Hot Docs On Call: Surgeon's Seduction

Rebecca looked up from where he was working and shot him a look of What gives? And all Sam could do was shrug. He had his orders. He was to observe. Very similar to his mother’s methods.

Don’t think about her now.

“Get out of the way!” Dr. Chang’s voice was shrill above the din and he watched as she ran beside a gurney, a little body wrapped up and bagged, as they pushed through the crowds toward the surgical floor.

Sam’s gut instinct was to run after Dr. Chang and that child. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to go.

“Dr. Napier?”

Sam cursed under his breath as he turned around.

“Distracted?” Mindy asked, slinging her stethoscope around her neck.

“No.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Well, Ms. Bayberry is your responsibility. Get her up to Ultrasound and monitor her contractions. She’s pregnant with twins and was involved in the collision. We’re looking for signs of pre-term labor. Also contact her current practitioner. I’d like her updated files about her pregnancy.”

“Isn’t that best left to an intern?” he asked, annoyed that he wasn’t with Dr. Chang.

Mindy crossed her arms. “I asked you to do it, Dr. Napier. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No. Of course not.” Sam moved passed Mindy toward Ms. Bayberry’s bed. Dr. Hall ignored him as she conferred with Mindy about the treatment should poor Ms. Bayberry go into labor.

“Will my babies be okay?” Ms. Bayberry asked nervously, her eyes wide with fear. This was the part of the job he hated the most, when he couldn’t answer the patient’s questions.

“Will this treatment help my son?”

“Will this cure him?”

It tugged at his heartstrings. It ate him up inside and he didn’t know where the parents found strength. He’d talked to his father about that once, after watching children struggle with life-threatening conditions. It scared him, bringing a child into the world, and for one moment, when he had first been starting his residency and focusing on pediatrics, he’d thought about leaving and following in his mother’s footsteps.

“I don’t know how you do it. How do you find the strength when your child is sick?”

“You just do. What else can you do? You give them everything. That’s what being a parent is,” his father had said. “I would do anything for you and your brothers. I don’t care what happens to me. Only my children matter.”

And as Ms. Bayberry looked up at him, fear in her eyes, it affected him. Only he couldn’t let her see it. For her, he had to be strong so that she could be strong for her babies, but he couldn’t promise her anything.

That was something he learned from his mother.

Never promise a patient something you couldn’t deliver with one hundred percent certainty. Even though Ms. Bayberry was in the best hands with Mindy, of that he was sure, he didn’t know the future so he could only offer her what he could to ease her mind.

“You’re in the best hands, Ms. Bayberry. Let’s get you upstairs for some scans.” And he smiled at her and she relaxed. Though she was still terrified, he could see a bit of that fear dissipating and the goal was to keep her calm.

He was taking some vitals and making sure the machines monitoring her contractions were ready to transport when he glanced up.

Mindy was watching him. She wasn’t listening to Dr. Hall her gaze was focused on him. He wasn’t sure if it was with admiration or surprise, but whatever it was it made his heart beat just a bit faster and he looked away as he worked with the nurse to get Ms. Bayberry to transport.

Mindy made it clear that he was to stick by his patient’s side and make sure that she didn’t go into pre-term labor. He had to stay focused. He was already in Mindy’s bad books, even though he’d made it clear to her that it had been a mistake.

And it had been. A huge mistake.

If only Mindy hadn’t been his new boss.

If only what?

Could he honestly tell himself that he wouldn’t have pursued her? No, he wouldn’t have, because right now he didn’t have time for that sort of thing. The only thing about their one night together was he wouldn’t have thought it a mistake. Never a mistake.

He wheeled Ms. Bayberry out of the emergency department, with only one glance back to see residents in his class darting through Trauma after their attending, getting their hands dirty, wishing he was working with Dr. Chang on the child she’d been wheeling up to surgery.

A touch from Ms. Bayberry brought him back to the present. The gauze on her forehead was soaked and as they waited on for the elevator to come, he reached down and gingerly touched her forehead.

“Has anyone seen to that?”

“It’s just a scratch,” she said, but wincing as she did so.

“Let me take a look.” As he peeled back the bandages, he could see a large gash. One that would leave a nasty scar but wasn’t life-threatening. “That’s not pleasant.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” Ms. Bayberry said, her voice rising. “I was more concerned about getting my babies checked out than having them attend to my cut.”

