Not that it was going to get her anywhere. Ben had been at pains to prove he wasn’t interested. So why return her kiss? Why the reaction to it?
* * *
‘Bonjour, Heart Lady and Ben. Welcome to our teaching hospital.’ Luc air-kissed her cheeks, then turned to Ben, his hand out in welcome. ‘How’s your friend John?’
‘He was very talkative when I called him this morning. A good sign. His doctors are suggesting he can move to London in a day or two.’ They were being overly cautious, probably because he was one of them. Thankfully John hadn’t put up any argument and seemed happy to go along with whatever he was told to do. ‘He’s had a big shock, and I think he’s still working his way around how lucky he is.’
Luc nodded. ‘It takes time. Then he’ll be wanting to rush around doing so much in case he has another attack and misses out on life.’ Indicating they should follow him, he continued, ‘We’ll go across to the lecture hall where the students are awaiting your arrival.’
He led them back to where they’d come from, taking a much shorter route.
‘Definitely Chinese,’ Ben muttered to Tori. ‘This guy’s got it sussed.’
Her quick, controlled smile told him she’d got herself together again. What had caused that stunned-mullet look on her face minutes ago? Talk about a mixed page, impossible to read with any accuracy. Now, there was something different. He’d always known what Tori had been thinking, almost before she’d thought it, but, then, she hadn’t wanted to hide anything from him back then.
They stepped out into the sunshine briefly before finding themselves in another massive building and being led into an amphitheatre full of people. The noise level was deafening and completely unintelligible to him.
Ben felt Tori hesitate, saw her shoulders tighten and then she stepped into the fray.
Luc introduced them to their interpreter. ‘These students are so excited about you coming to talk to them. You won’t hear a whisper once you start speaking.’
Ben felt uncomfortable at the accolades Luc laid on about him. Yes, Tori was awesome and deserved every word, but not him. He’d never be entitled to such praise, not when a family still grieved for their mother, wife and sister because of his error. He thought of that woman a lot, but more so since he’d caught up with Tori again. No doubt because the woman had been part of what had been the final straw in their disintegrating marriage.
‘Students, put your hands together for Mr Ben Wells from London, and before that New Zealand. Which for some of you I need to explain is a very small country at the bottom of the globe.’ Luc waited for the clapping to stop, then added, ‘Unfortunately they’re very good at rugby.’
The room erupted into good-natured laughter and, standing at the lectern, Ben joined in. When he could be heard he said, ‘Wait until you hear Madame Tori Wells talk, then you’ll really understand how fanatic we Kiwis are about the game.’
‘I think we already know,’ Luc muttered close to the microphone, and got another laugh from his students. This was a more relaxed director than the man who’d been overseeing the conference. Here he was not only in charge but had the knowledge and experience this roomful of people hoped to gain. This was his patch.
Ben cleared his throat and began. ‘I’m going to digress from the original talk for a moment. In London we are just starting to use hearts that haven’t been kept pumping in brain-dead donors for transplant operations. This is a very new and innovative procedure with so much potential for saving lives it’s mind-blowing.
‘These hearts are retrieved from post-mortem patients and are reactivated in what is called the heart-in-a-box machine. The heart is kept warm, the heartbeat is restored and then a fluid is used to reduce damage to the muscle.’ He had the students entranced right from the get-go. No surprise there. It was exciting medicine. ‘Hearts that have stopped beating for up to twenty minutes have been used in this technique.’
Winding up, Ben told his audience, ‘This is edge-of-the-seat medicine, exciting and glamorous—if it goes well. It is also not for the faint-hearted. The potential for things to go wrong is huge and terrifying, not only for the patient but for the surgeons. Once the operation is started there is no going back.’ One thing to come out of his error in Auckland was that he laboured the point with anyone who’d listen about keeping a clear head and the facts straight and constantly up-to-date. ‘This kind of surgery is very intense, as is all surgery. The rewards are beyond explanation, and are why I do what I do.’
There. He’d laid his heart on the line in front hundreds of eager young people. But it was Tori he turned to. There were tears in the eyes she raised to his. Her smile was quivery and arrowed straight to his heart. She was clapping as hard as anyone in the room, and was the only applause he wanted.
