suits sat and stood, all talking on phones.
“Mr. and Mrs. Clark?” Cody said, loud enough so he could be heard over the din.
“I’m Mr. Clark.” A man with graying temples stepped toward them. “This is my wife. Senator Ann Clark.”
A woman with a stately bearing and bloodshot eyes rose from the chair in the corner.
Cody stepped forward and offered his hand. “Senator Clark, I’m Dr. Cody Brennan. I’ll be taking care of your son’s knee and leg.”
She nodded. “I understand you’re the best at this type of surgery.”
“I’ll certainly be doing my best for your son.”
“His name is James.” The senator leaned against her husband.
“This is Stacey Ryder, my clinical nurse. She’ll be keeping you updated on how things are going in surgery. If you have any questions or concerns you let her know.”
Stacey nodded and gave the parents a professional smile of reassurance.
“How long should James be in there?” The senator sniffled. “It’s already been hours.”
Cody’s grave look didn’t waver. “My guess is it’ll be after midnight before you can see James. Now I have to go. I’ll be out to speak to you as soon as I’m done in the OR.”
The terrified parents just stared at him hopefully.
Cody lifted his chin toward the door. Stacey followed him out.
“I’ll show you the OR I’m using. Sit with them for a few minutes then come check in with me. I want to give them as much reassurance as possible. Based on what I’ve been told over the phone, the surgery is going to be a tough one.”
They entered the surgical unit. Cody was greeted by a couple of people in surgical scrubs. At the OR unit desk he introduced her to the clerk. While they were there a man hurried up to them. Again, Cody introduced her. It was nice he remembered to do so because it would have been easy for him to get caught up in the case and forget she was there. It made her feel valued. The man was the surgeon’s assistant who would be aiding Cody.
The two men went into a deep discussion about the amount of damage to the boy’s leg.
Cody finished with, “Then we’ll plan to stabilize everything tonight and go in again in a day or two to complete the repair. The swelling needs to go down and James needs to be stable first.”
“The general surgeon should be through in about fifteen minutes. They’ll be ready for you then.” His surgical assistant was already headed down the hall.
“Sounds good. That’ll give me time for something to drink and a granola bar.”
The striding assistant called over his shoulder, “The dinner of champions.”
Cody looked at her. “Come join me?”
Stacey followed him to a small break room a few doors down containing a couple of vending machines.
“May I offer you dinner?” Cody waved his hand toward the machines. She couldn’t help but smile at his levity. “I suggest you have something. It’ll be a long night.” He pulled some bills out of his pocket and looked at them.
Stacey had left the island without even thinking about getting her purse. She was at his mercy in more ways than one. “My, Doctor, you do know how to turn a girl’s head with a meal.” She tried for her best nineteen-forties seductive-movie-star voice.
He looked over his shoulder and gave her a dry smile. “I’ll try to do better in the future.”
“In that case, for now I’ll have a protein bar and a bottle of water, please.”
Cody nodded. “Good choice. I’ll have the same.” He fed money into the slot.
With their food in hand, they sat at a small table with only two chairs.
“Are you sure this meager fare will be enough to get you through surgery?” She didn’t hide her concern. When had she taken on worrying about him? Surely it was just one human being feeling concern about another and not something more.
Chewing, he studied her a moment. “I’ve gone on far less.”
“I’m sure that isn’t healthy.”
“Maybe not, but necessary sometimes.” He took a long draw on his water. She watched his throat as it went down. A day’s worth of beard growth gave him a sexy edgy look. A little less buttoned up and more uninhibited. She liked it. He needed to let go somewhat.
“Is something wrong?” He stared her back to reality.
“Uh...nothing. Just thinking.” To her dismay, her cheeks grew warm.
“About what?” Cody watched her much too closely.
Yeah, like she would admit she’d been thinking about how sexy he was. Her eyes didn’t meet his as she spoke. “I was just wondering about who’s watching the girls.” That was such a lie.
Cody gave her a suspicious look as if he suspected she hadn’t spoken the truth. “When Alex and I set up the clinic we knew we would have to occasionally be away for emergencies, so we set up an after-hours plan through the day care. Someone who works there is always on call. That person will come to my home and make sure the girls are taken care of. Even see they get to school. Because the girls are familiar with the person, they don’t usually mind.”
Stacey pursed her lips in thought, seriously impressed with such planning. “Nice thinking. Maple Island Clinic is really special.”
“Thanks. We tried to think of everything.” He shrugged. “If we didn’t, we’ve figured it out as we’ve gone along.” Cody stood. “I’ve got to head to surgery.”
She needed to check in with James’s parents.
“Just ask the unit clerk for anything you need. Give me half an hour to assess what I’ll have to do, then you can come and get a report.”
“Will do.”
He gave her a wry smile and went out the door.
* * *
Cody was in the process of resecting the damaged skin when one of the surgical nurses said, “Doctor, I’m not feeling well.” She ran for the door.
“Get some help in here!” He already had his hands full with the mangled leg and now he was short a nurse.
Another nurse in the room said, “At this time of night we’ll have to call someone in.”
“I need those hands now.” The case was tough enough without this issue.
The ill nurse hadn’t been gone a minute when the phone rang. No one could stop long enough to answer it. A few minutes later, with a mask over her mouth, Stacey stuck her head in the door.
“Dr. Brennan—”
“Scrub in. I need you in here,” he barked, not even taking the time to look at her.
The door closed and a short time later Stacey entered. “Where do you want me?”
“Stand beside me. I need you to resect and clean the blood away so I can see.” He had no more time to give directions. If any more tissue was lost then the boy would require skin grafts.
“Little to the left, Stacey. That’s right.”
As they worked he noted that he had to give her fewer instructions. Stacey anticipated his next move. “All right, let’s get these bone splinters out of here.”
His surgical nurse held a metal bowl as he picked bone pieces from the muscle.
“That looks like all of it.” Now he could start trying to repair the jumbled mess.
“Doctor,