The Australian's Proposal (Mills & Boon By Request): The Doctor's Marriage Wish / The Playboy Doctor's Proposal / The Nurse He's Been Waiting For (21 page)

‘What
do
you think you’re doing, Hannah? Sit down and belt up.’

‘Help!’ A male voice was yelling loudly. ‘We need a doctor!’

‘Stay here,’ Ryan ordered crisply. ‘I’ll go.’

But Hannah knew that her own courage was coming from the confidence Ryan was displaying. If he left, she might be tempted to strap herself safely back into her seat and wait for the turbulence to end.

People needed help.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m coming with you.’

Something unusual showed in Ryan’s eyes. Did he know how terrified she was? What an effort trying to match his bravery was?

Maybe he did. The glance felt curiously like applause. He let go of her arm and took her hand instead, to lead her through the curtain. Hannah found herself gripping his fingers. He’d only done it to save her falling if there was more turbulence, but she was going to allow herself to take whatever she needed from this physical connection. What did it matter, when it felt like they might all be going to plunge to their deaths at any moment?

She followed Ryan through the curtain to become the new focus for dozens of terrified passengers as they moved down the aisle. Some were wearing their oxygen masks, others trying to get them on. She saw a young woman with her face in her hands, sobbing. A much older woman, nursing what looked like a fractured wrist. A nun, clutching her
crucifix, her lips moving in silent prayer. The steward was waving at them from the rear of the aircraft.

‘Here! Help!’ he shouted. ‘I think this man’s choking.’

‘It’s Blair!’ Hannah exclaimed.

Her former seat neighbour was standing, blocking the aisle. His hand was around his neck in the universal signal of distress from choking and his face was a dreadful, mottled purple.

Ryan was moving fast. He let go of Hannah’s hand to climb over the empty seat that had initially been hers to get behind Blair.

‘I’ve tried banging him on the back,’ the steward said unhappily.

Ryan put his arms around Blair but couldn’t grasp his fist with his other hand to perform an effective Heimlich manoeuvre. There was just too much of Blair to encompass and there was no time. The huge man was rapidly losing consciousness and there was no way Ryan could support his weight unaided.

Blair slumped onto his back, blocking the aisle even more effectively. There was no way for anyone to move. Ryan looked up and Hannah could see he was aware of how impossible it was going to be to try and manage this emergency. She could also see that he had no intention of admitting defeat. It was a very momentary impression, however, because the plane hit another bump and Hannah went hurtling forward to land in a most undignified fashion directly on top of Blair.

She landed hard and then used her hands on his chest to push herself upright. Blair gave a convulsive movement beneath her and Hannah slid her legs in front of her old empty seat to try and slide clear. Ryan grabbed Blair’s shoulder and heaved and suddenly Blair was on his side,
coughing and spluttering. Ryan thumped him hard between his shoulder blades for good measure and the crisis was over, probably as quickly as it had begun, as Blair forcibly spat out what looked like a large section of a sausage.

‘Let’s sit you up,’ Ryan said firmly.

Blair was still gasping for air and had tears streaming down his face but somehow, with the help of the steward and another passenger, they got him back into his seat. Hannah jerked the oxygen mask down to start the flow. At least one person was going to benefit from their unnecessary deployment.

‘We’re through the worst of it now, folks. Should be plain sailing from now on.’

The timing of the captain’s message was enough to make Hannah smile wryly. Catching Ryan’s gaze, her smile widened.

‘He doesn’t know how right he is, does he?’

Ryan grinned right back at her, with the kind of killer smile he gave to so many women. The kind that old Doris Matheson had received the other night. But it was the first time Hannah had felt the full force of it and for just a fraction of a second it felt like they had connected.

Really connected. More than that imaginary connection Hannah had taken from the hand-holding.

And it felt astonishingly good.

Good enough to carry Hannah through the next hour of helping to treat the minor injuries sustained. Splinting the Colles’ fracture on the old woman’s wrist, bandaging lacerations and examining bruises.

The other occupant of business class had been woken by the turbulence and offered his services.

‘I’m a neurosurgeon,’ he said. ‘Name’s Alistair Carmichael. What can I do to help?’

‘We’ve got a stewardess with a forehead laceration,’ Hannah told him. ‘You’re the perfect person to check and make sure she’s not showing any signs of concussion—or worse. Mostly, I think it’s going to be a matter of reassuring people.’

