She stifled a sigh. Definitely not flirting. Just her new boss welcoming his subordinate. Just good manners shining through.
'Follow me.' Huon strode off through the doors, out into the wall of heat, and headed toward the plane.
Grabbing her handbag, Bronte ran to keep up with his long stride.
Half way across the tarmac he turned and paused, waiting for her to catch up.
'Sorry to rush you, but we're taking advantage of the plane being free in between clinic runs. The workload's pretty steep out here, and we're often working against the clock, not to mention the heat.' His gaze raked over Bronte's petite height and thin body.
She recognised the analytical look that so many colleagues gave her, thinking she would not be physically up to the demands of medicine.
A spark of anger fizzed inside her.
For a moment his outback-blue eyes clouded with discomfort. 'You're very slight and this job is very physical.'
Bronte tossed her head back to hide the pain that always slugged her when people judged her physical appearance. 'Ah, looks can be deceiving, Doctor. I'm fit as a Mallee bull.'
'Good, you'll need to be.' He moved again toward the plane and at the steps he stood to the side. 'After you.'
The deep timbre of his voice sent a quiver through her and a tiny thrill flared at his courtesy. How could her body betray her like that? Had she learned nothing over the last two months? Couldn't her body work out that the man just had exceptional manners?
Huon ushered her up the steps into the plane and she ducked her head as she stepped inside. She looked around, excitedly, pinching herself that she really was in an Flying Doctor's plane. Fitted out with two stretchers and a myriad of medical equipment, the plane also had three normal passenger seats.
'Sit here.' Huon directed her to a seat and pulled the harness over her shoulders, his fingers briefly brushing the tops of her arms.
Warm tingles washed through her and she struggled to concentrate on his explanation of how the harness buckled together. But as she watched him click the buckle pieces together all she could think of was how his fingers had gently wrapped round her hand when they'd met.
Bronte wanted to shake herself. She was losing it. She didn't daydream about men and their hands. Especially a colleague's hands, her new boss's hands.
Time to focus and clear her head. This was the first day of her new job. Her new life. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She was tired, bone weary in fact, which wasn't like her. But then, with all the recent upheaval she had a right to be tired. Coming to Muttawindi was a complete change and a new direction.
And a new start which she desperately needed after her foolish lapse of judgement. A job that put a thousand kilometres between her and Damien. Thank goodness she'd never have to clap eyes on him again. Her cheeks blazed with embarrassed heat at the thought of her naïve stupidity. She'd believed every lie he'd told her and he'd reeled her in, then dumped her like a fish floundering on a pier. How could she have missed the warning signs?
This position was just what she needed. Muttawindi would give her a job she could sink her teeth into. A place where she could shine and be valued. A place to belong.
Now she just needed to make a good first impression in Muttawindi and wow Huon with her medical skills. Prove she had the stamina he thought she might lack.
She opened her eyes to find Huon scanning her face intensely.
'You O.K? You look pale but your cheeks are fire engine red. Do you have a temp?'
She forced her voice to sound light and cheerful. 'I'm fine.' Actually, she was feeling queasy but there was no way she was going to tell him that.
Huon buckled his harness. 'It's not far now, Muttawindi's only two hundred kilometres from Broken Hill. You'll soon see your new home.' His smile radiated hospitality and reaffirmed her decision to leave Melbourne and start again.
The engines roared and the King Air raced down the runway, quickly rising up into the cloudless sky. For a moment, Broken Hill lay below them defined by a seven-kilometre mullock heap, which quickly disappeared and the red dust of the outback, tied down with occasional clumps of saltbush, stretched out before them.
The throbbing sounds of the engine combined with her fatigue lulled Bronte into a relaxed state and her heavy eye-lids drooped closed.
The plane hit an air pocket. Bronte's stomach lurched. Air sick? She'd never been motion sick before, but she was definitely experiencing it now.
She pulled in a long, slow deep breath as another wave of nausea hit her. Bile scalded her throat. She gulped in air. She couldn't be sick, she wouldn't be sick.
'Are you sure you're all right?' Huon leaned over, concern etched on his face.
'I…I think I need…' Bronte's hands flew to her face as she bean to heave.
Huon quickly grabbed a sick bag and handed it to Bronte just in time for her to vomit.
Mortified, the heat of her embarrassment scalded her cheeks. 'Oh God, I'm so sorry.' Vomiting in front of anyone was embarrassing enough, but chucking up in front of her new boss wouldn't win her any brownie points.
