Surgeon Boss, Surprise Dad

“Can I get you something to drink? A snack?”

“I don’t even know if there are any groceries here, but I’m not hungry.” She shook her head, folded her hands in her lap and closed her eyes, as if dismissing him. “You can go now.”

It looked like he’d got what he’d thought he wanted. Liz was apparently finished with him. “I stocked the fridge and cabinets before I picked you up from the hospital.”

Adam had gone grocery shopping? Didn’t his housekeeper normally do that for him? “Flowers, car, and grocery shopping? My, oh, my, you have had a busy morning.”

Adam bit his tongue. It would be so easy to spit out a snappy comeback to Liz’s snide remarks. Too easy. Which was what she was going for.

“More so than you’d ever imagine.”

He’d been doing a lot of thinking about the future and he’d come to a conclusion. He’d given in his medical leave from the hospital. Until his MS improved, until Liz improved, he wouldn’t be returning to his practice.

He wanted his baby to have his name, wanted Liz to have his name when their baby was born.

But she wasn’t ready for a proposal. She needed to know he was sincere first. He understood that and would spend however long it took to prove himself to her.

“We left the hospital before they served lunch, so I’ll fix something.”

“Don’t bother. I’m not hungry.”

“No bother. You can eat whenever you’re ready.”

Not only had he bought groceries, but he’d gone by the mom and pop diner he and Liz loved and brought back take-out, along with extra dessert.

When he set the plate of food in front of Liz, she glanced at it, then up at him, a torrent of emotions crossing her face. “Banana pudding?”

“And chicken noodle soup.” He gestured to the bowl with the stack of crackers to the side. “I know you’ve still not been keeping a lot in your stomach.”

She seemed lost for words. Perhaps a good thing since everything she’d said to him so far today had been hostile.

“Have you had much morning sickness?”

She groaned. “I really don’t want to have this conversation, Adam.”

He shouldn’t have pressed, but he wanted her to open up to him so badly. “What do you want, Liz?”

“I’ve already told you.” She pinned him beneath her golden gaze. “I want you to leave.”

Kelly shook her head as she helped Liz settle onto the love seat in the barren living room of her house. Her foot was propped up on pillows and a wheeled walker sat next to the sofa.

Kelly had come by at the end of her shift and helped Liz to the bathroom, helped her sponge bathe.

Just being clean and in her own clothes made Liz feel more human, more like her old self.

“Where’s Adam?”

“He left while you were in the bathroom. Said he had to run a few errands,” Kelly said.

“Good. I’ve been telling him to leave all day. Glad he finally took a hint.”

Kelly winced. “Are you sure about this, Liz? Maybe you should give him a chance. It can’t have been easy these past few weeks between Gramps’s death, being diagnosed with MS, the problems with the board and May’s surgery. Adam’s been through a lot.”

“And I haven’t?” Liz asked. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

Kelly checked the positioning of Liz’s leg, rearranged the pillows until she liked the angle and then gave Liz the remote control to the small television set. “Yours, of course, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see things from Adam’s point of view.”

“I thought you wanted to kick him.”