The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son

One week to get their fill of each other.

His pager buzzed at his side. He lifted it from his waistband, glanced at the number, and sighed.

The hospital.

He called, spoke with the emergency room nurse, and hung up as Sage and Kimberly reappeared from hiding in the ladies’ room.

Sage gave him a look that answered his question of whether or not she’d cornered Kimberly in the restroom. She had, and Kimberly had apparently satisfied her curiosity. Or at least up to a certain degree as he got the impression Kimberly was a private person these days.

No doubt he’d be cornered by Sage at some point in the near future, but not tonight.

“Come on, we’ve got an emergency,” he told Kimberly, standing up, causing her eyes to widen with disbelief.

If he stood close enough to whisper in her ear he’d tell her that it wasn’t that kind of emergency, but he liked how she thought. But she’d sat down across the table and clutched her fork in a way that made him think she’d jab him if he made a sudden movement. He settled for a quick wink that let her know he knew where her mind was and that he liked her thoughts.

“A patient has been admitted through the emergency room and I’m on call. He’s in fluid overload and needs a workup for the CRT. I’m going to talk with the patient and his family and will likely schedule the procedure for the morning.” Daniel gave her an innocent look. “Tonight’s perfect timing for you to get extra training.”

“Okay.” Still eyeing him suspiciously, Kimberly nodded. She scooped her purse off the table and said something to Sage.

“Too bad I’m not on call tonight,” Greg teased, still eyeing Daniel with an odd look. “Of course, I could go for you and you could stay and have dessert.”

“I don’t think so.” Daniel shot his buddy a warning glance.

Greg laughed out loud, which irked Daniel. Sometimes his friend saw too much.

“Sage,” Daniel said. “You okay with dropping Greg off at the hospital so he can pick up his car? Otherwise, the walk might do him good.”

Sage batted her eyelashes at Greg. “I can do that.”

“I’ll see to it Kimberly gets back to her hotel.”

“No problem,” Sage assured him, giving Kimberly a conspiratorial wink. Kimberly’s face flushed bright red.

The two had done some female bonding in the ladies’ room.

Curious as to what had caused the crimson to stain Kimberly’s cheeks, Daniel intended to question her later. Right now he just wanted to get her away from their audience before she became even more resistant to his affection.

He turned to her. “Let’s go.”

Kimberly stood at the foot of the hospital bed where the patient who had been admitted through the emergency room lay. She reminded herself to stay focused on the task at ha

nd and not on the doctor examining the peaked-looking man.

Daniel hadn’t bothered changing into scrubs and still wore the khaki slacks and white shirt he’d had on at the restaurant. He studied the man’s electronic chart and Kimberly studied him while pretending her interest stemmed from professional curiosity.

He’d already reviewed the emergency room doctor’s notations and was now taking note of the vital statistics the nurse had recorded after he’d been transferred to his room.

Evert Reed had been battling congestive heart failure for several years, but had recently started having acute fluid overload which his high-dosed diuretics had failed to prevent.

“Dr. Kelley has you on intravenous furosemide to take the fluid off your lungs,” Daniel explained to the elderly man, who was propped up on two pillows and visibly struggling to breathe despite oxygen being delivered by a nasal cannula.

Two women in their late forties vigilantly observed from chairs along the hospital room wall. Both were the patient’s daughters and introduced themselves as Virginia and Estelle.

Daniel acknowledged them with a nod.

“Your wife?” he asked the man, his voice soft and full of compassion.

Kimberly admired how he looked at the whole picture and was trying to get a feel for the man’s support system as that greatly impacted recovery.