West Wing to Maternity Wing!(2)

Amy nodded her head, tears prickling at the sides of her eyes as she  swallowed the lump in her throat. 'I can't let anything happen to this  baby,' she whispered. 'He's my only chance.'

Lynn wrapped her hand around Amy's. 'I know that.' She hesitated,  glancing towards the television. 'Maybe it's time to ask a friend for  help?' Lynn's eyes fixed on the television screen. 'If I knew my baby  was going to come early I'd want the finest neonatologist in the world  to be at the delivery.' Her voice was firm and strong. 'Wouldn't you?'

Her phone beeped and she reached into her pocket. Two words. Anything. Any time.

Their eyes met. Amy bit her lip and took a deep breath, the shine of  unshed tears visible in her eyes. 'Exactly how far away is Pelican  Cove?'





CHAPTER ONE

LINCOLN burst through the doors to the adjoining office and wrenched the  scarlet tie from his throat. The force popped the button on his shirt  and sent it flying across the floor.

David Fairgreaves strolled in behind him and lifted one grey eyebrow. He  took off his suit jacket, hanging it on the chair behind him. 'Problem,  Lincoln?' He looked vaguely amused, another irritation to add to  Lincoln's list.

Lincoln stalked over to a nearby shelf and pulled down a pair of green  scrubs-he wasn't wearing this damn too-tight suit a second longer.

Washington's finest shirt lay in a crumpled heap at his feet as he  pulled the scrub top over his head and turned to face David. 'How can  they ask questions like that?'

David gave a little shrug of his shoulders, picked up an apple from the  nearby table and crunched into it, putting his feet up on the desk.  'They're animals.'

Lincoln shook his head. 'How can you stand it? How can you sit there and smile at those idiots?'

'You've got to give it some perspective. I've just looked after the  First Lady. It's news that they'll report all around the world. And  they'll all be looking for their own spin-their own edge to make them  stand out from the pack. Truth be known-I really don't care what any of  them think. The only thing I care about is my patient.'

Lincoln stared at him. David was the only reason he'd come here in the  first place. The chance to work with the man who'd been the first to  retrieve stem cells was too good an opportunity to miss. The irony of it  was-he looked like a bumbling old fool but was probably the most  forward-thinking clinician Lincoln had ever met.

David caught him with his sharp gaze. 'What's with you anyway? You've been like a bear with a sore head all afternoon.'

Linc sighed. The man missed nothing. 'I got a strange text message last  night from someone I haven't seen in years-at least, I think that's who  it was from. I've texted back but I can't seem to get a signal right  now, so I don't know if she's replied.' He held his cellphone up near  the window and turned in various directions. Still no signal.

David gave him a knowing look. 'I take it this was a female someone?'

Linc nodded and smiled. 'Let's just say it was an unexpected blast from the past.'

'A good one?'

'She certainly wasn't that easy to forget so I hope so. But with  everything that's happened in the last two days I've just not had a  minute.' He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. 'I can't  remember the last time I actually slept.'

David nodded. 'Having the head of White House Security turn up at your  door at three in the morning and tell you to pack up to deliver the  President's baby would flatten most men.' He frowned. 'Your text. Was it  from a real friend? Or a fair-weather friend? I've experienced lots of  those-people who the minute you appear in the media have apparently been  your "best friend" or "closest colleague" for years-even though they  don't know when your birthday is or what car you drive. Fame does funny  things to folks-you need to be careful, Lincoln. This is a whole new  ball game for you.'

Lincoln looked thoughtful. He gestured towards the door. 'Well, that was  my first official television appearance, so she can't have known  anything about it. She sounded-I don't know-in trouble.'         

     



 

'Just what every man loves-a damsel in distress.' David flashed him a  smile. 'Come on, Lincoln, let's go and look after our girls.' He tossed  his apple core into a trash can on the other side of the room.

'I told you to stop calling me that. It's Linc. My friends call me Linc.'

David looked aghast. 'Linc? Certainly not. You, my friend, are named  after the finest President we've ever had and you should wear that name  with pride.' He put his hand on the doorhandle as a frown puckered his  forehead. 'Just don't tell Charlie Taylor I said that.'

