much as he wanted to head home, he knew he couldn’t leave until he was certain little Erica was stable. The first few hours were the most critical, and if she started bleeding, he’d have to take her back to surgery.
He changed his scrubs and then took a few minutes to call Josh, as it was just past dinnertime. “Hi, Gemma, is Josh there?”
“Sure. I’ll get him.”
He could hear her yelling for Josh and soon his son picked up the phone. “Daddy? Are you coming home now?”
He closed his eyes and wished more than anything that he could go home just for a few minutes to give Josh a hug. “Not yet. But if everything goes well, I’ll be home before you go to bed.”
“Promise?” Josh asked.
He hesitated, hating to promise anything he couldn’t deliver. “Josh, I promise that I’ll try very hard to get home before you go to bed. A lot depends on how well my patient is doing. Okay?”
“Okay.” Josh sounded distant, and Dan wished more than anything he could have had this last week at home. But at the same time tetralogy of Fallot, complicated by hypoplastic pulmonary arteries, was his specialty. Erica had the best chance with him as her surgeon.
As always, the tug between doing what was best for his patients and what was best for his son was difficult to navigate. He didn’t want to let either of them down.
But when he did, it was invariably his son who suffered the most.
“How was therapy today?” he asked in an effort to prolong the conversation.
“Good.”
Another one-word answer. He strove for patience and tried again. “Let’s see if I can guess what flavor lollipop you chose for today. Hmm,” he murmured dragging out the suspense as he pretended to ponder. “Cherry? No, I bet it was root beer.”
There was a gasp. “How did you know it was root beer?” Josh demanded with awe.
Dan grinned. “I have superhuman powers,” he teased. Glancing at his watch, he realized baby Erica was already up in the NICU by now. “Look, Josh, I have to go and check on my patient. I’ll try to be home in a couple of hours, okay?”
“Okay. Good night, Daddy.” At least this time he sounded as if he meant it.
“Good night, Josh.” After Josh hung up, he stared at his phone for a moment, before slipping it into his pocket and heading over to the elevator. He always hoped and prayed his patients did well after surgery, especially since they were so small and vulnerable.
But this time he hoped and prayed twice as hard because he didn’t want to disappoint his son.
He had been wrong about Rebecca, who was still there, and he found her studying Erica’s lab results intently. “Hi, Dan,” she said, somewhat distractedly.
“Rebecca. How’s she doing?”
“Good so far. Her hemoglobin is stable for the moment.”
“Glad to hear it.” If Erica’s hemoglobin stayed stable, he’d make it home in time to say good-night to Josh after all.
“I can watch her, if you want to head home,” Rebecca offered. “I have to be here, anyway.”
It was tempting, oh, so tempting to take her up on her offer but his rule was to wait for a least an hour. If patients were going to start bleeding it was generally within the first hour or two.
“I’ll wait.” He settled in a chair next to Erica’s isolette.
“Your choice.” She dropped next to him and they spent the next hour monitoring Erica’s vital signs and lab values.
“This baby girl is a true star,” Rebecca said, pushing away from the isolette well over an hour later. “Go home, Dan. Your son needs you.”
He didn’t have to be told twice. Erica did indeed look like a star. Or at least she was stable. And he didn’t live far from the hospital if something happened later.
He crossed the threshold of his home fifteen minutes later, giving him thirty minutes before Josh usually went to bed. “Josh? Gemma? I’m home.”
“Gemma’s not here, Daddy,” Josh said, wheeling into the living room.
His jaw dropped and his heart squeezed in panic. “What do you mean, she’s not here?” he said in alarm. “Are you telling me she actually left you here all alone?”
“No, she didn’t leave him alone.” A female voice from the doorway made him swing round in shocked surprise. Molly stood there, looking wonderful. And nervous. “I—um—agreed to come over as she had to leave. Something about her daughter needing to go to the hospital.”
“You did?” He stared at her, tempted to rush over and haul her into his arms, to prove she was real. Because having Molly waiting for him was something he’d secretly coveted.
“Yes. I hope you don’t mind.”
God, no, of course he didn’t mind. In fact, this just might be the best news of his entire day. He reverently hoped Erica would remain stable back at the hospital as he flashed a grateful smile and gently closed the door behind him. “I don’t mind at all.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
MOLLY TRIED TO HIDE HER uncertainty about agreeing to come over to pinch-hit for Josh’s nanny. Deep down, she’d figured this was a bad idea, but she hadn’t been able to refuse Gemma, as the nanny’s daughter had been taken to the hospital with suspected appendicitis.
She sat on the corner of Josh’s bed, listening as Dan read Josh a bedtime story. Dan was doing a pretty good job, changing his voice to match the characters.
After the story, Josh wanted to hug and kiss both of them good-night. Dan went first, and then she stepped forward. As she bent over, giving him a hug and a kiss, and receiving the same in return, she couldn’t help remembering how she’d often done the same thing with James’s boys. She tried to tell herself this was different, but at the moment she had an undeniable sense of déjà vu.
“Molly, I don’t know how to thank you for coming over on the spur of the moment like this,” Dan said huskily, after he’d closed the door for Josh’s room and led the way into the living room. “I owe you, big-time.”
She forced herself to relax and smile. “It’s no problem. Gemma was so upset about her daughter needing emergency surgery, there was no way I could turn her down. Besides, you know I care about Josh.”
“Something I’m very grateful for,” he said humbly.
She was secretly relieved he didn’t seem to think she was chasing after him, considering the night they’d spent together. It had been her biggest fear in agreeing to cover for Gemma. Fortunately, the moment Dan had realized she was there, he’d looked happy to see her.
Still, she couldn’t help wondering why Dan had left her name and number to use in case of an emergency in the first place. She didn’t want to think that he was taking advantage
