Hot Single Docs: Meeting His Match. Susan Carlisle

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СКАЧАТЬ what must have been her nervousness, the woman broke into rapid Spanish. Ryan gave the mother a perplexed look. Apparently he had no idea what the woman was saying.

      It was time for Lucy to brace herself and be the professional she was trained to be instead of the quivering mass of emotions she’d morphed into. She stepped closer, lightly touching the mother on the arm to draw her attention. In a low, even voice Lucy explained who she was in Spanish. The woman visibly relaxed as Lucy continued to speak. “I’m Lucy Edwards and I work with Dr. O’Doherty. Your boy’s in good hands. What’s your son’s name?”

      “Miguel.”

      “That’s a nice name. Why don’t you come over here and sit?” With a shaking hand Lucy directed her toward a metal straight-backed chair near the wall. The man followed them and stood close. She glanced to where Ryan’s wide shoulders still leaned over the child. Taking a cleansing breath, she said, “As soon as Dr. O’Doherty is through examining Miguel, he’ll be able to tell you more.” The woman nodded, her eyes reflecting all the fear she was feeling. “What’s your relationship to Miguel?”

      “His mother. No, I’m really his aunt.”

      The words bit into Lucy and a swirl of agony formed in her stomach. Could things get any worse? Her hand came to rest over the spot. She was Emily’s aunt, not her mother. Pressing her hand down, she hoped it would ease the building torment but knew it couldn’t. Would she ever recover? Accept?

      “His mother ran off and left him with me.”

      She’d run off and left Emily. But it had been different. Her sister was Emily’s mother. Why wasn’t there another chair for her to sit on? She had to grasp her emotions to hold them in check. She’d break down later and let the tears flow. Something she’d sworn never to do again. Lucy almost missed what the woman was saying as she reminded herself to breathe.

      “Miguel’s mother didn’t understand his illness. It scared her. This...” the woman placed a hand on the forearm of the man standing beside her “...is my father. Miguel and I live with him.”

      With fortitude Lucy would never have thought she possessed, she managed to continue consoling the woman and her father. Maybe if she focused on their needs instead of her own, the anguish would diminish. She continued to tell herself that lie.

      Having finished his examination, Ryan approached them. Lucy looked up to find his eyes on her. He nodded with what she read as his appreciation and respect but his brows crowded together seconds too long. Was the agony she felt written on her face? She tried to school her appearance not to show her feelings. The question in Ryan’s eyes was replaced by a grave look.

      “Ms. Edwards, may I speak with you a moment?”

      She nodded then told the woman and her father she’d be right back. Ryan waited for her outside the door. When she stood close enough that he wouldn’t be overheard by others in the ER, he said, “This child needs surgery.”

      “I understand.”

      “I won’t lie. This will be a tough one.”

      “Then you need to explain it to them. Reassure them.”

      “I’m not going to do that.” Ryan didn’t think getting run over by a sixteen-wheeler truck could have knocked the wind out of him more completely. He couldn’t and wouldn’t provide the care Lucy was pushing him toward.

      “They’re scared. They need the reassurance that you can give them.”

      “Lucy, I do surgery. Not feelings. That’s your department,” he said, his voice rising. “You do your job.”

      She flinched but didn’t move. “I am doing my job by seeing that you do yours. I’ll translate. All you have to do is explain what’s going to happen. Parents need to know their doctor cares.”

      He had cared. That was the problem. He knew the hurt it caused. He knew pain so great that if he let it out of the box it would groan, snarl and devour him.

      “No. You handle it.” He turned to walk away.

      She grabbed his arm. “Look, someone has to tell this family something right away. I’m not the doctor. I don’t have the medical knowledge. You’re an excellent surgeon, just let them know that. Give them some hope. That’s all you have to do.” They stared at each other for a long moment before she said quietly, “I’d hate to tell Mr. Matherson that you refused to co-operate on the coordinated care project.”

      “The hell you will,” he bellowed, and shook his arm out of her grasp.

      Lucy’s head jerked around toward the ER desk. His gaze followed. The staff behind the desk and in the hall had stopped in place to look at them with astonishment, curiosity and anticipation on their faces.

      Great. If this got back to Matherson or, worse, Rodriguez...

      He looked at Lucy. “Okay. But I do it my way,” he growled.

      Lucy nodded. At least she didn’t smirk. If she had, he didn’t know how he would’ve reacted. He’d talk to the parents but he’d leave feelings out of it. He’d survived his father’s death and illness on his own and others could handle their problems. He offered his medical skills to his patients, performed surgery to the best of his ability but he couldn’t get involved outside his work in the OR.

      They re-entered the room.

      The family remained seated and he stood over them as he spoke. Lucy translated. “As I understand it, Dr. Matthews, your son’s neurologist, has explained that the child has experienced a grand mal seizure. The drugs that he has been taking are no longer working effectively. The seizures your son is having now will only get worse as time goes on. Your son—”

      “Miguel,” Lucy offered.

      That was just like Lucy to make it personal. Something he didn’t want. Ryan glared at her then turned back to the mother. “Miguel’s going to need surgery to slow these down. At first Dr. Matthews thought the surgery might need to be done right away. I believe that Miguel needs to stay in the hospital and be monitored for a few days. But he will need surgery. Even after that the seizures will continue, but they shouldn’t be as severe.”

      The mother was openly crying by the time he’d finished. All he wanted was to get out of there. Nothing he could say or do would make it better for them. He wasn’t going to try. No matter how hard Lucy pushed.

      He looked at her. “I need to make some arrangements and a couple of calls. I’ll have to see about setting up a surgery time and date. Right now, I want him to remain sedated and rest. Dr. Matthews has already started the admission process.”

      “I’ll see that they understand.” She mouthed, “Thank you.”

      That wasn’t going to smooth over how he felt about being forced to talk to the parents. His stomach was one big mess of knots. He left without a backward glance.

      Thirty minutes later and still seething from the earlier ordeal, Ryan stalked to the family counselors’ office. For a person who couldn’t have told anyone where it was at the beginning of the week, he was actually visiting it for the third time. Lucy had made him go through the wringer and he intended to make it clear he would not allow it to happen again.

      It СКАЧАТЬ