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CHAPTER ONE

‘NINA WILSON.’

Jack kept his face impassive, but his cynical grey eyes rolled a little when he heard that Nina was the social worker who was dealing with baby Sienna’s case.

Nina was hard work, and well Jack knew it, because they’d clashed on more than one occasion over the past couple of years.

Paediatrician Eleanor Aston had asked Jack, who was Head of Paediatrics, to join her in the case meeting that was to be held at nine this morning.

‘The social work department seems intent on discharging Sienna home to the care of her parents,’ Eleanor told him. ‘I’ve been up nearly every night for a fortnight witnessing Sienna’s withdrawal from methadone. The mother has already had two children taken off her. I personally looked after her newborn son last year.’

Eleanor’s lips tightened at the memory of that time, but Jack chose not to notice. Instead, he flicked through the case notes as Eleanor’s voice heightened with emotion, which Jack didn’t respond to—he preferred facts.

‘I just don’t see why we’re giving her a chance with her third baby when we know how she’s been in the past.’

‘You won’t win with that argument against Nina Wilson,’ Jack said, and as he read through the notes he saw that some of them had, in fact, been written by him.

One entry that he had written was just over a week old: Five-day-old, unsettled, distressed … He’d been called by the night team for a consult, he noted, but as Jack tried to picture the baby he had written about just a few nights ago he felt a slight knot of unease that he couldn’t place baby Sienna.

He told himself that it was to be expected—Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital was a phenomenally busy free hospital in New York City. Not only did Jack head up the general paediatric team, he also dealt regularly with the board, Admin and the endless round of socialising and networking that was required to raise vital funds for the hospital.

The Carters were a prominent New York family and, as the son of a Park Avenue medical dynasty, Jack, with his endless connections and effortless grace, was called on often, not just for his impressive medical skills but also because of his connections and therefore the donations his family name alone could bring.

Still, this morning it was all about baby Sienna and making the best possible decisions for her future.

Jack finished with the medical history and read Nina’s meticulous notes. They were very detailed and thorough and, Jack noted, very dispassionate—unlike Nina herself, who was incredibly fiery and fought hard for her patients. She was young, a little angry with bureaucracy and out to set the world to rights, whereas Jack, at thirty-four years of age, was just a touch more realistic as to what could and could not be achieved.

‘Nina always comes down on the side of the parents,’ Eleanor said.

‘Not always.’ Jack shook his head. ‘Though I do know what you mean.’

He did.

Nina believed in families. Of course there were tough calls to be made at times and then she made them, but as Jack read through the notes he realised this was going to be a very long meeting.

Arguing with Nina was like an extremely prolonged game of tennis—everything that you served to her was returned with well-researched and thought-out force. He wasn’t in the least surprised that Eleanor had asked him to sit in on the case meeting—Nina would know every inch of the family history and would have arguments and counter-arguments as to why her findings should be upheld.

‘Come on, then.’ Jack put on his jacket. He didn’t need to check his appearance in the mirror—a combination of genes and wealth assured that he always looked good. His dark brown hair was trimmed fortnightly, his designer attire was taken care of by his housekeeper. All Jack had to do in the morning was kiss whatever lover was in his bed, head to the shower, shave and then step into his designer wardrobe to emerge immaculate a few moments later—more often than not just to break another heart.

As he headed to the meeting Jack thought briefly about Monica’s tears that morning.

Why did women always demand a reason for why things had come to an end?

Why did they always want to know where they had gone wrong or how they could change, or what had happened to suddenly change his mind?

Nothing had changed Jack’s mind.

He simply didn’t get involved and there was no such thing to Jack as long term.

And so, as he entered the meeting room, Jack readied himself for his second round of feminine emotion that morning. Nina had already arrived and was taking off her scarf and unbuttoning her coat. There were still a couple of flakes of snow in her hair and as she glanced over and saw him enter the room Jack watched her lips close tightly as she realised perhaps that Eleanor had brought in the big gun.

‘Morning, Nina,’ he greeted her, and flashed a smile just to annoy her.

‘Jack.’ Nina threw a saccharine smile in his direction and then turned her back and took off her coat.

Damn.

Nina didn’t say it, of course, she just undid the belt and buttons and shrugged off her coat, but despite her together appearance she was incredibly unsettled and not just because Jack was Head of Paediatrics.

