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run through some deep breathing exercises. Your chest is badly bruised and it’s important he sees you.’
    ‘No.’
    Flynn let out an exasperated sigh.
    ‘The catheter I can understand your objection to— but physio, for heaven’s sake? Do you have to argue about everything?’
    ‘You don’t understand.’
    ‘So enlighten me.’
    ‘Jake Reece is the Emergency physio,’ Meg started, her eyes darting around the obs ward to check that Kathy had definitely gone.
    ‘So why is that a problem?
    ‘He’s marrying my sister.’
    Flynn’s face broke into a grin then, and for a second he looked like the Flynn from this morning. ‘Jake and Kathy are getting married? That’s fantastic news.’ He seemed to remember she was there then, and stared at her, perplexed. ‘So why on earth don’t you want him to see you?’
    ‘Because, unlike you, I’m not exactly thrilled with the news.’
    ‘Why?’ He seemed genuinely bemused and Meg couldn’t believe that he didn’t understand how she was feeling.
    ‘He’s her physiotherapist, for heaven’s sake. Kathy’s handicapped. It’s wrong.’
    His face changed. She saw his bemused look change to one of distaste.
    ‘Please don’t try to tell me that you’re so politically correct you haven’t even noticed.’
    ‘Of course I’ve noticed. Kathy has also told me about it herself. Unlike you, she doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. From what I can remember of our conversation, she has mild cerebral palsy from birth, which has left her with a limp and a minor speech impediment. What she didn’t tell me, but I soon found out for myself, is that she happens to be a fun, happy, caring and very attractive woman.’
    ‘He’s ten years older than her.’
    ‘Hardly a hanging offence.’ He paused then, eyeing her carefully before continuing. ‘As you yourself pointed out, he’s her physio, not her doctor. They will have spent a lot of time together. If you got down off your high horse and actually spent some time with them, instead of judging them, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.’
    And, after signing off her discharge papers, he left her lying there.
    Lying there for all the world wishing the ground would open up and swallow her.

CHAPTER THREE
    M EG’S childhood had ended at nine years old.
    The day Kathy was born.
    She had spent endless afternoons sitting after school in a waiting room doing her homework while Mary took her youngest daughter to a seemingly never-ending round of appointments. Paediatricians, speech therapists, occupational therapists—the list had been endless.
    The only person who had taken it all in her stride, literally, had been Kathy. Defying the doctors’ grim prognosis, she had cheerfully picked herself up, over and over, until finally at the age of four she had taken her first steps. Her optimistic, sunny nature had served her well in the playground also, with Kathy making friends easily and keeping them. A group of little girls Meg had referred to as ‘Kathy’s army’. But Kathy’s army hadn’t always been there for her, and the playground hadn’t been the only place a child like Kathy could run into trouble or become the victim of a cruel and thoughtless taunt.
    So, from the day Kathy had come home from the hospital, Meg had taken it upon herself to look out for her. It was almost as if Meg had been fitted with an inbuilt radar, constantly on the alert, always looking out for her little sister.
    And even though the callipers had long since gone,even though Kathy was nineteen years old now, and, as Flynn had pointed out, extremely attractive with a social life that would exhaust anyone, Meg’s radar was still there. The protective feelings Meg had for her little sister hadn’t faded one iota. That was why she was cautious of Jake. She certainly wasn’t the bigot Flynn had implied. Her concern here was only to save Kathy from being hurt. After all, Meg knew better than most how easily your heart could be broken.
    But