like for me to interpret —”
“I can hold my own in the Spanish department, Ms. Blake.”
A slight blush stained her porcelain cheeks. “Okay, then.” She made a sweeping gesture toward the open door. “After you, Doctor.”
He couldn’t resist rattling her chain a little. “I would say ladies first, but I’m thinking you might slug me.”
“I’m thinking you might be right.”
Finally, she smiled, and then he knew for certain. She was the woman who’d marched through his mind for the past three days. The woman who’d run away from him at midnight. His reluctant Cinderella.
Obviously he didn’t recognize her. That shouldn’t matter to Joanna, but for some reason it did. If she looked at it logically, there was no reason why he should remember. It had been dark in the ballroom, and she’d been dressed up. Still, she couldn’t ignore the little twinge of hurt.
But she had to ignore it. Mrs. Gonzales’s well-being should be first and foremost in her mind, not Rio Madrid. At least the doctor seemed genuinely concerned for the woman. He spoke in perfect Spanish, his voice gentle and compassionate as he performed the ultrasound.
While he worked, Joanna took the opportunity to study him. He looked much the same as he had that night—darkly handsome, but his suit had been replaced by a blue scrub top that covered faded jeans, and the diamond stud in his earlobe exchanged for a small gold loop. His slick dark hair was still pulled back and secured at his neck, allowing Joanna to look her fill at his face in the glare of fluorescent lights—a chiseled face with a finely honed nose, high cheekbones and a granite jaw. And oh, that mouth. She recalled his soft lips, how gentle and breathtaking that kiss had been.
Her gaze dropped to his strong hands that had pressed against her back, held her close, made her melt. He might not look like a conventional doctor, but he was one fine masterpiece of a man. Even his name sounded striking. Rio Madrid…
“Okay, that does it.”
The doctor-in-question’s declaration forced Joanna back into the situation at hand, and her thoughts back onto her patient. The fear in Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales’s faces had lessened until Dr. Madrid began to explain the findings from the ultrasound. Placenta previa, as Joanna had suspected, and now the baby would more than likely have to be delivered by cesarean.
After the doctor was done, he stood and signaled Joanna to follow him into the hallway. Once they were out of the patient’s earshot, he said, “Since she’s at term, I’ll go ahead and do a C-section.”
“Bed rest—”
“Is not an option. She’s bleeding too much—”
“Dr. Madrid—”
“We need to get that baby out of there. This is the best course—”
“But—”
“—of treatment.”
Joanna waited for a few moments to make certain he was finished with his tirade before speaking again. “Just for the record, I’m in total agreement with you.”
He frowned. “You are?”
“Yes, I am.” She was caught between wanting to shake him and kiss him. Ridiculous, at least the kissing part. “If you’d let me get a word in edgewise, then you might have realized that.”
At least he looked contrite, and much too cute. “Sorry. I’m pretty damn tired at the moment.”
“That will make one a little cranky.”
He sent her a crooked smile. “So you think I’m cranky?”
Cranky, and gorgeous. “Maybe just a little bit.”
“Could we settle for mildly out of sorts?”
Joanna couldn’t help but smile back. “I suppose we could compromise with out of sorts. As long as we drop the mildly.”
His grin deepened and he opened his mouth to speak but before he could, a harried middle-aged woman approached him. “Dr. Madrid, the Gonzaleses have no insurance. I need to make payment arrangements with them. If they can’t pay, we need to transfer—”
“She’s not going anywhere.” His voice brimmed with barely contained anger. “I’m going to do an emergency cesarean in about ten minutes, and her husband’s going to be with her. End of conversation.”
“But hospital policy states—”
“I don’t give a damn about policy.” He lowered his voice, his jaw clenched tight. “I know you’re just doing your job, but I don’t have time to argue. Have your supervisor call me after the surgery if there’s a problem. I’ll handle it.”
The woman walked away, shaking her head.
Joanna smiled. “Bravo, Doctor. I’m impressed.”
His grin came slowly and unexpectedly, but Joanna’s reaction was fast and hard to ignore. “The bureaucracy around here sucks.”
“I have to agree with you on that, too.” She glanced toward the cubicle. “Well, I guess I should wish the Gonzaleses luck so you can do your job.”
He rubbed a hand over his shadowed jaw. “Do you want to scrub in with me?”
Joanna was totally taken aback by the offer. “I’d love to, if it’s okay with the hospital.”
“I’m giving you my permission, and that’s good enough. Let’s get going.”
After Dr. Madrid had made appropriate arrangements, Joanna followed him to the labor and delivery unit to change. She dressed and scrubbed then found him waiting for her in the operating suite. Stopping at the head of the table, Joanna exchanged a few encouraging words with the nervous couple, then moved past the drape to join the crew at the table.
“I assume you’ve scrubbed in on one of these before,” the doctor asked, the scalpel poised in his hands.
“Plenty.”
“You’re not doing them at the center, are you?”
That might have made Joanna mad had he not said it with amusement. “Not hardly. But I have had several opportunities during my training.” More than a few in her checkered past. She’d put her career goals on hold when she’d become pregnant her second year of medical school, soon forced to settle back into the role of nurse because of finances. Then later, Adam had completely robbed her of her dreams of becoming a doctor. He had robbed her of a lot more than that.
Joanna tamped down the bite of resentment to watch the obstetrician in action. His skill was apparent with the first cut, his hands deft, his movements flawless as he worked quickly to deliver the baby. Joanna and the doctor smiled at each other in unison when the little girl released a loud cry of protest during her entry into the world outside the womb. A wonderful sound, Joanna thought. She would never get over the miracle of birth, no matter how many times she witnessed it. And from the satisfied look on Dr. Madrid’s face, she imagined he felt the same.
