Morgan Family Medics

  Saving lives...and hearts!

  Meet pediatric heart surgeon Anthony Morgan and his estranged son, paramedic Jonno Morgan, who is no stranger to living life on the edge. But for these two men, their lives will never be the same when nurse Elsie and trainee paramedic Brie enter their worlds.

  Secret Son to Change His Life

  Seven years ago, Brie’s dreams came true when she spent one fun night with Jonno before he was due to leave. And then her life was rocked when she discovered she was pregnant, and her son had spina bifida. Now Jonno’s back and she can finally reveal the secret she’s been longing to tell him...

  How to Rescue the Heart Doctor

  When Anthony Morgan’s relationship with his son broke down, he felt the hole in his life would never be replaced. Until nurse Elsie walks into his operating room! But she is the protective mother of Brie and grandmother to his newly discovered grandson. Will finding each other lead to the second chance they never thought they would have?

  Don’t miss this hugely emotional generational duet where happy families are made!

  Both books are available now from Harlequin Medical Romance

  Dear Reader,

  Links between characters are the foundation of any story, but it’s a bonus for me when I can both read and write links that span more than one book. I love that I can not only follow other people I’ve met into their own stories, but I get glimpses of what’s happening to the people I already know and love.

  I’m also excited about exploring a totally new link in the second book of this duo, an intergenerational one, with Anthony and Elsie’s story being my first romance between an older couple. I know from experience that being older is no barrier to falling in love and finding happiness. It can, in fact, be even more special.

  This duo may be centered on fathers and sons, but it’s the women in these two books—Brie and her mother, Elsie—who are the catalysts for these stories, and I hope you love them as much as I do.

  Happy reading,

  Alison xxx

  Secret Son to Change His Life

  Alison Roberts

  Alison Roberts has been lucky enough to live in the South of France for several years recently but is now back in her home country of New Zealand. She is also lucky enough to write for the Harlequin Medical Romance line. A primary school teacher in a former life, she later became a qualified paramedic. She loves to travel and dance, drink champagne, and spend time with her daughter and her friends. Alison Roberts is the author of over one hundred books!

  Books by Alison Roberts

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  Two Tails Animal Refuge

  The Vet’s Unexpected Family

  Royal Christmas at Seattle General

  Falling for the Secret Prince

  Stolen Nights with the Single Dad

  Christmas Miracle at the Castle

  Miracle Baby, Miracle Family

  A Paramedic to Change Her Life

  One Weekend in Prague

  The Doctor’s Christmas Homecoming

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Praise for Alison Roberts

  “Ms. Roberts has delivered a delightful read in this book where the chemistry between this couple was strong from the moment they meet...[and] the romance was heart-warming.”

  —Harlequin Junkie on Melting the Trauma Doc’s Heart

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  EXCERPT FROM HOW TO RESCUE THE HEART DOCTOR BY ALISON ROBERTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE ADDRESS WAS in an ordinary street, in an ordinary suburb towards the northern side of Bristol, a three-bedroom, end-of-terrace house not dissimilar to the one Brianna Henderson lived in herself.

  As she pushed open the gate to the straight, narrow concrete path that led towards the front door with its honour guard of tidy rose bushes on either side, there was nothing to suggest something very unordinary was happening inside this house.

  Nothing to warn her that a split second could change everything...

  This felt more like a dream come true, in fact. This was Brie’s first callout, on her first official shift as a newly qualified paramedic—the achievement of a dream that could so easily have been seen as completely dead in the water not that long ago.

  Okay, so maybe it was only an activation of a personal medical alarm—the kind that so many elderly, frail or disabled people could use to summon assistance. Her senior crew partner, Simon, had actually rolled his eyes when the call came through.

  ‘Don’t get too excited,’ he’d warned. ‘Bet you they’ve pressed the button on their pendant by accident. Either that or they’ve fallen out of their chair and need some help to get up off the floor.’

  ‘But don’t they usually contact family members or neighbours first unless there’s something really wrong? This is a priority call.’ Brie was already several steps ahead of Simon now. The vehicle they were heading for was parked in the garage at the back of one of Bristol’s largest ambulance stations.

  ‘They will have forgotten to put their hearing aids in so they won’t have heard anyone calling through the loudspeaker to find out what’s going on.’

  ‘What about the banging noises they could hear? And the scream?’

  ‘I bet the telly’s on in another room. Really loud because of the no hearing aids.’ But it must have been very clear to Simon that Brie was not about to dismiss this call as a waste of time and resources. ‘You can drive,’ he’d told her with a smile. ‘It’s a good chance for you to play with all the bells and whistles.’

  Apparently it was also a good chance for Brie to take the lead in assessing the situation and she took a big breath as she climbed the couple of steps at the end of the path and knocked on the door that was slightly ajar.

