Read Online The Single Dad's Marriage Wish (Bachelor Dads) by Carol Marinelli - Free Book Online Page B

serious now. ‘Are you okay?’
    ‘Fine,’ Charlotte answered. ‘Well, dying for my coffee-break but I guess that will have to wait till I’ve taken him up and then cleared up the mess.’
    ‘You were very good with his father.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    ‘And you’re okay with everything that happened this morning?’ There was just a smudge of a frown on her face, as if she was curious as to why he’d even be checking. ‘I mean, it’s been a pretty intense morning.’
    ‘That’s Emergency for you.’ Charlotte shrugged. ‘Honestly, Hamish, I’m fine. Just doing my job like the rest of us.’
    Only she wasn’t like the rest of them, Hamish thought as she breezed along the corridor, grabbing a blanket from the linen trolley and stopping for a quick chat and giggle with Mike the porter—watching with more than slight bemusement as the old boy wiggled his hips at a delighted Charlotte and did a strange little dance.
    He couldn’t fault a single thing she’d done that morning—she’d been efficient and capable in resuscitation, incredibly intuitive and helpful in dealing withrelatives, all the staff liked her, every patient she came in contact with seemed to adore her, and yet…Hamish flicked through his mental thesaurus, trying to find the word he was looking for that summed up the vague uneasiness she generated in him at times.
    Detached—that was the best he could come up with. Despite her warm demeanour, despite her engaging smile, there was this cool detachment to Charlotte that didn’t add up. The more he thought about it, nothing seemed to upset her, nothing seemed to really faze her, nothing really seemed to bother Charlotte at all. In fact, sometimes it was as if…
    He didn’t like the conclusion he was inching towards to, felt guilty almost for even thinking it, given the way she was at home and with Bailey and her impressive skills at work…But still the nagging voice wouldn’t go away.
    Sometimes it was if Charlotte had pushed her true emotions about everything so far down that she didn’t feel them at all.
    Maybe it was Ronan’s lucky day! Transferring him from Accident and Emergency’s equipment to that of ICU’s, Charlotte watched in awe as the anaesthetist rolled his pen along Ronan’s arm and Ronan actually pulled his hand away.
    ‘Withdrawal to pain. Boy, this job never ceases to amaze me. I was about to tell your boss he was wasting everyone’s time. Looks like we might just have a happy ending here,’ the anaesthetist said.
    Wandering parched back down the corridor and grabbing a bottle of diet cola from the machine, she sawthe sign for the paediatric ward and Charlotte decided she had more than earned a break. She was so glad she did when little Andy’s face lit up in delight at his most welcome visitor, delighted to see him playing a board game with another little boy who was sitting on his bed.
    ‘Are you still here?’ Feigning surprise, she gave him wide-eyed look.
    ‘I’m staying in for a while!’ Andy nodded proudly. ‘They’re giving me lots of treatment for my skin and they’ve put me on this disgusting diet—I have to go under the sun lamps and mum’s getting my new glasses this afternoon—this is Blake,’ he added without pausing for a single breath, ‘he’s got really bad eczema and it’s all infected!’
    ‘Bad luck, Blake,’ Charlotte gave a sympathetic smile. ‘I just popped in to say hi. I really can’t stop, but I’ll come and see you again as soon as I can.’
    ‘Promise?’ Andy checked.
    ‘I promise.’
    It was a smiling Charlotte that walked back into Emergency, only to be greeted by a rather strained-looking Cameron. ‘I’m supposed to have a word with you,’ he said as she headed back to clear up Resus.
    ‘Supposed to?’ Charlotte checked.
    ‘Boss’s orders.’ Cameron let out a long sigh. ‘I really messed it up back there. Hamish said I should talk with some of the more experienced nursing staff—someone who was used to dealing