‘I’m going to admit her,’ Harry said, ‘purely because she’s so young and it’s the first time she’s had a fit. Plus I want to find out what’s causing the infection. We’ll keep an eye on her in case she has more convulsions. But you can stay with her.’
‘I’ll take you both up to the ward and introduce you to the team,’ Isla said.
‘And she’s going to be all right?’ the baby’s mother asked again.
‘Yes,’ Harry said, and patted her arm. ‘I know it’s scary, but try not to worry.’
Ha. And what a hypocrite he was. He knew that panicky feeling all too well. Would the baby be all right? The overwhelming relief when you knew that the baby would survive. And then the guilt later on when you discovered that, actually, there was a problem after all … Harry’s mistake had come back to haunt him big time.
‘Is there anyone we can call for you?’ Isla asked.
‘My mum.’ Erin’s mother dragged in a breath. ‘My husband’s working away.’
‘OK. As soon as Erin’s settled on the ward, we’ll get in touch with your mum,’ Isla promised.
Harry worked with Isla on most of his list of patients that morning, and he liked the fact that his new colleague was incredibly calm, had a sharp eye, and her quiet and gentle manner stopped patients or their parents panicking. The perfect emergency nurse. He had no idea where she’d trained or where she’d worked before—Scotland was a pretty big area—but he’d just bet that she was sorely missed. She’d certainly be appreciated at the London Victoria.
They hadn’t had time for a coffee break all morning and Harry was thirsty and ravenous by the time he took his lunch break—late, and he knew he’d end up grabbing something fast in the canteen so he could be back on the ward in time. When he walked into the staffroom, Isla was there.
‘Hi, there. Do you want to come and grab some lunch with me?’ he asked.
She gave him a cool smile. ‘Thanks, but I don’t think so.’
He frowned. ‘Why not?’
Her expression said quite clearly, do you really have to ask? But she was polite as she said, ‘It’s nice of you to ask me, but I don’t think we’re each other’s type.’
He blinked, not quite following. ‘What?’
She looked uncomfortable. ‘I, um, might be new here, but that doesn’t make me an instant addition to a little black book.’
Then the penny dropped. She thought he was asking her out? Some of the other staff teased him about being a heartbreaker and a serial dater, but that was far from true. He always made sure that whoever he dated knew it was for fun, not for ever. And he hadn’t been asking her out on a date anyway. Obviously someone had been gossiping about him and she’d listened to the tittle-tattle rather than waiting to see for herself. ‘Actually,’ he said quietly, ‘as you’re new to the team, I was guessing that you hadn’t had time to find your way around the hospital that well yet and you might not have anyone to sit with at lunchtime, that’s all.’
Her face flamed, clashing with that spectacular hair. ‘I—um—sorry. I’d just heard …’ She broke off. ‘Sorry. I’m putting my foot in it even more.’
‘Heard what?’ The words were out before he could stop them.
‘You have, um, a bit of a reputation for, um, dating a lot.’
He sighed. ‘Honestly, where the hospital grapevine’s concerned, you can’t win. If you don’t date, then either you’re gay or you’ve got some tragic past; and if you do date but make it clear you’re not looking for a serious relationship, then you’re at the mercy of everyone who wants to be the exception to the rule and you get called a heartbreaker. Not everyone’s desperate to pair off and settle down.’
‘I know.’ She bit her lip. ‘Sorry.’
But he noticed that she still hadn’t accepted his invitation to join him for lunch. Which stung. Was his reputation really that bad?
Pushing down his exasperation at the hospital grapevine, Harry gave Isla his sweetest smile. ‘OK, but I give you fair warning—if you try and eat a sandwich in here, you’ll be lucky to finish half of it before someone calls you to help out with something.’
‘I guess it’s all part of working in a hospital environment,’ she said lightly.
OK. He could take a hint. ‘See you later,’ he said.
In the canteen, Harry saw a crowd he recognised from the maternity ward and joined them. But all the while he was thinking about Isla. Why had their new nurse been so guarded? Was it just because of whatever nonsense she’d heard about him on the hospital grapevine? Or was she like that with everyone?
Just as Harry had predicted, Isla was halfway through her sandwich when someone came into the rest room and asked her to help out.
She didn’t mind—it was all part and parcel of being part of a team on the busiest department in the hospital.
But she did feel bad about the way she’d reacted to Harry the Heartbreaker. Especially after he’d explained why he’d asked her to lunch; it was just what she would’ve done herself if a new team member had joined the practice where she’d worked on the island. She’d been unfair to him. And, even though she’d apologised, she’d felt too awkward to join him and ended up making things worse. He probably thought she was standoffish and rude. But how could she explain without telling him about the past she was trying to put well and truly behind her?
It didn’t help that she found him so attractive.
Common sense told Isla that she needed to keep her distance. Apart from the fact that she’d seen a few working relationships turn really awkward and sour after the personal relationship had ended, she wasn’t in the market for a relationship anyway. Particularly with someone who had the reputation of being a charmer.
Professional only, she reminded herself. She’d apologise again for the sake for their working relationship. And that would be that.
Isla was rostered on cubicles again with Josie and Harry in the afternoon. Harry had just finished with a patient who’d been brought in with a degloving injury; when he came out of the cubicle, she asked quietly, ‘Can we have a quick word?’
‘Sure.’
Isla took a deep breath. ‘I wanted to apologise about earlier.’
He looked blank. ‘About what?’
‘I was rude and standoffish when you asked me to go to lunch with you.’
His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. Blame it on the hospital grapevine blowing everything out of proportion.’
She felt the betraying colour seep into her face. This would be the easy option because there was some truth in it, but he’d been kind and he didn’t deserve it. ‘Should’ve known better because hospital gossip likes to embroider things,’ she said. Not just hospitals: any small community. Like an island off the coast of Scotland where everybody knew practically everything about everyone. And she of all people knew how it felt to be gossiped about unfairly. ‘I was rude. And I apologise. And maybe I can buy you a cup of tea later to make up for being so horrible.’
‘You weren’t horrible, just a bit … well, offish. Apology and offer of tea accepted. We can have Mr Kemp as our chaperone, if you like,’ he suggested.
How could he be so good-natured about