by Katie Dowe
“How are you, Doctor Myles?” Gavin asked her. He had been standing a little to one side to let the women dominate the conversation.
“I am fine, and please call me Savannah. I am not in the hospital now so you don’t have to address me as doctor.” Her gaze went to Gabby. “You are tree shopping?”
“Uncle Gavin just bought the largest one in the yard,” she said in excitement.
“I take it you are tree shopping yourself?” Gail asked her.
“Not for me. I pick up a tree every year for the children’s ward to give some cheer. They enjoy decorating it with me.” She looked at Gavin. “I am so happy I ran into you, Mr. Parker. I need to talk to you.”
“It is Gavin, and I will be by at the hospital if that’s okay?”
“Would you mind us meeting at the café near the hospital tomorrow at noon?”
“That’s good for me.”
“Thank you.” She hunkered down and gave Gabby a hug. “I don’t expect to see you back there unless it is to check in on me. Nice meeting you, Gail.” She nodded and walked away.
Gail looped her hand through her brother’s arm as they made their way back to where they had been standing. “What do you think she wants to talk to you about?”
“Maybe she likes me,” he said with a grin as he looked down at her.
“She barely glanced at you.”
“She probably knew you were going to start asking questions the minute she is out of sight so she kept it neutral.”
“You are a funny guy. Come on, Gabby, let’s get our tree.”
*****
“Thank you for meeting me here.” Savannah shrugged out of her coat and accepted the cup of hot chocolate he had ordered for her. She had been running late because of one of her patients taking a turn for the worse.
“You are welcome.” He nodded and noticed her quick movements as if she had a million things to do and she probably had. She looked every inch of the doctor in her scrubs, even though she had taken off her lab coat to come outside. “I suspect you do not have a lot of time so why don’t we get to the point?”
Savannah nodded as she wrapped her fingers around the cup. “I am a pediatric surgeon as you know and I get to see the intense sufferings of the children I deal with and it is heartbreaking.” She gazed off at something in the corner of the busy café for a moment before she continued. “The entire family suffers especially the mothers. I heard Parker’s Pharmaceuticals are planning to donate a wing to the children’s ward and I want to be in on the planning of it. I have specific ideas and I want them to be implemented.”
“Where did you hear that, Doctor Myles?”
“The hospital is a big place and rife with rumors,” she said with a small smile. “We hear things. Is it true?”
He sipped his hot chocolate and directed his gaze at her. She was beautiful, he thought with a jump of his heart. She had thick dark brown hair that was caught back into a ponytail and the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. Her skin was flawless and the only way he could describe it was cocoa mixed lightly with cream. Her mouth was without artifice and the bottom lip was full and sensual causing a stirring inside him. “It is,” he said briefly. “What are some of the things you were thinking of?”
“I have a list.” She dug into the pocket of her scrubs and handed a handwritten list to him. He read the sloping handwriting and noticed that she had done her best to make it readable. Doctors did not have the greatest penmanship.
“I have a foundation who handles this sort of thing. I will let them know.”
She had finished her beverage and knew that it was time to go. “How soon is this project starting?”
“By the beginning of the New Year.”
“That’s two weeks away.” Her breath quickened in anticipation.
“Yes. We hope to have it ready by March.”
“Thank you. I know I am not supposed to approach you and that there are channels but it is a great concern of mine.”
“I can see that. Do you take it home with you?”
“What?” She looked at him puzzled.
“All those sick children you see every day. Do you take it home with you?”
Savannah stared at him for a moment and then shrugged. “You are told over and over again that doing something like that will wear you down eventually.”
“But you care and every child you take care of leaves an imprint. You remember my niece and her illness without even having to try and recall,” he said softly.
“You are a very visible man, Mr. Parker.” She used her lashes to shield her eyes.
“I have a feeling that does not make much of an impression on you.” He leaned closer to her and she caught a whiff of his expensive perfume. “Some doctors get work weary and battle scarred on the job. I have to deal with a lot of them in my line of duty and it is sad to see the emotions eked out of them throughout the years. Taking it home with you, Savannah, is not such a bad thing as long as you don’t allow it to consume you.”
Savannah stared into his slate grey eyes for a moment and then nodded. “Thank you,” she said as she got to her feet. “I have to go.”
“I will be in touch,” he said before she could leave.
She stopped in the act of putting on her jacket and nodded.
He sat there and watched her leave, his expression thoughtful.
*****
“Declare the time of death, Dr. Myles,” Doctor Fairchild instructed as she snapped off her gloves and dumped them into the trashcan. “We did the best we could.”
“Time of death: 14:02,” Savannah declared woodenly.
“Do you want to inform the parents or should I?” the senior resident asked her as she left the room with Savannah behind her.
“I will. He was my patient.”
“Look, Savannah, I am going to say this for your own good. We are doctors, not God and as much as we would like to save every last one of them who comes through the hospital doors we just cannot. So put your shoulders back and don’t let the parents see the devastation on your very expressive face. It only makes it worse!”
