Stormbound Surgeon Read online

  Stormbound Surgeon

  Marion Lennox

  The rain is thrashing down on Iluka, and Joss Braden is bored out of his mind. In fact, the hotshot Sydney surgeon is heading out of there as fast as his sports car can take him!But the bridge is down. There's no way on or off the storm-lashed headland…not even for the emergency services! Suddenly, Joss is responsible for a whole town's health-with only Amy Freye's nursing home as his makeshift hospital. And as Joss and Amy cope with their unexpected responsibility for a series of crises, the incredible chemistry between them becomes an emergency in itself!

  Marion Lennox

  Stormbound Surgeon

  © 2004

  Dear Reader,

  We have our summer holidays at a remote little fisherman’s cottage where only a tiny strip of land connects us to the mainland. While snoozing on the beach (my major holiday occupation), I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to wipe out the road and lock two completely disparate people together? Before I knew it, I wasn’t on holiday anymore-I was plotting like crazy. Joss and Amy are the result.

  I hope you enjoy the outcome of my snoozing!

  I’d love your feedback. Contact me through my Web site at www.marionlennox.com.

  Happy reading!

  Marion Lennox

  PROLOGUE

  THE lawyer cleared his throat and looked miserable. This was nothing short of blackmail, and the girl before him deserved so much better.

  But the old man finally had her where he wanted her. Robert Fleming had manipulated people all his life. The only person who’d broken free had been his stepdaughter, and now he was controlling her from the grave.

  The will was watertight. Fleming would succeed and there wasn’t a thing the lawyer could do about it.

  ‘Just read it,’ Amy said, stony-faced. The lawyer collected himself. And read.

  ‘To my stepdaughter, Amy Freye, I leave my home, White-Breakers. I also leave her the land on Shipwreck Bluff and sufficient funds to build a forty-bed nursing home. The home is to be built in the style of a resort, to ensure resale is possible, and I set aside the following to be invested for maintenance…

  The above bequest is conditional on Amy living permanently in Iluka for at least ten years from the time of my death. If she doesn’t fulfill this condition, White-Breakers and the nursing home are to be sold and my entire estate is to be divided evenly between my nephews. The nursing home is to be sold as a resort for holiday-makers who’ll appreciate Iluka. As Amy never has.’

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‘IF IT doesn’t stop raining soon I’ll brain someone.’ Amy put her nose against the window and groaned. Outside it was raining so hard she could barely see waves breaking on the shoreline fifty yards away.

  ‘Great idea. Brain Mrs Craddock first.’ Kitty, Amy’s receptionist, was entirely sympathetic. ‘If I hear “Silver Threads” one more time I’ll do the deed myself.’

  It was too late. From the sitting room came the sound of the piano, badly played, and Mrs Craddock’s warbling old voice drowned out the television.

  ‘Darling, we are getting old,

  Silver threads among the gold…’

  Murder was looking distinctly appealing, Amy decided. ‘Can you taste arsenic in cocoa?’ she muttered. ‘And just what are the grounds for justifiable homicide?’

  ‘Whatever they are, it can’t be more justifiable than this. A week of rain and this lot…’

  It was the limit. Nothing ever happened in Iluka, and this week even less than nothing was happening. The locals jokingly called Iluka God’s Waiting Room and at times like this Amy could only agree.

  It did have some things going for it. Iluka was a beautiful seaside promontory with a climate that was second to none-apart from this week, of course, when the heavens were threatening another Great Flood. It had two golf courses, three bowling greens, magnificent beaches and wonderful walking trails.

  On the cliff out of town was Millionaire’s Row-a strip of outlandishly expensive real estate. At the height of summer the town buzzed with ostentatious wealth.

  But the rest of the time it didn’t buzz at all. Iluka was a retiree’s dream. The average age of Iluka’s residents seemed about ninety, and when the rain set in there was nothing to do at all.

  Nothing, nothing and nothing.

  Card games. Scrabble. Hobbies.