“Of course, but I think we’ll have someone with real talent stitch that up for you, okay?”

She smiled. “You?”

“No, not me. I’m a pediatric surgeon, I deal with delicate stitches, but we’re very fortunate to have a former plastic surgeon to the stars on staff.”

Ms. Bayberry chuckled and the doors to the elevator opened. Sam stopped an intern who was getting off the elevator.

“Page Dr. Alexander in Plastics to come to the fourth floor OB/GYN ultrasound room. Stat.”

The intern looked confused, but nodded.

“You don’t have to page a special plastic surgeon to stitch me up, Doctor. I’m sure you can do a fine job.”

Sam smiled down at her. “I could do an okay job but, come on, we have to have you looking spiffy when those babies come out and you have your first photographs with them. Wash away any reminder of today.”

Ms. Bayberry grinned and leaned back against the pillows as the elevator headed up to the fourth floor. He’d take care of her scars. He just wished all scars were all that easy to wash away.

“Dr. Napier, what is going on in there?” Mindy stood in the doorway of the ultrasound room, watching as a tanned, blond-haired Adonis from the plastic surgical ward was bent over her patient, working on her forehead.

“I’m trying to concentrate here,” Dr. Alexander said over his shoulder in an annoyed tone.

Sam rolled his eyes and Mindy could tell there was tension between the two of them. Who wasn’t Sam fighting with at this hospital? Sheesh. She had been hearing some tales about the so-called lone wolf of the residency program.

After her lengthy discussion with Dr. Hall, Mindy got called to assess on another small case, one that wasn’t urgent, but as Sam hadn’t paged her that Ms. Bayberry had gone into pre-term labor or that there were unusual findings with her ultrasound, Mindy foolishly trusted Sam was okay.

She did not expect to walk in on one of the top plastic surgeons, working on her patient and in the ultrasound room.

“What is going here, Dr. Napier?” Mindy asked again in hushed undertones as Sam shut the door. “You were supposed to report back to me with the results of Ms. Bayberry’s ultrasound.”

“You told me not to leave her side. You told me to monitor her for pre-term labor.”

Mindy crossed her arms. “Why the heck is Dr. Alexander in there, stitching up her forehead? I thought her wound was shut with skin glue?”

Sam winced. “I know, but it was going to leave a nasty scar.”

“So you thought that putting her through more stress of unnecessary stitching would be better for her? What if she goes into pre-term labor?”

“She won’t. The babies are fine and she hasn’t been having any contractions or bleeding. I checked her myself.”

Mindy cocked an eyebrow. “You checked her yourself?”

“I have done that kind of procedure before.”

“Do you really think her having the stitches is a top priority?”

“I do. The babies are stable, for now, but there was an irregularity I need you to look at. I had you paged ten minutes ago, but figured you were with another patient.”

Mindy pulled out her pager. “I wasn’t paged…” And then trailed off when she saw that she had indeed been paged over ten minutes ago by Sam, but the darned thing was on silent mode.

Dammit.

When she had her private practice, she was only dealing with her patients. She wasn’t on a rotation at a hospital. She wasn’t called in to deal with traumatic events to pregnant mothers. When she was needed in the hospital it was because she scheduled her time there. She was not used to working in a busy hospital, not used to dealing with trauma patients or residents who were in her service.

She was not off to a good start.

“My apologies, Dr. Napier.” The blood rushed to her cheeks.

“There’s no need to apologize, Dr. Walker. Now that you’re here I’d like to show you the results of Ms. Bayberry’s ultrasound.”

“Of course.” Mindy followed him into the consult room, where they sat down in front of the computer.

Sam brought up the ultrasounds of the twins. “As you can see, there is no fluid or blood pooling anywhere. The placenta is attached and no obvious tears.”

“She’s lucky. When she was rammed by the car behind her and pushed into the car in front of her the steering-wheel pushed into her abdomen.”

“Well, that’s it exactly. I know it’s not your field of surgery.” Sam did some more clicks. “But there’s lots of blood in her spleen. I think she’s damaged her spleen and it could rupture.”

Mindy leaned forward. “I think you’re right, Dr. Napier.”

Dammit.

