Romancing the M.D.

by Maureen Smith

  Did Tamara dare take a gamble on trusting his judgment when the personal stakes were so much higher?

  “Tamara?” Victor prompted, his voice laced with urgency.

  She hesitated another moment, then swallowed hard and gave a shaky nod. “Okay,” she whispered. “Do it. Save my mother.”

  Victor touched her face briefly, then rose and strode purposefully from the waiting room.

  Left alone, Tamara drew her legs up to her chest and dropped her head onto her knees. As a fresh wave of tears spilled from her eyes, she told herself that she’d made the right decision.

  God help her if she was wrong.

  The next seven hours were the longest, most excruciating seven hours of Tamara’s life.

  She paced restlessly, wept frequently and petitioned God for a miracle. Isabelle, Ravi, Jaclyn and Dr. De Winter took turns sitting and talking with her, assuring her that her mother was in excellent hands. Sheryl and Jerome Stubbs brought Tamara something to eat and wouldn’t leave until she’d forced down a few bites. Even Dr. Dudley and Nurse Tsang came by to check up on her and offer kind words of comfort.

  As much as Tamara appreciated the moral support of her concerned colleagues and friends, she couldn’t draw an easy breath as long as her mother’s life hung in the balance. Vonda St. John meant everything to her. She was Tamara’s best friend and confidant, her Rock of Gibraltar. Tamara couldn’t imagine a world without her mother in it. Losing her would be a devastating tragedy she would never, ever recover from.

  Finally, after an agonizing eternity, Victor and Dr. Balmer returned to the waiting room to deliver the news of her mother’s fate. By then, Tamara was surrounded by nearly everyone who had visited her throughout the day, including several of her mother’s friends and coworkers who’d rushed over as soon as they heard about the accident.

  The appearance of Victor and Dr. Balmer brought the roomful of people to their feet, an expectant hush sweeping over them.

  Victor and Dr. Balmer scanned the faces in the crowd before their gazes came to rest on Tamara.

  She held her breath, heart slamming painfully against her ribcage.

  Slow, satisfied smiles swept across the doctors’ faces. “The operation was a success,” Dr. Balmer announced.

  As the room erupted into cheers, Tamara, bursting with elation and gratitude, rushed forward to embrace her supervisor.

  “Thank you,” she said fervently. “Thank you for saving my mother’s life!”

  “You’re welcome, Tamara,” Dr. Balmer said warmly. “But I really can’t take all the credit. Victor’s the one who recommended inducing extreme hypothermia. Without his gutsy suggestion, we could have been dealing with an entirely different outcome right now.”

  Beaming with excitement, Tamara turned and leaped into Victor’s arms. He laughed, lifting her off the floor and twirling her around as she showered his face with grateful kisses.

  “Thank you so much, Victor!”

  He grinned. “Haven’t I told you what an amazing woman your mother is?”

  “Yes! Can I go see her?”

  “Absolutely,” he said.

  As Dr. Balmer remained behind to accept more congratulations, Tamara and Victor made their way quickly to the Intensive Care Unit.

  Tamara took one look at her mother lying in the metal hospital bed—bandaged and bruised, but very much alive—and broke down in tears. Before she could compose herself, she was hurrying to Vonda’s bedside and leaning down to kiss her cheek and hug her warm body, thoroughly shaken by how close she’d come to losing her.

  Vonda stirred, her eyes opening to settle groggily on Tamara’s tear-streaked face. “Hey, baby,” she murmured.

  “Hey, yourself.” Tamara managed a tremulous smile as she reluctantly pulled away, gently stroking her mother’s hair. “You gave me quite a scare today, didn’t you?”

  Vonda sighed. “I suppose I did. Certainly didn’t mean to.”

  “I know.” Tamara sniffled as she perched on the side of the bed, resisting the urge to curl up beside her mother and remain there until Vonda was discharged from the hospital. “How are you feeling, Ma?”

  “Honestly? Like I’m on some psychedelic mind trip.”

  Tamara gave a watery grin. “It’s the anesthesia. It’ll wear off soon.”

