CHAPTER ONE

      HER very own parking space!

      Pulling on the handbrake of her smart, practical and incredibly clean sedan, Madison Walsh took a moment out of her busy schedule to indulge herself, staring with quiet satisfaction at the writing on the wall.

      RESERVED / ED NUM

      OK, it didn’t say reserved for Madison Walsh, Nursing Unit Manager, Accident and Emergency Department, it didn’t even matter that a parking space was possibly the last thing a perpetually early-for-everything woman like Madison needed—but it was hers!

      Another step in the right direction, another life goal achieved.

      Locking her car, Madison waved as Gerard Dalton slid his dark blue car into his own reserved parking spot and waited politely as the elderly gentleman climbed out.

      ‘One day I’ll beat you to work!’ Gerard grinned. ‘You’re not due to start for another two hours, Madison.’

      ‘Neither are you,’ Madison pointed out, walking with Gerard through the dark car park, bypassing the darkened accident and emergency entrance and heading instead to the main reception area of the hospital.

      ‘I guess we both just want to have that one final check before it’s all systems go. Mind you,’ he added rather more lightly, ‘not before a good strong cup of coffee. Let’s hope the kitchen staff remembers that we’re here and delivers us some milk…’ His voice trailed off as Madison held up a carrier bag.

      ‘I stopped at the garage, just in case there wasn’t any.’

      ‘Of course you did,’ Gerard said with a wry note to his voice. ‘Who’s looking after that gorgeous daughter of yours while her mother’s out all hours?’

      ‘Emily’s fine.’ Madison laughed. ‘She’s having a sleepover at my friend Helen’s, so that I could be here early today.’

      ‘And she’s enjoying going to school?’

      ‘She loves it,’ Madison responded warmly, as they arrived outside the deserted reception area. She nodded her thanks as the security guard gave a thumbs-up and the doors slid open.

      ‘Morning, Vic!’

      ‘Morning, Professor, morning, Sister,’ Vic responded cheerfully. ‘All ready for the big day?’

      ‘I hope so,’ Madison said, rolling her eyes. ‘If we’re not, we’re about to find out the hard way.’

      ‘How could we not be ready?’ Gerard said assuredly as they walked along the highly polished corridor and into the vacant emergency unit. ‘We’ve been planning this day for months now.’

      ‘I know,’ Madison sighed, flicking on lights as she went, noticing how hard the domestic staff had been working in the last couple of days, every last trace of builders’ dust gone. The plastic wraps had been removed from the chairs in the waiting room, even the vending machines had been stocked up, but nothing could take away the scent of new paint and carpeting, and the pristine look of a hospital that had yet to see a patient. ‘At least that’s what I keep telling myself,