South African Escape to Heal Her
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Secretly Dating the Baby Doc by JC Harroway.
Life and love in the world of modern medicine.
Escape to the world where life and love play out against a high-pressured medical backdrop.
Six new books available every month!
Secretly Dating the Baby Doc
by JC Harroway
CHAPTER ONE
CONSULTANT NEONATAL SURGEON Emilia Gonzales strode along the indistinguishable hospital corridor, her head held high as if she knew exactly where she was going. No one would guess it was her first day—new job, new hospital, new country.
Battling nerves and a raft of other unsettling emotions, she followed the signs for Theatre, scanned her security pass and entered the operating suite. Faced with another corridor, she tried to orientate herself to her surroundings.
She’d been given a tour when she’d come to the Hospital General de Buenos Aires for her interview earlier in the year. She was used to working in leading tertiary referral hospitals in her native Uruguay, but the General was four times the size of its counterpart in Montevideo. And she couldn’t help but be distracted by the painful dull throb of her heart.
Her late husband, Ricardo, had been born in this very hospital. Despite five years of widowhood, Ricardo was always in her thoughts. How was she supposed to work here, be back here in Argentina, and not be constantly reminded of the loss of the love of her life?
Emilia breathed through the now familiar grief, pulling herself together. This new job represented a fresh start for her and her daughter, Eva. Eva had wanted to attend the same university as her father, and Emilia was happy to facilitate and support all of Eva’s dreams. She just wished this particular change could be less triggering.
‘Are you lost?’ A man spoke from behind Emilia, making her jump.
She turned, and found herself eye to chest with his tall, athletic frame and looked up. With dark hair sprinkled with grey and deep brown eyes, her rescuer’s friendly smile immediately set Emilia at ease.
‘Is it that obvious?’ she asked with a smile of her own. ‘I was hoping to hide it better. It’s my first day.’ And she had a surgery to get to.
The tall and helpful stranger glanced at her brand-new name tag, his expression shifting from mild curiosity to pleasant surprise.
‘Ah, you’re Dr Gonzales,’ he said, his smile widening. ‘Our new neonatal surgeon. I’ve been expecting you.’
‘Sorry if I’m late,’ Emilia said with a wince. That was no way to make a good first impression.
‘Not late at all.’ He offered his hand. ‘I’m Felipe Castillo. Welcome to the General.’
Emilia shook his hand, momentarily thrown by his welcoming manner and the confidence of his relaxed smile. They’d never met before, but she knew Felipe Castillo was a senior neonatal surgeon there. Not only was he jointly responsible for the patient Emilia was in Theatre to meet, he was also Emilia’s clinical supervisor, until her full registration with the Argentine Medical Council was granted.
‘Please, call me Emilia,’ she said, sliding her hand from Felipe’s warm and sure grip, her nerves intensifying.
They were a similar age, both in their fifties, but Felipe would be overseeing all her surgeries for a probationary period of three weeks. As a mother, Emilia had taken a little longer to train, what with maternity leave, years of part-time work while Eva had been small and then time off on compassionate leave during the two years Ricardo had been ill.
Only she hadn’t expected her clinical supervisor to be so...attractive—setting her heart aflutter and raising her body temperature. After losing Ricardo, she’d assumed herself immune to physical desire, but no, her body seemed to be fully back in business. Her stare furtively dipped to his left hand, confirming the absence of a wedding ring, but his marital status was irrelevant.
As she’d told Eva again and again, she wasn’t interested in dating. It seemed too hard and pointless as well. She’d had the great love of her life, and she had no intention of looking for love again.
‘I’m looking for Theatre Six, the Lopez case,’ she said. ‘I assume that’s where you’re heading, too, seeing as we’re going to be working together for a few weeks.’
‘I am.’ Felipe nodded and gestured with an outstretched arm. ‘Allow me to show you the way.’
Emilia gratefully fell into step at his side, ignoring the sexy surgeon’s swagger and how good he looked in the hospital’s shapeless, green scrubs. She rarely noticed a member of the opposite sex, but when she did it still somehow felt as if she were cheating on Ricardo.
But then, they had been married for over twenty years. Sometimes, when she remembered that he was gone, she had to catch herself. It was as if half her heart was missing.
‘So you’re from Uruguay?’ Felipe asked, glancing her way with obvious interest. ‘What brings you to Buenos Aires?’
Emilia sucked in a breath. She’d known this line of questioning was inevitable. Consultants her age, the wrong side of fifty, rarely shifted hospitals, unless it was for personal reasons. And there was nothing more personal to Emilia than her beloved daughter, Eva.
‘My late husband was Argentine. He was born in this hospital in fact,’ she said, her voice tight. It often was when she talked about Ricardo. ‘Our daughter wanted to go to university here, so I thought I’d make the move, too, as it’s just the two of us. My parents died a few years ago, so there’s no family keeping me in Uruguay.’
She trailed off, aware that she might be viewed as an over-protective mother. She had no intention of smothering Eva, but her eighteen-year-old daughter was all the family Emilia had left. It made sense to at least reside in the same country in case of emergencies, and to emotionally support Eva.
But she was thrilled that Eva would be able to spend more time with her father’s side of the family. Losing her father at the age of thirteen, Eva had been through a lot. There’d been times during the past five years where Emilia had worried for her daughter’s mental health—she’d seemed so sad and withdrawn.
‘And why not?’ Felipe’s easy smile widened. ‘Why should the youngsters have all the fun?’
‘Quite.’ Emilia heard herself laugh, the sound high pitched and a little strained. Since Ricardo’s death, there’d been little time and even less inclination for fun. What with raising a teenager solo and maintaining her busy and demanding career, Emilia often reached the end of another week exhausted and faced with the realisation that, yet again, she’d inadvertently put herself last.
‘Buenos Aires is a great city,’ Felipe continued, with enthusiasm. ‘You’ll both love it here, I’m sure, once you’ve settled in.’
