C-section that came in this morning. Twins. The pediatrician for the second baby’s team isn’t here yet. Go in with me in case there are complications?”
Despite the fact that being anywhere near him was the last thing she wanted, she couldn’t refuse. Not when a baby’s life might be on the line. “Sure.”
In silence they scrubbed and went into the obstetrics surgery room specially designated for preemies. Every second that ticked by, Eleanor felt more and more awkward, more and more as if the nurses must be able to look at her and Ty and know what they’d done.
The first baby was delivered without any major birthing complications, but his Apgar score was only a seven. Ty assessed the baby, cleared his throat and examined him all in a matter of seconds.
Watching him work, Eleanor couldn’t help but admire his skill, his finesse, the way his big hands were so gentle as they handled the baby. Just as they’d been so gentle when they’d touched her.
He was a gentle man and she hadn’t been anything special, just the result of too much champagne and the next notch on his belt. Nothing more.
She closed her eyes, forcing her thoughts from her mind. When she opened them, her gaze immediately collided with Ty’s. He stared at her for a brief moment as if trying to read her thoughts, then that sexy crooked grin of his slid into place as a peace offering of sorts.
But Eleanor couldn’t smile back.
She just couldn’t. Sure, the sight of his generous mouth curved upward made her want to smile back. Instead, she hardened her resolve. He might be used to women thinking he was amazing after a night of his loving, but she needed distance to survive emotionally.
Ty’s smile waned. A nurse spoke to him, pulling his attention away from where he still looked at Eleanor as if he wanted to probe inside her head.
The second baby, another boy, made his entrance into the world. Eleanor focused her attention on the newborn, giving him a thorough once-over and realizing his lungs weren’t as developed as his brother’s.
Telling the nurse her intentions, she gave the baby a few breaths with a manual respirator, hoping to stimulate his lungs, but was unsuccessful in her efforts.
“You want me to intubate him?” Ty asked from beside her. He was so close she could feel his body heat. If she leaned just a little she’d brush against his arm.
“I can do it,” she assured him, having done it many times previously and wondering why he’d offered, wondering why she so desperately wanted to lean into him.
“I’m sure you can. Just wanted to help you.”
“This is my job,” she reminded him. “I’m good at what I do, Dr. Donaldson, but thanks for the offer.”
The nurse assisting Eleanor glanced back and forth between them and Eleanor fought against blushing.
She threaded the tiny tube through the baby’s nostril, checked placement, then secured the line. She turned to where Ty stood, but he was no longer there. She supposed he’d gone with his team to the NICU, but surprisingly she’d not been aware when he’d walked away.
Good, the less aware she was of the man, the better.
“I know you’ve had a crazy morning with the code, then talking with the family, then working the trauma delivery with Dr. Donaldson, but you are extraordinarily quiet this morning.” Linda stepped up beside Eleanor while she examined a thirty-two-week preemie who was now a month old and would be going home within a week if all continued to progress well. “The fund-raiser for your dad run late last evening?”
Frustrated at the recurrent reminders of the night before, Eleanor thought she might scream. She straightened from examining the baby. “How is it that everyone knows where I spent my evening?”
Lord, she hoped they didn’t know where she’d spent her night.
Staring at her a little too closely, Linda’s brow arched high. “Should I assume that you didn’t attend your father’s fund-raiser ball, then?”
Sighing with frustration and remorse that she’d snapped at her coworker, Eleanor stroked her fingertip over the tiny baby’s precious cheek, loving how his reflexes kicked in and he turned in the direction she’d touched. Developing reflexes was a sign of progress, of increased survival chances.
“No, sorry, you’re right,” she relented, knowing that she was being overly sensitive, that she just wanted this crazy day to end, and it wasn’t even noon yet. “I was the re.”
“It’s not like you to be cranky.” Linda’s eyes were way too astute. “Things didn’t go well?”
“Things went just fine.” Hoping she would take the hint, Eleanor made a fuss of continuing to check the little boy, talking to him softly as she did so.
“Dr. Donaldson came, too?”
Oh, he came all right.
Eleanor winced at her crude thought. Her very inappropriate thought. She knew she shouldn’t have reacted, that Linda was too keen to have missed the telltale expression.
“Let’s not talk about him, okay?” she settled with saying. “I want to know about Rochelle. How is she?”
“She’s holding her own.” Linda paused for effect, then continued, “You should probably know that he was looking for you after he finished up with the twin.”
Eleanor fought to keep from sucking in air. “Maybe he wanted an update on the other twin or something.”
“Or something,” Linda mumbled as she walked away from the incubator, shaking her head as she went.
Turning back to assess the baby, Eleanor bit her lower lip. What was Ty thinking? Was he relieved that what he probably considered the worst mistake of his life wasn’t making a fuss?
She finished examining the baby, entered her notes into the computer, thoroughly cleansed her hands, then moved on to her next little patient.
But before she started, she spotted Ty entering the unit. Her breath caught. The man was way too beautiful. Tall, dark, handsome, fantastic in bed.
A flashback of her naked body tangled with his flashed through her head. Images of their bodies molded together, gyrating, thrusting, exploding. How was she ever going to look at Ty without remembering? Without thinking of all the marvelous ways he’d touched her body?
He headed straight for her and although she might have tried had she thought she’d be successful, there was no place for her to hide.
“We need to talk about what happened last night.”
Hoping no one was close enough to overhear their conversation, she glanced around the nursery. No one seemed to be paying them the slightest attention, but looks could be deceiving.
“Can’t we talk about this later?” She really didn’t want to talk about it at all. She just wanted to forget.
“Tonight?”
She shook her head. “I’m busy.”
Ty’s face clouded. “All night? Or you just don’t want to spend the evening with me?”
“I have plans.” Did reading the latest medical journal and going to the gym count?
His lips pursed. “Cancel them. We need to discuss what happened last night.”
Knowing they had to be attracting attention, even if only Linda’s, she glanced around the room again. “No, we don’t, and especially not here.”
Seeming to recall where they were, he glanced around, sighed. “Fine, then go out with me tonight so we can talk somewhere that’s not here.”
“No.” She couldn’t risk going out with him again. She wasn’t that strong, might end up begging him to kiss her, touch her, take her to heights previously