Hannah made more than one stop to check that Blair wasn’t suffering any lingering respiratory distress.

Ryan worked just as hard. The first-aid supplies on the plane were rapidly depleted but it didn’t matter. The plane was making a smooth descent into Cairns and Blair, who had been the closest to a fatal injury, was beaming.

‘You saved my life, darling,’ he told Hannah when he was helped from the plane at Cairns by paramedics who would take him to hospital for a thorough check-up.

‘Yes.’ Ryan’s voice seemed to be coming from somewhere very close to Hannah’s ear and she gave an involuntary shiver. ‘Interesting technique, that. You should write it up for a medical journal.’

Hannah turned her head. Was he making fun of her?

‘The “Jackson manoeuvre”,’ Ryan said with a grin.

Hannah was too tired to care whether he was laughing at her. And the incident
had
had a very funny side. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Or maybe the “Blonde’s Heimlich”?’

Much to Ryan’s disappointment, they weren’t sitting anywhere near each other on the connecting flight to Crocodile Creek, despite the much smaller size of the aircraft. It seemed to have been taken over by a large contingent of rather excited Greek people who had to be part of Mike’s family. They were too busy talking and arguing with each other to take notice of strangers, and that suited Ryan just fine. He was tired and felt like he had too much to think about anyway.

Fancy Hannah being able to laugh at herself like that! Or had it been some kind of dig at him? Ryan knew perfectly well how his blonde jokes got up her nose. They had become a kind of defence mechanism so that no one would guess how disappointed he was when Hannah took no notice of him. He might get a negative reaction to the jokes but at least she knew he existed.

And what about the way she hadn’t hesitated to go and help others when she had clearly been terrified herself by the turbulence. That had taken a lot of courage. She obviously didn’t like flying. Ryan had seen the way she’d looked at the size of their connecting aircraft. He hoped she was as reassured as he had been by the information that the tropical storm was now moving out to sea and their next journey would be much smoother. They were even forecasting relatively fine weather for the rest of the day.

‘But make the most of it,’ the captain warned. ‘It could turn nasty again tomorrow.’

That caused the volume of conversation around him to increase dramatically as the Greek wedding guests discussed the ramifications of bad weather. Ryan tuned out of what sounded like superstitious babble of how to overcome such a bad omen.

Hannah was sitting as far away as it was possible to be down the back of the cabin. Had she arranged that somehow? She was beside the American neurosurgeon, Alistair, who had proved himself to be a very pleasant and competent man during the aftermath of the turbulence. Distinctive looking, too, with those silver streaks in his dark hair. He had put the jacket of his pinstriped suit back on but he was asleep again.

There was an odd relief in noticing that. Surely any other man would find Hannah as attractive as he did? And
he hadn’t known the half of it, had he? No wonder he hadn’t recognised her from behind on the larger plane. He’d only seen her with her sleek blonde hair wound up in a kind of knot thing and baggy scrubs covering her body. The tight-fitting jeans and soft white shirt she was wearing today revealed a shape as perfect as her face.

Impossible to resist the urge to crane his neck once more and check that the American was still asleep. He was. So was Hannah, which was just as well. Ryan wouldn’t want her to know he’d stolen another glance. He settled back and dozed himself and it seemed no time until the wheels touched down on a much smaller runway than the last one.

He was here. At the back of beyond, in Crocodile Creek. For three whole days. With Hannah Jackson. What had happened to that fierce resolve with which he had started this journey? That Hannah could go to hell because he was no longer interested? That he was completely over that insane attraction?

It had been shaken by that turbulence, that’s what. It had gone out the window when he’d taken hold of her hand and she hadn’t pulled away. Had—amazingly—held his hand right back.

Ryan sighed deeply and muttered inaudibly.

‘Let the fun begin.’

H
EAT
hit her like a blast from a furnace door swinging open.

Thanks to the early departure from Auckland and the time difference between Australia and New Zealand, it was the hottest part of the day when they arrived in Crocodile Creek.

The bad weather that had made the first leg of the journey so memorable seemed to have been left well behind. The sky was an intense, cobalt blue and there were no clouds to filter the strength of the sun beating down. It was hot.

Very hot.

