Jessica Matthews - His Baby Bombshell

Two hours later, after dinner and an unscheduled bath to wash the strained peas out of Jeremy’s hair and after she’d ordered Adrian’s pizza and ran into a drug store to select a bright purple toothbrush from the hundreds on display, she pulled into the hospital parking lot. With any luck, Adrian had either slept the entire time or had gotten so engrossed in television that he hadn’t noticed she was late. If he had, though, too bad. Impressing him with her efficiency and dancing to his tune weren’t on her list of things to do.

Balancing a well-fed and now-happy Jeremy on her

hip, she went inside.

* * *

Sabrina was late. By nearly two hours. Adrian had dozed off and on during the three hours she’d been gone, but with all the staff fluttering around him, checking his vitals, quizzing him on what day it was, did he know his birth date, how his headache and nausea was, he hadn’t been able to rest for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

He grumbled aloud at how he could look forward to this well-meant but unwanted solicitous care for the remainder of the night as he pressed an ice pack to his head. The situation was enough to make a congenial man grumpy, and for the past several months he hadn’t been known for his congeniality.

Oh, he may as well be honest. His good humor had disappeared about the time he’d driven Sabrina away a year ago. Most people had attributed his curtness to his concern over Clay, but as time had marched on and Clay’s condition had improved, Adrian’s mood had not. In fact, it had worsened.

His siblings had compared their amateur psychology notes and had decided he needed a woman in his life to smooth his rough edges. However, after one date, he’d realized he’d spent the entire evening quietly comparing her to Sabrina. He’d suspected the poor girl had known it, too. Because no other female had interested him, his dating days had ended as abruptly as they’d begun.

Their next theory was that subconsciously he was expressing his latent anger and frustration over his broken relationship with Sabrina. That he was still mourning his loss and taking out his emotional distress on his hapless colleagues and staff members. Their answer? To get him back together with Sabrina.

Naturally, he disagreed. He was simply working too hard and doing too much. As for the ER staff, the skills of the people being hired simply weren’t up to the hospital’s formerly high standards.

As for his relationship with Sabrina, he believed he’d taken the high moral ground by ending it when he had. Clay needed his attention and he didn’t feel it was fair to expect Sabrina to put her life on hold or be relegated to the fringes of whatever life he was free to give her. For all he knew, Clay would never leave his wheelchair and would require years of intensive therapy and personal attention from experts as well as his family.

Fortunately, his fears never panned out. While he was glad Clay’s health problems hadn’t turned into the worst-case scenario, as his doctors had warned, Adrian couldn’t undo the past. He simply had to console himself with the knowledge that he’d made the best decision based on the information he had at the time and live with the consequences.

For him, those consequences turned him from being ‘that nice Dr McReynolds’ to a physician who caught nurses drawing straws in the employee lounge to see who would work with him. Even Clay’s slow but steady recovery didn’t improved his mood. Only one thing would—apologizing to Sabrina—but pride wouldn’t allow him to take that step. What was done was done. End of story.

But it wasn’t the end because his boss intervened.

“We’ve cut you enough slack, Adrian,” Carter had told him bluntly on Friday afternoon. “I’ve talked to you about your attitude and you’ve attended several human resource seminars on interpersonal relationships, but nothing seems to be working. I don’t know why you can’t pull yourself together, but I’m giving you your last chance.”

“Which is?”

“Our sister hospital in Pinehaven needs a temporary ER physician and we’ve been asked to provide one. I’m sending you.”

“Pinehaven?” The name of the town caught him by surprise and Adrian shook his head. “I can’t go there.”

Carter crossed his arms. His jaw was squared as he narrowed his eyes to study him. “Why not?”

“Because…” He drew a bracing breath. “Because my ex-girlfriend works there. Our parting didn’t…go well.” What an understatement! He’d been rude and obnoxious to make his point and he wouldn’t be surprised if she threw a bedpan at him.

At first Carter didn’t reply. Then he straightened in his chair and fixed his gaze on Adrian’s. “Then this will be a good time for you to work out your differences, won’t it?”

He initially balked at the Pinehaven assignment, but then he realized it was exactly what he needed. First, he’d swallow his pride and apologize for his former rudeness and salvage enough of their relationship so they could work in the same facility without coming to blows. Maybe, if all went well and the fates were kind, they would at least become the friends they had once been instead of remaining the bitter enemies they were now.

Secondly, as soon as he saw proof that her life was every bit as wonderful as she deserved it to be, he could finally rest knowing that he’d made the right decision. His worries and wondering would be over and he could return to Mercy Memorial emotionally whole, no longer venting his frustration on the people around him.

So far, his plan was stuck at square one. For supposedly being his liaison, she avoided him as much as possible and when she couldn’t, she talked to him as eagerly as she’d participate in a rattlesnake round-up! As much as he hated having this bump on his head, his injury had paved the way for Sabrina to be his captive audience this evening. Courtesy of a talkative nurse, he’d learned Sabrina was scheduled to cover the ED this next month, which made negotiating a truce even more critical for both their sakes. Sabrina’s, because she hated being a subject on the hospital grapevine and his, because if he went back to Mercy Memorial in disgrace, he’d be hunting for a new job.

