then.” There was a hint of admiration in her voice and it secretly pleased him that he had impressed her.
Don’t think about that.
All eyes in the gallery were focused on Dr. Ootaka and his team.
“Do you know what injection I gave Ms. Bayberry before we came in here?” Mindy asked casually.
“Is this a test?” Sam asked confused.
“Sort of. Just passing some time. So do you?”
“Since the risk of pre-term labor is high I would hope that you injected some corticosteroids into her, thus speeding along lung development of the babies.”
“Correct, Dr. Napier.”
“I’ve dealt with preemies before, Dr. Walker. I do work in pediatrics.”
“What about a micro-preemie? Have you ever delivered or worked on a micro-preemie before?”
Sam grinned behind his mask. He could never forget Maya, who was Enzo’s niece. He had been there when she’d come in. She had been his charge and he’d made it his personal mission to take care of her. Maya was alive because of him. “I have. In my first year.”
“You’ve seen a lot, then,” Mindy remarked.
“I have, and I hope to see more when I gain a fellowship spot with Dr. Chang.”
“No disrespect to Dr. Chang, but she’s not a neonatologist. If you want to work with preemies you should be working with Dr. Hall in the NICU.”
“Dr. Hall is a great surgeon, but I need a peds fellowship before I move into neonatology. Like you, I want many feathers in my cap.”
“You’re very sure of yourself.”
Sam didn’t respond. They’d had this discussion before and it didn’t bother him that she thought of him that way. In surgery that was a compliment. Suddenly an alarm went off and Mindy leapt to her feet.
“Dr. Walker, what is going on down there?” Dr. Ootaka demanded. “This is a delicate procedure.”
“I am well aware of that, Dr. Ootaka,” Mindy snapped. “One of the twins is distressed.”
“Is she in labor?”
Mindy shook her head. “No. Just the baby being active and jostling around.”
The general surgical team had stopped what they were doing so as not cause any more damage by the moving baby and because of that Linda’s blood pressure went down.
“Dammit,” Mindy cursed under her breath. “We have to get that baby to calm down. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to deliver or risk the mother bleeding out because they can’t repair her spleen.”
Sam thought back to when his stepmother had been pregnant with twins. The boys had been active and the only way his father had been able to get them to settle down had been to talk to them softly, in a deep, even voice.
“Let me try.” Sam stepped forward and placed his hands on Linda’s belly. Leaning over, he began to recite an old Gaelic song his father used to sing to his brothers. He was very aware that all eyes were on him and that everyone was listening to him sing, but he didn’t care.
He’d made a promise to Linda Bayberry. It was better if the babies stayed in utero.
The alarms disappeared, the jostling settled and the babies were no longer a threat to their mother’s spleen removal.
“Whatever you’re doing, Dr. Napier, keep it up,” Dr. Ootaka said. “It’s unconventional, but it works and that’s the most important thing.”
It was a compliment and Sam took it and continued singing, his hands on the side of Linda’s abdomen where the more restless twin was. As if in appreciation of his singing, a gentle kick nudged his palm, reminding him why he did what he did in the first place.
Mindy smiled as she watched Mr. Bayberry lean over and kiss the top of Linda’s head, his hand on her belly. Linda was still groggy and missing her spleen, but the babies were okay, though Mindy had every intention of keeping Linda in the hospital for some time to monitor her, especially since she’d had a major organ removed.
It was touch and go, especially when that one twin had started acting up and then Sam had stepped up and calmed the fetus down. As if the fetus had known the mother trusted him.
He’d sung to the babies. Calming them and melting her heart.
Would Dean ever have done that? She seriously doubted it.
Sam might put up barriers to keep people out, but he had such a soft spot, especially when it came to children, and for her that was something that was highly attractive in a man.
Dammit.
Mindy shook her head and headed down to the cafeteria to get something to eat. It was late at night so really she should just head for home, but she wanted to stay and monitor Ms. Bayberry through the night.
The cafeteria had limited service so late, but at least she could get a sandwich from a machine and coffee. When she entered the dimly lit cafeteria there was one other soul there, hunched over a table, eating a pathetic-looking sandwich and nursing what looked like a generic can of diet soda.
Walk away.
Only she couldn’t, because she was a weak fool. “You did good in there today.”
Sam looked up. “Dr. Walker? I thought your shift was over?”
“I could say the same thing about yours as well, Dr. Napier.”
Sam shrugged. “I made a promise. I’m going to stay here and monitor her for the night.”
“Funny, that’s what I thought I was going to do.”
Sam cocked an eyebrow. “An attending? Usually attendings fob those kinds of jobs off on us lowly residents or even lower interns.”
Mindy chuckled. “Mind if I join you?”
“No, not at all.”
Mindy sank down into the hard plastic chair and let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t realized how long she’d been standing.
“Is the patient’s husband with her?”
Mindy nodded. “He is. She’s still quite groggy, but in stable condition.”
“Good. Are you planning on keeping her in the hospital for a while?”
“Yep. She needs to heal. She’s had major surgery and is pregnant with twins, which adds an extra burden on the body. I’ll probably keep her here until those babies are ready to be born.”
“That’s a long time.”
Mindy shrugged. “The protein in her blood was a little high for my liking and as I gave her an injection of cortocosteriods the chances that she could develop pre-eclampsia are slightly higher now. I’d rather have her here, where I can watch her.”
“Now, that I didn’t know,” Sam remarked, as he slid the uneaten half of his sandwich toward her.
“What?” Mindy asked, gladly taking the sandwich.
“The risk of pre-eclampsia and the ACS.”
“Any time you give a pregnant woman a drug it’s risky. When you add the stress of twins, well… Mindy trailed off. “We’ll keep an eye on her.”
“I will. You should go home and sleep. You look like you didn’t get much sleep last night.” And then he winked, causing her to blush.
“That was inappropriate, Dr. Napier.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. When I get tired I get a little punchy and, besides, you’re eating my sandwich.”
Mindy chuckled.