They clashed often.

Jack, always cool and detached, often brought her to the verge of tears, not that she ever let him see that. Just a couple of months ago she had been part of the team that had worked hard with a family struggling with a small baby who had been brought in to the emergency department. Jack had been reserved in his judgement that Baby Tanner should be discharged home to the care of the mother, but her team had fought hard to ensure that it happened. But just two weeks ago she had been called to the emergency department to find out that Baby Tanner had been brought in again, unconscious, a victim of shaken-baby syndrome.

Jack had said not one word to her as she had stepped into the cubicle.

His look had said everything, though—I told you so. Nina could still see his cool grey eyes harden as they had met hers, and she still carried the guilt.

But it wasn’t just that that had Nina unsettled this morning.

Jack Carter was more than good looking and, of course, that didn’t go unnoticed. He was known for his playboy ways and his charmed, privileged life, and the acquired arrogance that came with it irked Nina.

But, no, it wasn’t just that either.

What really got to Nina was that he got to her.

He was arrogant, chauvinistic, dismissive—in fact, Jack Carter was everything Nina didn’t like in a man, and, no, logically she didn’t fancy him in the least—it was just that her body said otherwise.

It noticed him.

It reacted to him.

And Nina didn’t like it one bit.

She could feel his eyes lazily watching her as she took off her coat, was incredibly aware of him as she hung up the garment and headed to the table to commence the meeting. She almost anticipated the slight inappropriateness that would undoubtedly come from his smirking lips.

He didn’t disappoint her. ‘Nice to see someone at the meeting with their clothes on,’ Jack said as she made her way over, because everyone apart from Nina and Jack was wearing scrubs. Everyone present laughed a little at his off-the-cuff remark.

Everyone, Jack noted, but Nina.

Then again, he’d never really seen her smile, at least not at him. She was always so serious, so intense and the only time her face relaxed and lit up with a smile was when she was engaging with her clients.

This morning she had on a grey pinafore dress with a red jumper beneath, but this was no school uniform! The red stockings and black boots that she wore took care of that. Nina’s dark blonde hair was pinned up and her cheeks were red from coming into the warmth of the hospital from a very cold January morning.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ Nina said, taking a seat at the table opposite him. Just as Jack found himself wondering if the workaholic Nina had actually overslept, she corrected his thought process. ‘I got called to go out on an urgent response.’

And, rather inconveniently for Jack, he wondered if there was a Mr Wilson who got annoyed at having Nina peeled from his bed at the crack of dawn by the emergency response team, or even a Ms Wilson, who bemoaned her partner leaving her side. Jack realised then that not once had Nina so much as flirted with him. Not once had she turned those cobalt-blue eyes to his in an attempt to bewitch him, which might sound arrogant, but flirting was par for the course when your name was Jack Carter.

Just never with Nina.

‘Right.’ Nina glanced around the table. Every person present felt like the enemy in this meeting and so she didn’t bother to smile. ‘Shall we get started, then?’

Nina really wasn’t looking forward to this morning.

Normally she would have spent a lot of the weekend poring over the medical notes and histories, but she had been working at the pro bono centre as well as moving into her new three-bedroomed apartment. She’d hoped to get into work very early this morning and go over the notes again, but instead, at four a.m., just as her alarm clock had gone off, so too had her phone, and now Nina felt less than prepared.

Which was very unlike her.

Certainly, it didn’t sit well with her. In a few short weeks her own family would be under the spotlight of a case conference and she wanted her sister and brother’s case worker to be as passionate and as informed as she usually was. Still, even if Nina hadn’t prepared as meticulously as usual, she was still well informed and, given Sienna was only two weeks old, most of the details of the case were fresh in her mind.

She knew that most of the medical staff were opposed to Sienna being discharged home to the parents. Their concerns had been well voiced and they were repeated again now.

First she heard from Brad Davis, head of the prenatal unit. Brad had seen Hannah for her very brief prenatal care and had also delivered Sienna, but thankfully he was very matter-of-fact in his summing up.

‘Hannah presented to us at thirty-four weeks gestation,’ Brad explained. ‘She had recently resumed her relationship with Sienna’s father, Andy. He was seemingly the one who insisted that Hannah attend Angel’s. Andy was concerned about Hannah’s drug habit and the effect it would have on their unborn child—Hannah’s only concern was feeding her habit.’