Chapter 3
Savannah ignored the ringing of her phone as she laid there curled up in her bed with the covers drawn. She had finished her shift an hour ago and had battled traffic to get to her apartment. She did not remember if she had had dinner but she was not hungry. She had hoped against hope that the degenerative disease that had plagued little Kathy Loomis for over a year had been checked and that the operation would have been successful. They had never counted on the disease spreading rapidly through every part of the little girl’s body. She never stood a chance! She had told the parents about their daughter’s death and they had stood there unable to say anything as they clung to each other. She had felt hopeless and angry. The little girl had only been six years old. Savannah stared wide eyed at the purple and white pattern of the wallpaper. She had always wanted to be a doctor. Ever since she had been a little girl and used to go to the hospital with her dad on the days when he would take her. He had bought her a hospital kit and she had started on the kittens that frequented their yard. She had even tried to operate on a bird that had broken a wing. She had harbored the thought of going into practice with her dad when she grew up but that had been before he started ragging on her to do better.
She closed her eyes and clutched the sheets. Her mother had not been there when she was graduating from college and she had looked down into the seats and saw him with a woman he was dating at the time and had felt the betrayal deep in her soul. She had graduated top of her class and it had been a hollow victory. She remembered how he had tried to explain himself as he invited her to dinner with him and the woman. “Darling, this is Mabel; she is an associate of mine. She booked us a table at Tremor’s. Go and get your coat and let us be on our way.”
“Why don’t you go ahead without me?” she had told them coldly as she eyed the elegantly outfitted woman clinging to her dad’s arm. “I think I will go along w
ith my friends to the burger place.” She had left them standing there and had gone to her car to cry herself silly before driving off campus and back to the tiny apartment he had rented for her. She got off the bed and went to her dresser where she rummaged inside one of the drawers and found a framed photo of her mother. Vera Myles had been a classic ageless beauty and she had gotten her looks and her dimples. She had been the well groomed doctor’s wife who had never worked even though she had been a qualified registered nurse. Savannah remembered asking her why she stopped working and she had responded with a gentle smile. “I love being a wife and mother, darling, and I made the decision to commit myself to being the best there is.”
Savannah hugged the photo to her and felt the tears spilling down her cheeks.
*****
“Daddy, come and look at the Christmas tree.” Gabby pulled her father’s hand and led him into the huge living room where the tall, stately Christmas tree was decorated and shown in all its glory. Gavin had gone all out for his niece and there were stockings on the mantle with their names on it. He had given up and had called in a professional to finish the decorating.
“Very impressive, princess,” Otis Reynolds said as he put the gifts he had brought with him beneath the tree. “I bet you helped a lot.”
“I did. Uncle Gavin got someone to finish.” She chattered away as she told him everything even to the point of her going to the hospital for an ear infection.
Gail saw when he looked over in her direction but ignored him. He had told her he was staying in a nearby hotel and he wanted to come over and spend some time with his daughter.
“Honey, why don’t you watch some television while I speak with your mother?”
Gail led the way into the kitchen. Gavin had told her he was going to dinner with some clients. He had asked her if she wanted him to cancel and she had told him no.
“I am not signing the papers,” he said quietly as he accepted the cup of coffee she handed him. “I made a mistake, Gail, and it is not fair for you to break our family apart because of it.”
Gail looked at the tall handsome man with the dull blonde hair and light blue eyes for a moment and remembered when she had first met him and how easily she had fallen for him.
“You will sign them, Otis, and we are not going to argue while our daughter is in the next room. She has been through enough.”
“I still love you.”
“How is Clara?” she asked him spitefully.
“We are not seeing each other anymore.”
“You think that makes it better?” she asked him coldly.
“I made a mistake. One that will never happen again. I want my family back, Gail.”
“You rescinded that right when you slept with my best friend.” She turned away and poured herself a glass of wine. “I would like you to sign the papers.”
“And if I don’t?” he asked her arrogantly.
“Then I am going to use my brother’s money to fight you in court. I do not want that. I want us to be civil for our daughter’s sake.”
“Did you ever love me?”
The question threw her for a moment and she wanted to scream and lash out at him! How dare he ask her that! “I loved you with every fiber of my being. I would have given anything to make my marriage work. When I became pregnant with Gabby, I thought that I was the luckiest woman in the world. Don’t ask me that again, you son of a bitch!”
“I am sorry,” he said wearily. “I messed up and I want us back.”
“I cannot do this right now, Otis. Sign the papers,” she warned him as she went back into the living room.
*****
“Hey, you asleep?” Gavin asked as he came into the room after knocking on the door.
“No.” She sat up against the pillows as he came into the room. She had seen her husband out and had put her daughter to bed amidst questions of why they could not go back home and be with Daddy. The little girl had thrown a tantrum and she had had to play the bad guy and told her to go to bed or she would not be opening any presents come Christmas Day! Now she felt rotten. “Gabby and I had a huge fight because she does not understand why we cannot go back home and Otis said he is sorry. They broke up by the way.”
