Gina Wilkins - The M.D. Next Door

Thanks, Meagan. Ill owe you big-time for this.

She laughed. Dont think I wont collect someday.

He shifted his weight, and she realized suddenly how close they stood.

You can collect any time, he said, his voice a little lower now, his gaze locked with hers. His smile deepened at the corners, and her heart sped a little faster. Seth was a nice enough looking guy, but when he smiledlike thiswow.

Still looking into her eyes, he lowered his head a little more. Very slowly, giving her plenty of time to draw back or turn her cheek if she wanted. She tilted her face upward instead.

His lips brushed hers lightly. It was a friendly kiss, neither demanding nor tentative. Yet when it ended and he drew back to smile at her again, she felt very much as if theyd just stepped over an invisible line between friendly neighbors and something a little moreintimate.

Dear Reader,

I was recently asked if I have a recurring theme in my writing. So many of my books are set in series about close-knit families. The question made me ponder what family means to me. Security? Companionship? Validation? The theme I finally selected was Sanctuary. Family, to me, is a safe place to take refuge from an unpredictable, sometimes scary world. A place to find reassurance and acceptancenot idyllic or conflict-free, but filled with love. Ive been blessed that this has always been my experience with familythe one I was born into, the one I married into and the one my husband and I created together during the past thirty plus years.

In this new series, Doctors in the Family, youll meet three siblings who all happen to be doctors, but who face many of the same family issues as those in any profession. Too many responsibilities, too little time, worrisome illnesses, loss of loved ones, stepparenting and adapting to the inevitable changes that come with passing time. And always love. I hope you enjoy reading about Meagan, Mitch and Madisonand the families they encounter in their stories!

Visit me any time at ginawilkins.com.

Gina Wilkins

THE M.D. NEXT DOOR

GINA WILKINS

Books by Gina Wilkins

Silhouette Special Edition

The Stranger in Room 205 #1399

Bachelor Cop Finally Caught? #1413

Dateline Matrimony #1424

The Grooms Stand-In #1460

The Best Mans Plan #1479

The Family Plan #1525

Conflict of Interest #1531

Faith, Hope and Family #1538

Make-Believe Mistletoe #1583

Countdown to Baby #1592

The Homecoming #1652

Adding to the Family #1712

The Borrowed Ring #1717

The Road to Reunion #1735

The Date Next Door #1799

The Bridesmaids Gifts #1809

Finding Family #1892

The Man Next Door #1905

The Texans Tennessee Romance #1954

Diagnosis: Daddy #1990

Private Partners #2027

The Doctors Undoing #2057

Prognosis: Romance #2069

The M.D. Next Door #2092

Silhouette Books

Mothers Day Collection 1995

Three Mothers and a Cradle
Beginnings

Worlds Most Eligible Bachelors

Doctor in Disguise

Logans Legacy

The Secret Heir

GINA WILKINS

is a bestselling and award-winning author who has written more than seventy novels for Harlequin and Silhouette Books. She credits her successful career in romance to her long, happy marriage and her three extraordinary children.

A lifelong resident of central Arkansas, Ms. Wilkins sold her first book to Harlequin in 1987 and has been writing full-time since. She has appeared on the Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and USA TODAY bestseller lists. She is a three-time recipient of the Maggie Award for Excellence, sponsored by Georgia Romance Writers, and has won several awards from the reviewers of RT Book Reviews.

For my wonderful family, near and far.

Contents

Chapter One

D ressed in a long-sleeved purple T-shirt and comfortable black yoga pants, Meagan Baker reclined in a padded chaise lounge. She had a white cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders, cold soda by her hand, good book in her lap. The chair was one of several arranged in a companionable grouping on the rock patio surrounding her smallish, in-ground pool, which sparkled in the afternoon sun. A spreading oak tree canopied with early spring leaves shaded her chair. Birds played among the branches, singing cheerily. A pleasant, floral-fragrant breeze brushed her cheeks and rustled the new leaves above her, harmonizing sweetly with the birdsongs.

Glumly, she studied her feet clad in flirty purple ballet flats. Most people would think she was crazy for wishing she were in an operating room in scrubs, paper gown, cap and mask, and arch-supporting shoes.

Can I get you anything else, sweetie?

She forced a smile as she looked up at her mother, who hovered nearby. Im fine, thanks. You should go home and take care of Meemaw.

Youre sure? Her mom, LaDonna Baker, looked torn between caring for her convalescing daughter and returning home to tend to her own ailing mother, who lived with her. I could warm a pot of soup before I go.

I can warm my own soup. Youve filled my fridge and freezer with meals I can pop into the microwave. I wont go hungry. Meagan hated the feeling that she was adding to her mothers already sizeable load of responsibilities. As the eldest of three children and a surgeon by trade, Meagan was much more accustomed to being a caretaker than having one.

Only a couple of days out of the hospital after undergoing emergency surgery, she still felt annoyingly weak and achy. She had pain pills if she needed them, but she limited herself to over-the-counter meds as much as possible. Having declined an invitation to recuperate at her mothers house, Meagan preferred to keep her head clear. She lived alone, but she had promised her concerned family she would keep a cell phone always close at hand. Her mother and two physician siblings all lived within a ten-minute drive, so she had no fears about being on her own.

Go home, Mom, she repeated gently. Youve been here most of the day. I know you have things to do at home.

Torn by her responsibilities, her mother finally, reluctantly left, though she made Meagan promise to call if she needed anything. Anything at all.

Alone at last, Meagan rested her head against the back of her chair and closed her eyes. She hadnt wanted to display her weakness in front of her worried mother, but now she could relax and moan, unheard by anyone but herself. She remembered patients complaining they felt as though theyd been hit by a truck; she now knew exactly what they meant. Every inch of her seemed to ache or throb, not just the healing incision in her abdomen. Shed always tried to be sympathetic to her patients discomfort, but she thought shed be even more so now that shed actually experienced post-surgical pain, herself.

As much as she appreciated her mothers loving care, it felt good to be alone for a while and outside in the fresh air. Ever since shed been hospitalized six days ago for emergency surgery to repair an ovarian torsion, shed been pent up and poked at and hovered over and treated like awell, like a patient. She had quickly realized that she much preferred being the doctor.

She rested a hand lightly on the incision site, from force of habit, feeling for excessive heat or swelling. Despite her discomfort, she was healing just fine. She wished fleetingly that the surgery could have been performed laparoscopically, which would have resulted in a much shorter recovery period, but her condition had been too severe. Her left ovary had been twisted to the point of necrosis, and the surgeon had been unable to salvage it.

She might have saved the ovary if shed caught the condition earlier, Meagan thought regretfully. She had mistaken the symptomatic pain for her usual menstrual cramping, popping OTC pain relievers and staying too busy taking care of other people to pay attention to her own well-beinga common failing among physicians. Only when shed been incapacitated by sudden, severe pain, nausea and fever had she sought emergency care. Shed been rushed into an O.R. by a surgeon she worked with and trusted implicitly. If anyone could have salvaged the ovary, it would have been Meilin Liu, but no such luck.