The call came through that Benson was out of surgery just as Dare led his mother back into the waiting room.
Carly looked up and gave them a small smile. ‘The surgeon was just here and Benson survived the operation.’
‘Oh, thank heavens.’ Rachel held her hand over her heart.
‘He’s in a medically induced coma now, but Dr Lindeman feels confident that he got the tumour. If Benson makes it through the night he should survive the operation.’
Rachel frowned. ‘A medically induced coma? I’ve never understood that.’
‘It happens with most critically ill patients who need artificial ventilation to breathe,’ Carly explained. ‘It doesn’t mean anything dire,’ she assured her. ‘So don’t worry overly much. But he will be hooked up to a number of machines, so don’t panic when you first see him.’
‘Benson’s a hard nut,’ Dare said gruffly. ‘He’ll pull through.’
‘I hope so.’ Rachel buried her face against her son’s chest. Carly turned away. Now she could add a caring Dare to his list of attributes, which didn’t make her any more comfortable than before.
In fact, she should probably leave mother and son to it as soon as she’d checked in on Benson. It wasn’t as if she had to hang around for any personal reasons, was it?
‘Rachel James?’ The surgeon stopped in the doorway. ‘I can take you to see your father now.’
‘Really, I can see him?’
The surgeon nodded, directing Dare’s mother down the hallway.
Silence filled the small waiting area once they had left and Dare was acutely aware of Carly on the other side of the room.
‘Thank you for everything you did today,’ he said gruffly.
‘It’s what I was paid to do. I just wish I’d checked him over before he spoke with you. I might have been able to prevent his collapse.’
‘If anyone is to blame, it’s me,’ he said tersely.
Her startled eyes flew to his. ‘No, it’s not—I was the one responsible for him. It was my job.’
There was a brittleness to her tone he couldn’t place and it made him want to go to her and wrap his arms around her. Unfortunately the icy cloak she had enveloped herself in since they had arrived ensured that he didn’t. ‘It’s been a long day.’ She sighed. ‘The operation took a lot longer than I expected.’
Dare frowned. ‘Is that good or bad?’
‘It’s neither one way nor the other. It just is,’ she said. ‘The important thing is that the surgeon seemed pleased. That’s definitely a good sign.’
‘I figure doctors are like real estate agents,’ he said wryly. ‘They say what they think you want to hear.’
Carly gave a small smile. ‘That might be considered a touch unethical.’
Dare shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Thanks for staying... It means a lot to my mother. To me.’
She paused, her eyes full of questions he didn’t have any immediate answers to. ‘I’m... I’ve grown fond of Benson these past few weeks. He’s...’ She cut him a brief look. ‘He’s not as bad as you think he is.’
Dare didn’t think he was that bad at all anymore. In fact he’d grown quite fond of the old goat. ‘You still think me an utter bastard, don’t you?’ he rasped out.
Carly looked up at him in surprise. ‘No, I don’t think that.’ She paused. ‘I think... I think...’
She stopped, glanced at the floor.
Dare felt his gut clench. He wanted to hold her. Kiss her. ‘Red, I—’
‘He’s alive,’ Rachel said with enthusiasm as she flopped down in the visitor’s chair again. She gave them a relieved smile. ‘But he looks so frail. When will he wake up?’ she directed at Carly. ‘The surgeon wouldn’t give me a straight answer.’
‘Without seeing his report I can’t answer that, but he’s in the best of care here.’
‘I know. Thank you for everything you did on the way here. I’m sure he wouldn’t have survived without you.’
Carly’s sense of relief was immense and she felt immeasurably lighter for it.