When Dr. Paul told Nurse Nora that he was finished as a surgeon, did that mean he was finished with her too?

“Love is all I have to offer,” Dr. Paul Anderson told Nurse Nora Hilton, “but you rate a man who can give you love plus all the good things in life you deserve.”

And Nora did deserve them, for as an adopted child, she had tried to earn the right that she belonged by carrying the emotional problems, the financial problems, the worries and frustrations of a widowed mother, a temperamental sister, and an irresponsible brother. And Nora could not…would not shove these responsibilities onto Paul’s shoulders.

But Nora loved Paul with all her heart, so when she saw Paul suddenly seem to lose faith in his surgical skill and shut her out of his life, she felt helpless…especially when Paul turned to beautiful, wealthy Rita Lansing for comfort. Would Nora, stunned and hurt, turn to millionaire Andy Fine who loved her? Could Andy take Paul’s place in Nora’s life and heart?

St. Catherine’s Hospital was located in Seaside, California, not far from San Francisco, but its main attraction for dark-haired, blue-eyed Ava Kendall was that there she could continue to surf — a thrilling sport that she had learned to love when in Hawaii.

Ava, after one unhappy experience, was through with men and ready to settle down to the serious business of nursing — and the fascinating game of pitting her skill against the giant waves.

But at St. Catherine’s, there was Blake Staunton, a surgeon with whom she worked almost every day. Almost too handsome, the aloof Dr. Staunton’s eyes held a brooding sadness that intrigued Ava.

She knew that he bitterly opposed surfing. Then she learned that he had lost his wife in a boating accident — and her heart went out to the doctor and his small nine-year-old son, Tony. Tony, in childish fashion, had decided that his father was afraid of the water and had chosen another hero to admire: Gary Hayden, the handsome owner of a surf-side hotel and a fearless surfer.

It was Gary who conceived the idea of a surfing act as a daring climax to the Water Carnival. No one could foresee the tragic aftermath of that ever-desired ninth wave.

Kate Saunders, a nurse on the staff of Mansfield Hospital as well as a graduate student in psychiatry at Stratton University, had a rigorous schedule and was glad to have the opportunity to take a working vacation as a ship’s nurse on a Caribbean cruise. Isolated from any news of her home town, it was only on her return that Kate found out that a sensational murder had taken place on the very night of her departure, that the chief suspect was one of her fellow students at the University with whom she had dined that same evening, that Kate was his alibi and a chief witness in his imminent trial.

The doctor to whom Kate was engaged advised her not to become involved — but Kate felt she had a duty to tell what she knew, however dangerous that might be.

When Dalwyn Rogers was hired as a nurse-companion to rich, handsome Vance Stafford, she couldn’t be sure if hers was a prize assignment or a booby prize. For Vance was the most exasperating patient in the world. Dalway could understand the bitterness he felt after being blinded in a tragic auto accident. But why did he refuse to help himself — and pin all his hopes on a future operation that had only a slim chance of restoring his sight?

Would Dalwyn’s skill and persistence — and growing love — be enough to turn her stubbornly helpless patient back into the vital young man he was meant to be?

Did she cut any ice with the man she loved?

Inga Larsen, showing a newborn babe to its father, a baby she had helped to deliver…

Inga Larsen, soaring through the air on ice skates amid the gasps of thrilled spectators…

Which was she, student nurse or rink champion?

And which was the right man for her? Scott Marshall, ice-skating master, idol of her childhood, or Dr. Thor Eriksen, whom she had secretly loved for three years?

Inga Larsen just did not know, and both men were not making it any easier for her to find out!