  “Mmm.” Staring beyond her daughter’s shoulder, Vonda smiled warmly at Victor, who’d remained near the doorway to give mother and daughter some privacy. “Ah, there he is. There’s the man who helped save my life. But why are you standing all the way over there?”

  Victor chuckled, walking slowly to the bed. “You’ve spent the past seven hours around me. I figured you needed a break.”

  Vonda gave a soft laugh.

  “That sound is music to my ears,” Tamara and Victor told her, then looked at each other and grinned.

  Catching the affectionate exchange, Vonda smiled with quiet satisfaction before saying, “I overheard the nurses talking excitedly when they brought me to my room. Is it true that you suggested freezing me like a Popsicle, Victor?”

  He laughed. “Something like that.”

  Vonda’s smile widened. “Guess I’ll have quite a story to share when I go back to work.”

  “You certainly will,” Victor agreed, gently touching her face.

  “And speaking of your coworkers, Ma,” Tamara added, “a bunch of them showed up at the hospital this afternoon. They’re in the waiting room, hoping they’ll get a chance to see you. But I don’t want you to overexert yourself, so I’ll tell them to come back tomorrow.”

  “That’s fine. This anesthesia’s got me feeling a little too loopy for visitors, anyway.” Vonda divided a glance between Tamara and Victor, a hazy smile curving her lips. “I had a dream about the two of you.”

  Tamara and Victor exchanged looks.

  “What was the dream about, Ma?” Tamara asked.

  Vonda sighed contentedly. “It was wonderful. You were married, and you had beautiful twins. A boy and a girl who took after each of you.”

  Tamara and Victor shared another long, meaningful glance.

  By the time their gazes returned to Vonda, her eyes had drifted closed.

  Tamara leaned forward, tenderly kissing her mother’s cheek. “Get some rest, Ma. Victor and I will check up on you later.”

  Vonda didn’t respond. She had fallen asleep.

  As Tamara carefully rose from the bed, Victor took her hand in his, caressing her palm with his fingers.

  They were halfway across the room when Vonda’s soft, drowsy voice floated out to them. “Or maybe it wasn’t a dream. Maybe it was a vision of the future.” She sighed. “Either way, it gave me even more of a reason to pull through…?.”

  Chapter 20

  Over the next several days, Tamara remained a constant fixture at her mother’s bedside, thanks to the time off that Dr. Balmer had generously allotted her. Victor also stopped by frequently to check on his patient, pleased by how well she was recovering from the risky operation that had made her an instant celebrity around the hospital.

  Although Tamara wanted to spend every night in her mother’s room to keep a close eye on her, Vonda wouldn’t hear of it. She shooed Tamara out at the end of each day, telling her to go home to Victor where she belonged.

  On her way back to the condo one evening, Tamara reflected on her mother’s admonition, and her use of the word home. Before moving in together, Tamara and Victor had regarded their apartments as places to lay their heads, and nothing more. But the condo they now shared meant more to them than either could have ever imagined. They’d built a home together—one where they laughed and frolicked together, played music and danced together, cooked and ate together, made love and created sweet, lasting memories together.

  As Tamara drove home that night, she remembered what Victor had told her that day in the supply closet when he’d held his stethoscope to her chest. When she’d asked him what he was doing, he’d replied, Listening to your heart. You should try it sometime.r />
  She’d never forgotten those words. She’d been afraid to trust her feelings for Victor. She’d been afraid to trust her heart. But no longer. Nearly losing her mother had reminded her of just how precious life was. Love, too, was a precious gift that should never be taken for granted.

  So when Tamara returned home from the hospital that evening to find Victor napping on the sofa, she set down her backpack, toed off her shoes and crept over to the living room. As she climbed on top of Victor and straddled his legs, he opened his eyes and stared at her.

  “Hey,” he greeted her softly. “How’s your mom doing?”

  “Wonderful. But as much as she’s been enjoying the VIP treatment, she’s looking forward to going home tomorrow. Even when I invited her to stay here with us until she’s fully recuperated, she politely refused. She wants her own space again.”

  Victor chuckled. “That’s understandable. We’re both doctors, and even we sometimes feel caged in at the hospital.”