Descending the steps from the back of the small plane onto the shimmering tarmac, Hannah realised what a mistake it had been to travel in jeans.

‘I’m cooking!’ She told Susie by way of a greeting as she entered the small terminal building. ‘How hot
is
it?’

‘Must be nearly forty degrees.’ Susie was hugging Hannah hard. ‘What on earth possessed you to wear jeans?’ She was far more sensibly dressed, in shorts, a singlet top and flip-flop sandals.

‘It was cold when I got up at stupid o’clock. Our flight left at 6 a.m.’ Hannah pulled back from the hug. ‘You’ve let your hair grow. It looks fabulous.’

Susie dragged her fingers through her almost shoulder-length golden curls. ‘It’d be as long as yours now, if I bothered straightening it.’

‘Don’t!’ Hannah said in mock alarm. ‘If you did that, nobody would be able to tell us apart and it would be school all over again.’

‘Yeah …’ Susie was grinning. ‘With you getting into trouble for the things I did.’

The noise in the small building increased markedly as the main group of passengers entered, to be greeted ecstatically by the people waiting to meet them. The loud voices, tears and laughter and exuberant hugging made Susie widen her eyes.

‘That’s
another
Poulos contingent arriving. Look at that! This wedding is a circus.’

Why did Hannah’s gaze seek Ryan out in the crowd so instantly? As though the smallest excuse made it permissible? She turned back to Susie.

‘What’s your bridesmaid’s dress like?’

‘Pink.’

‘Oh, my God, you’re
kidding!’

‘Yeah. It’s peach but it’s still over the top. Sort of a semi-meringue. Kind of like you’d expect some finalist in a ballroom dancing competition to be wearing. I could keep it to get married in myself eventually—except for the lack of originality. Five other girls will have the same outfit at home.’

‘
Six
bridesmaids?’

‘Yes, but I’m the most important one. Poor Emily doesn’t have any family and she only wanted two bridesmaids—me and Mike’s sister, Maria, but there were all these cousins who would have been mortally offended if they hadn’t been included and, besides, Mike’s mum, Sophia, is determined to have the wedding of the century. I think she only stopped
at six because it was getting hard to find the male counterparts. Funnily enough, they weren’t so keen.’

‘How’s Emily holding up?’

‘She’s loving every minute of it but going absolutely mad. And she’ll need a lot of make-up tomorrow to cover red cheeks from all the affectionate pinching she’s getting.’ Susie’s head was still turning as she scanned the rest of the arrivals. ‘Let’s go and find your bag before we get swamped. If Sophia starts introducing me as the chief bridesmaid, I’ll probably get
my
cheeks pinched as well. Oh, my God!’ Susie did a double take as she lowered her voice. ‘Who is
that?’

There were two men standing a little to one side of the crowd, their attention on the signs directing them to the baggage collection area. One of them was Ryan. His head started to turn as though he sensed Hannah’s gaze so she transferred it quickly to the other man. It was easy to recognise the person who had been dozing in the seat beside her on the last leg of her long journey. In that suit, he had to be even hotter than Hannah was in her jeans.

‘He’s an American,’ she told Susie. ‘A neurosurgeon. Alistair … someone. He’s here for the wedding but he didn’t say much about it. I got the impression he wasn’t that thrilled to be coming.’

‘That’s Gina’s cousin, then. Gorgeous, isn’t he?’

‘I guess.’ Hannah hadn’t taken much notice. Who would, when someone that looked like Ryan Fisher was nearby? ‘Gina?’

‘Also American. A cardiologist. She’s getting married to Cal next weekend. I told you all about her at Christmas. She arrived with her little boy, who turned out to be Cal’s son. Cal’s one of our surgeons.’

‘Right. Whew!
Two
weddings in two weeks?’

‘Wedding city,’ Susie agreed. She was leading the way past where the men were standing. Hannah could feel the odd prickle on the back of her neck that came when you knew someone was watching you. She didn’t turn around because it was unlikely that she’d feel the stare of someone she didn’t know with such spine-tingling clarity.

‘Some people are going to both weddings,’ Susie continued, ‘and they’ve had to travel to get here so everybody thought they might like to just stay and have a bit of a holiday in between.’

‘He won’t have much of a holiday if he stays in that suit. And I thought I was overdressed!’

