Heath considered her for a moment and then came up with a suggestion. ‘I have an idea to appease your misguided sense of guilt. Why don’t you assist me in Theatre over at the Eastern Memorial this afternoon? I have three on the surgical list and I could do with an extra set of hands—but we’d need to leave immediately.’
Phoebe sat bolt-upright and answered with an unhesitating, ‘Yes!’ as she reached for her bag. ‘Let’s go … I’m all yours.’
Heath nodded, but his body abruptly reminded him that if his life had played out differently and Phoebe really was all his there would be far more pleasurable things he would do with her that afternoon.
THE SCRUB NURSE greeted Heath as he prepared for the first patient.
‘Abby, we have Phoebe Johnson, a podiatric surgeon from Washington, joining us this afternoon,’ Heath announced as he turned off the tap with his foot and shook the water from his hands into the scrub room trough.
‘Hi, Phoebe, welcome aboard.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Abby.’
Phoebe slipped her freshly scrubbed hands inside some surgical gloves. Her long dark hair was in a flat bun and neatly secured inside a floral cap, and like the other two she was already dressed in sterile blue scrubs. They entered the theatre just as the patient was drifting off under anaesthesia.
‘So, today’s patient is a thirty-five-year-old professional skateboarder. He’s here for a lateral ankle ligament reconstruction. The ankle has not responded to non-surgical treatment and has been unstable for over six months,’ Heath informed the surgical team, including two observing third-year medical students as he began marking the stained sterile area. ‘Would you like to lead on this one, Phoebe?’
Phoebe was both flattered and pleased to be asked. Heath was a complex man, but a man who treated her as his equal, not only in words but in actions.
Quietly she declined. ‘I’d prefer to assist today. We can switch it around another time, perhaps.’
‘Certainly.’ Heath looked over his surgical mask at Phoebe for slightly longer than required before he averted his eyes back to the patient. ‘I routinely use the modified Brostrom procedure.’ He confidently made a J-shaped incision over the outside of the patient’s left ankle with his scalpel, identified the ankle ligaments and began the process of tightening them, using anchors that he placed on to the fibula bone.
Phoebe appreciated the way he led the students through the procedure by describing the steps clearly and precisely.
‘I’m stitching other tissue over the repaired ligaments to further strengthen the repair,’ he said as he continued, with Phoebe holding the incision open with forceps.
Phoebe had done many of these operations over the years. ‘That looks great, Heath. Very clean and tidy. I’ve had a few when I’ve needed to use tendons to replace the ligaments. I’ve woven a tendon into the bones around the ankle and held it in place with stitches, and occasionally a screw in the bone. I’ve utilised a patient’s own hamstring tendon before. But it made it a much longer operation as I had to take the hamstring tendon through a separate incision on the inside part of the knee.’
Heath nodded in agreement. ‘On more than one occasion I’ve needed to use a cadaver tendon and had to weave it into the fibula bone. There’s many ways to solve a problem like this, and as we know each has its merits.’
Phoebe and Heath worked together as if they had been operating as a team for years—or at the very least months. Their effortless collaboration would be deceptive to any external observers, who might not think that this was their first time together in the operating theatre. Phoebe was able to pre-empt Heath’s next move, and neither of them could deny their natural synchronisation.
‘That went well.’
Phoebe nodded her agreement with Heath’s statement as they scrubbed in for the second operation. Each was exceptionally happy with how well they’d worked together but not wanting to state the obvious.
They made a great team.
The afternoon progressed well, with the other two patients’ procedures completed successfully and on time. Phoebe felt a great deal of satisfaction working with such a skilful surgeon as Heath. His dexterity and knowledge in the field was second to none and, while she was confident in her own abilities, she felt there was still much she could learn from him.
After only a short time in the operating theatre with Heath she could see that he had a level of skill that must come close to his father’s. The knowledge Heath had casually and without ceremony imparted to her already was amazing, and she was excited for the next few weeks until he left for Sydney.
‘I really hope we can do this again.’ The words rushed from her lips with unbridled honesty as she removed her surgical gloves and cap.
Heath watched as her long dark hair tumbled free and fell over her shoulders. In the harsh theatre lights she still looked gorgeous, and he knew that in any lighting her stunning smile and sparkling eyes would bring a glow to the room.
‘I’d like that,’ he said, and again kept his eyes focused on her for a little longer than a casual glance.
Phoebe flinched and felt something tug at her heart. Was it pity for the man? Or desire? She wasn’t sure, but there was something stirring inside.
‘Would you like to grab some dinner? My way to say thank you for assisting in there this afternoon.’
Heath had surprised himself with the invitation, but he enjoyed spending time with Phoebe and it seemed a natural progression for the day. They had a professional connection, and he told himself it was nothing more than a dinner invitation to a colleague.
‘I’ll have to go out and eat anyway. Oscar will be eating at Tilly’s, and Dad will more than likely defrost a TV dinner, so I will need to pick up something or eat alone at a restaurant. You’ll be doing me a favour by sharing a table with me.’
‘If you put it that way …’ she replied.
‘That’s settled, then,’ Heath said as he left to change into his street clothes. ‘As you know, I have your address, so what say I pick you up at seven?’
‘Sounds perfect.’
‘I’ll put Oscar to bed early, since last night was a late one for him, then you and I can have a nice dinner somewhere—maybe even in the foothills. I’ll show you something of Adelaide. It should be a little cooler out tonight, so I’ll find a good alfresco restaurant.’
Phoebe walked into the female change room. There were two other young doctors also changing from their scrubs to day clothes, but they didn’t notice Phoebe and continued their conversation.
‘Did you know he’s back in town?’ an attractive redhead asked the other woman. ‘He’s been here for a week already.’
‘The doctor with the no second date rule?’ the blonde doctor replied as she ran a brush though her short bobbed hair, then
