Laura Iding – Wanted: Parents for a Baby! (страница 1)
Her heart stuttered, and her stomach clenched with nerves, but she went over to the intercom to let him in.
He knocked at the door barely a minute later and she looped her purse over her shoulder before walking over to open the door. “Good morning,” she greeted him. “I’m ready.”
His blue eyes swept over her, glinting with approval. “You look amazing, Cassandra,” he murmured.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Thanks,” she murmured. “So do you.” Oh, boy, what was wrong with her? She was acting as if this was a
His gaze held hers for a long second, as if he were remembering their brief kiss. Or maybe that was just
She liked him too much already. And she couldn’t bear the thought of giving him the power to hurt her.
No, she couldn’t allow herself to become emotionally involved with Ryan. The nurses called him The Heartbreaker for a reason.
As many of you know, I am a nurse by background and still work full-time at our local hospital.
Recently I was involved in a ‘Safe Haven’ baby situation. A young woman who gave birth at our hospital decided she couldn’t be a good mother and wanted to give her baby up for adoption. So far the State of Wisconsin has had eighty-four Safe Haven babies since the law was passed in 1994.
The situation I was involved in was very different from the one I describe in this story,
I hope you enjoy Ryan and Cassie’s story as much as I do—and please drop by to visit my website at www.lauraiding.com if you have a moment. I always enjoy hearing from my readers.
Happy reading!
LAURA IDING loved reading as a child, and when she ran out of books she readily made up her own, completing a little detective mini-series when she was twelve. But when her parents insisted she get a ‘real’ career she turned to nursing—another truly rewarding job. After thirty years of experience in trauma/critical care, she’s thrilled to combine her career and her hobby into one—writing Medical Romances™ for Mills & Boon®. Laura lives in the northern part of the United States with her husband of nearly thirty years, and spends her time reading, writing and biking.
Wanted: Parents for a Baby!
Laura Iding
This book is dedicated to Michelle Lahey Reed, an amazing woman who opened her heart and her home to foster twin babies in need. You are truly an inspiration!
Table of Contents
“CASSIE?” ALICE, THE neonatal intensive care unit clerk, called across the unit. “The ER is asking you to come down with the emergency warmer.”
“Really?” Neonatal nurse Cassandra Jordan glanced up from her computer in surprise. This was an interesting way to start her shift, and it was only Thursday. The unusual stuff mostly happened on the weekends. “Is there a pregnant woman waiting?”
“Not sure, but they asked you to hurry.”
Cassie nodded and quickly abandoned her charting, heading over to where they kept the portable warmer stocked with emergency equipment. “What about a physician?” she asked as she wheeled the warmer toward the door.
“Already paged him. Dr. Ryan should be there soon.”
Cassie’s stomach clenched with a mixture of dread and anticipation even as she tipped her head to indicate she understood. After wheeling the infant warmer into the hallway, she pushed the button for the elevator, relieved when the doors immediately opened.
Dr. Ryan Murphy was one of the best neonatal intensivists she’d ever worked with. Unfortunately, he was far too tall, dark and handsome for her peace of mind. Not to mention single. Widowed, to be exact. According to the gossip mill, he wasn’t interested in dating, much to the dismay of the single nurses working throughout the hospital.
To be fair, she wasn’t particularly interested in dating either—one deep betrayal and subsequent failed marriage had been enough to put her off men for a long time. But somehow in the six months that she’d been in Cedar Bluff, her body hadn’t seemed to get the message. Every time Dr. Ryan’s penetrating blue eyes met hers, her stomach did a series of backward flips and she blushed like a fool. She mentally cursed her fair skin for constantly betraying her.
The elevator doors dinged and opened on the ground level, so she wheeled the warmer out and quickly jogged down the hall to Cedar Bluff’s ER. There was a crowd of people gathered around the triage desk and, of course, Dr. Ryan’s dark head, clearly visible above the crowd, drew her gaze like a magnet. Even wearing blue scrubs and long white lab coat, he was distinctly noticeable.
He glanced over and caught sight of her, acknowledging her presence with a brief nod. He made a gesture with his hand. “Please, step back and make room for the equipment.”
Like the parting of the Red Sea, the group of people split down the middle to give Cassie the access she needed. She focused on the infant car seat that was propped on the desktop and frowned as she registered the fact that the baby was letting out a terrible high-pitched cry. “What happened? Where’s the mother?”
“She left,” Dr. Ryan said shortly. “This little girl is only a day or two old and desperately needs medical care. We need to get her in the warmer so I can examine her.”
“Her name is Emma,” Gloria, the ER nurse at the triage desk, supplied helpfully. “The mother said she was unfit and asked me to take care of Emma.”
Emma’s high-pitched cry wasn’t easy to ignore, but Cassie focused on setting up the open end of the oxygen tubing so it would gently stream past her tiny nose and mouth. Dr. Ryan undressed the baby, who was wearing clean yet well-worn clothing, his fingers looking ridiculously large in contrast to the tiny baby. Using his stethoscope, he listened to Emma’s heart and lungs. Cassie placed small EKG patches on the baby’s bare chest and their fingers brushed as they both worked over the small torso.
Cassie ignored the tingling sensation that rippled up her arms at his touch and peered at the cardiac monitor, making note of the baby’s heart rate, which was higher than normal.
“Her lungs are clear,” Dr. Ryan said in a low tone. “But she has hyperactive bowel sounds.”
Cassie gave a nod. “Yes, she’s also tachy, in the one-eighties. Dehydrated, perhaps?”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “But could indicate something more serious. We don’t have any history on the mother, unless we’re lucky enough that the baby was born here. Let’s get her upstairs to the NNICU. She’ll need an IV and labs drawn.”
“Okay. I’ll check the records when we get upstairs, but I don’t think she was born here. I’ve been on the past three days and would have remembered.” Cassie disconnected the electrical cord and switched the warmer to battery power. “Ready? Let’s go.”
Dr. Ryan walked along on the opposite side of the warmer. Cassie steered the warmer while he kept a keen eye on Emma’s heart rate.
The elevator seemed to take longer this time, or maybe she was just acutely aware of Dr. Ryan standing next to her while listening to Emma’s high-pitched crying. Her maternal instincts wanted her to pick the baby up and cradle her to her chest, but that wasn’t possible just yet. When the elevator doors finally opened, she pushed the warmer inside with a sense of relief.