She’d been ecstatic, until she’d overheard a conversation not meant for her ears. A conversation when his buddies Larry and Tom had ragged him about Chelsea and the way she hero-worshipped him. Jared had snapped, telling them to shut up, but it had been too late. Laura had seen the truth on his face, and they’d argued.

Although not in the way she’d wanted, he had loved Laura and would have done everything in his power to make her happy, would have been a good husband and father.

He’d never gotten the opportunity.

That night, she’d swerved off the rode, hit a tree, and lost their baby and her life.

Guilt had held him captive ever since.

Guilt that said he didn’t deserve happiness, particularly not with Chelsea.

“Dr Jared?” interrupted his nurse, Kayla Welker. He’d hired Kayla the month he’d started at the clinic and he’d never had cause to regret his decision.

He blinked, clearing the past from his mind. For the moment, at least. “Yes?”

“Sorry to bother you, but I just put Anthony Rogle in room two. He’s wheezing. Do you want me to give him a breathing treatment, or would you like to check him first?”

“I’ll see Tony first. Go ahead and set up the nebulizer, though. No doubt, he’ll need it.” Jared followed Kayla to the exam room where the pale twenty-one-year-old struggled to catch his breath, wheezing audibly. A beautiful girl sat next to him, holding his hand and whispering assurances.

“Thank goodness, Dr Jared.” The young woman sighed her relief. “Tony is having another attack.”

“Hey, Emily.” Jared motioned for Kayla to start the machine as soon as she got the apparatus set up. He listened to Tony’s heaving chest. “Any triggering factors this time?”

Emily shook her head. “We were at work, and his chest started heaving. He used his inhaler, but his breathing didn’t get better so I drove him here. Doc, why has he started having these attacks? They scare the devil out of me!”

“Quit…talking…about me…like I’m not here,” the thin, pale young man ordered, giving his girlfriend an irritated look as he panted for air.

Kayla handed Tony the breathing apparatus, and he began inhaling the albuterol solution via the nebulizer. The noise of the machine droned through the otherwise silent room. When Tony gave the thumbs-up sign that his wheezing was starting to ease, Jared turned to Emily and Kayla.

“Keep an eye on him. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Two months ago Tony had suffered his first asthma attack. He’d had no prior history of problems. His episodes occurred mostly at work, but he’d had a few at home and one at his girlfriend’s family home.

His hand-held inhalers helped on occasion, but more and more Tony’s attacks weren’t eased without a trip into the office or the emergency room. More often than not, getting his attack under control required a steroid injection along with the nebulizer treatment. Jared tried to avoid the steroid shot if possible because of the potential side effects. Hopefully as Tony could already feel some relief, using the nebulizer, no injection would be needed today.

What was causing the young man’s attacks?

Developing asthma at twenty-one wasn’t a common phenomenon. They’d gone through Tony’s risk factors, and although he worked in the paint shop of a boat factory he always wore proper ventilation masks. There had been no new products or changes in the home and he didn’t have a pet. There were no recent illnesses and once the attack passed, Tony felt fine except for being tired, a frequent symptom following an asthma attack.

Jared saw his next patient, a schoolteacher needing a refill on her anxiety medication. When he’d finished, he knocked on Tony’s door. The nebulizer no longer hummed, meaning the treatment had finished.

“How’s the breathing?”

“Much better, Doc,” Tony answered, talking without sounding winded. Emily still sat, squeezing his hand and watching him nervously, like she expected his chest to heave again any moment. All that Jared had expected to see. What he hadn’t expected to see was Chelsea smiling at his patients, chatting with them while she packed up the nebulizer. What was she doing and where was Kayla?

Chelsea’s golden brown gaze met his and for a moment he felt as if she searched his soul, seeking answers to questions he couldn’t acknowledge. But then she slid on a professional façade, picked up the machine, and gave a tight smile.

“Kayla had some business to take care of, and I was between patients,” she said by way of explanation. Without glancing his way again, she pushed past him in the small room. Her shoulder brushed against his, making his nerve endings pulse to life. Her scent filled his nostrils, making him feel as if he was struggling for his next breath every bit as much as Tony had prior to his treatment.

When she closed the door behind her, he sucked in air, hoping to ease his oxygen-deprived brain cells, or whatever was making him feel so dizzy.

He turned to Tony and Emily. “What happened?”

“I was on break and all of a sudden I couldn’t catch my breath. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.” Tony placed his hand over his sternum. “Like I needed to rip my rib cage open so air could get into my lungs.”

How he’d just felt with Chelsea near.

He winced at the thought and focused on his patient. “You used your inhaler?”

Tony nodded. “I even took more puffs than I’m supposed to, but I just couldn’t catch my breath. I should probably take my nebulizer with me to work.”

“Are you using your nebulizer often?”

“I’ve used it some,” the young man admitted. “But since you started me on that asthma tablet I’ve only had to use the machine twice.”

“You’re using the inhaled steroid, too?”

“Just like you told me.”

“You haven’t thought of anything that’s changed within the past two months?”

“Same house, same car, same job, same girlfriend.” Tony shot Emily a teasing glance. “I could replace her and see if she’s the problem.”

She slapped his arm. “Then you really wouldn’t be able to breathe because I’d strangle you.”

The tender kiss she placed on his cheek and the worried way she watched each breath he took told another story.

Tony winked. “See what kind of abuse I have to put up with, Doc?”

“I see.” Jared smiled at the couple, wondering if he’d ever been that young. He had, of course. He’d foolishly thought he’d been in love and had destroyed much of his life. Destroyed Laura’s life. “I’m going to keep you here a while longer just to make sure you’re over the attack. I’ll have Kayla check on you in a few and if things are OK, we’ll let you go home. I’m going to go ahead and set you up to see a pulmonologist, though. That’s a lung specialist. Maybe he can figure out what’s causing these attacks.”

Jared planned to do more research that night to see if he could unravel any clues about why Tony had suddenly started having his attacks.

Although, recalling his dinner plans, his research might be later than he intended.

Darn Will and Leslie for putting him on the spot like that. There’d been no way for him to continue to refuse without raising their suspicions. He didn’t want to deal with questions about why he didn’t want to go, why he didn’t want to be around Chelsea.

He’d call and cancel because being near Chelsea definitely caused him breathing problems.

Chelsea brushed her hand over the clean lines of her cherry-wood desk. She glanced approvingly at the gleaming surface, smiling at how her first day had gone.

Other than Hannah Belew, all the patients had seemed to accept her and be pleased with their care. Chelsea was holding out hope that Hannah would schedule her pelvic examination and vaccination. Maybe the girl would decide to go to the local health department. Or decide not to have sex anymore.