Taking a ruptured spleen out of a woman who was not so far into her pregnancy was going to be tricky. Not impossible, but tricky. It could send her patient into pre-term labor and that’s not something she wanted.

They needed to keep those babies in utero for as long as possible.

“We’re going to need a consult from someone who is used to repairing and or removing spleens in high-pressure situations. Page Dr. Ootaka for a consult.”

Sam nodded. “Of course, Dr. Walker.”

“Good catch, Sam. Thanks for looking at the bigger picture.”

Sam shrugged. “In pediatrics we sometimes have to look at the bigger picture when it comes to kids.”

He left the consult room and Mindy leaned back in her chair, but only for a moment. She got up and entered the exam room where Dr. Alexander was just dressing his handiwork.

“There, all done.” He grinned down at Ms. Bayberry. “Now, when those babies are born, there won’t be any sign of a scar.”

“Thank you, Dr. Alexander,” Mindy said.

Dr. Alexander shrugged. “Sam’s my girlfriend’s roommate. It was the least I could do.” He collected up his things and left.

Mindy turned to her patient. “Your babies are fine, Ms. Bayberry. There is no sign of injury to your uterus or your placenta. Things with the babies look stable. However, your spleen was damaged in the accident.”

“What does that mean?” Ms. Bayberry asked, her voice rising an octave. The monitors on her alerted Mindy to the up-kick in blood pressure.

“It means we have to go in and repair your spleen.” Mindy moved toward the bed. “May I look?”

Ms. Bayberry nodded and Mindy lifted the blanket, to see the bruising on the left side of her abdomen. The patient winced.

“Yes, we need to go and repair the damage,” Mindy said gently.

“How are you going to do that?”

“Laparoscopically,” Dr. Ootaka said, coming into the room, trailed by two of his residents. “I’m Dr. Takeo Ootaka. I have done this procedure countless times. You are in good hands.”

“What about my babies?” Ms. Bayberry asked nervously, her eyes instantly darting to Sam, who stood by the door. She’d obviously latched onto Sam as a bit of a safety blanket, which often happened in traumatic situations.

“Dr. Napier and I will be in the OR the entire time. We’ll monitor your babies and make sure they stay right where they belong.”

Dr. Ootaka grunted in approval and then turned to the male resident with him. “Prep this woman for a CT and then surgery. May I look?”

Dr. Ootaka didn’t wait for permission as he leaned over Ms. Bayberry’s left side.

“Yes. Yes. We’ll take care of this, Ms. Bayberry,” Dr. Ootaka said.

Mindy gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as Dr. Ootaka’s residents began to prep Ms. Bayberry and Mindy walked with Dr. Ootaka to the hall, with Sam trailing behind.

“I plan to have your patient down to the OR in the next hour, maybe less. I don’t need to tell you that massive internal bleeding will put those babies in jeopardy.”

Mindy nodded. “My resident and I will be ready, scrubbed in and waiting.”

Dr. Ootaka nodded. “Good.”

“Let’s go, Dr. Napier.”

“I thought you wanted me to stay with Ms. Bayberry?” Sam asked.

“She’s in good hands with Dr. Ootaka’s residents. They can monitor her. Right now we have to get a neonatal team ready and on standby in case Ms. Bayberry goes into premature labor.”

“You think that will happen?”

“I hope it won’t,” Mindy said quickly as they moved down the hall to gather their team and ready them for surgery. She stopped and stretched her back, groaning.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

“Just a sore spot. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a long rotation in a hospital.”

Sam grunted. “What, they don’t have long rotations at the hospitals in California?”

“For your information, Dr. Napier, I had a private practice, or did you not hear a word Dr. Chang said when she introduced me?”

“You told me in no uncertain terms that your personal life was not my concern. I’m just your resident.” There was a devilish twinkle to his eyes as he said it.

Darn him.

He was proving to be a challenge.

“You’re right. I did. So why don’t you go back to Ms. Bayberry and continue to monitor her until she’s brought down to the OR. Also, make sure her next of kin is updated on the situation.”

“Of course, Dr. Walker.” Then he did a little bow of his head and headed back to the exam room where Ms. Bayberry was.

Mindy sighed. He was a pain, but he was a good physician. The way he was with Ms. Bayberry, reassuring her, taking care of her.