.... The King Air touched down on the outback strip with a slight bump. As soon as the plane came to a halt, Bronte clambered out into the fresh but hot air, her hand gripping the stair rail. At first her legs seemed rubbery but they soon steadied and the nausea started to recede.
'Come on inside the clinic, Bronte. You need to get out of this heat. Huon placed his hand gently under her elbow and propelled her forward.
His supportive hand at her elbow made her feel like a fraud. This wasn't the best way to start her new job. She was a colleague, not a patient. She stepped forward, away from his touch, putting a slight distance between them.
He opened the door for her. 'Have a seat in the waiting room while I get changed.' Huon directed her to a row of moulded plastic chairs. 'I won't be long.' He disappeared down a long corridor.
A few minutes later, Huon reappeared. A white polo shirt with the R.F.D.S. logo, and navy blue shorts had replaced his soiled clothes. The blue of his eyes and the tan of his skin seemed more vivid against the white shirt.
She swallowed and shook her head. She needed sleep and she needed food. Then she would be back to her old self, and her cast-iron stomach. 'Look, I'm fine now. I think it was just fatigue. The last few weeks have been really hectic. All I need is a good sleep. So we can skip the check-up.'
'No, we can't.' He spoke firmly. 'You've looked peaky since Broken Hill. I need a doctor who is fit, well and on-deck so let's just make sure you're not harbouring some nasty bug.'
'Really, Huon, I'm a doctor too and...'
'No arguments. I'm the doctor-in-charge and I'm pulling rank.' He ushered her into an examination room, sat her down and put a thermometer in her mouth and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm.
'Fine,' Huon commented as he unwrapped the cuff, with the telltale sound of ripping Velcro. He removed the thermometer from her mouth and read it 'Normal.'
'See? I said I was just tired.' Bronte went to stand up.
'Not so fast. I said a check-up so I need to test your urine.' He gave her a grin and handed her a small container. 'Why is it that doctors detest submitting themselves to a routine check-up?'
She threw him a look she hoped spelt out her displeasure at the process he seemed to find entertaining and stomped off to the bathroom. Fortunately, she was quickly able to fill the container. She didn't need any more embarrassing situations today.
Returning to the office, she handed over her specimen. Huon took it over to a bench and stood with his back to her. She heard him unscrew a jar, which she assumed was the multistixs, to test the urine.
'Any headaches lately?' Huon walked back to his desk and sat down.
'No.'
He checked her eyes using his Ophthalmoscope and then checked her ears with his Auriscope.'That's all fine as well.'
Bronte rolled her eyes. 'Just like I said, all I need is a good sleep.'
'Just humour me, Bronte. After all, I was the one that got splashed with vomit.'
Heat burned her cheeks. 'Sorry about that. It's never happened before.'
Huon checked the lymph nodes in her neck. 'No sign of infection and that's a good sign. Perhaps your self-diagnosis was close to the mark.'
'Great, so now if I can just be taken to my house, I can get that catch-up sleep I really need.'
'I'll just check your urine test.' Huon stood up and walked back to the workbench. He checked the Multistix against the bottle's colour chart.
'All O.K?' Bronte asked with a hint of self-righteousness. She noticed him pick something else up off the bench.
His shoulder's stiffened and he turned slowly to face her. His smile had gone, his dimpled cheeks suddenly stark with tension. A deep furrow lined his brow and his expression was a mixture of disbelief and aggravation. 'You're pregnant.'
The two words hit her like a shot from a gun. The shock sent her blood rushing to her feet and her head swirled. This couldn't be.
Could not be.
She gripped the edge of the chair, struggling to think. She'd only slept with Damien twice and both times she'd used contraception. The condom broke. But she'd taken Emergency Contraception.
Oh no! Surely she wasn't one of the twelve percent of cases where it didn't work. Surely the gods wouldn't let that happen.
Huon pushed the white pregnancy stick into her hand. Two stark pink lines stared back at her.
Apparently they would.
'Oh God.' She slumped in her chair and dropped her head into her hands. Of all the things she could have imagined happening to her, this wasn't one of them. This was not in her plan for her new life.
From "PREGNANT ON ARRIVAL" by Fiona Lowe
Mills and Boon Medical Romance July 2006
ISBN: 0-263-84745-4 Copyright: © 2005 Fiona Lowe
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. The edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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