‘Oh! The guy in the suit is the American?’ Susie threw a glance over her shoulder. ‘So who’s the really gorgeous one who’s staring at you?’

Hannah sighed. ‘That’ll be Ryan.’

‘Ryan Fisher? The best man?’

‘Yes.’

‘Wow!’ Susie’s grin widened. ‘My day’s looking up! Mike told me what a fabulous guy he is but he forgot to mention he was also fabulous looking.’

‘Don’t get too excited,’ Hannah warned.

‘Why? Is he married?’

‘No, but he might not be too friendly.’

Susie’s eyebrows vanished under the curls on her forehead. ‘Why not?’

Hannah sighed inwardly, feeling far too hot and weary to start explaining why her sister could well have to deal with unreasonable antipathy from someone because he disliked her mirror image.

‘I’ll fill you in later.’ It was much easier to change the subject. Very easy, in fact. ‘Good grief!’

‘What?’ Susie’s head turned to follow the direction of
Hannah’s astonished stare at the small, dark woman wearing black leather pants, a top that showed an amazing cleavage and … red stiletto shoes. ‘That’s Georgie.’ She smiled. ‘You’ll meet her later.’

As though that explained everything! ‘She must be as hot as hell in those clothes.’

‘She’s got super air-con for travel. She rides a Harley.’

‘In
stilettos?’
Hannah’s peripheral vision caught the way Ryan was also staring at the woman. There was no mistaking the appreciative grin on his face. ‘Good
grief
,’ she muttered again.

‘I guess Georgie’s here to meet Alistair. Georgie’s Gina’s bridesmaid and Alistair’s here to give Gina away. He was supposed to arrive yesterday but his flight from the US was delayed by bad weather, and Gina and Cal are on one of the outer islands today, doing a clinic. So wow! Georgie and Alistair …’ Susie shook her head. ‘Leathers and pinstripes. They look a perfect couple. Not! Is that your bag?’

‘Yes. Coming off first for a change.’

‘Let’s go, then.’

While it was a relief to escape the terminal building—and Ryan—it was a shock to step back out into the heat. And the wind. Huge fronds on the palm trees were bowing under its strength and Hannah had to catch her hair as it whipped into her face.

‘Hurry up, Hannah! My car’s over here and we’re going to run out of time if we don’t get going.’

‘But the wedding’s not till 4 p.m. tomorrow.’ It was too hot to move any faster. ‘What’s the rush?’ Hannah climbed reluctantly into the interior of a small hatchback car that felt more like an oven and immediately rolled down her window.

Susie started the engine and fiddled with the air-conditioning controls. ‘It’s all a bit frantic. I’m sorry. There’s a
rehearsal later this afternoon and I’ve got a couple more patients I just have to see before then.’ She turned onto the main road and the car picked up speed rapidly. ‘If you roll up your window, the air-con will work a lot better.’

Hannah complied and a welcome trickle of cool air came from the vents.

‘Are you seeing your patients at your rooms?’

‘No, I’ve finished the private stuff for today. These are hospital cases. Old Mrs Trengrove has had a hip replacement and absolutely refuses to get out of bed unless I’m there to hold her hand, and Wally’s been admitted—he’s one of my arthritis patients and it’s his birthday today so I’ll have to go and say hello.’

‘Do you want to just drop me off at your place? I’m sure I could find my way to the beach and have a swim or something.’

‘No, you can’t swim at the beach. The water’s all horrible because of the awful weather we’ve had in the last few days and it’s stinger season. With the big waves we’ve been getting, the nets might not be working too well. Besides, I want to show you around the hospital. If you take your bathing suit, you could have a dip in the hospital pool.’

‘Sounds good.’ Hannah tried to summon enthusiasm for the busman’s holiday delight of visiting the hospital.

‘It’s fabulous. You’d love it, Hannah. Hey …’ Susie turned to look at her sister. ‘They’re always short of doctors. You could come and live with me for a while.’

‘I couldn’t stand working in heat like this.’

‘It’s not always like this.’

‘It
is
beautiful.’ Hannah was looking past sugar-cane plantations and the river towards rainforest-covered mountains in the distance.

‘Wait till you see the cove. You’ll fall in love with it just like I did.’

‘The roads are quieter than I expected.’

‘Bit quieter than usual today. I expect it’s got something to do with the big fishing competition that’s on.’

