Lucy Clark - Bride on the Childrens Ward: and Marriage Reunited - Baby on the Way (Medical Romance)

EDEN couldnt believe the apprehensive nervousness clouding her as she entered the hospital and made her way to the spinal ward.

She was back.

Back home in one of Sydneys most exclusive suburbs, walking through the halls of the hospital shed been born in twenty-nine years ago. Shed fled under the cover of darkness ten years earlier, and until two weeks ago hadnt made any plans ever to return. Australia was quite a way from where shed been only a few days ago, but nevertheless shed promised Sasha, her best friend, she would come homeand come home she had.

She glanced at a few people as she walked down the hospitals corridor, wondering if she would recognise anyone or if, heaven forbid, anyone could recognise her. Subconsciously, she knew she was hoping to see David walking towards her.

Did he know she was here? Had Sasha told him?

Edens heart-rate increased at the thought of David MontgomerySashas older brother. He was the man she measured every other man against, and no one had yet lived up to the standards of tall, dark and handsome David.

When Eden had left home, only sweet Sasha had known her plans. The two had remained in constant contact over the years, their friendship never waning. Theyd shared their deepest secrets from the moment theyd met when they were ten years old. Edens leaving hadnt changed that. Theyd written letters, and Sasha had visited her quite a few times. First in Darwin, where Eden had done her medical degree, and later overseas, where Eden had been working for Pacific Medical Aid, a medical relief organisation.

Swallowing over her dry throat, she felt another prickle of apprehension wash over heras though someone was watching her. She looked behind her, but the corridor was empty. No David anywhere. Disappointed, she shook her head and chided herself for looking for him. David was a busy doctor and was no doubt somewhere in the hospital busy doing doctor duties. He didnt have time to stand around corridors looking for herdid he?

Laughing nervously, she clutched the present for Sasha tightly to her chest and turned left into another long corridor. There was an information board on the wall and she stopped momentarily to make sure she was going the right way. Yes. The spinal unit should be the second corridor on the right.

The butterflies returned, but she reminded herself it was just Sasha. She was here for Sasha. Not Davidthe man who had broken her heart all those years ago. Sure, shed been young, and hed been her first serious boyfriend, but just as a girl never forgot her first real kiss, shed never forgotten her first heartbreak either.

Sasha. She had to focus on Sasha. Not David, not her parents or brother or anyone else in the exclusive suburb where shed done most of her growing up. She was here for Sasha because that was what best friends were for.

When she was finally standing outside Sashas door, Eden paused and brushed her free hand down her skirt. It had been two and a half years since shed last seen Sasha. Eden had been working in Ethiopia when Sasha and Robert, Sashas then fianc, had come for a visit. It had been the first time Eden had met the man who had stolen her friends heart, and shed been delighted with him. The three of them had made lots of good memories during that visit, and for Eden it had been absolutely wonderful to see her friend so happy.

Then, a few months after their visit, Edens world had exploded once again. Pain and anguish washed over her as pictures of that time flashed before her eyes, but she quickly pushed the awful memories from her mind, focusing instead on being able to do something for her friend. She had come because Sasha needed her.

Thank God Sasha had survived the horrific car accident which had now left her a patient in the spinal ward. Life wasnt fairthey both knew thatbut at least Eden still had her best friend.

Hitching her handbag onto her shoulder, Eden knocked on the door before pushing it open and looking into the private room. She frowned. It was empty. She walked back towards the nurses station and looked over the patient information board to make sure she had the right room. Yes. Room 4 was where Sasha Litchfield should be. Eden went back into the room and sighed.

All that anxiety and trepidation wasted. She laughed brightly at her own ridiculousness and put the bag and present down before heading over to the window, gazing out at the view of a small courtyard garden below.

Now, theres a laugh I havent heard in a long time. A deep, masculine voice spoke from behind her.

Eden froze, recognising it instantly. David. His name was scarcely a whisper on her lips, and one she enjoyed hearing there. Goose bumps spread up and down her arms and she breathed in, trying not to sigh as the sweet and hypnotic scent she would always associate with David assailed her senses. That spicy scent had driven her wild at the age of seventeen, when theyd first got together. Actually, it was starting to drive her wild now. It was amazing that such a thing as the mere smell of him could still affect her after a whole decade. He might have broken her heart, but that was a long time ago. That was thenthis was now.

Slowly Eden turned. Their gazes met. He stood in the doorway, all neat and tidy, and as sexy as all get out. Eden let her gaze wander over his lithe frame, knowing he was doing exactly the same thing to hershe could feel it. Could he see the woman shed grown into? Did he see much difference from the seventeen-year-old shed been when hed last seen her? She certainly hoped so.

Well David was the first of them to find his voice. Eden Caplan. There was a veiled twinkle in his brown eyes and the slight hint of a smile on his lips. I thought I saw you in the corridor just now.

Eden spread her arms wide, her heart starting to beat a different rhythm. Its me. In the flesh.

So I see. His gaze dipped briefly to her knit top which had a V-neckline. Eden smiled as his Adams apple worked up and down and he swallowed.

She quirked an eyebrow. Should I turn around? Give you the full view? She couldnt quite believe she was flirting with him the way she had in the past. Instantly, she felt as though she was seventeen all over again, teasing him, wanting to make him laugh. Hed always been so serious.

David was startled just for an instant, but quickly recovered. He should have known to expect something like that from Edenthe girl who had provided such a bright spark to his otherwise staid life all those years ago. Still saying the most outrageous things, I see.