The Consultant's Adopted Son

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After she’d died, he’d needed to be strong for Daniel, and he could honestly say that he had managed it, too. It was only when Daniel had started talking about finding his birth mother that he had found it difficult to cope. And now that he’d met Rose…Well!

He shot to his feet and started pacing the floor, unable to withstand the torrent of emotions that were flooding through him. Rose worried him on so many levels that it was hard to know how he really felt about her. He didn’t trust her, yet couldn’t explain why. It was gut instinct that had warned him to keep her out of his life, and it was gut instinct that had told him to draw her closer. It was instinct that had made him respond to her just now, too. His feelings towards her weren’t based on fact, they were rooted in emotion—fear, anger, desire. And that was what scared him most of all. How could he hope to do what was right when he had no idea how to handle all these feelings she aroused inside him?

Rose felt tense and on edge all morning long. She might have attributed it to nervousness at the thought of Daniel phoning her, but she knew it wasn’t just that. Bumping into Owen as she’d come out of the office had affected her in a way she would never have expected it to. She couldn’t remember having experienced such a strong physical reaction to anyone before, and it alarmed her that she should have felt that way about Owen when it would only complicate matters. She had to control these unwelcome feelings and not let them get out of hand.

Fortunately, they started to get busy just before lunch so she was able to focus on work. Three teenagers had been found unconscious and ambulances had been despatched to bring them into the department. Rose immediately offered to forgo her break when Angie told her what had happened.

‘Are you sure?’ the charge nurse said, frowning. ‘You’re entitled to a meal break—it’s in your contract.’

‘It’s probably in yours, too, but that won’t stop you working,’ she replied lightly.

Angie laughed. ‘You’re right there! Anyway, thanks. If you could cover Resus with Julie and Ellen, that would be a big help. Sharon can take her break and I can keep things ticking over out here.’

Rose nodded. She followed the nurses into Resus and made sure everything was ready when the ambulances arrived. The other women seemed a bit more approachable that day, and showed her where the various supplies were kept to save her having to hunt for them. By the time the first stretcher was wheeled in she felt as though they were starting to accept her, and she had to admit that it felt good to be part of the team for a change.

She grabbed a corner of the board and helped transfer the patient onto the bed. It was a young girl and she was unconscious. ‘Where was she found?’ Rose asked the paramedic.

‘In her bedroom. From the look of all the bottles that were strewn around, she and her friends must have been drinking until they passed out.’

‘So it’s alcohol related?’ Rose sighed. ‘She doesn’t look old enough to be drinking alcohol, does she?’

‘She’s fourteen, according to her parents. They start younger and younger these days,’ the paramedic replied wearily as he left.

Rob arrived just then, and came over to Rose. He grimaced when she relayed what the paramedic had told her. ‘Binge drinking is the scourge of modern society. Just wait until you’ve done a stint here on a Saturday night and then you’ll get an idea what a problem it is.’

‘I’ve seen the effects it can have when I’ve worked in other A and E departments,’ she assured him.

‘Of course you have. I keep forgetting that you travel around.’ Rob grinned at her. ‘You’ve fitted in so well here that I keep thinking you’re part of our staff.’

‘Thanks.’ Rose smiled at him, truly appreciating the compliment. Turning away, she reached for the leads to attach the teenager to the bedside monitoring equipment and paused when she realised that Owen was watching her. There was something on his face, a kind of raw awareness, that made her long to tell him that she was just as aware of him, too…

He turned away as the next patient was rushed in, and she carried on with what she was doing—linking the girl to the machine so that her BP, heart rate and oxygen saturation levels could be monitored. It was a task she’d done countless times before, but this time she had to concentrate to make sure she did everything right.

There was no room for error in her job; people depended on her. There was no margin for error with regard to Owen Gallagher either; she had to get it right for Daniel’s sake. And letting herself get carried away by the idea that Owen was interested in her would be a mistake of epic proportions. The only thing Owen was interested in was his son. She had to remember that or suffer the consequences.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_f8e8ac0f-7e0e-527b-8b6f-639d550028e8)

‘SHE’LL need to be kept in under observation. Can you get onto the bed manager and see if he can find her a bed? She’s only thirteen so there might be one free in Paediatrics. I’ll have a word with her parents while you’re doing that.’

Owen left Suzanne to make the arrangements and made his way out of resus. Of the three girls who’d been brought in, Alice Delaney was the one he was most concerned about. She was diabetic and that had exacerbated the problems caused by her binge drinking. Her glucose levels were shot to hell and it was going to take some time to stabilise her. The girl’s parents were in the relatives’ room so he went straight in and introduced himself.

‘I’m Owen Gallagher, head of trauma care.’ He sat down, seeing the worry that was etched on their faces. Alice is still unconscious but she’s stable,’ he explained, so as not to prolong their agony. ‘Because her body is struggling to process the alcohol she’s consumed, it’s affected her glucose levels. She will need to be monitored so she will be admitted to a ward. I believe she’s one of Dr Chang’s patients so I’ve alerted him and he will take charge of her treatment after she leaves this department.’