Lincoln laughed. 'I may well use that as blackmail material.'



Amy glanced at her watch as the cab seemed to meander up the coastal  road. The traffic was almost at a standstill and she watched as only a  few vehicles got through the cordon in front of them. The rest were  directed to turn and head back down the hill. Her stomach churned. This  had to be the worst idea she'd ever had.

A uniformed officer approached the cab and rapped sharply on the window.  He glanced in the back seat towards Amy. 'Where are you headed?'

The taxi driver gestured behind him. 'Got a pregnant lady to drop at the hospital.'

The cop gave a little start. He looked like a man who had heard every  line in the book today but he leaned forward a little to get a better  look. He obviously hadn't heard this one yet. 'Can you step out the car  please, ma'am?'

Amy fumbled for the doorhandle and stepped out into the warm sea air.  She pulled some money from her purse and handed it to the driver.  'Thanks very much.'

The cop ran his eyes up and down the length of her body. It was almost  as if he was checking she actually was pregnant. Her white tunic and  expanding trousers flapped in the wind, exposing every part of her body,  including the currently out-turned umbilicus. She pressed her hands  self-consciously over her stomach.

'Your name, ma'am?'

'Excuse me?'

'You have to give me your name-and the name of the doctor you have an appointment to see.'

Amy hesitated. 'I don't exactly have an appointment, but I'm here to see Dr Lincoln Adams.'

The cop looked down at the list in his hand and stared at her. 'This  isn't exactly the time for social calls.' His eyes narrowed  suspiciously, 'Dr Adams, he's a neonatologist, isn't he?' He nodded  towards her stomach. 'What do you want to see him for? You haven't had  your baby yet-shouldn't you be seeing an obstetrician?'

Amy sighed. The sun in Mendocino Valley was strong. She could feel it  beating down on the pale skin at the parting in her red hair. A parting  she usually always kept covered-too bad she'd forgotten her sunhat. She  swallowed nervously. Trust her to get the cop who was smarter than the  average bear.

She fumbled around her bag, looking for the bottle of water she had been  drinking in the cab. Two hours in a cab with no air-conditioning with  the heat so strong you could practically see it rising from the ground.  Four hours in a train beforehand that had been packed with tourists.  This trip had been a nightmare. There was no way she wasn't getting to  see Lincoln.

She pulled her tunic from her sweating back. At least the sea winds around her were giving some relief.

'Ma'am?'

The cop was getting annoyed. She could sense that good cop had retreated and bad cop was hovering near the door.

'Here.' She pulled out a battered envelope from her bag containing her  medical notes. 'Give these to Lincoln Adams, he'll see me.'

The cop rolled his eyes. 'Dr Adams is currently looking after the First  Daughter. He won't see you or anyone else.' He pointed in the direction  of a cluster of reporters as he handed the notes back to her. 'Nice try,  though.'

Amy felt a wave of panic wash over her as her baby gave a few anxious  kicks. This heat was really starting to get to her. What if Lincoln  wouldn't see her? What if he refused to look after her baby when it was  born? What if didn't even remember her?

The blood rushed to her cheeks. Surely he hadn't forgotten her? How  could he possibly forget those six months spent on the Amazon aid boat?  She couldn't forget a single minute. The hours they hadn't spent  working, they'd spent in his bed-and neither of them had been sleeping.

Trouble was, even though she remembered every minute of their time  together, did he? She'd heard sneaky rumours that Lincoln had had a long  line of female friends on his Amazon trips. Was it possible she had  been just another pretty face to him? Had she just been a summer-long  fling?         

     



 

Six months with the most gorgeous man on earth. A man who hadn't cared  about appearances. He hadn't been looking for a designer-clothed, styled  woman, piled with make-up. Which was just as well since her luggage had  gone astray at Iquitos airport in Peru and hadn't arrived until two  weeks later. She'd spent the first two weeks with her hair pulled back  in her solitary hair bobble, wearing pale blue or green surgical scrubs  and paper knickers. Just as well her breasts hadn't been big enough to  really need the support of a bra.

She looked downwards. Things had certainly changed in the last six  years. In more ways than one. Her extended stomach was definitely  evidence of that.