  Lionel Waveny had made five kites this month and he hadn’t flown any of them. The sitting room was crowded at the best of times, and if he made one more kite they’d have to sit on them.

  From the sitting room came excited twittering. ‘Amy… Bert’s won.’

  Great. Excitement plus! Summoning a smile Amy headed into the sitting room to congratulate Bert on his latest triumph in mah-jong. She stepped over Lionel’s kites and sighed. She really should stop him making them but she didn’t have the heart. They were making him happy. Someone should be happy. So…

  ‘Great kite,’ she told Lionel, and added, ‘Hooray,’ to the mah-jong winner. ‘Bert, if you win any more matchsticks you can start a bushfire.’

  Despite her smile, her bleak mood stayed.

  Oh, for heaven’s sake, what was wrong with her? she wondered. What was a little rain? This was a decent sort of life-wasn’t it? The nursing home she’d set up was second to none. Her geriatric residents were more than content with the care she provided. She could start a cottage industry in knitwear and kites, she had a fantastic home-and she had Malcolm.

  What more could a girl want?

  Shops, she thought suddenly, and a decent salary so she could enjoy them. She stared down in distaste at the dress she’d had for years. What else? Restaurants. A cinema or two, and maybe a florist where she could buy herself a huge bunch of flowers to cheer herself up.

  Yeah, right. As if she’d ever have any money to buy such things.

  She looked out the window at the driving rain and thought…

  What?

  Anything. Please…

  Amy wasn’t the only one to be criticizing Iluka. Five miles out of town Joss Braden was headed for the highway and he couldn’t escape the town fast enough.

  ‘It’s the most fantastic place,’ his father had told him over the phone. ‘There’s three separate bowling greens. Can you believe that?’

  ‘Yes, but-’

  ‘Now, I know bowling doesn’t interest you, boy, but the beaches are wonderful. You’ll be able to swim, catch lobster right off the beach and sail that new windsurfer of yours. Go on, Joss-give us a few days. Get to know your new stepmother and have a break from your damned high-powered medicine into the bargain.’

  He’d needed a break, Joss thought, but five days of rain had been enough to drive him back to Sydney so fast you couldn’t see him for mud. For the whole week his windsurfer had stayed roped to the car roof. The seas had been huge-it would have been suicidal to try windsurfing. His father and Daisy had wanted him to spend every waking minute with them; they’d been blissfully and nauseatingly in love, and medicine was starting to look very, very good in comparison.

  So this morning, when the newsreaders were warning of floods and road blockage, his decision to leave had bordered on panic. Now he steered his little sports car carefully through the rain and crossed his fingers that the flooding wasn’t as severe as predicted.

  ‘Ten minutes and we’re on the highway and out of here,’ he told his dog. His ancient red setter, Bertram the Magnificent, was belted into the passenger seat beside him, staring through the windscreen with an expression that was almost as worried as his master’s. If they were stuck here…

  ‘We’ll be right.’

  They weren’t.

  ‘Amy, love, we need a fourth at bridge.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Cooper, but I’m busy
.’

  ‘Nonsense, child. We know you always go for a walk on the beach mid-morning. You can’t walk anywhere now, so come and join us.’

  ‘But I can’t play.’

  ‘We’ll give you hints as we go along. You’ll be an expert in no time.’

  Aargh …

  Once they reached the highway it’d be easier.

  The road into Iluka from the highway twisted around cliffs along the river. It was a breathtakingly scenic route but it was dangerous at the best of times, and now was the worst possible time to be driving.

  Joss’s hands gripped white on the steering-wheel. He leaned forward, trying to see through the driving rain, and his dog leaned forward with him. Bertram’s breath fogged the windscreen and Joss hauled him back.

  ‘There’s no need for both of us to see.’

  It’d be better once they were on the highway, he told himself. Just around this bend and across the bridge and…

  His foot slammed hard on the brake.

