voice said from behind him. He turned around to see a petite, strikingly beautiful redheaded woman he’d never seen before. “My name is Kim Rayborn and I’m the OB Attending on call. What’s the situation at hand?”
Seth quickly filled her in on Josie’s presenting signs and symptoms. He knew most of the attending physicians by name, so assumed Kim was new to Cedar Bluff. They sometimes lost their doctors to the bigger cities, where the pay was often higher. “We were trying to rule out preeclampsia, but here are her latest lab values. She’s spilling quite a bit of protein in her urine.”
Kim gave them a quick glance and then turned toward the patient. “Josie, my name is Kim, and I’m the OB doctor on call. Who is your regular OB physician?”
“Dr. Eric Kampine. Why?” Josie’s eyes were wide as she astutely realized something was going on. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re fine, and your baby is fine,” Kim gently reassured her. “But I’m concerned you have some signs and symptoms of preeclampsia, also known as toxemia. It’s not life-threatening to you or your baby at this point, but it is something we need to treat. I’m going to admit you upstairs to the OB unit, and I’d like to give your doctor a call to let him know what’s going on.” Kim smiled and took Josie’s hand. Seth was impressed withher calm bedside manner. “I promise I’ll stay with you until your doctor arrives, all right?”
Josie nodded, clutching Kim’s hand.
“I’d like to get her connected to a continuous fetal monitor. Do you have one down here, or should I send someone up to get one?” Kim asked.
“We don’t have them here. We always borrow from the OB/GYN unit upstairs,” Seth told her.
“Okay, then, let’s get her up there as quickly as possible.”
Kim wouldn’t get an argument from him. Seth was glad he could safely hand over Josie’s care to someone better prepared to deal with it. He’d only delivered a couple of babies in his career and he preferred to keep it that way. Pregnant women and babies made him nervous.
More than nervous. He’d always intended to stay far away from that scene. Watching his brother and sister falling in love had only reinforced how vulnerable they were to getting hurt down the road. He’d decided not to go down that path himself.
So why had he momentarily imagined how radiant and beautiful Kylie would look carrying a child? His child?
Rotating his head from side to side, he tried to ease the tension that had knotted there. He was tired, that was all. He hadn’t slept well the night before, thinking about Kylie and Ben, wishing she’d asked him to stay. Heck, as if that hadn’t been bad enough, she’d even followed him into his dreams.
There wasn’t time to visit Kylie and Ben now, though. There was documentation and further assessment to do before Josie could be transferred upstairswith Kim. And there were still several other less urgent patients he needed to see.
It wasn’t until later, when the bedlam had died down a bit and he was heading upstairs to see Ben, that he realized he hadn’t experienced that same flash of interest with Kim that he normally did when he met a beautiful and potentially available woman.
Like when he’d first met Kylie.
He frowned, trying to figure out what was different. Kim was pretty, with her cloud of red hair, and she was smart. But he hadn’t felt one iota of male interest—at least nothing more than friendly admiration. He hadn’t experienced the slightest urge to ask her out, or to investigate whether she was seeing anyone.
The realization caused a flare of panic. Because even in the past, when he’d gone out with women for brief periods of fun, he’d felt that spark of interest when meeting someone new. It was one of the reasons he always made his no-strings intent clear up front. He’d always assumed commitment wasn’t a part of his genetic DNA makeup.
Now he found he was only interested in one
Seth quickly filled her in on Josie’s presenting signs and symptoms. He knew most of the attending physicians by name, so assumed Kim was new to Cedar Bluff. They sometimes lost their doctors to the bigger cities, where the pay was often higher. “We were trying to rule out preeclampsia, but here are her latest lab values. She’s spilling quite a bit of protein in her urine.”
Kim gave them a quick glance and then turned toward the patient. “Josie, my name is Kim, and I’m the OB doctor on call. Who is your regular OB physician?”
“Dr. Eric Kampine. Why?” Josie’s eyes were wide as she astutely realized something was going on. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re fine, and your baby is fine,” Kim gently reassured her. “But I’m concerned you have some signs and symptoms of preeclampsia, also known as toxemia. It’s not life-threatening to you or your baby at this point, but it is something we need to treat. I’m going to admit you upstairs to the OB unit, and I’d like to give your doctor a call to let him know what’s going on.” Kim smiled and took Josie’s hand. Seth was impressed withher calm bedside manner. “I promise I’ll stay with you until your doctor arrives, all right?”
Josie nodded, clutching Kim’s hand.
“I’d like to get her connected to a continuous fetal monitor. Do you have one down here, or should I send someone up to get one?” Kim asked.
“We don’t have them here. We always borrow from the OB/GYN unit upstairs,” Seth told her.
“Okay, then, let’s get her up there as quickly as possible.”
Kim wouldn’t get an argument from him. Seth was glad he could safely hand over Josie’s care to someone better prepared to deal with it. He’d only delivered a couple of babies in his career and he preferred to keep it that way. Pregnant women and babies made him nervous.
More than nervous. He’d always intended to stay far away from that scene. Watching his brother and sister falling in love had only reinforced how vulnerable they were to getting hurt down the road. He’d decided not to go down that path himself.
So why had he momentarily imagined how radiant and beautiful Kylie would look carrying a child? His child?
Rotating his head from side to side, he tried to ease the tension that had knotted there. He was tired, that was all. He hadn’t slept well the night before, thinking about Kylie and Ben, wishing she’d asked him to stay. Heck, as if that hadn’t been bad enough, she’d even followed him into his dreams.
There wasn’t time to visit Kylie and Ben now, though. There was documentation and further assessment to do before Josie could be transferred upstairswith Kim. And there were still several other less urgent patients he needed to see.
It wasn’t until later, when the bedlam had died down a bit and he was heading upstairs to see Ben, that he realized he hadn’t experienced that same flash of interest with Kim that he normally did when he met a beautiful and potentially available woman.
Like when he’d first met Kylie.
He frowned, trying to figure out what was different. Kim was pretty, with her cloud of red hair, and she was smart. But he hadn’t felt one iota of male interest—at least nothing more than friendly admiration. He hadn’t experienced the slightest urge to ask her out, or to investigate whether she was seeing anyone.
The realization caused a flare of panic. Because even in the past, when he’d gone out with women for brief periods of fun, he’d felt that spark of interest when meeting someone new. It was one of the reasons he always made his no-strings intent clear up front. He’d always assumed commitment wasn’t a part of his genetic DNA makeup.
Now he found he was only interested in one
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