Ozark Nurse — Fern Shepard

The man in her life was tall, blond Dr. Paul Anderson. Nurse Nora Hilton had fallen in love with the young surgeon almost from the moment they met. Their marriage plans were a lovely dream -- right up to the moment when he lost faith in his surgical skill and, without warning, shut Nora out of his life.

Stunned and hurt, she lost herself in her work. When a handsome, wealthy patient begged her to marry him, she was tempted. But could she ever really love him -- when her heart belonged to another man?

“Do You Want Us to Break Up?”

Nurse Nora Hilton asked Dr. Paul Anderson in a stony voice. “Because if you do, all you have to say is that you've stopped loving me.”

Paul's handsome face was strained and pale.

“Try to understand, Nora. I'm trying to do the decent thing -- “

“Remember who I am, Paul Anderson?” she cried. “I'm the girl who loves you, who has built all her hopes for the future around you!”

But even as she spoke, Nora saw the look in Paul's eyes as he turned away. Could she face the painful fact that she was about to lose the only man she'd ever loved?


Also published as: A Nurse's Longing