‘At that time,’ Nina responded, and Brad nodded. ‘She complied with the methadone programme?’ Nina asked, and again Brad nodded, and so on they went.

Nina heard from the midwives and nursing staff and also the addiction counsellors who had been in regular contact with Hannah.

Eleanor Aston, though, was particularly difficult. Always a huge advocate for her patients, Eleanor was perhaps the most insistent that Sienna be removed from her mother’s care.

‘I looked after her son last year.’ Eleanor’s voice shook with emotion. ‘And I can remember—’

‘We’re not discussing Sienna’s half-brother this morning,’ Nina interrupted. She knew that it was terribly difficult to separate the two cases, especially as Eleanor had dealt with Hannah at her very worst and had looked after what had indeed been a very sick little baby boy with a very cold and unfeeling mother, but this was a crucial part of Nina’s job and one that made her less than popular at times with the medical staff.

‘The difference this time around is that Hannah is doing her best to get straight and she is also in a very different relationship with this baby’s father. As soon as Andy found out that Hannah was pregnant he brought her straight to Angel’s and has been rigorously making sure that she keeps up with the programme, and Hannah herself has made a huge effort—’

‘When?’ They were half an hour into the meeting and it was the first time that Jack had actually spoken. He looked across the table at Nina as he did so. ‘When exactly did Hannah make this huge effort that you keep talking about?’

‘Since she came to Angel’s.’ Nina’s voice was very calm. She had been expecting Jack to step in at any moment and she hadn’t been proved wrong.

‘She had nine months to dry out,’ Jack said, and then corrected himself. Nina was quite sure Jack’s mistake was deliberate. ‘Oh, sorry, make that eight months, because it was considered vital that we induce her early due to the baby’s failure to thrive in the womb.’ Still he stared at Nina, perhaps waiting for her to interrupt, or to speak over him, but she met his cool gaze without words of her own and Jack carried on.

‘So, all in all, she actually managed two weeks of antenatal care, mainly because of her boyfriend’s efforts, and then two weeks of huge effort postnatally, but only with every system and resource available in place.’

‘Your point being?’ Nina asked, and Jack didn’t answer. ‘Why wouldn’t we offer every resource that we have to this family?’ She watched his jaw tighten as she scored a point.

‘Hannah has been attending addiction counselling twice daily. For the first time she actually wants all the help and support that we can provide and there is also an extremely devoted father who, I am quite sure, will put the baby’s welfare first. Hannah has broken down with me on two separate occasions and told me that she doesn’t want another child taken off her and that she is prepared to do whatever it takes. Now, I know that this is early days—’

‘My doctors have been up with that baby night after night,’ Jack interrupted. ‘I personally have been called in when Sienna has become agitated and distressed.’ His eyes held Nina’s and she didn’t blush or blink but simply met his gaze. ‘The baby had severe withdrawal, she was small for her dates due to maternal malnourishment, just like her older brother, and it is my opinion that the last person the baby—’

‘Sienna,’ Nina interrupted. ‘The baby is called Sienna and to date there is nothing that I have seen, from my many observations, to indicate that any of the traits that were a cause for concern with her other children are present now, and the nursing observations verify that….’

Jack drew a long breath as Nina spoke on. Her holistic approach irked him, and he sat, turning his heavy pen over and over as he listened to Nina drone on about how damaging it would be to both Sienna and Hannah if they were separated now, especially as a strong bond had been established. Jack said nothing, though he wanted to point out that a bond surely took longer than a couple of weeks, but he knew he’d be shot down, not just by Nina but by everyone in the room.

Jack really didn’t get the maternal bond argument.

His pen turned in his fingers as he thought for a moment of his own mother—she certainly hadn’t had one. Instead, Jack had been assigned to two nannies and had only been brought down for dinner and social events.

But instead of dwelling on his own messed-up family, he listened how, from Nina’s findings, there was nothing to indicate at this stage that Sienna was at risk and that with full back-up and aftercare, the department had determined that the child should be discharged to the care of the parents.

