The Heart Surgeon's Secret Son
Nodding her approval, the woman flashed a smile at him. “Sign me up, Dr. Travis.”
“First we have to run the tests and you have to read the literature. We’ll meet back in a few days to go over the results and make a decision on the CRT pacemaker.”
Her forehead creased. “What’s CRT?”
“Cardiac resynchronization therapy. It’s a fancy way of saying that it will synchronize the electrical activity of the heart, making it beat as a complete unit.”
Mrs. Johnson gave him a blank look and he attempted to explain again in simpler terms, but she shook her head.
“If you say it’ll make me feel better, that’s all I need to know, Dr. Travis.”
He smiled, wrote out the order for the tests, and said goodbye to the woman he’d been seeing for several months.
“I’ll have Trina—” his nurse “—schedule these. I’ll check you again in a few days.”
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nbsp; If Mrs. Johnson’s tests came back showing her to be a candidate for the CRT pacemaker, he’d squeeze her in toward the end of the week so Kimberly would get to observe.
Kimberly. He’d put her from her mind for…he glanced at his watch…five minutes. She’d still be in the cardiac lab.
And he had more patients to see and needed to keep his mind off her.
Kimberly was brought to Daniel’s office after Dr. Gregory Jessup had finished the CRT pacemaker placement in an eighty-year-old woman. He pulled up a computer video feed of a procedure Daniel had done early on in the study phase, explaining how the device worked and differed from other pacemakers.
“I’ve got to run to a meeting,” the dark-eyed and dark-haired doctor in his early thirties said. Dr. Jessup had a quick smile that reached his eyes. He’d flirted a little, but in a no-pressure sort of way. She got the impression from his easygoing comments that he was just a natural flirt and one of those people everyone liked.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, smiling sincerely. “Thanks, Dr. Jessup.”
“It’s Gregory.” He nodded at the computer screen. “That should keep you entertained until Daniel finishes with his patients. If not, there’s always solitaire.”
He shot her a wink and reluctantly left Daniel’s office.
She watched in fascination as Daniel threaded a wire lead into the right upper chamber of a heart. With hands steady enough to make a neurosurgeon envious, he screwed the lead into the atrium wall. Two more leads followed. One in the right ventricle, one in the left.
The man was a brilliant cardiologist. She didn’t have to have five years of cardiology nursing experience to recognize his skill.
Not only was he good at healing hearts, but also at making each patient feel important, special.
He’d always made her feel special, too.
Right up till she’d found out they’d made a baby.
Then everything had changed.
“You looked bored.”
Daniel spoke from beside her, causing her to jump. She’d been lost in thought and hadn’t heard him enter his office, much less come to stand beside her.
She glanced up, leery of the twinkle in his eyes. She didn’t begin to understand how his mind worked, but found his smile irresistible and felt her own lips curving.
Hastily, she glanced at the computer monitor. “The procedure is fascinating, as is the CRT pacemaker. I wish I understood all the aspects of how it works.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry. By the end of the week you’ll be wishing I’d shut up about the CRT.”
“I doubt that.” She’d always found her job fascinating. Unable to stay away, her gaze returned to him. “I hope it’s okay that Dr. Jessup let me wait here.”
“No problem.” He watched her a moment then his gaze lowered to her mouth.