The Doctor's Baby Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

the Aquarius research station in Key Largo. You’ll be in the desert. You’ll be in the jungle. And you’ll log more hours in the neutral buoyancy lab than you’ll want to.’
    He turned towards Corrine and the rest of her team. ‘You’ll already know which doctor has been allocated to you to work with you through your training. These people will get to know you better than you currently know yourself. Use them. Work with them.’ He turned back to the candidates. ‘While I’d love it if you all ended up in space, the simple fact is that some of you won’t. Medical issues can crop up. Life can get in the way. Your focus and commitment is essential to your success in this programme. I expect you all to do your utmost to fulfil your dreams.’
    The person next to Austin started clapping. There were a few seconds of awkward silence before others joined in. The surge of pride went through him as he looked around. God willing, in a couple of years’ time he could be spending a few months in space with these people.
    The ultimate goal.
    He looked along the line of instructors. Three of them had been astronauts. Some were doctors. And others were experts in the types of technology they’d use aboard the space station. Every one of them had something to teach him.
    So why did his eyes keep going back to the tired blonde on the platform?

CHAPTER FOUR
    C ORRINE SMILED AS she stood at the side of the training pool. She liked early mornings. It was her favourite time. Sipping her coffee as she watched the sunrise was always her favourite part of the day.
    There was something so calming about watching the smudges of orange and yellow emerge from the distance. She lived only a few miles from the base in an old clapboard-style house with its own front porch. She’d even managed to find an old rocker for her porch and drank her coffee there every morning. It grounded her. The last eight years had been hard—all driving towards her goal of working at WSSA. Once qualified she’d worked as an emergency medicine specialist for a few years before studying Aerospace Medicine at Dayton, Ohio for two years. There had been no time for fun, no time for relationships and no time for socialising.
    At least that was what she told anyone who asked. It seemed simpler.
    She didn’t want pity. Her first experience had been with a guy much older who had treated her badly. She’d learned quickly—the hard way. She’d escaped with a promptly placed bottle to the back of his skull and vowed never to let herself seem vulnerable again. A few years of self-defence classes had taught her everything she needed to know. Everything had to be on her terms. And every relationship after that had been. Trouble was, most guys didn’t like that. And she’d never let herself get truly emotionally involved with any of them.
    Now, she had the job of her dreams and the mortgage on a house to match. Who needed a guy? All she needed was a dog.
    She folded her arms across her chest as she watched the candidates being briefed at the side of the pool. All candidates were required to complete military water survival before beginning their flying syllabus. They also had to become SCUBA qualified to prepare them for spacewalk training. It was surprising how many of the trainees didn’t realise a large percentage of astronaut training was carried out in water. Apart from the fact that they could land in water after their descent back to earth, working in water, timing their missions to coincide with oxygen supplies and learning about buoyancy were all crucial parts of the training.
    This morning’s session was relatively simple. One of the other instructors was briefing them. She was only there to look after anyone that got into difficulties.
    â€˜You’ll be required to swim three lengths of the twenty-five-metre pool without stopping, then swim three lengths dressed in your flight suit