  ‘Ambulance,’ she called as she pushed the door open. ‘Hello...? Where are you?’

  Simon was right behind her, the handle of the defibrillator in one hand and an oxygen cylinder in the other. This might turn out to be a false alarm but protocol made it necessary to carry whatever they might need if they found themselves faced with something as serious as a cardiac arrest.

  The silence that met Brie’s call was the first sign that something wasn’t quite right. Someone who was alone and waiting for help would always answer that call if they were able to. If they weren’t alone, there would probably have been someone waiting at the door, or the gate, to direct them to where they were needed. Or was the explanation simply that someone couldn’t hear the call because they had forgotten to put their hearing aids in?

  They were in a small hallway that had a staircase leading upstairs to where bedrooms and a bathroom would most likely be. Brie assumed that the door ahead of them on the right would lead to a living room and kitchen dining area, like her own house and, given the time of day, it was more likely that the elderly or disabled occupant of the house would be downstairs. With a glance over her shoulder to confirm that Simon agreed with her choice, she walked forward, knocking on the interior door again before pushing it open.

  ‘Ambulance,’ she called again. She didn’t want to give an elderly person a horrible fright by barging in without any warning. ‘Is anybody here?’

  It only took that split second, after stepping into the room, to capture what she could see but it took another beat of time to process something so unexpected.

  An elderly woman was sitting, bolt upright, on a couch in front of the bay window that faced the street. Brie could see the ambulance she’d been driving less than a minute ago, parked on the road outside. She had turned the siren off well before turning into this suburban street but the blue lights were still flashing on the roof.

  The woman looked terrified and she was clutching her chest as if she was in the kind of pain a heart attack could cause but she wasn’t looking back at Brie. She was staring straight in front of her to where a much younger woman was being strangled. Her face was bright red and her eyes were bulging as she clawed desperately at the two hands around her neck. The man who was doing the strangling was the only person looking at Brie and she’d never seen such a look of sheer rage.

  Training told her she needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Her own and her crew’s safety was paramount because if they got hurt they wouldn’t be able to do their job and help anyone. But Simon was right behind her, blocking the door, and he was still taking in what he was seeing in what seemed like a frozen scene in front of them.

  Suddenly, it wasn’t frozen. The younger woman crumpled and fell to the floor as the man let go of her neck and shoved her away with a vehement curse. The elderly woman on the couch cried out in fear as he began moving but he was heading straight for Brie, who instinctively stepped out of his path. Her training in self-defence was kicking in and she slipped the backpack off her shoulders and held it in front of her as she moved, ready to use it by throwing it at the man o
r as a barrier in case of a knife attack.

  But it seemed that the angry man was more intent on escaping the room and he rushed to the door, pushing Simon out of the way with such force that the senior paramedic’s feet almost left the floor as he hurtled backwards. Brie could actually hear Simon’s head strike the wooden edge of the staircase with a sickening crunch.

  It was Brie’s turn to freeze for another moment. The crumpled woman on the floor was moving, pushing herself up to a sitting position. The woman on the couch was crying and still clutching her chest. It was the groan from Simon outside the door that had to take priority, however. She found him sitting, holding his head, his eyes shut.

  ‘Call for backup,’ he told Brie. ‘And get out of here.’

  ‘I’m not leaving you,’ she said, dismayed to hear her voice shake.

  ‘He might...come back...’

  Brie swallowed hard, her mind racing. Having her own life in potentially immediate danger on her very first shift was the last thing she’d expected. How would her mother cope if the worst happened? How on earth had she thought that following the dream of this career had been a good idea? Back in the days when she’d been working as a triple nine call taker and dispatcher for the ambulance service, she’d always been so frustrated by trying to assist with critical situations from the other end of a telephone line. Coaching people to provide CPR or, ironically, advising them to try and find a safe space if they were in a situation where their own lives could be in danger. She’d never forgive herself if chasing that dream of doing what she’d wanted to do so much—being the person who took over when the telephone contact was no longer needed—ended up ruining the lives of the people she loved the most. Her mum. And her son...

  But she’d never forgive herself if she ran away from people who needed help either. Brie knew she had no choice, but she did have to think fast and the first thing she needed to do was to try and prevent the situation getting any worse. She slammed the front door shut and locked it. She’d check the back door next but, first, she had to get backup on the way. She reached for the radio clipped to her shoulder and pressed the button to transmit her voice, which wasn’t shaking nearly so much now.

  ‘Unit Four-Zero-Three to Control,’ she said clearly. ‘Code Black. I repeat... Code Black.’

  A code she’d never dreamed of having to use. One that would alert any emergency vehicles nearby that assistance was urgently needed for a situation that was dangerous enough to be a threat to life.

  ‘Roger that, Four-Zero-Three.’

  ‘It’s a violent assault,’ Brie added as she crouched beside Simon. ‘At least two victims. Paramedic down. Attacker still in the area.’