Impatient and bored, he glanced at the clock once again as he tossed the ice pack onto the bedside table. Just when he began to worry about her being delayed by something horrible like a car accident, she rushed in.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, hoisting his suitcase onto a chair. “The last few hours have been absolutely crazy.”

He eyed her carefully, relieved to see her. Her shoulderlength dark brown hair was tousled, as if someone had run his hands through those soft tresses and she hadn’t taken time to find a comb. She still wore the same yellow Bermuda shorts and polo shirt he’d seen earlier. And her face looked strained, as if she’d been running at full speed all day. Or, at least, since he’d seen her last.

For an instant, he felt guilty for asking her to fetch his personal things, but if he wanted to establish their personal ceasefire, he had to take advantage of whatever opportunities came his way.

Heaven help him, but after regaining his wits and seeing the wariness in her eyes, as if she expected him to act as boorishly as he had before, he wanted to redeem himself.

“I wish I could say the same,” he remarked. “The only crazy thing I can claim is being stuck in this hospital bed for no good reason.”

“How’s the head?”

He didn’t want to discuss his aches and pains. “Getting better as we speak,” he prevaricated. “Did you have any trouble finding my stuff?”

“No, but I had a slight problem with your toothbrush and had to buy another. It’s the same brand as the one you had, just a different color.”

He raised an eyebrow, unable to imagine anyone having a problem with a toothbrush. It wasn’t a normally breakable item. “What happened?”

She avoided his gaze. “Long, boring story. Not worth mentioning.”

“Dropped it in the toilet bowl, then had second thoughts?”

“If I had, trust me when I say I wouldn’t have bothered to replace it,” she said tartly.

He grinned. Every now and then he caught a glimpse of her simmering temper, which meant she was probably keeping her full fury in check because of the bump she’d given him. There weren’t any thrills in kicking a man when he was already down, so he was more than content to play the injured soul until she’d vented a portion of her pent-up anger.

“So what happened?”

“What’s with the third degree?” she asked, clearly exasperated. “It wasn’t a priceless Ming vase, Adrian. It was a cheap toothbrush that you would have replaced in a few months anyway. You should be grateful I went out of my way to buy you a new one. I didn’t have to, you know.”

“I’m grateful. Really. It’s just that I never knew you to be accident-prone.”

Her face colored. “Yeah, well, life happens. Today just hasn’t been my day. In more ways than one,” she finished darkly.

He glanced around. “So where’s my food?”

“I didn’t order it in time to pick up before I came. They should deliver it before long.”

“Good. I’m starved.”

A baby giggled in the background, sounding as if it was right outside his room. “I didn’t realize you admitted babies to this wing,” he mentioned.

“Oh, we don’t,” she said lightly. “Peds is to the left of the elevators. You know how sound carries.”

The baby cackled again. “This place has terrible acoustics if people can hear the kids throughout the entire floor,” he said.

“He did seem close by,” she admitted. “One of the nurses is probably walking around, trying to entertain a fussy one.”

Her story didn’t quite ring true. A nurse might be strolling a colicky baby around the hallways, but she wouldn’t expose an already sick infant to the germs on an adult ward. She would have remained on the pediatrics wing. Neither did it explain Sabrina’s hurried glances toward the doorway, but at this moment, he had more important issues to tackle.

The infant’s laugh suddenly became more of a shrill, happy scream. Adrian winced as the pitch caused his head to throb. “If that child is fussy, I’d hate to hear him when he’s happy. In fact, he doesn’t sound like a sick kid at all. Do they allow visitors to bring babies on to the floor?”

“Sometimes. Under extenuating circumstances.” She rushed to close the door. “There. The noise shouldn’t bother you now.”

“I didn’t say it bothered me,” he protested.

“Whether it does or not, you need peace and quiet,” she insisted. “And you really need to reconsider your decision to work tomorrow.”

“I won’t.”

She muttered something about mule-headed doctors, then sighed. “I didn’t think you would, even though we both know it’s for your own good.”

“I’m fine now and I’ll be even better in the morning.” He changed the subject, tired of having his health the sole topic of conversation. “I hear you’re scheduled to work Emergency for the next month.”

“Unfortunately, I am.” She sounded resigned.

“Unfortunately?” He studied her closely. “Don’t you like covering that department or are you afraid to work with me?”

“Afraid?” She sputtered, and bristled like a porcupine, which suggested he’d nailed the reason for her concern accurately. “I may not want to work with you, but I’m not afraid to. I’m a good nurse. A careful, meticulous, nurse. Just ask anyone. If you’re not convinced, feel free to ask the director of nursing to reassign me while you’re here,” she finished caustically. “It wouldn’t be the first time you pushed me out of your life.”