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CHAPTER ONE
FAKE IT TILL you make it
Yes, sure So easy She did it all the time
Try harder Remember yesterday’s courier delivery
The final lock had been undone She was free Single again Two years of waiting for the legal process to finally be over Today was the first day of the rest of her life, and it was going to be a doozy
That was once she worked out how to proceed with a neiser, not so damned cautious version of herself that yesterday’s deliverywere fine, but the ti a ‘don’tnow
Molly O’Keefe pasted on a facsilare into Mr Nathan Lupton’s eyes And gasped Those burnt-coffee eyes were spitting tacks At her?
‘What’s wrong?’
That’s your idea of don’t ain
‘That phone call So I need to know?’
‘I’ve just spent valuable ti round to put specialists on alert at five-thirty in thefor a patient who’s now been taken to another ED’ His hands gripped his hips
‘Theby the train tracks?’ Surely not even he was bla her? They weren’t friends, but this was ridiculous The thu No, he wouldn’t be, but he was angry
Not at me I can handle this
Really?
Absolutely Fake it till—
Yeah, yeah, she knew that line back to front Still needed soht now
‘I wonder why the ambulance was redirected to another hospital e’re closest’
Nathan was staring at her, though she wasn’t certain he was actually seeing her ‘That’s soain’ He was still angry Who could blame him when they’d been flat out busy when the initial call had co off in the early hours ‘Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on Archie Banks?’ he barked
Odd how on her first day in Sydney General’s eet the defib, which she’d already been in the process of wheeling towards the Resus unit, she hadn’t been afraid of hih to be fair she didn’t know hiuard around hiruht now an ansas required to placate hi kept everyone happy—except ed to duirl Duh Two seconds and her promise to herself had flown the coop
‘I was co to see if you’d take another look at hi’ Nathan had ado
The anger softened Of course it did From what she’d seen around here Nathan adored children ‘Anything from the lab yet?’
‘No, and I’ve only just checked,’ she added hastily, raising one of her grandn she ether
Dark eyebrows rose in that annoying manner of his that inexplicably riled her beyond reason Then he sed and pulled up a smile ‘Sorry It wasn’t your fault thefor his arrival’
It wasn’t the greatest of apologies, but he had tried, and that was unexpected ‘No p
roblem’ None he need know about She had a list of the to do ork This was her safe place ‘Archie?’
‘On ht, his jaw jutting out, yet she’d swear some of his tension had eased
‘Good girl, not letting hiht her back to focusing on anything other than Mr Lupton
‘You think?’ she asked around a tight laugh, her eyes still taking in the sight of Nathan despite trying to concentrate on what Vicki had to say
‘I do’ Her fellow nurse was also watching Nathan, now heading into a cubicle, and there was a thoughtful tone to her next question that unsettled Molly ‘Still co to breakfast?’
‘Wouldn’t ling with a strong reluctance to socialise and get too coed out of the way by people anted more from her than she was prepared to share She had initially hesitated about accepting the invitation, then decided to give it a go After all, Vicki had been friendly and helpful since she’d begun working in here two o
A flicker of exciteht into the ht her close to tears on occasion, even when she didn’t trust the out and about with this crowdthe loneliness that filled her days and nights Not being a team player had come at a price, one that needed to be dealt with if she was to be happy again
‘Molly? Can you come here, please?’ Nathan had reappeared in the cubicle doorway, back to being calm and efficient
Molly looked at thethe uncertainty he created in her belly, nodded ‘Need the phlebotomy kit?’ Her voice had returned to non-confrontational, Gran’s glare long gone Situation nor her shoulders, she reached for the bag of needles and tubes
Nathan’s senuine Meaning it was further unsettling ‘Yes I want liver functions done while ait for the orderly to collect him’
The boy, recovering frout and chest Nathan suspected septicaemia and had started him on an array of intravenous antibiotics They were noaiting for the children’s ward to collect him
In the cubicle, she said, ‘Hey, Archie, I’ to find you some dry pyja hi down
Archie was eyeing the kit with trepidation No hiding as co from this kid ‘I don’t want another needle’
‘It’s annoying, isn’t it?’ Nathan said as he slid the tourniquet up the boy’s thin arm ‘You’ll be able to tell all your friends how brave you are’
Molly sponged Archie’s legs, in an attempt to distract him ‘I hope you’re not ticklish’ Not that she intended tickling him when Nathan was about to slide a needle into a vein That would be taking distraction to the next level