Playing for Love (Summer Beach Vets 1) - Escape Down Under (9 page)

“Thank you. I had a really wonderful day,” she murmured, looking shyly at Craig.

His face was in shadow and she couldn’t read his expression. “Me too,” he said.

He was silent for a moment, then leaned suddenly across the car seat and kissed her, hot and hard. Sara felt everything in her respond to the touch of his lips. She wanted to throw her arms around him and lose herself to the kiss. But a part of her mind was still remembering the scene in front of the Opera House and a voice in her head was warning her not to get in too deep. With an effort of will, she broke the kiss and forced herself to open the door.

Sara slammed the door behind her and stepped onto the sidewalk, watching as the Jeep did a U-turn, then sped back down the street. Soon its tail lights were nothing more than red blurs in the distance.

She stood in the dark, staring after it. She raised a hand and touched her lips. They felt swollen and slightly bruised, but also tingling with life. And they mirrored the way her heart felt. She caught her breath as the realisation hit her. She hadn’t been looking for it, hadn’t meant it to happen, had been telling herself over and over again why she couldn’t let it happen. But it was too late.

She was falling in love with Dr Craig Murray.

Sara had spent a lazy day in Ellie’s garden, reading a book, enjoying the sunshine and daydreaming intermittently about Craig, reliving their wonderful trip to Sydney yesterday. She wondered if he would call later. Her pulse gave a little jump as she thought of hearing his voice, with its sexy Australian drawl, and she gave shake of her head.
You’ve got it bad
, she thought with a wry smile.

Still, she had long since given up fighting her feelings. She knew she only had another week and a half in Summer Beach, but she just focused on the time she could spend with Craig while she was here. She refused to think beyond that, although a part of her mind did start treacherously wondering how quickly she could find a new job here and how difficult it would be to bring Coco over…

The sound of the front door opening and shutting interrupted her thoughts. It must be Ellie, home from work. She was early, Sara thought in surprise. She stood up from the sun lounger and stretched. It was time she went indoors anyway. The afternoon sun was weakening in the sky and the mosquitoes were starting to get a little too aggressive for comfort.

Sara went into the house to find Ellie standing in the kitchen. She was about to make some teasing comment about the early return when she noticed her cousin’s face.

“Ellie? What’s wrong?”

In answer, her cousin pointed to a magazine she had just thrown down on the kitchen counter. Her eyes were distressed. “I’m sorry, Sara.”

Sara stepped forwards to look. It was an Australian gossip magazine called
G’day!
and on the front cover was a photograph of her and Craig. They looked like they were embracing passionately in front of the Sydney Opera House. A bold headline across the picture read:
Aussie Beach Vet’s hot Yankee romance!

Sara snatched up the magazine and flipped to the article inside. There were more pictures of her and Craig—his arm around her, holding her close, her face buried in his chest—taken from various angles. She realised what it was: they were pictures taken at the moment she had slipped on those steps and Craig had caught her. They must have been captured by some secret paparazzi lens and the way some of the pictures had been taken made it look like they were indulging in a serious PDA session. Underneath the photos was a block of text which read:

Our very own Dr Craig Murray, star of
Aussie Beach Vet
, was seen showing a sexy visitor around Sydney’s famous Opera House. But she wasn’t just any American tourist—turns out that the beautiful blonde is Sara Monroe, ex-girlfriend of American actor Jeff Kingston, who shot to stardom with the hit TV series
Rogue Protector
. Kingston is due to star in several Hollywood blockbusters this year, but it’s his relationship with the delectable Ms Monroe that has gripped the U.S. recently. Their well-publicised split caused Monroe to go on an eating binge, gaining several dress sizes, and requiring rehab and therapy. A friend told reporters, “Sara is devastated. She knows she shouldn’t have let herself go like that, but Jeff was the love of her life and losing him destroyed her.”

However, it looks like our Craig has no problem handling a woman with “real curves” and Monroe might be luckier in love on this side of the Pacific. A romance with a Hollywood babe could be just what our sexy beach vet needs to take him to the next level. Rumours of a six-figure sponsorship deal now seem to be confirmed. And judging from the photos, it looks like Monroe can’t keep her hands off our hunky Aussie heartthrob either! Now that she’s got her claws into him, let’s hope Craig is up to date with his annual vaccinations!

“I don’t believe it.” Sara stared at the page, her hands shaking as they held the magazine.

