Gregory hesitated a moment. He sighed, looked defeated at the news he’d come to deliver. “Ken Reynolds crashed on the operating table. I tried everything I knew to do, but I couldn’t bring him back.”
Weary with fatigue, Kimberly made her way to the cardiac lab.
Nervous flutters made her feel nauseous.
How would Daniel react to seeing her this morning? He’d disappeared while she’d sat in the waiting room, waiting with Beverly and Devon for their family to arrive to take them home.
She’d cried until she’d had no more tears to cry as she’d held the sobbing woman. When Beverly had gone into hysterics and Kimberly and one of the nurses had insisted she go to the emergency room, Kimberly had sat with Devon. When he’d woken up, she’d taken him to his mother and stayed until Beverly’s parents had arrived.
She hadn’t seen Daniel since he’d let go of her arms and she’d rushed to find Beverly. Gregory had stayed with Daniel in his office. When Kimberly had returned much later, they’d both left.
Daniel. Daniel. Daniel.
Part of her felt relief that he finally knew everything about Ryan and the way she felt about him.
Not that he’d acknowledged her love, but having told him everything in her heart made her feel freer than she had in years.
She’d been meeting Daniel each morning outside his cardiology clinic, waiting with Trina until Daniel arrived. With it being Saturday, the clinic was closed and she made her way to the women employees’ locker room on the cardiac floor and changed into hospital scrubs. She’d go straight to the cardiac lab.
She would have loved the opportunity to talk with Daniel last night after consoling Mrs. Reynolds, but maybe he’d needed time alone to think about the things she’d told him. Perhaps that’s why he hadn’t joined them in the waiting room, as she’d expected him to do eventually.
Although she suspected it had had more to do with facing Devon Reynolds’s grief.
Kimberly went to the cardiac lab, but found the room empty.
Going to the closest nurses’ station, she offered a small smile.
“Can you tell me if Dr. Travis’s procedures for this morning have been relocated?”
The nurse gave a surprised look. “Dr. Travis has already left for the day.”
Kimberly glanced at her watch. Eight forty-five. The first procedure was scheduled for nine.
“Already left? The pacemaker placements were canceled?”
“No, Dr. Travis bumped up the schedule. He finished the last patient this morning at seven.”
He’d already finished? “He’ll be by later to discharge the patients, then?”
“Actually, he mentioned that Dr. Jessup would be covering for him for the rest of the day and would come by this afternoon to discharge the two patients who’ll be going home. Mrs. Johnson will be staying overnight for observation.”
Kimberly took a deep breath. “So Dr. Travis won’t be back at the hospital today?”
The nurse shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
And she was leaving this afternoon.
That’s when Kimberly remembered just how little she knew about Daniel’s life.
She didn’t have his home number, didn’t have his address. Nothing.
“I know you’ve seen me in here with Dr. Travis this week. I work at Cardico and will be leaving this afternoon. Is it possible for you to have Dr. Travis paged for me?”
The nurse looked undecided. “Is it an emergency? I’m really not supposed to.”
“You can’t page him unless it’s an emergency?”
“No.”