She’d seen the look of longing when he’d been watching Dr. Chang working on patients. The drive, that look of ambition, she knew it well. When she had been in her obstetrics fellowship she and Dean had worked side by side to gain the attention of one the most noted maternal-fetal specialists on the West Coast, Dr. Guild.

The spark of competition and rivalry. That’s what had driven her and Dean closer together, why the attraction had grown. At least, that’s what she’d thought. Now she wasn’t so sure.

It wasn’t competition or rivalry with Sam, but he was trying to show his self-worth. He was trying to prove to her that he was tough, that he didn’t have a soft underbelly when it came to his patients.

Or to her.

And then an image of their night together flashed through her mind. Of Sam and her together, his arms around her, his hands in her hair and his lips against her skin. It caused her blood to burn.

Mindy took a deep, calming breath. She couldn’t think of Sam that way. He was a resident. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. She didn’t want one. They were too much trouble.

Sam was here to learn from her. That’s all.

And Mindy had to keep telling herself that to get through the rotation, heck, the next week while he was on her service. When he was off her service and back in Peds then there would be a safe, comfortable distance between the two of them.

He was after a pediatric fellowship, not OB/GYN, and she didn’t have any room to mentor a fellow. OB/GYN fellows went through Dr. Finn. All she was here for was maternal-fetal medicine and infertility issues. She was here to bring in big cases, to bring in money for West Manhattan Saints.

She was here to rebuild her life and that life didn’t include Dr. Sam Napier.

It couldn’t.

CHAPTER FOUR

SAM SHOOK HIS head at the nurse in the OR, who was holding up his cellphone again so he could see that it was buzzing. Sam mouthed the words “Not important” and “Scrubbing in” to the nurse, who was annoyed that his phone on the sterile tray was the only one giving her an issue.

He cursed under his breath as the water washed over his arms. He knew exactly what those texts were about.

Darn Langley.

“What’s with all the texts? Is it from the woman you slept with last night?” Rebecca asked, as she came up beside him to scrub in.

“What?” Sam snapped.

Rebecca smirked. “Oh, come on. I’m not an idiot. Holly told me all about you. So who is the woman?”

“I don’t know what Holly has been telling you. Whatever it is, it’s not true. No one and it’s not her.”

“Aha, so you admit you got some action.”

Sam cursed under his breath. “Would you stop concerning yourself in my personal life?”

“Okay, I didn’t mean to tick you off.”

Sam rolled his eyes and lathered the soap over his hands. “If you must know, it’s my mother. She got wind that I’m on an OB/GYN service this week as a sort of a punishment.”

Rebecca frowned. “I wouldn’t call working with Dr. Walker a punishment. Have you read some of her papers? She’s a big deal.”

“I didn’t say it was punishment.” In fact, it wasn’t. He was enjoying his time on Dr. Walker’s service, but he knew his mother. Nothing was as worthy or extraordinary as neuro.

Sam rinsed and then shook his hands over the sink. He headed into the OR and was helped into a gown and gloves. He was hoping that they were just a precaution, that they wouldn’t have to be used to deliver the twins.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the neonatologist team, ready and waiting. Then he saw Mindy, attaching the monitors and watching as the babies’ heartbeats came online.

Please, let them stay in.

He knew the survival rate for infants so young was low.

“Dr. Napier?” a small voice called out to him.

Sam went over to Ms. Bayberry’s side. She was trembling, waiting for anesthesia, her arms strapped down.

“I’m here,” he said.

There was relief. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Of course. Where else would I be?”

Ms. Bayberry smiled. “How are the babies?”

Sam glanced over at Mindy and the monitors. Mindy nodded and gave a thumbs-up.

“They’re doing really good, Ms. Bayberry.”

“Please, just call me Linda. I feel like an old lady when you call me that.”

Sam chuckled. “Deal. As long as you call me Sam, then.”

“Sam?” she said. “I would’ve never pegged you for a Sam. I thought you were Scottish.”

“I’m American too.” He winked.

“Is my husband on his way?” she asked.

“He’s in the waiting room. I’ll give him regular updates, I promise.” Sam glanced up as Dr. Ootaka entered the OR, with Rebecca trailing him. “I think they’re going to get started soon. I’m going to watch those babies like a hawk. I won’t let them out of my sight.”

