helping her out, she managed to stand and offer her hand. “Mr. Carlton, I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Obviously,” he said, his lips curving into a slow smile. “My aunt said you’d had trouble contacting me. My staff shouldn’t have put you off. I apologize for that.”
Beth had read that he was a heartbreaker. Now she knew why. If his gaze could render her speechless, that smile could set her on fire. Add in the unexpected touch of humility and the sincerity of his apology, and her first impression was pretty much smashed to bits. She’d never experienced a reaction to any man quite like this. She wasn’t sure she liked it.
“Would you...?” Exasperated by her inability to gather her thoughts, she swallowed hard, took a deep breath, then tried again. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Actually I’m on a tight schedule. I found myself near here and wanted to let you know that I haven’t been deliberately blowing off your calls. I thought I’d take a chance that now would be a good time to meet Tony.”
“Of course,” she said at once, knowing what such a visit would mean even if regular visiting hours were later in the day. This was one instance when she didn’t mind breaking the rules. “I’ll take you to his room. He’ll be thrilled.”
Jason cleared his throat. At his pointed look, Beth realized that her colleagues were hoping for an introduction to the local football legend. Amazed that grown men could be as enamored of Mack Carlton as her twelve-year-old patient was, she paused and made the introductions.
When it seemed that the doctors were about to go over every great play the man had ever made on the football field, she cut them off.
“As much as you guys would probably like to discuss football for the rest of the day, Mr. Carlton is here to see Tony,” she reminded them a bit curtly.
Mack Carlton gave her another of those smiles that could melt the polar ice cap. “Besides,” he said, “we’re probably boring Dr. Browning to tears.”
Now there was a loaded statement if ever she’d heard one. She didn’t dare admit to being bored and risk insulting him more than she had when he’d first arrived and overheard her. Nor was she inclined to lie. Instead she forced a smile. “You did say you had a tight schedule.”
His grin spread. “So I did. Lead the way, Doctor.”
Relieved to have something concrete to do, she set off briskly through the corridors to the unit where twelve-year-old Tony had spent far too much of his young life.
“Tell me about Tony,” Mack suggested as they walked.
“He’s twelve and he has leukemia,” Beth told him, fighting to keep any trace of emotion from her voice. It was the kind of story she hated to tell, especially when the battle wasn’t being won. “It’s the third time it’s come back. This time he’s not responding so well to the chemotherapy. We’d hoped to get him ready for a bone marrow transplant, but we don’t have the right donor marrow, and because of his difficulty with the chemo, I’m not so sure it would be feasible for him right now anyway.”
Mack listened intently to everything she was saying. “His prognosis?”
“Not good,” she said tersely.
“And you’re taking it personally,” he said quietly.
Beth promptly shook her head. “I know I can’t win every battle,” she said, as she had to the psychologist who’d expressed his concern about her state of mind earlier in the day. Few people knew just how personally she took a case like Tony’s. She was surprised that Mack Carlton had guessed it so easily.
“But you hate losing,” Mack said.
“When it’s a matter of life and death, of course I do,” she said fiercely. “I went into medicine to save lives.”
“Why?” Before she could reply, he added, “I know it’s a noble profession, but dealing with sick kids has to be an emotional killer. Why you? Why this field?”
She was surprised that he actually seemed interested in her response. “I was drawn to it early on,” she said, aware that she was being evasive by suggesting that it hadn’t been the motivating force in her entire life. With any luck, Mack wouldn’t realize it.
“Because?” he prodded, not accepting the response at face value and proving once more that he was a more insightful man than she’d expected him to be.
“Why does it matter to you?” she asked, still dodging a direct answer to his question.
His eyes studied her intently. “Because it obviously matters to you.”
Once again his insight caught her off guard. It was evident he wasn’t going to let this go until he’d heard at least some version of the truth. “Okay, here it is in a nutshell. I had an older brother who died of leukemia when I was ten,” she told him, revealing more than she had to anyone other than her family. They knew all too well what her motivation had been for choosing medicine, and they didn’t entirely approve of her choice, fearing she was doomed to have repeated heartaches. “I vowed to save other kids like him.”
Mack regarded her with what appeared to be real sympathy. “Like I said, you take it personally.”
She sighed at the assessment. “Yes, I suppose I do.”
“How long do you think you can keep it up, if you take every case to heart?”
“As long as I have to,” she insisted tightly. “I only see a few patients. Most of my time is spent in research. Our treatments are getting better and better all the time.” Sadly, Tony wasn’t responding well to any of them, which was why she’d taken such an intense interest in his case.
“But not with Tony,” Mack said.
Beth fought against the salty sting of unexpected tears. “Not with Tony, at least not yet,” she admitted softly. Then she set her jaw and regarded Mack defiantly, blinking back those tell-tale tears. “But we’re going to win this battle, too.”
He gave her an admiring look. “Yes, I think you will,” he said quietly. “Will my being here actually help Tony?”
“Hopefully it will improve his spirits,” Beth assured him. “He’s been a little down lately, and sometimes boosting a child’s morale is the most important thing we can do. We need to keep him from giving up on himself or on us.”
Mack nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s go in there and talk football.” He gave her an impudent grin. “I assume you won’t be saying much.”
Beth laughed despite herself, liking Mack far more than she’d ever expected to. She could forgive a lot in a person who had a sense of humor, whether about her foibles or his own. “Probably not.”
His expression sobered. “Good. What I do for a living may not be medicine or rocket science, but I’d hate to have you dismiss it in front of a kid who thinks it matters.”
Beth stared at him as his point struck home. Her opinion of football or of Mack Carlton didn’t matter right now. “Touché, Mr. Carlton. I’ll definitely refrain from comment. This is all about Tony.”
He
