of kin is updated on the situation.”
“Of course, Dr. Walker.” Then he did a little bow of his head and headed back to the exam room where Ms. Bayberry was.
Mindy sighed. He was a pain, but he was a good physician. The way he was with Ms. Bayberry, reassuring her, taking care of her.
She’d seen the look of longing when he’d been watching Dr. Chang working on patients. The drive, that look of ambition, she knew it well. When she had been in her obstetrics fellowship she and Dean had worked side by side to gain the attention of one the most noted maternal-fetal specialists on the West Coast, Dr. Guild.
The spark of competition and rivalry. That’s what had driven her and Dean closer together, why the attraction had grown. At least, that’s what she’d thought. Now she wasn’t so sure.
It wasn’t competition or rivalry with Sam, but he was trying to show his self-worth. He was trying to prove to her that he was tough, that he didn’t have a soft underbelly when it came to his patients.
Or to her.
And then an image of their night together flashed through her mind. Of Sam and her together, his arms around her, his hands in her hair and his lips against her skin. It caused her blood to burn.
Mindy took a deep, calming breath. She couldn’t think of Sam that way. He was a resident. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. She didn’t want one. They were too much trouble.
Sam was here to learn from her. That’s all.
And Mindy had to keep telling herself that to get through the rotation, heck, the next week while he was on her service. When he was off her service and back in Peds then there would be a safe, comfortable distance between the two of them.
He was after a pediatric fellowship, not OB/GYN, and she didn’t have any room to mentor a fellow. OB/GYN fellows went through Dr. Finn. All she was here for was maternal-fetal medicine and infertility issues. She was here to bring in big cases, to bring in money for West Manhattan Saints.
She was here to rebuild her life and that life didn’t include Dr. Sam Napier.
It couldn’t.
SAM SHOOK HIS head at the nurse in the OR, who was holding up his cellphone again so he could see that it was buzzing. Sam mouthed the words “Not important” and “Scrubbing in” to the nurse, who was annoyed that his phone on the sterile tray was the only one giving her an issue.
He cursed under his breath as the water washed over his arms. He knew exactly what those texts were about.
Darn Langley.
“What’s with all the texts? Is it from the woman you slept with last night?” Rebecca asked, as she came up beside him to scrub in.
“What?” Sam snapped.
Rebecca smirked. “Oh, come on. I’m not an idiot. Holly told me all about you. So who is the woman?”
“I don’t know what Holly has been telling you. Whatever it is, it’s not true. No one and it’s not her.”
“Aha, so you admit you got some action.”
Sam cursed under his breath. “Would you stop concerning yourself in my personal life?”
“Okay, I didn’t mean to tick you off.”
Sam rolled his eyes and lathered the soap over his hands. “If you must know, it’s my mother. She got wind that I’m on an OB/GYN service this week as a sort of a punishment.”
Rebecca frowned. “I wouldn’t call working with Dr. Walker a punishment. Have you read some of her papers? She’s a big deal.”
“I didn’t say it was punishment.” In fact, it wasn’t. He was enjoying his time on Dr. Walker’s service, but he knew his mother. Nothing was as worthy or extraordinary as neuro.
Sam rinsed and then shook his hands over the sink. He headed into the OR and was helped into a gown and gloves. He was hoping that they were just a precaution, that they wouldn’t have to be used to deliver the twins.
Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the neonatologist team, ready and waiting. Then he saw Mindy, attaching the monitors and watching as the babies’ heartbeats came online.
Please, let them stay in.
He knew the survival rate for infants so young was low.
“Dr. Napier?” a small voice called out to him.
Sam went over to Ms. Bayberry’s side. She was trembling, waiting for anesthesia, her arms strapped down.
“I’m here,” he said.
There was relief. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Of course. Where else would I be?”
Ms. Bayberry smiled. “How are the babies?”
Sam glanced over at Mindy and the monitors. Mindy nodded and gave a thumbs-up.
“They’re doing really good, Ms. Bayberry.”
“Please, just call me Linda. I feel like an old lady when you call me that.”
Sam chuckled. “Deal. As long as you call me Sam, then.”
“Sam?” she said. “I would’ve never pegged you for a Sam. I thought you were Scottish.”
“I’m American too.” He winked.
“Is my husband on his way?” she asked.
“He’s in the waiting room. I’ll give him regular updates, I promise.” Sam glanced up as Dr. Ootaka entered the OR, with Rebecca trailing him. “I think they’re going to get started soon. I’m going to watch those babies like a hawk. I won’t let them out of my sight.”
Linda sighed and nodded, staring back up at the ceiling.
Sam stepped out of the way of the anesthesiologist and glanced up in the gallery. He could see Holly amongst the crowd of eager onlookers. Whenever Dr. Ootaka did a surgery he always garnered a lot of attention. Enzo and Kimberlyn would’ve been all over this. He missed them.
The room was filled with some of West Manhattan Saints’ finest surgeons.
His mother should be pleased with that, instead of harassing him with endless texts about wasting his time when he should be focusing on pediatrics. And if he’d changed his mind about pediatrics then he shouldn’t be slumming in OB/GYN when he could switch over to neuro. She could pull some strings.
Even though he hadn’t read the texts, he knew exactly what they said, because they were always the same.
Always. It annoyed him. As if he wanted her help. Sam didn’t want anything from her.
At least that was one thing his mother had going for her; she was a creature of habit.
Sam moved toward Mindy as Linda drifted off and they put the tube down her throat. Sam watched the monitor closely, keeping his distance.
“She can’t be under too long, Dr. Ootaka,” Mindy piped up as she took her seat next to the fetal monitor. The steady sound of the two heartbeats beat in time with his own.
“I’m well aware of that, Dr. Walker. Ten blade.”
The surgery began as laparoscopic incisions were made and the camera inserted to get a better look at the damage done to the spleen.
“You should really move closer,” Mindy whispered. “You could learn a lot from Dr. Ootaka.”
“I’m fine right here, Dr. Walker.” Sam eyed the monitor as the heartbeat of twin A began to rise, but just slightly.