Linda sighed and nodded, staring back up at the ceiling.

Sam stepped out of the way of the anesthesiologist and glanced up in the gallery. He could see Holly amongst the crowd of eager onlookers. Whenever Dr. Ootaka did a surgery he always garnered a lot of attention. Enzo and Kimberlyn would’ve been all over this. He missed them.

The room was filled with some of West Manhattan Saints’ finest surgeons.

His mother should be pleased with that, instead of harassing him with endless texts about wasting his time when he should be focusing on pediatrics. And if he’d changed his mind about pediatrics then he shouldn’t be slumming in OB/GYN when he could switch over to neuro. She could pull some strings.

Even though he hadn’t read the texts, he knew exactly what they said, because they were always the same.

Always. It annoyed him. As if he wanted her help. Sam didn’t want anything from her.

At least that was one thing his mother had going for her; she was a creature of habit.

Sam moved toward Mindy as Linda drifted off and they put the tube down her throat. Sam watched the monitor closely, keeping his distance.

“She can’t be under too long, Dr. Ootaka,” Mindy piped up as she took her seat next to the fetal monitor. The steady sound of the two heartbeats beat in time with his own.

“I’m well aware of that, Dr. Walker. Ten blade.”

The surgery began as laparoscopic incisions were made and the camera inserted to get a better look at the damage done to the spleen.

“You should really move closer,” Mindy whispered. “You could learn a lot from Dr. Ootaka.”

“I’m fine right here, Dr. Walker.” Sam eyed the monitor as the heartbeat of twin A began to rise, but just slightly.

“Are you sure?” Mindy asked.

“I promised her that I wouldn’t take my eyes off the babies. Even if it means they’re still inside her.”

“Okay, then.” There was a hint of admiration in her voice and it secretly pleased him that he had impressed her.

Don’t think about that.

All eyes in the gallery were focused on Dr. Ootaka and his team.

“Do you know what injection I gave Ms. Bayberry before we came in here?” Mindy asked casually.

“Is this a test?” Sam asked confused.

“Sort of. Just passing some time. So do you?”

“Since the risk of pre-term labor is high I would hope that you injected some corticosteroids into her, thus speeding along lung development of the babies.”

“Correct, Dr. Napier.”

“I’ve dealt with preemies before, Dr. Walker. I do work in pediatrics.”

“What about a micro-preemie? Have you ever delivered or worked on a micro-preemie before?”

Sam grinned behind his mask. He could never forget Maya, who was Enzo’s niece. He had been there when she’d come in. She had been his charge and he’d made it his personal mission to take care of her. Maya was alive because of him. “I have. In my first year.”

“You’ve seen a lot, then,” Mindy remarked.

“I have, and I hope to see more when I gain a fellowship spot with Dr. Chang.”

“No disrespect to Dr. Chang, but she’s not a neonatologist. If you want to work with preemies you should be working with Dr. Hall in the NICU.”

“Dr. Hall is a great surgeon, but I need a peds fellowship before I move into neonatology. Like you, I want many feathers in my cap.”

“You’re very sure of yourself.”

Sam didn’t respond. They’d had this discussion before and it didn’t bother him that she thought of him that way. In surgery that was a compliment. Suddenly an alarm went off and Mindy leapt to her feet.

“Dr. Walker, what is going on down there?” Dr. Ootaka demanded. “This is a delicate procedure.”

“I am well aware of that, Dr. Ootaka,” Mindy snapped. “One of the twins is distressed.”

“Is she in labor?”

Mindy shook her head. “No. Just the baby being active and jostling around.”

The general surgical team had stopped what they were doing so as not cause any more damage by the moving baby and because of that Linda’s blood pressure went down.

“Dammit,” Mindy cursed under her breath. “We have to get that baby to calm down. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to deliver or risk the mother bleeding out because they can’t repair her spleen.”

Sam thought back to when his stepmother had been pregnant with twins. The boys had been active and the only way his father had been able to get them to settle down had been to talk to them softly, in a deep, even voice.

“Let me try.” Sam stepped forward and placed his hands on Linda’s belly. Leaning over, he began to recite an old Gaelic song his father used to sing to his brothers. He was very aware that all eyes were on him and that everyone was listening to him sing, but he didn’t care.