Heart Surgeon to Single Dad

THE HOSPITAL WAS abuzz with news of the handsome new heart surgeon taking Dr. Luiz’s place. How wonderful for the hospital that such a gifted surgeon had taken over their department. Blah, blah, blah. Natalie was sick of hearing about Matthew.

Sick. Of. It.

She simply could not escape him.

At work, everyone was talking about him.

At home, he invaded her sleep.

With her friends, well, she was seriously considering placing ads for their replacements if they didn’t quit going on about how lucky she was that her fabulous holiday lover had shown back up in her life. Permanently.

“You’re thinking hard on something,” Dr. Luiz said, drawing Natalie’s attention to where he had entered the break room just off the neonatal cardiac care unit where Natalie had made rounds. She’d stopped to get a cup of coffee because she’d been dragging.

She’d been dragging since she walked into Dr. Luiz’s office expecting to celebrate the culmination of years of hard work and instead had come face to face with her vacation fling.

Stirring the one packet of sugar she’d added to her cup with a tiny red straw, Natalie cut her gaze to Dr. Luiz, but didn’t meet his eyes. How could she, when she felt so betrayed?

“It’s been a busy morning,” she mumbled.

She’d had two new patient consults, plus had checked in on a five-day-old who she hoped to be able to transfer to a step-down unit soon.

Besides, what else could she say? She couldn’t really scream and yell at Dr. Luiz, could she? If so, what would she say? That she felt as if a man she’d trusted, her mentor, had betrayed her by bringing in Matthew?

“The Harris case?” She should have been thinking about the Harris case rather than what, or more truthfully, who, she couldn’t get off her brain. “The board approved the procedure,” Dr. Luiz continued. “I thought you’d have scheduled the surgery the moment the board gave you a thumbs-up.”

“I’m not sure Delaine Harris is the right first case.”

She’d been over and over the woman’s file. Delaine Harris was twenty-five years old and was pregnant with her first child. She’d already signed consent forms for the experimental procedure. They’d only been waiting on the board’s approval, which had come through the day before. At just under five months pregnant, Delaine had known her baby’s heart didn’t work properly due to her vessels being transposed since her first ultrasound. If they were going to do the surgery in utero, precious time was ticking away.

Timing was everything.

Natalie wanted to make sure Delaine Harris’s baby had every fighting chance and that doing the procedure in utero improved those odds, that nothing went wrong.

“Any particular reason why?”

None that she wanted to share.

Which was disconcerting, as she’d always discussed everything with Dr. Luiz. He’d mentored her from day one of her residency, when she’d been lucky enough to work with him.

Now, because of the situation with Matthew, she felt as if he’d let her down. Logically, she knew that wasn’t what had happened, but it wasn’t logic guiding her emotions.

“I’ve known you too long not to recognize that you’re upset about Dr. Coleman.”

Yeah, he’d also known her long enough to know she’d expected to be in Matthew’s place. Still, what could she say? Dr. Luiz and the board had done what they believed was best for the hospital. She couldn’t present a valid argument that said otherwise.

“He’s an excellent pediatric heart surgeon,” she said, for the sole reason that Dr. Luiz waited for a response.

“He’s someone whose work you’ve admired for years.”

“True.” But only because he hadn’t snatched her dream job. Which was unfair, but she didn’t care. Fair quit being a priority when he’d slept with her knowing he’d interviewed for her job and he hadn’t bothered telling her.

“It caught the board and myself off guard when he approached us about working at Memphis Children’s

.”

“I can imagine.” For all her gruff over Matthew being at her hospital, she did recognize his credentials.

“He’s told you his reasons?”