‘So what am I here for, then?’ Jack challenged. ‘From a medical point of view the baby has put on sufficient weight to be discharged, she is stable, her withdrawal from methadone is manageable now and you’ve clearly already determined the outcome. You’re really not interested in hearing our concerns—’

‘Don’t!’ For the first time this meeting Jack heard the shake of anger in Nina’s voice. ‘Don’t you dare insinuate that I am dismissing the medical staff’s concerns.’

Jack rolled his tongue in his cheek. He certainly wasn’t about to apologise, but inwardly he conceded that perhaps he had gone a bit too far. At the end of the day the social services department did one hell of a job. They dealt with the most vulnerable children and handled the most difficult cases and had to make decisions that few would relish, so he sat silent as Nina spoke on.

‘Every one of your concerns has been listened to and addressed. Every point you have made has been noted.’ Nina looked around the table. ‘I have to take each case on its own merits and in this case I see the mother making a huge effort. She is racked with guilt, witnessing all that Sienna is going through, and—’ Nina looked over at Eleanor ‘—while I accept that she had none of those feelings with the other two children, in this instance it is very different.

‘There is a father who is stepping up and a couple who are desperate to keep their child but, yes, there is also a baby who, thanks to her mother’s poor choices, has had an appalling start to life. Now, I could arrange temporary placement for Sienna, but I can assure you the foster-care system is not a fairy-tale alternative, especially when we believe that, with support, this family does have a chance.’

‘Well,’ came Jack’s terse response, ‘I’ve voiced my concerns.’

‘They’ve been noted.’

As soon as the meeting concluded Jack stood. ‘If you’ll excuse me.’

Once outside Eleanor spoke with him briefly. ‘Thanks so much for trying, Jack.’

‘Nina made several good points.’ Jack said to Eleanor, because although he always went in to bat for his staff he could play the devil’s advocate better than anyone, but probably, in this instance, he actually agreed with Nina. ‘I know that it’s hard to step back at times …’

‘It doesn’t seem that way for you.’ Eleanor sighed.

‘Yeah, well, you have to be tough to do this job or you’d go crazy,’ Jack said. ‘Eleanor, sometimes you just have to look at the facts. In this case the mother is doing everything right, albeit too little too late, but, as Nina said, if we take this child from the mother now then realistically they are not going to reunite and though we might think that that might be for the best, who knows where Sienna might end up?’

‘She might be placed with the perfect family. She might …’ Eleanor started, but her lips tightened and her words halted as Nina came out.

‘There’s no such thing as the perfect family,’ Jack said, and giving Nina a brief nod he stalked off.

‘Says the man who comes from one.’ Eleanor rolled her eyes as Jack walked off and then stood a little awkwardly when it was clear that Nina was hanging around to speak to her. ‘Did you see the Carter family Christmas photo shoot?’

Nina gave a pale smile. Yes, she’d seen it—all the Carters gathered around the hospital Christmas tree, their diamonds gleaming as much as their capped smiles. There had recently been a magazine spread too on Jack’s parents, but she didn’t want to think about Jack now so Nina got straight to the difficult point. ‘I’m sorry that you’re upset about the department’s decision.’

‘Thanks.’ Nina watched as Eleanor’s eyes filled up behind her glasses as she spoke. ‘I’ve listened to all that you’ve said and I’ve just spoken with Jack and he’s right—you made some very good points. It’s just that I saw what Hannah was like with her son. She was so distant and unfeeling and refused to take any responsibility …’

‘Addiction will do that every time,’ Nina said.

‘I know.’ Eleanor nodded.

‘And I can assure you that we will be watching Sienna very carefully. The real difference in this case is that there is a loving father on the scene. I really feel that if Hannah goes back to her ways of old and starts using again, then Andy will be the one raising Sienna …’

‘Far from perfect.’

‘Not so far from perfect.’ Nina smiled. ‘I think that he’d do a great job.’

As she said goodbye to Eleanor and headed off to find Hannah to let her know about the meeting, she paused for a moment by the water cooler and took a drink, Eleanor’s words still replaying in her mind.

Jack Carter thought she had made several good points.

Because she had made several good points, Nina told herself, screwing up the small plastic cup and tossing it into the waste bin.

She didn’t need his admiration, neither did she need his approval.

The only opinion Nina wanted from Jack was a professional one.

She just had to remember that fact.