Their Baby Surprise by Jennifer Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

ambulance, briefly outlining the problem to the operator when she was connected. Melanie looked at her in dismay after Rachel hung up.
    ‘An ambulance! But surely Charlie isn’t so ill that he needs to go to the hospital?’
    ‘I’m afraid he is, Melanie,’ Rachel replied quietly. ‘He’s extremely dehydrated and it’s very dangerous in a baby this young. He needs to be rehydrated as quickly as possible so he’ll be put on an intravenous drip when you reach the hospital.’
    ‘But I thought you’d just give me some medicine to stop him being sick,’ Melanie wailed, tears pouring down her face.
    ‘I wish it was that simple.’ Rachel struggled to her feet and hobbled around the desk. She placed a comforting arm around the young mother’s shoulders. ‘The doctor at the hospital will also do a blood test to check Charlie’s fluid and salt levels. Once an infant becomes severely dehydrated, it’s essential to ensure that the right balance is maintained.’
    ‘I wish I’d known all this before,’ Melanie sniffed. ‘I’d have brought Charlie in to see you last night if I’d thought he was in any danger.’
    ‘Do you have anyone to help you with him?’ Rachel asked and Melanie shook her head.
    ‘No. I was brought up in care. I don’t know where my parents are—they never came to visit me while I was in the children’s home. And as for Charlie’s dad, well, he didn’t want to know when I told him I was pregnant.’
    ‘I see.’ It was an all too familiar tale and Rachel’s heart went out to her. She had been so fortunate to have her parents there to help her through the first difficult years following Ross’s birth, she thought.
    There wasn’t time to dwell on it then, however. The ambulance had arrived so she saw Melanie and baby Charlie out to Reception then went back to her room. However, as she worked through her list, Rachel decided that something needed to be done to help other young mums like Melanie. If they had somewhere they could go for advice it could prevent another situation like this from occurring.
    She decided to mention it to Matt and see what he thought about the idea. If they put their heads together, she was confident that they could come up with some sort of a plan. A smile curved her mouth. It may mean extra work for her but working with Matt was always a pleasure and never a chore.

    Matt went straight to Rachel’s room after his last patient left. He had found himself clock-watching, willing the time to pass so he could check up on her. She was sitting at her desk, her head bowed as she jotted down some notes on a pad.
    Matt felt a rush of heat erupt in the centre of his chest. She had no idea he was there so he could study her at his leisure and he made the most of the opportunity. Her hair was a riot of rich chestnut curls as it tumbled around her face. It looked so silky and so soft that once again he was struck by the urge to touch it. Then there was her skin, so smooth and satiny that he ached to touch that too. Everything about her was appealing, seductive, and he couldn’t understand why he had never realised it before. Had he been walking around with his eyes closed for the past few years? Or had he been afraid to notice how beautiful she was because of what it could mean? By admitting that he was attracted to her, it meant that he was getting over Claire.
    The thought shook him. He had never considered the idea that he had been deliberately clinging on to the past but it was true. He had been afraid to let it go when he had been scared of what the future held. Until Claire had died his life had been mapped out and mapped out in a way he had wanted it to be. He’d had a job he loved, a child he adored and a happy marriage. However, Claire’s untimely death had changed everything. He had been cast adrift, his future sent spinning out of his control, and the only way he had been able to cope had been through clinging onto what he’d had—especially his love for