had caught him, pausing slightly in the doorway of the NICU. He hadn’t teased him, hadn’t said anything. A look had been all that was needed to understand what was happening.
It was because of that he’d had a permanent spot at Enzo’s family home for dinner and when he hadn’t shown up, plates of food had been sent to him.
Sam chuckled and leaned over his chart. He missed Enzo. Missed seeing him in the halls of West Manhattan Saints. He missed the food. Darn him for falling in love with Kimberlyn and them moving away.
It had gotten him through some lonely patches when he’d first moved to New York. His mother didn’t have much to do with him and the rest of his close family was in Scotland. His dad, his brothers and stepmother, as well as various aunts, uncles, cousins and one venerable grandmother.
Even though he’d been born in New York and had spent some time on this side of the pond, he was alone. When he’d been with his mother, he’d been alone. She had always been working and he’d spent a lot of his childhood, when he’d been with her, in the hallways of the hospital or in the observation room while she’d been in surgery.
He glanced up from his charting and saw Mindy in the NICU, bending over a tiny micro-preemie in an incubator. Mindy was in her scrubs and updating the neonatologist so it appeared that the baby had just been born.
She’s alone.
Mindy had said she’d grown up on the west coast, a native to California. Though she hadn’t moved an ocean away from her family, she’d moved clear across the country to start a new life. It must’ve been something drastic that had chased her away. To isolate herself.
He didn’t know about isolating oneself on purpose, but he did get loneliness. Even living in a house full of other surgeons. Tessa had moved out and was starting a family, Kimberlyn and Enzo were together and gone, even Holly had moved on with Dr. Alexander and she had family around. Sure, there was the new roommate, Rebecca, but he didn’t really know her yet and wasn’t sure he wanted to. She was too chatty.
He had no one. Just like Mindy didn’t have anyone and he felt sorry for her. She deserved better and though he shouldn’t approach her, he should just keep his distance from her, he closed his chart and headed toward the NICU.
Mindy was standing next to the incubator, staring down at the small preemie inside, but he could tell by her expression that she really wasn’t watching the preemie. She had a far-off expression on her face.
“Boy or girl?” Sam asked, as he came up beside her and peered down at the bundle, hooked up to wires but alive.
“Boy,” Mindy said offhandedly. She set down the chart she was holding. “I delivered him about an hour ago after I repaired his CPAM.”
“Congenital pulmonary airway malformation?”
“Yes. I usually try to keep the fetus inside after I do the repair, but Mom had the beginning stages of pre-eclampsia. With the extra stressors of surgery, I delivered the baby.”
“Wish I could have seen that procedure in action.”
Mindy cocked any eyebrow. “I thought that maternal-fetal medicine wasn’t your intended specialty, that your main focus was pediatrics?”
“It is, but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate complex surgeries. Especially when those complex surgeries involve children. Perhaps I judged maternal-fetal medicine too harshly.”
“Really now?” she asked, obviously humored.
Sam leaned over and gazed at the lad through the glass. “Poor mite.”
“Yes, it was unfortunate, but now that it’s repaired he has a shot of growing up normally. Of surviving. Twenty or thirty years ago he wouldn’t have survived his birth.”
“Is this where you’re going to start spouting off at me about how my chosen specialty is for dinosaurs?” Sam teased. “That there will be no need for pediatric surgeons or neonatologists?”
Mindy laughed. “I’m sorry, Dr. Napier. As I said, I was quite annoyed to see you as a resident.”
“I know. I know. Trust me, I felt the same.”
“You were annoyed I was an attending?”
Sam nodded. “Of course. A woman I’d had an amazing night with was now off-limits.”
Mindy snorted. “Like you had every intention of calling me again.” She walked out of the NICU and Sam trailed after her.
“You don’t know that,” Sam protested. Though she was right. At the time he hadn’t had any intention of calling her again, but spending a week with her on her service had made him think differently about her. He’d seen her in a new light. If it wasn’t a bad idea, if he had more time to commit to a relationship instead of being tied to the hospital, he would pursue a woman like Mindy Walker.
“We didn’t exchange numbers,” Mindy said.
“Ah, but I know where you live. I could’ve found out if I chose too.”
Mindy chuckled. “That sounds mighty stalkerish, Dr. Napier. Mighty stalkerish indeed.”
Sam groaned. “Oh, come on. It’s not stalkerish at all.” He leaned over the charge desk as she pulled a chart from behind the counter. “How is the new resident on your service going?”
“That’s not any of your business,” Mindy said, not looking at him.
“I’m just curious, that’s all.”
“No, you’re not. You’re competitive, you shark.” It wasn’t said in an accusatory tone, there was a twinkle to her eyes.
“I swear, it’s not competitive in nature. Just curious. I heard some… complaints.”
Mindy’s mouth dropped open. “Complaints? What do you mean, complaints? From who?”
Sam grinned. “I can’t say, unless I want to get attacked by a pod of sharks. Do sharks come in pods, I wonder?”
Mindy frowned and then playfully pushed. “Jerk!”
“What was that for?”
“What complaints?” Mindy demanded. “As your superior, I demand you tell me.”
Sam cocked an eyebrow. “As my superior, you demand I tell you? I don’t think so.” He turned to leave but she grabbed his arm.
“Come on, tell me. This is my first job in a teaching hospital and I want to make sure that I’m imparting my wisdom on the residents well.”
“You’re doing a fine job. Really, the complaints were that you were a bit demanding and a workhorse.”
Mindy smiled then, but then cleared her throat. “Is that all?”
“It pleases you to know you’re being tough.”
“It does. I want them to be afraid of me and my service.”
“You want to be like the Godzilla of the OB/GYN floor?” Sam asked.
“If you can survive my toughness then you can make it in my field.”
“Ah, but there’s a problem. The residents currently rotating on your service aren’t OB/GYN residents. You have a whole smackerel of them who are chomping at the bit to work with you. You’re working with residents who are eyeing a pediatric fellowship with Dr. Chang. So it might be lost on them.”
Mindy smiled smugly. “That may be, Dr. Napier, but I deal with kids when they’re still developing. I have to be hard on all residents who have any kind of inkling of wanting to work with children. They’re a precious commodity. If you can’t stand the heat…”
“Get out of the oven?”
Mindy laughed. “Kitchen, Dr. Napier.”
“So, I have to