Prognosis: Romance (Doctors in Training 4)

She gave a cup of coffee to her mother, who set it on the table next to her without tasting it. Shannon sat on the other side of the table and carefully sipped her own hot beverage, though she took little pleasure from the taste. Mostly it just gave her something to do rather than wring her hands.

“There’s James,” her mom said suddenly, turning on the couch.

Shannon set down her cup and twisted to look in the direction her mother indicated. James was crossing the room toward them, accompanied by a tall, thin woman in a white coat over blue scrubs. Rising to her feet, as were the other members of the family, Shannon searched James’s face anxiously, trying to read something…anything…in his tranquil expression.

“Mr. and Mrs. Malone?” the doctor inquired as Stacy and J.P. moved toward her.

Stacy nodded. “Yes?”

“I’m Dr. Luzader, a resident in the emergency department. I saw your son when he was brought in.”

“Dr. Luzader was my resident when I rotated through the pediatric ED,” James murmured to Shannon. “I told her I was a friend of Kyle’s family and she agreed to come out with an update.”

“Thank you,” she said fervently, squeezing his arm in gratitude before turning back to listen to the doctor.

Dr. Luzader explained that Kyle had been stable when taken into surgery, and that scans had shown no head injuries, which was a good thing. There was some internal bleeding, she said, probably from a lacerated spleen. Surgery would show if any other internal organs were affected.

“He can live without a spleen, right?” Stacy asked, pale but composed now.

“Absolutely,” the doctor assured her. “There are some risks of infection afterward, but you’ll be instructed about that if he does have to lose the spleen. It could be the surgeons will be able to repair the organ without removing it—it depends on how serious the injury was. The same with any other injuries they might find while they’re in there. Once his abdominal injuries have been addressed, the orthopedic team will take care of his broken leg. He’ll probably need surgery for that in a day or two, but I don’t know that for certain. I’m not an orthopedist.”

“So you’re saying that Kyle’s injuries are not life-threatening?” Hollis asked, a new hope lightening his deep voice.

“There are always some risks following surgery,” the doctor answered candidly. “Infection is a concern, but he’ll be monitored very closely for the next few days. From what I saw, and barring any complications, Kyle should be fine. Trust me, I’ve seen much worse injuries come through here, even tonight.”

Stacy blinked rapidly against fresh tears. “Thank you so much, Dr. Luzader.”

“You’re welcome. One of the surgeons will be out to talk to you when they’ve finished. In the meantime, if you need anything, just ask the hostess, okay? And if you have any questions, maybe young James, here, can answer them,” she added with a quick, teasing smile that pushed dimples into her milk-chocolate-colored cheeks and reflected in her dark eyes. “See if he paid attention when he was on my service.”

“Thanks, Kayla,” he said when she moved to return to her duties.

The doctor wiggled her fingers at him and kept moving.

It felt to Shannon as if the very air were lighter around her and her family after the doctor’s brief visit. She hoped they hadn’t read too much into the doctor’s guarded prediction that Kyle would be fine, but it was such a relief to see optimism returning to her parents’ and sister’s eyes.

She smiled gratefully at James again. “That helped us all. Thank you.”

“We were just lucky I happened to know the resident who saw Kyle. I certainly don’t know everyone who works here.”

“So Kyle’s going to be okay?” Virginia asked James, almost nudging Shannon aside to get closer to him. “That’s what the doctor said, right?”

“She said she’s seen much worse injuries,” he paraphrased. “There’s every reason for you to be positive about his prognosis.”

Under any other circumstances, Shannon might have been a bit amused by his careful wording. He was in physician mode, she decided, courteous, professional…just a little detached. And while she appreciated what he’d done for them thus far, she would rather he be her friend than the doctor at that moment.

Virginia continued to pelt James with medical questions, and he answered as patiently and thoroughly as if he were taking an oral exam, Shannon mused. He obviously knew his material and was able to explain it clearly enough for her family to understand. But there was still something different about the way he talked when he was being the doctor as opposed to just being James.

She was both fascinated and bemused by the contrast. She always had the sense that there was an invisible wall around his emotions, but the wall became even more opaque when he went into what she was beginning to think of as his “doctor mode.” She wondered why. And she wondered if his patients were drawn to his demeanor. Did they find comfort in his obvious competence or were they a bit intimidated by it?

She hadn’t even decided which way she felt.

It was almost eleven when the surgery was completed and the family was informed that Kyle was being moved to recovery. The surgeon, a gruff-spoken man with an intriguingly homely face and nota

bly graceful hands, assured them that Kyle was a lucky boy. The injured spleen had been repaired rather than removed, and the other injuries had been limited to contusions and relatively minor lacerations. The broken leg would require surgery, which would be scheduled through the orthopedics department, but that, too, should heal fully with proper care.

Shannon was finally able to draw a deep breath when the surgeon left the family alone again to process what they’d been told. The surgeon had promised to send someone out to get Stacy and J.P. soon so they could join Kyle in recovery before he was transferred to a room for the night.

“Thank heaven,” Virginia sighed, her face tired, but her eyes gleaming with relief. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, then tossed it in a nearby trash container. “Now if only we can keep him safe long enough to heal.”