his neck.

The man's
eyes fluttered open.

"Good,"
she whispered, her gaze skipping up to Daniel. "Thready pulse and
breathing is shallow. Let's get him some oxygen." The mask was fitted over
his face. Megan slid the man's hood off and quickly examined his head.

She met
Daniel's gaze, her lips pressed tight. "I can't do much for him here. We
need to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible. I need help with the
back brace." In a move they obviously practiced, her brother Hew and
another man helped slide the support beneath the man and strap it on to
stabilize his spine in case of injury.

"How
far did your dad fall?" Daniel asked the boys.

"From
up there." The older boy pointed at the mountain. Ropes still dangled from
the rock face about fifty feet above.

"Okay.
Let's get him on the stretcher," Megan said.

Daniel
stepped out of the way as the team moved in, working together in a
well-practiced routine to load the man and cover him in thermal wraps to keep
him warm.

The younger
boy sobbed. Daniel crouched on the rocks in front of him so he could see his
face. "What's your name?"

"Kieran."

"Your
dad will be in the hospital soon. The doctors there will do all they can to
make him better."

"It was
my fault," the boy whispered.

"I'm
sure your dad doesn't blame you."

"One of
my gloves blew away and Dad gave me his. He couldn't hold on 'cause his hand
got cold."

Daniel
glanced at the man but his hands were now covered. He turned his attention back
to the boy. "How long did you go without a glove, Kieran?" It
wouldn't take long for this freezing wind to do damage to unprotected fingers.

"I
don't remember."

"Show
me the hand that lost the glove, son." It was obvious which one it must
be. The glove on his left hand was far too big. Daniel helped him ease it off,
his breath stalling at the blotchy white skin. He had definitely suffered
tissue damage; the question was how badly.

He gently
slid the glove back in place. There was nothing he could do for Kieran here.
"Does your hand hurt?"

The boy
nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Daniel
grabbed a sling out of Megan's medical kit and strapped the boy's arm against
his body to protect the hand. With luck, the damage was only mild frostbite and
the tissue would recover. It would take a few weeks to be sure. If it turned
out to be serious, Daniel would offer to operate.

The skin,
subcutaneous tissues, and blood supply were things he knew a lot about from his
work as a cosmetic surgeon, which was why his expertise meshed so well with
thermal medicine. If this child was likely to lose fingers, he needed a surgeon
who could preserve the function of the hand as much as possible.

Daniel was
not one for false modesty. He was an excellent plastic surgeon, certainly as
good as his brother. They needed to take this child to the army institute where
Daniel could look after him.

***

Staring at
Megan across the table as she licked ice cream off her spoon, Daniel really
wished the phone hadn't interrupted them earlier when they were on the ski
slope.

He wanted to
kiss her very much. The reasons he'd had for holding back now seemed
unimportant. Fighting the attraction was tying him in knots rather than helping
him concentrate on work.

And as for
Megan being his commanding officer's sister, that could turn out to be a good
thing. She knew army doctors had to go where they were posted. She wouldn't
expect him to always be around.

"You
obviously enjoyed that dessert," he said with a grin.

She set
aside her bowl with a satisfied smile. "Fancy a mug of cocoa spiked with a
wee dram of whiskey? We can finish off the evening in front of the fire."

"Sounds
like heaven." After the day they'd had, Daniel couldn't think of anything
he'd rather do than curl up in front of the fire with Megan.

He was fit,
but snowboarding followed by a stint with the mountain rescue team had taken
its toll. He was more than ready to relax.

Megan heated
milk and Daniel spooned cocoa powder and sugar into two mugs. After she poured
out the milk, he slopped in a generous splash of Scottish double malt. His
father would consider it sacrilege to waste a fine whiskey this way. The
thought made Daniel smile. Crazy as it seemed, he missed his overbearing
father. When he returned from his upcoming cold weather training in Norway, he would go home for a visit.

"Angus
lit the fire earlier. It should be nice and warm in the drawing room."

Daniel
followed Megan along the corridor, the two Westies, Bruce and Torrie, trotting
at his feet. Duncan had gone to Edinburgh for the weekend and the dogs seemed
to have adopted Daniel as their surrogate master. They'd been curled on his bed
when he arrived home.

Stepping
into the drawing room was like stepping back in time. The electric wall lights
were candle-shaped and cast a pale glow over the room. The huge roaring log
fire was topped with a mantel lined with antiques and hunting trophies. Oil
paintings of majestic Scottish scenes adorned the walls along with a couple of
shields, some crossed spears, and a stag's head. Light from the fire flickered
over the scene like something from a bygone era.

Bruce and
Torrie went straight to the mat in front of the fire and claimed prime
position, staring up at him with their black button eyes. He crouched to stroke
them, waiting to see where Megan settled before choosing his own seat. She
plopped down in an armchair to one side of the fire and curled her feet beneath
her, wrapping her hands around her mug.

No cuddling
up on the leather sofa then. Daniel took the armchair facing her. The dogs
immediately came to lie at his feet. "I'm not sure what I've done to
deserve such adoration." He laughed.