“Need a drink?” he asked her softly as he sat on the side of the bed.
“I had three glasses already and I am starting to feel a little woozy,” she said with a wobble smile. “What a mess! Do you think I am doing the right thing?”
“What do you think?” he asked her quietly.
“I cannot go back to him, Gavin. He betrayed the love I had for him.”
“That’s your answer.”
“It’s just that Gabby is being hurt by all this and I hate to see her hurting.”
“She will get over it.” He took her hand and held it in his large ones. “I am here for both of you I want you to remember that.”
“Thanks.” She smiled slightly. “I used to romanticize everything. I wanted the huge wedding and the fairytale ending but I guess I discovered that we live in the real world and nothing lasts forever.”
“I am afraid I cannot agree with you,” he told her with a smile. “I have seen proof of marriages lasting. My friends at the club I am a member of have proven that they have something special and it got me thinking.”
“About what?” Gail asked him curiously.
“About a family of my own,” he said whimsically as he kissed the back of her hand. “Get some sleep. I guarantee that Gabby will be her own self in the morning.”
*****
“I hate these gatherings,” Savannah muttered as she plucked a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and took a sip of the cold bubbly.
“I get to mix and mingle with the rich and famous and hope that a famous trauma surgeon like Doctor Winston over there would notice me and offer to be my tutor or at least let me sit in on one of his surgeries,” Calvin said with a grin as he looked around. It was the annual medical fundraising dinner and this year it was targeting funds for children around the world who were suffering from debilitating diseases. That was one of the reasons that Savannah had attended. She had not been looking forward to coming because she knew her dad was going to be present as well. “You look very fine by the way,” Calvin continued as he took in her slinky black dress that left her smooth shoulders bare. Her thick dark hair was combed to one side and drifted in a fat curl onto her shoulder. She had on sparkling diamond earrings and he had the feeling that they were real. Savannah Myles was a very stunning woman who tried to hide the fact that she was!
“Thanks.” She smiled at him and gave him a cursory glance. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
“I try,” he said with a cheeky grin as he slid his fingers under the lapel of his grey jacket.
“Modesty becomes you,” she said dryly.
He started to respond but his gaze was arrested by a tall strikingly beautiful woman who had just come in on the arm of Gavin Parker. The two turned heads as they made their way inside. “Lucky bastard,” Calvin said ruefully. “Isn’t that the best neurosurgeon in the world: Doctor Elaine Ferguson?”
“I believe so.” Savannah stared at the dark haired man for a moment before she saw her father in conversation with several other doctors, Carissa at his side as if she was attached surgically. “Excuse me, will you?” She moved away before Calvin could respond. She needed some air. She made her way over to the bar and ordered a scotch on the rocks.
“I do believe it is a sin for a beautiful woman to drink alone,” a deep voice said next to her.
Savannah stifled a sigh and made to tell the person that she wanted to be alone but it was someone from her past. “Fabian?”
“One and the same.” He sat on the stool and gave her his full attention. “Not enjoying the party?”
“It’s not really my style. Where have you been?”
“Here and there,” he said with a casual wave of his hand. He ordered the same thing she was having and turned sideways to look at her.
“You have grown from beautiful to spectacularly beautiful. Single?”
“That’s none of your business,” she told him mildly. “What have you been doing with yourself? Private practice?”
“I am on the board of Parker’s Pharmaceuticals.”
Savannah’s eyes widened as she stared at him. “You don’t say! You have stepped up in the world.”
“Gavin and I have been friends since high school and through college. He offered me the position and I took it. I get to tell people what to do and not have to deal with patients who think they know better than we who are trained.”
“I heard about the lawsuit several years ago,” Savannah said sympathetically.
“Well.” Fabian drank down the scotch to take the bitterness from his throat. “I never had the stomach to practice medicine again after that. I fumbled around for a little bit and was just about to give up when Gavin reached out to me. Speak of the devil.” His smile widened as he looked at someone behind her. “Hey, man, I was just talking about you.”
“Something good I hope.” His deep voice slid over her skin and she felt a shiver.
“Savannah, I would like you to meet-”
“We met.” He came into her line of vision. “Doctor Myles, how are you?”
“I am quite well, thanks.”
“Doctor Myles took care of Gabby so I am in her debt and she is collecting.” He looked at his friend. “The pediatric wing at Hope General.”
“So that’s where you are!” Fabian exclaimed.
“Where do you two know each other from?” Gavin asked, looking from one to another. He had ditched Elaine when he had happened to look over and saw them at the bar. “We were in the same program at County General. Fresh out of medical school and having no idea if we were going to make it. I got an offer to go to another hospital in New York and I lost touch with Savannah,” Fabian said with a smile.
“I see.” Gavin’s slate grey eyes took in the expression on his friend’s face and for one startled moment wanted to tell him to back the hell off!
He was about to say something else when he heard his name being called. He hesitated for a moment and then started to move away. “Doctor Myles, give me a call tomorrow. There are things we need to talk about.”