Quinn's Choice

 

 

Blurb:

Trauma surgeon, Quinn Southgate, is about to marry the woman of his dreams—his soul mate—when the unthinkable happens. His pager goes off, along with those of half the congregation. As news of a major incident filters through the church, Quinn is torn. Work wouldn't have paged him if it weren't urgent, but this was his wedding day.

Liz Hastings can't believe it when her groom's pager sounds mid-ceremony. She gives him a non-negotiable ultimatum—answer that bleep and the wedding is off.

Whatever choice Quinn makes, both he and Liz will have to live with the consequences for the rest of their lives. And it isn't going to be an easy road for either of them.

Extract:

QUINN SOUTHGATE PERCHED ON the edge of the pew at the front of the church. Nerves as taut as a bow string knotted his shoulders, but he would not let the tension show on his face. His palms dampened and he scowled as he wiped them on his thighs. Why was he so nervous? He knew exactly what he was doing.
It wasn’t as if he were walking into the Emergency Department unsure of what complications his patient would present with when he got them into the OR. Or how bad the accident was when the paramedics requested a doctor go out to the roadside. As much as he loved his job as a trauma surgeon and now ED consultant, the variables presented by each case were numerous, usually complicated, and required every ounce of God-given skill he possessed.
Nor did he have some place else to be a week before Christmas. He wasn’t a shopping kind of a bloke—he’d decided years ago that gift cards were the way to go, along with the obligatory pair of socks.
No, he knew exactly what was happening and why he was in church on this very wet Saturday afternoon. He was getting married.
Yes, he, Quinn Southgate—Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Medical Science with honours, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England—was about to be wed.
Although why Liz insisted on a Christmas wedding he didn’t know—the busy season was already expensive, without organising a wedding on top. A summer ceremony would have been warmer, easier to have taken time off work, and the weather might have been a little more co-operative than it currently was. But then, this was England, so really he could expect no less.
That didn’t alter the fact that it should have snowed. Liz had included snow in her list of requirements for the day—right along with a white limo, a five course meal in a posh hotel, and a honeymoon somewhere hot and sunny. He’d tried reminding her snow in England came in January or February, not December.
As he’d predicted, it was pouring, and if the mammatus clouds hanging overhead were any indication, it would thunder before the service was out.
His throat clenched and he tried to swallow past the huge lump in his throat that had appeared almost out of nowhere. His tie threatened to choke him.
As per British tradition, he and Simon waited inside the church for the bride to arrive. She would be on her way, he hoped, having been the last to leave her parents’ house. Well, mother’s house. The car containing the bride’s mother and bridesmaids had already arrived. His second cousin from the US had found the whole idea confusing. No wedding planner, no bride room…he got the impression she didn’t think it was a proper wedding.
Quinn knew marrying Liz was the right thing to do. He loved her, and she loved him. They’d been together for years. A perfectly proper relationship, he’d drop her at her door, kiss her goodnight, and then leave.
His best man and older brother, Simon, clapped a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll turn up. Stop looking so worried.”
“I’m not worried. We’ve been planning this since I was in med school.”
“And putting it off almost as long.” Simon shot him a wry smile.
Quinn shifted in his seat. “Not putting it off. I wanted to get settled in my career first and pay off some of those student loans.” That excuse sounded lame even to him.
“Now look at you.” Pride shone in his brother’s voice. “My little brother, thirty-one, and already top of your field—not to mention one of the best trauma surgeons in the whole of England.”
“Well, in Newcastle, perhaps,” Quinn scoffed. He glanced behind him as Pastor Restall appeared.
The pastor gave him one of the reassuring smiles he was so good at. “She’s here. Would you like to join me at the foot of the pulpit?”
Quinn nodded. Not even giving his speech at med school graduation unnerved him this much. He rose and followed the pastor to the pulpit, Simon beside him. “You’ve got the rings?” he asked for the millionth time, aware that now he was standing every eye was on him.
Simon patted his pocket. “Yes.”
The organ stopped playing and Pastor Restall observed the congregation. “Please rise for the entrance of the bride.”
Behind him feet clattered as everyone stood. An expectant hush occupied the church.
Strains of Everything I Do, I Do It For You began quietly, building as Gray, a mutual friend from church, began to sing. The flower girl, Liz’s eight-year-old niece, Annie, slowly walked up the aisle, followed by his sister Sarah and Annie’s mother Felicia. Their dresses were crimson velvet with white trim, as befitted a Christmas wedding. Each bridesmaid held a bouquet of white roses with dark green foliage.
Quinn shifted his feet as he faced the pulpit. They’d rehearsed this several times the previous evening, wanting to get it just right. The first verse ended as the bridesmaids reached the top of the aisle.