Ellie put a gentle hand on her arm. “Sara…”

“I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” Sara felt her whole body shaking now. She didn’t know if it was with humiliation, fury or just plain shock. “The whole thing is just one massive lie! I never went on an eating binge after Jeff and I broke up; I never needed therapy and rehab—God, and I never said I had ‘let myself go’ after we split! For that jerk? Why don’t they talk about how Jeff lied and used his so-called love for my ‘real woman’ looks to score brownie points, when all along he was dissing me behind my back? And those pictures! They make it look like Craig and I were being totally shameless in public—we weren’t even embracing! I’d tripped on the steps and he’d caught me, that’s all. They’ve engineered it to make it look like we’re kissing passionately! I would never… I…” She ran out of breath and had to stop, panting, as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“I know.” Ellie’s voice was soothing. “I know that you wouldn’t do anything like that. Sara, these magazines always just print garbage they make up half the time. That so-called ‘friend’ they quoted—none of your friends would say anything like that; it’s complete fabrication.” Ellie furrowed her brow. “I just can’t understand how they knew so much. It almost feels like they were tipped off—”

“It was a set up,” said Sara through clenched teeth. “I remember now. Craig had a phone call from his agent just before we went to lunch and I overhead him telling her to ‘go ahead’ if she thought it was a good move. I’ll bet he was approving this. She was
way
too interested in me when we met and I’m sure she called her media contacts as soon as we left her office.” Her face darkened. “She’d been telling Craig that he needed some good publicity—some personal interest story—to improve his media ranking and his chance of getting this sponsorship deal… I guess I was the convenient idiot that he used to boost his image.”

“I can’t believe Craig did this,” murmured Ellie. “He just doesn’t seem—”

“Well, you’re wrong,” said Sara flatly. “I saw him with some of his fans and he’s pretty dedicated to his celebrity career. He might come across all humble and whatever here in Summer Beach, but in reality, he’s just out for himself.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I knew he was too good to be real. I was a fool. Again.”

She tried to say it lightly, but inside, she was hurting. Her heart felt like it had been punched out of her chest and then crushed on the ground under a spike-heeled stiletto. She hadn’t thought that it would be possible to feel worse than she did when she’d first learnt of Jeff’s betrayal back in L.A., but she was wrong. That feeling was nothing compared to the devastation she felt now. She realised that with Jeff, it had been her pride hurt more than her heart. But this time, it was her heart that was being torn apart.

Sara looked down at the magazine again and felt another surge of fury, to be used this way again.
I’m not going to run away this time
, she decided. She wasn’t going to crawl away, with her tail between her legs, to lick her wounds in misery. With Jeff, she had thought she was taking the high road, refusing to talk about the split, quietly cutting him out of her life. But it hadn’t stopped
him
talking about it everywhere he could and it hadn’t stopped the media writing about her, all based on Jeff’s biased account. Well, this time she was going to make sure that she damned well had
her
say!

Grabbing the magazine, she whirled and headed for the front door.

“Sara? Where are you going?” Ellie shouted after her.

“To see Craig.”

Sara stormed into the animal hospital and marched up to the reception counter.

“Where’s Craig?” she demanded.

Megan looked up with a harassed expression. “He’s been called out to deal with a whelping emergency at the home of a local breeder.”

“When will he be back?”

“I’m not sure. Soon, I hope. I’m waiting for him myself as we’re worried about the Beagle.”

Her words stopped Sara in her tracks. “The Beagle? The one I brought in? Why? I thought his paw was healing nicely.”

Megan nodded. “So did we. His paw seems to be healing up pretty well. But he’s been very listless today and now he’s running a high fever.”

Sara’s stomach lurched. “What does that mean?”

“It looks like he might have septicaemia. He’s just had a blood profile done which will hopefully give us more information.” Megan shrugged helplessly. “It’s usually pretty rare but it can happen, especially if a foreign body gets trapped in the wound. You said you found him on the beach, right? He could have gotten an oyster shell fragment in his paw. Craig gave some prophylactic amoxyllin when he treated the wound, but it doesn’t always cover the whole spectrum of bacteria and some may be resistant.”

“But… he seemed fine when I last saw him!” Sara protested.

“Septicaemia can come on really suddenly,” said Megan. “A lot depends on the dog’s own immune system.”

Sara felt her heart clenching in her chest. “It’s… it’s not fatal, is it?” she whispered.

Megan’s expression was grim. “It does have a fairly high mortality rate. Dogs often go into shock and then…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but Sara wasn’t listening anymore anyway. She was thinking that the Beagle hadn’t even been reunited with his family yet. He could die here, alone, and his family would never know. She thought of something happening to her own Coco, and her not knowing about it, and felt a wave of despair.

“Can I see him?” she asked. “Please?”

Megan hesitated, looking around. The waiting room was empty and the practice was closing for the day. “I guess so. He’s in the oxygen chamber in the ICU. Don’t touch him or anything, but you can sit with him for a bit if you like.”

Sara made her way blindly to the hospital ward at the back of the building. She saw the Beagle as soon as she entered the room. He was huddled in a corner of the oxygen chamber, his head on his front paws, panting rapidly. He barely looked up as she approached him and there wasn’t even a flicker of a tail wag. Compared to all the previous times when she had come in to see him and he had jumped up, eyes shining and tail wagging, to greet her, this was a heart-breaking difference.

Sara pulled a stool over and sat down next to the oxygen chamber. She wished she could reach through the glass sides of the chamber and stroke the Beagle’s head, but she could only watch as he fought for each breath.

Please don’t die
, she begged silently, staring at the limp shape behind the glass.
I haven’t even had a chance to learn your name. You’ve got a family waiting for you somewhere. You’ve got so many holes still to dig, balls to chase, smells to follow… You’ve got to get better!

