* *
As much as Daniel tried to keep his interactions with Annabelle completely normal during surgery the next morning and throughout the day, the strain between them hung in the room like a thick cloud.
He’d always prided himself on being tough but fair. But something about Annabelle seemed to bring out an extreme version of his stern and unyielding side. The scowls she’d sent on and off all day made him start to hear it and see it in himself, and he knew that was something he had to fix.
Ultimately, the only thing that mattered was delivering the best care they could all give to each and every patient. Not anyone’s fragile feelings. After all, delicate surgeries weren’t a popularity contest or touchy-feely bonding with medical friends, they were about results.
But part of good patient care was having a cohesive team that worked well together. Something he’d allowed himself to forget when he’d first seen her here, letting his distrust of her overflow into the OR. Five years ago she’d earned his conviction that she shouldn’t be working on these kinds of surgeries, and he stood by what he’d said and done back then. But her work here had been good so far, and he should probably tell her that. Maybe it would make everyone on the team feel less stress in the OR.
One glance at her tight lips and stony expression as she removed the IV lines from their patient told him that fixing, at least a little, the rift between them wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe it was just too late, pointless even, since they wouldn’t be working together much longer.
Daniel drew in a deep breath and shoved away those questions to focus on the patient, checking to make sure all his vital signs were where they should be post-op. “He looks good. Nice job, everyone.” He pulled off his gloves and scrub cap, then rolled his head to relieve the tense kinks after hours of being mostly stationary during surgery, pausing briefly to look at Annabelle out of the corner of his eye as he did. He watched her face soften as she talked to the child and stroked his cheek, helping him awaken, and had to admit to himself again how wonderful her bedside manner was. Something not true of every anesthesiologist. “After he’s in Recovery, we’ll stretch our legs and break for dinner. Then I’d like to get one more in tonight.”
“I’m all for that,” Jennifer said as she cleaned the instruments. “I need a serious bellyful of food first, though. Who’ll be the last patient?”
“A little girl with patent ductus arteriosus,” he replied. “I thought about moving her down the list, maybe seeing her next time because she’s doing all right at the moment, but I figured since it’s going to be a comparatively easy and short surgery we can fit her in for the ligation tonight. What do you say we eat, then get back here in an hour so we can all get a decent night’s sleep afterwards?”
“No arguments from me,” Karina said.
He noticed Karina and Jennifer glanced at Annabelle, both looking a little concerned. Probably wondering if she’d eat with them, since she’d declined to join them at lunch. Maybe they knew as well as he did that it was because she didn’t want to make small talk with him. Since he didn’t particularly want to do that either, he wondered why it had bothered him that she’d eaten alone.
Annabelle didn’t say a word on their trek along the scrubby, rock-strewn path back to the hotel, even though the nurses chatted nonstop. The conversation sounded a little forced, and he had a feeling they were trying to make up for the discomfort hovering in the air.
Daniel couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Annabelle, noting the way the hair tucked behind her ears was starting to curl, as it always seemed to do around this time of day once she took off her scrub cap. Even this late in the day, the temperature was still in the mideighties, which might be why he was sweating. Or maybe it was because he was trying to figure out what to say to her.
Except her attention seemed utterly focused on the path ahead of them. A focus so intense he couldn’t imagine how she managed to stumble over a stone, but he saw her toe catch just before she plunged headlong toward the rocky path.
His heart gave a jolt and he leaped toward her, shooting out his arm to grab her before she ended up falling flat and hurting herself. His other arm instinctively wrapped around her back as he yanked her upright, pulling her hard against his chest. The feel of her full, soft breasts pressing against him somehow had him folding her even closer as her startled eyes looked up into his. The moment lasted long, breathless seconds and he realized he didn’t want to move.
Her eyes seemed to reflect the same uncertainty he felt until she pulled herself free, nearly stumbling again in her haste to step away. The confusion he’d seen in her gaze morphed into an icy stare that seemed to instantly cool the temperature down about ten degrees. It was the kind of expression that the term if looks could kill was based on.
“You okay?”
“Fine. Thanks.” She took a few more steps away. “Listen, I kind of want to be alone for a while,” she said, directing her comment to Jennifer and Karina. “I’m going to grab some food from the hotel and eat by myself again. See you all back in the OR.”
He watched her hips sway as she hurried ahead of them; how she somehow made scrubs look almost sexy, he didn’t know. Feeling relieved that he wouldn’t have to figure out how to make small talk with her, or endure being shut out and ignored throughout dinner, he realized that, at the same time, disappointment filled his chest that she wouldn’t be at the table with them. Which made zero sense, and he disgustedly shook it off. He’d just have to make time later tonight to talk with her alone and try to clear the air.
“Is something bothering Annabelle?” Karina asked in a low voice.
“Not sure.” Jennifer glanced up at Daniel, and it was pretty clear she knew exactly what was bothering Annabelle. “I think she might be unhappy that the shipment of equipment hasn’t made it here yet.”
“What shipment?” Daniel asked, wondering if there really could be a reason she was unhappy besides her anger at him.
“She has that Med Mission Wishes nonprofit she set up a few years ago, you know? She’s been collecting the newest batch at her hospital for about three months, but for some reason what she wanted sent here hasn’t shown up yet.”
“Med Mission what?”
“Wishes. It might be available where you work, since she’s grown it so much. Bins are set up in hospitals for people to save all the stuff that would normally be thrown away but which can be used in places like this.”
“Such as?”
“Things like tubing and new syringes, airway stuff, outdated surgical tools, all kinds of things. You know how much is thrown out at home, even if it’s brand new and the hospital just has a new vendor or something.” Jennifer gave him a look that said he should know all about this nonprofit. “So she started the organization, and after a while it grew so much she pays someone to run it now. To get it collected and inventoried and warehoused in a building in Chicago. Then medical missions from all over the world buy it by the pound.”
“Ah, I remember you were about to say something about this before, but for some reason Annabelle didn’t want you to.”
“Usually she wants to tell everyone, to get them involved.” Jennifer gave him a pointed look that said she knew all about the issues between the two of them.
“She’s the one who started it?” He wanted to be clear on that, since he just might have to talk with her about it. It was a smart thing to be doing, and they definitely needed to bring it to his hospital in Philadelphia.
“Yeah, she was appalled by the waste when we barely have the minimum of what we need to make these clinics run. Their website shows all the places in the world where Med Mission Wishes materials are used now. I admire her so much, especially considering where she came from. I don’t know a single person working at these medical missions who cares more about the people we serve here. And about all the folks coming to the Chicago free clinics, too.”
“What do you mean, where she came from? Isn’t