He turned, eager for a first glimpse of his bride. Was this the same joy and expectation that Jesus felt at the thought of seeing his church gathered?
Just a few more minutes and Liz would be his completely. No longer would he have to pull back when kissing her. No longer would he have to keep his hands from wandering. His heart overflowed, and he beamed at the first sight of his beloved one.
Liz walked slowly, escorted by her brother, Ben, who was giving her away.
The tightness in Quinn’s chest increased as she grew closer. He smiled and was rewarded with a smile from behind her veil. She reached his side as the bridge finished, and he gripped her hand tightly as Gray began the last verse. He leaned close to her. “Hi,” he whispered.
Her smile lit her eyes. Her white velvet dress moulded to her figure, the neckline lower than what she normally wore, but still modest. “Hi,” she whispered back. The veil masked her pretty face, and he longed to pull it back and kiss her senseless.
“You look amazing.”
Her fingers curled around his as the music finished. “So do you.”
Pastor Restall welcomed everyone and introduced the first hymn. Quinn had chosen this version of Psalm 116. Liz had picked a version of Psalm 23 for the second hymn. The third and fourth, Praise Him You Heavens and Love Divine they’d chosen together.
The hymn finished, and the congregation sat down. Pastor Restall smiled as he spoke. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God…”
Quinn’s heart double-timed. Ten more minutes, and then Liz would have his ring on her finger. She’d belong to him.
Pastor Restall continued speaking. “Therefore, if any man can show any lawful impediment why they should not be joined together, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”
Silence fell.
Quinn held his breath. A few more seconds, then nothing could stop them.
Behind him a pager went off. Then another. Then another.
He glanced over his shoulder to see all his work colleagues pulling pagers out and peering at them. Something was wrong.
Dr. Helen Zees, his department head, pulled out her phone and ran to the back of the church.
Lightning flashed, thunder echoing soon after.
Pastor Restall cleared his throat. “Shall I continue?”
Quinn’s pager bleeped.
Liz’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Please tell me you didn’t bring your pager to our wedding?”
He pulled out the offending item and glared at it. “I had to, love.”
“It’s our wedding day. It’s meant to be the most important day of our lives. You promised you’d take a fortnight’s holiday.”
“I have, love.” He read the message and frowned. His stomach dropped about fifteen feet and the hair on the back of his neck rose. They were kidding, right? Today of all days, they call him into work? This had to be someone’s idea of a sick joke.
Dr. Zees ran back in. “Sorry to do this. We’re all needed back at the hospital. They’ve implemented the major incident plan. Multiple casualties from two trains.”
Half the congregation rose quickly and ran to the exit.
It wasn’t a joke. They wouldn’t have called everyone in just to wind him up. Quinn shoved his pager back into his pocket and stared at Liz, heart pounding. “I—”
“Don’t. You. Dare.” She glared at him.
“Liz, love.” He gripped her hands. “They paged me. They wouldn’t do that unless they really needed me.”
She pulled her hands free and folded her arms tightly across her middle. Tears glistened in her eyes. “I don’t believe this. This is a nightmare.”
Quinn was torn. “I love you with all my heart. You know that, but this…”
Liz’s bottom lip trembled. “You go and that’s it,” she hissed
“We can reschedule…”
“No, Quinn, we can’t. You leave now and it’s over. Me, the wedding, the honeymoon in the Maldives, our lives together, all of it. It’s your choice. Me or work.”
Quinn lifted her veil and cupped her face gently in both hands. He kissed her slowly and passionately. “I love you. Remember that. But I have to go.”
“Quinn…”
“I have no choice, love.”
“There’s always a choice. You’re just making the wrong one.” Despair filled her eyes. Her voice almost petulant and he half expected her to stamp her foot.
“Maybe I am.” He sucked in a deep breath. Leaving her was wrong, but letting those people die would be an even greater wrong. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the two or the one. “But it’s my decision, and they need me.”
He tugged off his tie and shoved it into his pocket as he ran to the doors at the back of the church, and out into the pouring rain. Lightning split the sky in two.
He glanced around the car park. Of course his car wasn’t here. He flagged down Dr. Zees as she drove across the tarmac towards the gates. Thunder crashed as she stopped and opened the window.
He leaned down and peered in. The rain plastered his hair to his head, dripping in his eyes and soaking into his hired suit. “I need a lift. My car’s at the reception venue.”
“Don’t be stupid, Quinn. Get back in that church.”
“They paged me. They need me.”
“Liz needs you. This is your wedding day.”
“Just open the door before I drown.” He climbed in, pushing the water from his short hair and did up his seatbelt. “Do you know any more about what to expect when we get there?”
“Only what they told me on the phone. Two trains and a car collided on a level crossing. It’s a mess by all accounts.”
Quinn glanced in the mirror.
Liz stood in the church doorway, flowers dangling from one hand and her veil blowing in the wind. Lightning flashed and thunder answered simultaneously as she slowly turned and headed back inside.
“You’ll regret this.”
Quinn turned his attention to his boss. “Maybe, but right now I have a job to do and lives to save. Let’s go.”