big deal. But the sedative the nurse had given him earlier helped keep him calm. “I love you too, Mom.”
As the nurse wheeled him through the doors, she felt her eyes filling with tears. She brushed them aside and turned, running headfirst into Seth.
“Hey, are you all right?” He captured her shoulders in his hands before her nose smashed into his chest.
“Fine.” She sniffled and gave a halfhearted smile. “I’m just overreacting a bit.”
“I’m sorry I missed him,” Seth said, not seeming to be in any hurry to let her go. His hands were warm and strong on her shoulders. “I tried to get here earlier, but there was a crash on the highway and traffic was backed up for miles.”
“It’s okay. He’ll be fine.” She longed to throw herself into his embrace, so she forced herself to take a step back. His thoughtfulness to come and see Ben off to surgery was touching, but completely unnecessary. Somehow she had to forget those sizzling kisses and put her son’s needs first, before her own. “Guess you’d better get back down to the ED, since you’re working today.”
“Yeah.” He fell into step beside her as they slowly made their way down the hall toward the elevators. “Did they tell you how long he’ll be in surgery?”
“Not more than a couple of hours.”
Seth nodded. “Great. I’ll dash up to check on Ben when there’s a lull in the patient load.”
She wanted to protest that it wasn’t necessary, but knew that Ben would be thrilled to see him. “All right,” she agreed.
At the elevators they paused, and from the expression on Seth’s face he had something on his mind, but his pager chose that moment to chirp.
He unclipped it from his waistband and read the display. “I have to go. There’s a patient on the way in.”
“From the crash?” she guessed.
“Yes.” He took her hand, reached over and brushed a quick kiss across her lips. “See you in a little while,” he murmured.
Her mouth tingling, she could only nod in shocked surprise as he took the stairs down to the first floor ED.
He had to stop doing that, she thought, irritably jamming her finger on the button to summon the elevator. He really, really had to stop doing that.
Seth was acting as if they were already a couple.
But they weren’t.
Her fault, since she’d allowed him to kiss her. Twice. Make that three times if you counted this most recent one. But enough was enough. This emotional rollercoaster ride needed to stop, now.
Determined to forget about Seth for a while, she returned to Ben’s room. She tried to work on the training program, but found herself surfing the Internet instead.
She typed the name of Air Force pilot Shane Andre into the search engine. Through a process of elimination she was able to find an article talking about Shane Andre being declared missing in action when his helicopter went down during a mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. For several weeks no one had been sure if Shane Andre was alive or dead. He’d eventually beenpronounced dead five weeks after he’d gone missing, when his military ID tags were found.
She saved the information to show Seth. Maybe he’d like to see how his father was portrayed as a hero.
For a long time she stared at the grainy picture of Seth’s father. Seeing Seth’s father made her think about Ben’s. What was Tristan doing? Did he ever think about them? Ever wonder how his child was doing?
For a millisecond she considered calling Tristan to let him know about Ben’s surgery, but almost immediately decided against it. After all, Tristan had made it clear he didn’t want to be a father. And it wasn’t as if Ben was having major surgery over some debilitating illness. Eye surgery wasn’t anything to take lightly, but it was certainly not life-threatening.
No, there was no reason to call him. Tristan had made his choices a long time ago. He’d never gotten in touch with her—not once in the past six years. The last thing she
As the nurse wheeled him through the doors, she felt her eyes filling with tears. She brushed them aside and turned, running headfirst into Seth.
“Hey, are you all right?” He captured her shoulders in his hands before her nose smashed into his chest.
“Fine.” She sniffled and gave a halfhearted smile. “I’m just overreacting a bit.”
“I’m sorry I missed him,” Seth said, not seeming to be in any hurry to let her go. His hands were warm and strong on her shoulders. “I tried to get here earlier, but there was a crash on the highway and traffic was backed up for miles.”
“It’s okay. He’ll be fine.” She longed to throw herself into his embrace, so she forced herself to take a step back. His thoughtfulness to come and see Ben off to surgery was touching, but completely unnecessary. Somehow she had to forget those sizzling kisses and put her son’s needs first, before her own. “Guess you’d better get back down to the ED, since you’re working today.”
“Yeah.” He fell into step beside her as they slowly made their way down the hall toward the elevators. “Did they tell you how long he’ll be in surgery?”
“Not more than a couple of hours.”
Seth nodded. “Great. I’ll dash up to check on Ben when there’s a lull in the patient load.”
She wanted to protest that it wasn’t necessary, but knew that Ben would be thrilled to see him. “All right,” she agreed.
At the elevators they paused, and from the expression on Seth’s face he had something on his mind, but his pager chose that moment to chirp.
He unclipped it from his waistband and read the display. “I have to go. There’s a patient on the way in.”
“From the crash?” she guessed.
“Yes.” He took her hand, reached over and brushed a quick kiss across her lips. “See you in a little while,” he murmured.
Her mouth tingling, she could only nod in shocked surprise as he took the stairs down to the first floor ED.
He had to stop doing that, she thought, irritably jamming her finger on the button to summon the elevator. He really, really had to stop doing that.
Seth was acting as if they were already a couple.
But they weren’t.
Her fault, since she’d allowed him to kiss her. Twice. Make that three times if you counted this most recent one. But enough was enough. This emotional rollercoaster ride needed to stop, now.
Determined to forget about Seth for a while, she returned to Ben’s room. She tried to work on the training program, but found herself surfing the Internet instead.
She typed the name of Air Force pilot Shane Andre into the search engine. Through a process of elimination she was able to find an article talking about Shane Andre being declared missing in action when his helicopter went down during a mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. For several weeks no one had been sure if Shane Andre was alive or dead. He’d eventually beenpronounced dead five weeks after he’d gone missing, when his military ID tags were found.
She saved the information to show Seth. Maybe he’d like to see how his father was portrayed as a hero.
For a long time she stared at the grainy picture of Seth’s father. Seeing Seth’s father made her think about Ben’s. What was Tristan doing? Did he ever think about them? Ever wonder how his child was doing?
For a millisecond she considered calling Tristan to let him know about Ben’s surgery, but almost immediately decided against it. After all, Tristan had made it clear he didn’t want to be a father. And it wasn’t as if Ben was having major surgery over some debilitating illness. Eye surgery wasn’t anything to take lightly, but it was certainly not life-threatening.
No, there was no reason to call him. Tristan had made his choices a long time ago. He’d never gotten in touch with her—not once in the past six years. The last thing she
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