  ‘Roger that, Four-Zero-Three. Standby... We’ve got assistance on the way.’

  Simon was trying to get up but fell back with another groan. ‘Too...dizzy...’ he said.

  ‘Don’t move,’ Brie ordered. ‘I’ll be right back. I’ve got to check on the others and make sure the back door’s locked.’

  Fear for her own safety had evaporated as an adrenaline rush galvanised Brie. She raced back into the living room. The older woman hadn’t moved from the couch and still looked terrified.

  ‘Is he gone?’ The words wobbled. ‘Really...gone?’

  ‘I’ve locked the front door,’ Brie assured her. ‘Help’s on its way. I’m going to check the back door now. Who was he—do you know?’

  ‘My husband...’

  It was the younger woman on the floor who spoke, as Brie moved past her into the kitchen. Her voice was croaky and Brie could hear a whistling sound as she grabbed a breath after speaking. How much damage had that near strangulation caused? Was she in danger of losing an airway that was only just patent?

  Brie could see that the back door of the house was ajar and then, to her horror, she caught the ominous shape, in her peripheral vision, of someone moving fast down the side path through the kitchen window. With shaking hands, she pushed the door shut and heard the snib lock catch just as the handle got rattled. A volley of swear words followed.

  ‘I’ll get you!’ the man shouted, banging on the door. ‘Just you wait...’

  The pane of glass in the top of the door shattered and Brie pressed her hand to her mouth, waiting for the hand to reach in to undo the lock. Instead there was more profanity from outside.

  ‘I’ve cut myself... This is all your fault...’

  Brie held her breath. In a sudden silence outside she could hear the sound of a siren, which could well be the first available unit responding to her Code Black. She hoped it would be the police responding first. With a violent offender still present, the scene would have to be secured before any other medics could be allowed in and she needed help as fast as possible. Simon was out of action, the elderly woman on the couch might have chest pain that could indicate something serious like a heart attack, but the younger woman who’d been attacked was in respiratory distress so she needed the most urgent care. It was the top of the list in the ABC of assessment. Airway, Breathing and Circulation.

  The high-pitched whistling sounds of obstructed breathing were even louder as Brie dropped to her knees beside the woman, who was now sitting and leaning forward—another sign of respiratory distress.

  ‘My name’s Brie,’ she said. She unzipped the pack she’d carried in and then opened a pouch inside it. ‘I’m going to put a mask on you and get some oxygen on, okay?’

  As she picked up the oxygen cylinder that was lying by the door where Simon had dropped it, Brie could see that her crew partner was still holding his head in his hands.

  ‘I’m okay,’ he told her. ‘But if I try and move I’m going to throw up.’

  ‘I heard a siren,’ Brie said. ‘Backup’s not far away.’

  The woman on the couch was watching what she was doing. ‘Her name’s Carla,’ she said. ‘She’s my daughter. She came here to try and get away from her husband. I didn’t know what to do... That’s why I pushed my button...when he wasn’t looking...’

  ‘You did exactly the right thing,’ Brie said. She pulled a plastic mask from its packaging and unfurled the tubing to attach to the oxygen cylinder. She had the mask in one hand and the elastic to pull over Carla’s head in the other but, even before she could get the mask near her patient’s face, Carla’s head slumped as she lost consciousness and she toppled sideways.

  In the same moment, she heard glass being broken again in the kitchen and then the unmistakable sound of a door opening. Brie could feel her heart actually stop for a split second as she looked up, but the first impression of the uniform this man was wearing was enough to reassure her that this wasn’t Carla’s violent husband back for another go. It was, unexpectedly, a critical care paramedic—part of an elite squad that worked alone, as part of an air ambulance service or a general station like the one Brie had been fortunate enough to get a position at. The critical care paramedics had well-equipped vehicles with gear and skills that enabled them to respond to major, life-threatening events to provide the highest level of pre-hospital care.

  It was the best backup that Brie could have hoped for but that didn’t stop her heart skipping another beat as she saw the man’s face clearly for the first time.

  It couldn’t be...could it?

  Jonno?

  The man who’d changed her entire life in the space of a single night?

  The last man she’d thought she would ever see again?

  ‘What’s happened?’

  The query was crisp but he wasn’t looking at Brie. He’d dropped to his knees beside Carla and he gripped and shook her shoulder. She didn’t have time to answer him before he spoke again, but she still wasn’t the focus of his attention.

  ‘Can you hear me?’ he asked Carla loudly. ‘Can you open your eyes for me?’

  Getting no response, he tipped Carla’s head back to open her airway and then touched the red marks on her neck to assess any injuries and find her pulse, focusing on what he could see and hear of her breathing at the same time. He slid a rapid sideways glance in Brie’s direction.

  ‘So what’s happened? I was just round the corner when the Code Black alert came through.’