  “True.” Tamara leaned down and kissed him, a long, deep, passionate kiss that left them both breathless.

  “Wow,” Victor murmured, stroking her thighs. “What was that for?”

  “My answer’s yes.”

  His hands stilled. “Yes to…?”

  “Yes, Victor, I’ll marry you.”

  He stared at her, searching her face as if he couldn’t quite believe what he’d heard. “Did you just say…”

  “Yes, sweetheart. I want to be your wife and spend the rest of my life with you. And the sooner, the better.”

  Whooping with triumphant elation, Victor sank his hands into her hair and crushed his mouth to hers.

  Long moments later when they drew apart, both wore huge, delighted grins.

  “We should call our parents,” Tamara said breathlessly. “They’ll want to know our good news as soon as possible.”

  “We can call them later,” Victor said, unbuttoning her shirt and unhooking her bra. “Right now, we’ve got some celebrating to do.”

  “Mmm,” Tamara purred as his big, warm hands cupped her breasts. “Did you have anything in particular in mind?”

  His eyes glinted wolfishly. “Why don’t I just show you?”

  Two weeks later, Victor and Tamara attended a party at the Chart House, an upscale Old Town restaurant that boasted spectacular waterfront views. The private reception was to celebrate the retirement of one of Hopewell General’s most beloved surgeons.

  Most of the hospital’s staff was in attendance, in cluding the newly engaged Jaclyn and Dr. De Winter, as well as Dr. Dudley and his wife, Lucille. Nurse Tsang was conspicuously absent.

  Throughout the evening, Victor and Tamara accepted hearty congratulations and well wishes on their engagement, which Victor had made official by giving Tamara a beautiful princess-cut diamond ring.

  Halfway through the party, they wandered outside to the terrace that overlooked the Potomac River. They stood at the balcony sipping their champagne and gazing out at the glistening dark waters, silently reflecting on the incredible journey that had brought them from bitter rivals to soul mates.

  Tamara was the first to articulate the quiet sense of wonder Victor was feeling. “I can’t believe how much has happened over these past several weeks.”

  “Neither can I,” Victor murmured.

  “If anyone had told me two months ago that you and I would be engaged and living together, I would have had that person committed to the mental ward.”

  Victor chuckled softly. “Me, too.”

  Tamara smiled. “Guess it just goes to show how little we know, huh?”

  “Speak for yourself,” Victor quipped. “I know plenty.”

  Tamara punched him playfully on the arm, and he laughed. “We may not be enemies anymore,” he teased affectionately, “but every now and then, you know I’ll have to say something to get a rise out of you.”

  She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Of course.”

  Smiling, Victor took their champagne flutes and set them down on the balustrade, then curved his arms around Tamara’s waist and pulled her close for a deep, lingering kiss that sent heat curling through his veins.

  “Not that I’m not enjoying the company of our friends and colleagues,” he whispered against her mouth, staring into her glittering dark eyes, “but when do you think we can cut out without appearing rude?”

  “Soon,” she purred, licking at the seam of his lips. When his tongue snaked out to meet hers, she added throatily, “Very soon.”

  When someone whistled at them from inside the restaurant, they drew reluctantly apart, grinning abashedly at each other.

  “To be continued later,” Victor promised with a wink.

  “You’d better believe it.” Keeping her arms looped around his neck, Tamara gazed deeply into Victor’s eyes. “I love you so much. Thank you again and again for saving my mother’s life, and for being every bit as amazing as she always believed you were.”

  Placing his hand against the warm, satiny skin above the neckline of Tamara’s dress, Victor murmured huskily, “Thank you.”

  “For?”

  “For allowing me to enjoy the incredible privilege of loving you.” He smiled tenderly into her eyes. “And for listening to your heart.”

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Maureen Smith for her contribution to the Hopewell General miniseries.

  For the men and women everywhere who have devoted their lives to healing others.

  My utmost gratitude to Zora Bilicich, who patiently answered my questions about her native Colombia and provided the Spanish translations for this book.

  A heartfelt thanks to Sylvia Hightower, R.N., my go-to expert on all things medical.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1436-1

  ROMANCING THE M.D.

  Copyright © 2011 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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