Plain Jane and Doctor Dad. Kate Little

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Even after Maura’s regular shift was done, she stayed on, unwilling to leave until she was sure the child was going to survive. She knew that some people thought it unwise to get so involved with each patient’s recovery. They advised compassion tempered by a cooler, more distant attitude to avoid the burnout that was so common among overworked nurses.

      But Maura wasn’t made that way. She hadn’t become a pediatric nurse in order to be distant and detached from the children who needed her. She knew from the first that Doug was the same. Perhaps even more intensely involved with his young patients than she.

      She later learned that the little girl’s family didn’t have much insurance and Doug had not even sent them a bill. While it was highly uncommon for a specialist of Doug’s caliber to forego payment, she soon learned that it wasn’t uncommon at all for him to work that way.

      When morning came and the crisis had passed, she and Doug sat together outside on a bench in the same courtyard where they had talked today. They celebrated their victory, joking and laughing over cups of steaming coffee and sticky donuts. It was late January and the weather was frigid, yet she could still recall feeling elated by the cold air and early-morning light and the shared success in saving a child’s life.

      It was then Doug learned she was dating Scott Walker, and Maura learned Doug was Scott’s old pal from college. There was something in Doug’s reaction to the news that made Maura think he was disappointed to hear she was seeing someone. But the moment passed and later she decided she’d imagined the brief flicker of interest.

      On her side Maura would never deny that she found Doug very attractive. But at that time she had felt so committed to Scott, she’d never once thought of Doug in a romantic way.

      Besides, Maura reflected, even if she had been free, Doug was not her type at all. For one thing, she was looking for a man who would have time in his life for a wife and family. Doug was far too focused on his work to make family life, or even a romantic relationship, a priority.

      And he could be temperamental at times. She had to acknowledge that his smiles and bright moods were rare. He seemed most often to be shadowed by some deep, mysterious unhappiness, and too often she found a dark, brooding look in his eyes when he thought no one was watching him.

      What brought on that somber mood of his? Was it the pressures of his work? Maura had always suspected it was something more. Some deep hurt in his past, some painful loss. Doug had never spoken to her about his past, but she did know from Scott that he’d gone through a difficult divorce a few years back.

      As the months passed, she and Doug always had so much to say to each other whenever they met. She’d run into him on her floor while he did rounds, in the hallways, in the cafeteria. He would ask her advice about his cases, and she enjoyed helping him figure out some knotty problem in a diagnosis or discuss a curious turn in a patient’s condition.

      It was unusual for a doctor of his standing to take a nurse into his confidence in that way, and she was secretly pleased, even proud, of the way he seemed to value her observations. But they didn’t only talk about patients. They talked about all kinds of things, movies, books, traveling to exotic places, which they both planned on doing someday when they weren’t working so hard.

      But Maura had to acknowledge that, for all their interesting conversations, she still knew very little about him. The staff at Chicago General was always brimming with gossip, and while she avoided discussing other people’s lives, she had overheard a few basic facts about Doug. He had been at the hospital since his residency and at one time had been married. He was divorced for almost two years, but no one seemed to know what had gone wrong. His ex-wife was now married to a prominent plastic surgeon, and some said she’d hurt Doug badly with an affair.

      Even though she didn’t have romantic designs on him herself, Maura wondered why he wasn’t in a new relationship, or even married again, by now. But her knowledgeable co-workers answered that question, too. Many hopeful women had pursued the handsome doctor, but the relationship had always ended unhappily. Despite his giving, caring nature as a physician, it was reported that Dr. Douglas Connelly was distant and even difficult as a romantic partner. An emotional Mount Everest with wickedly icy heights to scale.

      Maura suspected his single-minded focus on his work had been the real problem. She knew it would be one for her. Some people didn’t need a home life and family. Maybe Doug was that type, she concluded. But a home and family was something Maura had always longed for, because she’d known so little security growing up.

      When she’d met Scott, back in November, she’d believed at last she’d found a man who shared her values and outlook and wanted the same kind of life that she did.

      Her thoughts drifted as sleep overcame her weary mind. How devastating it had been to discover that Scott had only pretended to be that kind of man, saying just what she’d wanted to hear in order to get what he’d wanted from her.

      And by the time she saw him clearly, it was too late.

      Two

      Maura woke to the sound of sharp knocking on her front door. Her bedroom was dark, and the clock on the night table showed it was nearly eight. She sat up and pushed her hair back with her hand as she walked toward the foyer.

      She wondered who it could be. Maybe her friend Liza, who lived downstairs. Liza often stopped by at night just to chat, mostly about her problems with boyfriends.

      But Maura wasn’t in the mood to see Liza. She walked toward the door and tightened the sash on her robe, wondering what excuse she could make.

      Just as the knock sounded again, Maura turned the lock. “Just a second,” she said.

      She pulled the door open a space. Then felt herself jolted to the core by the sight of Doug’s tall, imposing form.

      “Doug. What are you doing here?”

      She was rarely so blunt, but he was that last person she’d expected. He’d only been to her apartment once, when her car wouldn’t start and he’d given her a lift home from the hospital. She didn’t even realize he remembered where she lived.

      “I was on my way home and thought I’d stop by. I went to your station after my rounds, but they said you’d left early,” he added. “I hope you’re all right.”

      He smiled at her, yet his gaze looked serious, questioning, as if he wasn’t sure he’d done the right thing by surprising her like this.

      “Another nurse came in early, so I was able to leave before the shift ended,” she explained. “I was just taking a nap.”

      “Have you had dinner yet? We could get something at the café around the corner if you like.”

      “Thanks, but I think I’d rather stay in tonight. I mean, I appreciate you stopping over—”

      “That’s all right. But I did want to talk to you some more. You seemed so upset today. I’m not sure it’s good for you to be alone.”

      “I-I’m okay,” she insisted. “Really.” But she wasn’t okay and they both knew it.

      “Maura?” Doug moved up to the opening in the door, his tone firm but concerned. “Please, let me in. I’ll only stay a minute.”

      She took a deep breath. Then, without saying anything more, she stepped back and let him in. He was probably right. It wasn’t СКАЧАТЬ