Sara wasn’t sure how long she sat there. Her legs were starting to cramp from lack of movement when she heard the door to the ward open and shut behind her. She turned around. It was Craig, accompanied by a vet assistant. A sense of relief washed over her. All her feelings of anger and betrayal were pushed aside. Whatever else she thought about Craig, she knew he was a brilliant vet and he was the single best thing the Beagle could have right now.

She moved aside to let him assess the dog. Craig worked swiftly and silently, giving the Beagle a quick examination, checking his temperature, monitoring his heart rate, pulse, and oxygen levels.

“He’s becoming tachycardic and his oxygen saturation is borderline,” Craig said grimly to the assistant “Have we got the results of the cultures back yet? We need to speed up his IV fluids.”

“The preliminary urine cultures are negative and the blood cultures should be back in the morning.”

“Hmm…” Craig examined the Beagle’s eyes again. “Looks like conjunctival haemorrhage. Okay, let’s start him on cefazolin at a dose of 300 mg IV every four hours. And prep him for an X-ray. See what that shows. Might have to go to surgery once he’s stabilised, if there’s any indication of a foreign body still trapped in the wound.”

Watching as Craig administered the antibiotic through the drip inserted in the Beagle’s front leg, Sara clenched her hands together and prayed. She would have given anything at that moment for the little dog to get better. Craig eased the Beagle gently back against the blankets, then carefully shut the oxygen chamber again.

“Is he… will he be okay?” asked Sara.

Craig sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, Sara. We’ve done all we can for now. The rest is up to him. He might be able to fight off the infection but…” His mouth tightened. “To be honest, it’s not looking good.”

No!
Sara wanted to scream, to shout, to beat her fists against his chest, but all she could do was stand there and stare at him in horror.

“Look…” Craig put a gentle hand on her arm. Despite everything that was happening, his touch still had the power to send a shudder of awareness through her. “I know this is hard, but the best thing would be for you to go home. I’ll be staying here with him overnight, and I promise I’ll let you know as soon as there’s any update to his condition.”

Sara stared into his blue eyes for a moment longer, then nodded and turned for the door. Letting herself out of the clinic, she stood for a moment on the street. Twilight was falling and in the distance she could hear the roar and crash of the waves on the beach. It all seemed so idyllic and peaceful—and yet in the hospital behind her lay a dog fighting for its life.

She got back to Ellie’s place and told her cousin what had happened. Despite not being a mad dog lover, Ellie looked genuinely upset. Sara went wearily to take a shower while her cousin rustled up something for dinner, then the two of them ate in a subdued silence. After the dishes were done, Ellie switched on the TV and they watched some forensic crime drama, but Sara couldn’t really keep her mind on the screen. When Ellie went to bed—she had an early start at work the next morning—Sara continued flicking listlessly through the TV channels. Finally, just after midnight, she gave up.

Wandering into her bedroom, she propped herself up against the headboard and pulled out her cell phone. She looked at the clock on her bedside table, trying to calculate the time difference. It would be just after seven in the morning in L.A. Fern should be up—she was a pretty early riser. Sara took a deep breath and punched in her home number.

“Hello?”

“Sara! How nice to hear from you!” Fern’s voice was warm and familiar.

For the first time since she had left the States, Sara felt a wave of homesickness.

“How’s it going in the land of the kangaroos?”

Sara swallowed past a lump in her throat. “Uh… fine. Fine. How’s it going with you?”

“Oh, you know, the usual. Hang on a minute,” Fern laughed. “Coco is here. Down, Coco! Down! I swear, I think your dog is telepathic. As soon as my phone rang, she got all excited. It was like she knew it would be you calling. D’you want to say hello?”

Sara heard a rustle and then the sound of soft snuffling in the receiver. Her heart squeezed inside her.

“Coco? Are you there? It’s me!” Sara felt her voice getting choked up and had to clear her throat. “Hello Coco! Good girl! Can you hear me?”

From the other end of the line came a couple of delighted barks. Sara laughed in spite of herself, blinking away tears. “Yes! It’s me, Coco! Good girl. Are you having a good time with Fern?”

She knew it was stupid talking to a dog on the phone. As if Coco could understand anything she said! But right now—as she remembered the other Beagle lying weak and helpless in a hospital nearby—the thought of her own Beagle wagging her tail thousands of miles away made Sara feel better. And it gave her hope.

“So what have you been up to?” asked Fern, coming back on the phone.

“Oh… um… a bit of sightseeing, walking on the beach, lazing around in the sun,” said Sara lightly. “How about you? How did the Open Day go at the shelter?”

“Oh, awesome! We had three times the number of people attend and the raffle raised more than…”

Sara let Fern talk on. She made the appropriate replies in the right places, but she wasn’t really listening. Still, it was soothing just hearing her friend’s voice and hearing about something completely unrelated to what was going on here, on this side of the Pacific. When they finally said goodbye, Sara leaned back against the pillows and sighed. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was nearly 2 a.m. now. Still no news from Craig.

Sara wandered if she should try calling him. Or even go back to the hospital? Her eyes felt gritty and sore. She would just shut them for a moment, she thought. Just rest them for a while, and then she would get up and make herself another cup of coffee…