They crossed the river that gave Crocodile Creek township its name, drove through the main part of town and then rattled over an old wooden bridge to cross the river again. Rounding the bend on a gentle downhill slope, Hannah got the postcard view. The picture-perfect little cove with the white sandy beach and the intriguing, smudged outlines of islands further out to sea.

‘The sea’s the wrong colour at the moment,’ Susie said apologetically. ‘It’s usually as blue as the sky. That’s the Athina.’ She pointed at the sprawling white building with Greek-style lettering on its sign that advertised its function as a boutique hotel. ‘That’s where the reception is being held tomorrow. And that rambling, huge house on the other side of the cove is the doctors’ house.’

‘Ah! The original hospital which is now the hotbed of romance.’

‘Don’t knock it!’ Susie grinned at her sister. ‘You could live there if you didn’t want to squeeze into my wee cottage. Who knows? You might just find the man of your dreams in residence.’

‘Doubt it.’

‘Yeah.’ Susie chuckled. ‘The man of
your
dreams is probably buried in a laboratory somewhere. Or a library. Or an accountant’s office.’

‘Dad was an accountant,’ Hannah reminded her. ‘It didn’t stop him being a lot of fun.’

‘True.’ Susie was silent for a moment. ‘And Trevor was a brain surgeon and had to be the most boring man I’d ever met.’

‘Hey, you’re talking about the man I was engaged to for three years.’

‘And why did you break it off?’

Hannah laughed. ‘Because I was bored to tears. OK, I agree. There should be a happy medium but I haven’t found it yet.’

‘Me neither,’ Susie said sadly. ‘There always turns out to be something wrong with them. Or, worse, they find something wrong with me.’ She screwed up her nose as she turned towards her sister. ‘What
is
wrong with me, Hannah?’

‘Absolutely nothing,’ Hannah said stoutly. ‘The guys are just idiots and don’t deserve you. You’re gorgeous.’

‘That makes you gorgeous as well, you realise.’

‘Of course.’ Hannah grinned.

This was what she missed most about not having Susie living nearby any more. The comfort of absolute trust. Knowing you could say anything—even blow your own trumpet—without having it taken the wrong way. Not that they didn’t have the occasional row but nothing could damage the underlying bond. And nothing else ever came close to the kind of strength a bond like this could impart.

‘We’re both gorgeous,’ she said. ‘Smart, too.’

‘I’m not as smart as you. You’re a brilliant doctor, soon-to-be emergency medicine specialist. I’m only a physiotherapist.’

‘You could have easily been a doctor if you’d wanted, as you well know, Susan Jackson. You’re doing what you want to do and you’re doing it brilliantly. Anyway, being seen as clever isn’t an advantage when it comes to men. It intimidates them.’

Although Hannah had a feeling that Ryan Fisher would be stimulated rather than intimidated by an intelligent woman if he ever bothered trying to find out.

‘Look!’ Susie was distracted from the conversation now. ‘That’s the Black Cockatoo, our local. And that’s Kylie’s Klipz. Kylie’s amazing—looks like Dolly Parton. She’s our hairdresser and she’ll be doing all the hair and make-up for tomorrow. That’s the Grubbs’ place with that rusty old truck parked on the lawn and … here’s my place.’

Susie parked outside a tiny cottage with two front windows in the shade of a veranda that was almost invisible beneath bougainvillea.

‘Cute!’

‘Speaking of cute.’ Susie was unlocking her front door as Hannah carried her bag from the car. ‘What’s wrong with Ryan Fisher? Was he rude to you on the plane or something?’

‘Not exactly. I just happen to know he’s a player.’

‘How do you know that? Do you know someone that works with him in Sydney?’

‘He doesn’t work in Sydney any more. He works in Auckland.’

‘As in the same place you work?’ Susie had opened the door but hadn’t made any move to go inside.

‘Exactly.’

‘He’s in your ED?’

‘He’s the guy who’s after my job. I told you about him.’

Susie’s jaw dropped. ‘
Ryan’s
the holiday king? The Aussie playboy who’s been driving you nuts with all those blonde jokes?’

‘That’s him.’

‘The one who’s out to date every nurse in the department in record time?’

‘Yep.’

‘So why have you been calling him Richard the third in your emails?’