  Luckily he was travelling at a snail’s pace and the car’s brakes responded magnificently. He came to a halt with inches to spare. But inches to what? Joss stared ahead in disbelief. He had to be seeing things.

  He wasn’t. Ahead lay the bridge. The water was up over the timbers in a foaming, litter-filled torrent, and the middle pylon was swaying as if it had no base.

  And as Joss stared, there was a screech of tortured metal, a splintering of timber and the entire bridge crumbled and buckled into the torrent beneath.

  ‘I can’t play bridge. I’ve promised to help Cook make scones.’

  ‘Oh, Amy…’

  Beam me up, someone. Please beam me up…

  Joss opened the car door with caution. He was safe enough where he was but seeing a bridge disappear like that made a man unsure of his own footing. Thankfully the ground underneath felt good and solid, even if a relentless stream of water began to pour down his neck the minute he opened the door.

  Before him was a mess. The entire bridge was gone. In the passenger seat Bertram whimpered the unease of a dog in unfamiliar territory, and Joss leaned in to click the seat belt free.

  They weren’t going anywhere fast, Joss thought grimly. Bertram was a water dog at heart, and if Joss was going to drown out here at least he’d have happy company.

  ‘Stupid dog. You can’t possibly like weather like this.’

  He was wrong. Joss even managed a grin as Bertram put his nose skywards, opened his mouth and drank.

  But his humour was short-lived. How was he to get back to Sydney now?

  First things first, he told himself. Before he started to panic about escape routes, he needed to do something about oncoming traffic. He didn’t want anyone plunging unaware into that torrent.

  He bent into the car again and flicked his lights to high beam. The river wasn’t so wide that oncoming cars wouldn’t see his warning. Then he flicked on his hazard lights.

  But his warning was too late. A truck came hurtling around the bend behind him and it was travelling far too fast. Above the roar of the river Joss hardly heard it coming, and when he did he barely had time to jump clear.

  The smash of tearing metal sounded above the roar of the water. There was a crashing of broken glass, a ripping, tearing metallic hell, and then the sounds of hissing steam.

  Joss backed away fast and Bertram came with him.

  What the…?

  His car had been totalled. Just like that.

  He swallowed a few times and laid a hand on his dog’s shaggy head, saying a swift thank you to the powers who looked after stupid doctors who ventured out in sports cars that were far too small. In a world where there were trucks that were far too big. In weather that was far too bad.

  Then he took in the damage.

  The other vehicle looked like an ancient farm truck-a dilapidated one-tonner. If Joss’s sports car had been bigger it would have fared better, but now… His rear wheels were almost underneath his steering-wheel. The passenger compartment where Joss and his dog had sat not a minute before was a mangled mess.

  Hell!

  ‘Stay,’ he told Bertram, and thanked the heavens that his dog was well trained. He didn’t want him any closer to the wreck than he already was. The smell of petrol was starting to be overpowering…

  He had to reach the driver.

  Damage aside, it was just as well his car had been where it was, Joss thought grimly. Coming with the speed it had, if Joss’s car hadn’t been blocking the way the truck would now be at the bottom of the river.

  If anyone else came…

  There was another car now on the other side of the river, and it also had its lights on high beam. Joss’s lights were still working-somehow. The lights merged eerily through the rain and there was someone on the opposite bank, waving wildly.

  They’d all been lucky, Joss thought grimly. Except-maybe the driver of the truck.

  The smell of petrol was building by the minute and the driver of the truck wasn’t moving. Hell, the truck’s engine was still turning over. It only needed a spark…

  The truck door wouldn’t budge.

  He hesitated for only a second, then lifted a rock and smashed it down on the driver’s window. Reaching in, he switched off the ignition. The engine died. That’d fix the sparks, he thought. It should prevent a fire. Please…

  Were there injuries to cope with? The driver was absolutely still. Joss grabbed the handle of the crumpled door from the inside and tried to wrench it open. As he worked, he lifted his phone and hit the code for emergency.

