Twins for Christmas Read Online Free PDF

least.
     
     
     
    I F ANYONE COULD   save this child, it was this man. Rory McCulloch.
     
    And Kate was there. Right beside him.
    There were lots of other people as well, of course. Other doctors and nurses, technicians and a surgeon with his registrar, but it was Rory who took over trying to make sure this boy could breathe—because if he couldn’t he was going to die, very, very quickly.
    Rory had fresh gloves on by the time he reached the head of the bed. So did Kate. She unrolled a kit onto the top of a trolley, containing what she knew Rory would need.
    ‘Fold a towel and slip it under his shoulders,’ Rory directed another nurse. ‘Kate, can you prep the skin, please?’
    Wordlessly, Kate picked up a swab in some forceps and dipped it into the anti sep tic solution someone was tipping into a kidney dish for her. She swabbed the front of the boy’s neck, swallowing hard herself as she thought of what had to be done.
    She watched Rory feel for the anatomical land marks and then stab il ise the small Adam’s apple with one hand. His other hand reached out to Kate and she placed a scalpel into it.
    Their hands touched for only an instant in time, but Kate could feel Rory’s tension. She held her breath. Everyone else seemed to do the same and movement stilled, the atmosphere so tense it felt as if the world might shatter at any moment.
    Rory didn’t hesitate. His movements were smooth and sure, despite the grim necessity of actually cutting into the little boy’s throat. The tube was slipped into place and suction used to clear it. Then the bag mask unit was attached.
    And finally the small chest rose as air entered the lungs. Everybody breathed out in a collective sigh of relief in time with the boy’s outward breath, but Rory wasn’t finished. He was watching the respiratory efforts intently.
    Braden handed Rory his own stethoscope and Kate allowed herself to watch his face, because he was too intent on his patient to notice her scrutiny. It was ridiculous to feel so proud of him, but there it was. Kate had to blink the threat of tears away.
    Rory turned his attention to the monitors next, and then to his colleagues. A theatre was on standby, but they had to make sure that their patient was stable enough to transfer and find out the extent of the trauma they would need to deal with. Kate left the room for a minute or two while a series of X-rays was being taken. She returned as the images were coming through on the computer, but she still stood back.
    This felt so right. As if Rory had never been away. If it wasn’t for the huge bump of her belly it would have been easy to dismiss the gap in time. He was here again,   now , doing the job he did so brilliantly, and another life had just been saved.
    How could he have walked away from doing this? From being able to make such a difference?
    The little boy, Michael, was now breathing well on a ventilator, and his vital signs were stable and within acceptable limits. His care was passed to the paediatric surgeon who led the team transferring him to Theatre. Braden was going to accompany the entourage.
    ‘I’ll be back directly,’ he said as they left the resuscitation area. ‘We’ve dealt with the worst here, but there are still a lot of patients that need attention. Rory, I hate to ask, but—’
    Rory’s smile was lopsided. ‘I’m here,’ he said. ‘I’ll help if I can.’
    ‘You already have,’ Braden told him quietly. ‘Thanks, mate.’
     
     
     
    R ORY WAS STRIPPING   off his gloves as Kate reached his side. Other staff had dispersed to urgent tasks. Only a nurse aide was left, and she was busy cleaning up. Kate couldn’t help her wide smile.
     
    ‘I knew you could do it.’
    He didn’t return the smile. ‘You knew more than I did, then.’
    Kate held his gaze. Maybe he wasn’t relaxed enough to smile, but that unbearable level of tension was gone. And there was something else in both his look and those words. Something that