Luc was on his feet. ‘Thank you, Mr Wells. I know everyone here was as enthralled as I was to hear what’s happening in your field.’
Ben acknowledged the audience with a wave before sitting down beside Tori. ‘Now for the star of the show,’ he said softly just beside her cute little ear. ‘Go get ’em, girl.’
She rolled her eyes and curved her mouth into a gorgeous smile. ‘Fat chance when you’re talking about the exciting stuff.’
‘I was the entrée, you’re the main course.’ She’d blow their socks off.
And she did. Tori had every person in that auditorium leaning forwards, ears straining, eyes wide, some mouths open, as they took in the Heart Lady’s words, her passion, her need for them to understand hers was grassroots cardiology and that it was as important as every other specialty out there.
During the first video clip of the lad, Thomas, a pin drop would’ve been loud. He’d always expected the best from her, and she’d delivered, but not to him. She was going from strength to strength, never standing still. Pride swelled inside Ben, filling his lungs and making breathing an effort, warming him throughout and curling his toes. Tori was awesome. Beyond awesome. Her passion for her work poured out of her.
She used to have that depth of passion for me. Or so I thought.
Had Tori plugged into her work when they’d split up? Did this clinic of hers take up all her passion now? Was there any left over for anyone else? Him? The pride remained, but the warmth cooled as reality hit home. Whether she cared for him or not, Tori would never give up her work and, what’s more, he’d never ask her to. Tori had found her niche and it was too important to her to ask if she’d consider anything else. Like there were grounds for her doing so anyway. We haven’t returned to that state of bliss where our love conquers all. Yeah, like that worked last time.
And now, knowing what he did, it sure as hell wouldn’t work at all. Ben glanced around, saw the wrap-up clip of Thomas coaching the school team and Tori’s audience rising to their feet, clapping hard. Concentrate.
‘One final thing.’ Tori held up her hand for silence. ‘Please, please, don’t forget the small things in medicine. They’re what grow into huge, and often detrimental, problems for our patients. Rheumatic fever is a prime example. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.’
Luc hugged her before turning to his students. ‘The Heart Lady reminds us all why we practise medicine. Never forget this lesson.’
Ben doubted anyone here was ever likely to. Tori packed a mighty punch.
As he knew all too well. What
was he going to do about that? They had three days left to explore Paris together. And three nights. Forget the nights. They were banned from being used the way he’d like to. His hand slapped his thigh. Why, when he felt used and deceived, did he still entertain ideas of making love with Tori? Why, when he couldn’t drop the whole pregnancy secret, did he want her so badly? What he wanted was to walk away from her at the end of their time in Paris with no lasting hankerings for her, no persistent niggles that he belonged with her, no matter what had gone down between them.
He just had to put more effort into focusing on what was important. Like his father had always told him, ‘Whatever you choose to do, be the best at it. Never take second place.’ To get that partnership he needed he had to remain focused on the clinic and his work there, not on what might’ve been or could be with Tori if they hadn’t both stuffed it up. Yes, his father might be overbearing and demanding but he did have a valid point.
‘You coming?’ Tori nudged him none too gently.
Ben glanced around, saw that the crowd of students had dissipated while he’d been miles away. ‘Lead on.’
Luc gave them a guided tour of the cardiac unit in his hospital. An entourage followed them all the time, hovering over every word either of them spoke to patients, nurses, doctors, some asking for interpretations.
As they stepped out of one room Tori leaned close to him and whispered, ‘This is embarrassing.’
As he inhaled her scent he whispered back, ‘The price of fame,’ and got a wonky grin in reply.
Luc approached a bed in which a girl lay staring out the window, a book open beside her. ‘Letitia, I’d like you to meet the Heart Lady.’ Turning to them both, he filled in some details. ‘Letitia had a heart attack two weeks ago, cause unknown.’
Ben shut down a gasp. Gasping in front of a patient was a no-no. But a heart attack? She was a child. ‘Any history of disease that could’ve caused heart damage in her early childhood?’