Surgeon Boss, Surprise Dad

“How’s my favorite patient?” he asked.

“Stable,” Kelly informed him, kicking into nurse mode. “Her last vitals were excellent.”

Dr Graviss pulled up Liz’s electronic chart and glanced over the information Kelly had entered earlier. When he’d finished, he turned and shook his head. “I was pleased to get Kelly’s call this morning that you were back in the land of the living. You gave us quite a scare.”

“I gave myself quite a scare,” Liz admitted.

“You’re banged up but, other than a few scars here and there, you should heal well.” His gaze dropped to where her right ankle was propped. “Except for the fractures.”

Liz looked at her bandaged leg. “How bad are the breaks?”

“Your distal tibia is going to have to be pinned together. Dr Bell will be by this evening. I suspect he’ll schedule surgical correction within a couple of days if you’re agreeable.”

“What about my…?” She hesitated. “Pregnancy?”

Kelly and Mona exchanged looks, but neither appeared surprised. More as if from the moment she’d woken up they’d been waiting for her to tell them. She’d wanted to tell Adam first.

Dr Graviss looked nonplussed. “Best I can tell, no harm was done during the crash. It’s fortunate that you’re not far along as your body cushioned the impact. Everything should be fine with the baby.” He glanced suspiciously at Mona and Kelly then his gaze met hers, as if he was wondering if they’d told her. “You knew?”

Her friends definitely had been waiting for her to say something. They must have wondered if she’d even known since she’d not told them.

“I knew.” She started to nod, caught her breath at the intense pain that shot through her at the movement, and spoke instead. “I saw an obstetrician yesterday.”

Had it really only been yesterday afternoon that she’d gone to Dr Saunders? That felt like a lifetime ago.

“I’ll get an ultrasound ordered. I ran the machine over you, but all I was checking was the baby’s status.”

“Everything looked normal?” Her hand still rested over her belly and she moved her fingers protectively.

“Everything looked wonderful. Your baby has a strong heartbeat, and you’ve not had any spotting. At this point, it’s unlikely the accident will cause any complications.” He gave a pointed look. “Just no stress allowed.”

No stress. Right. Because she’d had none of that for weeks and weeks now.

“Discussing surgery on my ankle won’t be stressful?”

He gave a wry smile. “I was referring to Adam. Does he know about the baby?”

“I haven’t seen Adam since before the accident. That I recall, that is.” Kelly and Mona had told her about him coming into the radiology room to check on her.

“He wants to see you, but I’ve forbidden him to come anywhere near you. Any more stress right now would be hard on you and on the baby. Until you feel up to it, I don’t want Adam here.”

A wave of loss washed over her. Dr Graviss had forbidden Adam to come near her? She supposed it made sense. She really didn’t need more stress. Stress did bad things to a person. Could prevent her from healing. Could cost her precious things.

Her baby was OK. That’s all that mattered right now. Everything else she’d deal with somehow. Just so long as she didn’t lose Adam’s baby. Everything else would work out. Maybe not as she’d hoped, how she’d dreamed, but she’d cope, find new dreams with her baby, and she’d count her blessings.

“Adam doesn’t need the stress either,” Dr Graviss continued. “He’s got enough on his plate.”

Liz stared at the doctor, knowing he knew more than she did. Lots m

ore. “Tell me.”

“The hospital board has summoned him for an emergency session.” He hesitated long enough that Liz knew he wasn’t telling her everything.

“Over May?” Liz moved, winced, but the pain didn’t lessen her worry over her friend. “I was told she was doing OK.”

“May is doing fantastically according to all accounts.”

“Then why would the board even care any more?”