  ‘The Iluka bridge is down,’ he said curtly as someone answered, still hauling at the door as he spoke. ‘There’s been a crash on the Iluka side. I need help-warning signs and flashing lights, powerful ones. We need police, tow trucks and an ambulance. I’m trying to get to the driver now. Stand by.’

  ‘If you won’t play bridge how about carpet bowls?’

  ‘That’s a good idea.’ At least it was active. Amy was climbing walls. ‘Let’s set it up.’

  ‘But you’ll play bridge with us tomorrow, won’t you, dear? If it doesn’t stop raining…’

  Please, let it stop raining.

  ‘You’re wanted on the phone, Amy.’ It was Kitty calling from the office. ‘It’s Chris and she says it’s urgent.’

  Hooray! Anything to get away from the carpet bowls-but the local telephonist was waiting and at the sound of her voice, Amy’s relief disappeared in an instant. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Chris was breathless with worry. ‘All I got was that the bridge is down. There’s been a crash and they want an ambulance. But, Amy, the ambulance has to come from Bowra on the other side of the river. If the bridge is down… If there’s a medical emergency here…’

  Amy’s heart sank. Oh, no…

  Iluka wasn’t equipped for acute medical needs. The nearest acute-care hospital was at Bowra. The nearest doctor was at Bowra! Bowra was only twenty miles down the road but if the bridge was down it might just as well be twenty thousand.

  ‘I don’t know any more,’ Chris told her. ‘There was just the one brief message and the caller disconnected. I’ve alerted Sergeant Packer but I thought…well, there’s nowhere else to take casualties. You might want to stand by.’

  It was a woman and she was in trouble.

  Joss managed to wrench the door open to find the driver slumped forward on the steering-wheel. Her hair was a mass of tangled curls, completely blocking his view. She was youngish, he thought, but he couldn’t see more, and when he placed a hand on her shoulder there was no response.

  ‘Can you hear me?’

  Nothing. She seemed deeply unconscious.

  Why?

  He needed to check breathing-to establish she had an airway. He stooped, wanting to see but afraid to pull her head back. He needed a neck brace. If there was a fracture with compression and he moved her…

  He didn’t have a neck brace and he had no choice. Carefully he lifted the curls away and placed his
hands on the sides of her head. Then, with painstaking care, he lifted her face an inch from the wheel.

  With one hand holding her head, cupping her chin with his splayed fingers, he used the other to brush away the hair from her mouth. Apart from a ragged slash above her ear he could feel no bleeding. Swiftly his fingers checked nose and throat. There was no blood at all, and he could feel her breath on his hand.

  What was wrong?

  The door must have caught her as it crumpled, he thought as he checked the cut above her ear. Maybe that had been enough to knock her out.

  Had it been enough to kill her? Who knew? If there was internal bleeding from a skull compression then maybe…

  She was twisted away from him in the truck, so all he could see was her back. He was examining blind. His hands travelled further, examining gently, feeling for trauma. Her neck seemed OK-her pulse was rapid but strong. Her hands were intact. Her body…

  His hands moved to her abdomen-and stiffened in shock. He paused in disbelief but he hadn’t been mistaken. The woman’s body was vast, swollen to full-term pregnancy, and what he’d felt was unmistakable.

  A contraction was running right through her, and her body was rigid in spasm.

  The woman was in labour. She was having a baby!

  ‘Amy?’

  ‘Jeff.’ Jeff Packer was the town’s police sergeant-the town’s only policeman, if it came to that. He was solid and dependable but he was well into his sixties. In any other town he’d have been pensioned off but in Iluka he seemed almost young.

  ‘There’s a casualty.’ He said the word ‘casualty’ like he might have said ‘disaster’ and Jeff didn’t shake easily. Unconsciously Amy braced herself for the worst.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘It’s a young woman. We’re bringing her in to you now.’

  ‘You’re bringing her here?’

  ‘There’s nowhere else to take her, Amy. The bridge is down. We’d never get a helicopter landed in these conditions and Doc here says her need is urgent.’