and have,’ Cade confirmed. ‘You are the first TTTS case I’ve seen since coming to Australia a couple of months ago but I have performed this procedure over a dozen times in the States.’
Cade went on to explain what exactly the operation entailed. He talked about the high operative and twin survival success rates and ran through the benefits as well as the potential complications—from having to repeat the procedure on rare occasions because all the aberrant vessels hadn’t been destroyed to inducing labour and the subsequent complications to do with premature babies.
He was thorough, answering their questions as he went along, and Callie couldn’t help being both pleased and impressed. Invading the safe, sterile world of the uterus was cutting-edge stuff but it should never be taken lightly or dived into willy-nilly.
‘You’ll probably want some time to discuss it,’ Callie said when Cade’s spiel had come to an end and the questions seemed to have been exhausted. ‘Why don’t you guys go down to the coffee shop and figure out which option you want to go with?’
Ray nodded. ‘If we decided to go ahead with the laser thing,’ he said, addressing Cade, ‘how soon can you do it?’
‘Tomorrow,’ Cade said. Prenatal surgery was rare so there wasn’t exactly a waiting list. ‘We’ll admit Kathy straight away, run some more tests and I’ll get a team together. Not sure if it’ll be in the morning or the afternoon yet.’
‘Okay, thanks,’ Ray said. He stood, helping Kathy to her feet, then reached out and offered his hand to Cade. ‘Thanks, Doc.’ He nodded at Callie. ‘You’ll hear from us shortly.’
Callie reached into her trouser pocket and handed them a card. ‘Page me on this number whenever you want.’
Callie watched as Ray opened the door and ushered Kathy through it. ‘You reckon they’ll go for it?’ she asked Cade as the door shut behind the Streets.
‘They seem like really practical people, so I think they will.’ He looked at Callie. Her gorgeous red hair was constrained in a high ponytail today and in the daylight her green eyes dazzled. ‘You wanna assist tomorrow if they do? I’m going to need another set of hands in case I have to deliver twins.’
Callie grinned. Standing next to Cade while he saved two little tiny lives had danger to her peace of mind written all over it, but it wasn’t something she wanted to miss, either.
‘Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.’
Which was why the next morning she was standing in her scrubs and theatre clogs, her hair contained in a blue cap, a mask covering her nose and mouth, eagerly watching the monitor as Cade advanced the fetoscope through the amniotic sac of the recipient twin—Joshua—towards the connecting vessels on the surface of the placenta. It was a strange and beautiful underwater world, like in footage she’d once seen of a sunken galleon, and she held her breath as a little hand was illuminated by the beam of light shining from the end of the scope.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ Cade murmured.
Callie, standing opposite with her arms folded, her body turned to face the monitor, glanced at him and recognised the same sense of awe that was bubbling inside her. ‘Amazing,’ she agreed, her gaze straying immediately back to the screen.
Cade watched her for a moment longer. With the mask firmly in situ, hiding the classic features of her face, he had no idea what colour lipstick she was wearing or if, indeed, she was wearing any. Instead, he’d found something equally captivating: her eyes.
The mask isolated and emphasised the flecks of turquoise amidst the green of her irises. He hadn’t noticed them before and he couldn’t think why. He guessed his determination to concentrate on his career was paying off if he’d missed the fascinating hue of Callie’s eyes.
He was obviously getting good at it.
So, why, suddenly, was that such a depressing thought?
He turned back to concentrate on the job at hand—on Kathy, anesthetised and depending on him, on her babies, on locating the problem vessels.
‘Laser, please.’
The scrub nurse handed him the fibre and he threaded it down through the same sheath the scope was using, without taking his eyes off the visual on the screen. Once the laser was in place he set about coagulating the aberrant blood supply, running the beam along the length of the vessels and obliterating them for good.
It didn’t take long and he was satisfied when he was finished that the procedure had been curative. ‘That ought to do it,’ he announced, as he withdrew the fibre.
Callie glanced at him and her eyes shone with excitement—like they needed any extra enhancement! ‘Well done! You going to take some of that amniotic fluid while you’re in there?’
He nodded. ‘Yep. Looks like I’ve got a good couple of litres I can relieve Joshua and his mother of.’
In the end Cade withdrew one and a half litres before declaring himself satisfied. Kathy would feel an immediate difference in the tightness of her belly and her breathlessness, and Joshua’s heart and kidneys would not have to work as hard. Andrew, his twin, also now had a chance to develop normally.
And as the cherry on top, Callie was looking at him like he hung the moon.
And all-round great result.
Kathy and Ray thought so, too, when four days down the track she was ready for discharge. The twins were doing well, no complications had developed and they were thrilled to be heading home with weekly follow-up from their local medical centre.
‘Thank you so much,’ Kathy said to Callie as Ray zipped up her bag. ‘You saved our boys’ lives.’
Callie laughed. ‘I think Dr Coleman deserves those accolades.’ She’d only seen Cade on and off briefly over the intervening days, which was just as well because she was fast developing a crush on his medical prowess.
As if his body wasn’t bad enough!
‘We both do,’ a deep voice rocking a sexy accent said from behind her.
Kathy laughed as Callie turned. ‘See, Cade agrees with me.’
Callie’s stomach went into free fall at the sight of Cade lounging in the doorway. His business shirt was rolled up at the elbows, his tie knot loosened, somehow making him look more wicked frat boy than a skilled prenatal surgeon. ‘Cade,’ Callie said, turning back to face Kathy for the sake of her sanity, ‘is being too kind.’
‘Nonsense,’ he said, and Callie didn’t need to look around to know he was closing in—she could sense it. ‘You put the twins’ interests first and sought the most cutting-edge treatment option available. That’s gutsy. Trust me, a lot of doctors out there rank voodoo higher than what I do.’
His sleeve brushed hers as he drew level and Callie’s stomach looped the loop.
Ray stuck out his hand and Cade shook it as he said, ‘Voodoo or not, we owe both of you.’
‘Just remember,’ Callie said. ‘Weekly ultrasounds are vital. Vital. A good diet and rest, too. You’re at a higher risk of premature birth so you really do need
