I let Troy keep the treadmill in the divorce.
I resolve not to let Troy’s judgment cloud my enjoyment of the peanut butter cups. If there was ever a time to indulge in overpriced vending machine chocolate, this was it.
So I give Liam a peanut butter cup and keep two for myself. The first bite is so good that I can’t help myself; I close my eyes and let out a little moan.
When I open my eyes, Luke Carlton is standing in front of us, and he’s staring at me with a funny look. I jump tomy feet and look at him expectantly. Next to me, Troy does the same.
“The surgery went well,” Luke says simply. “I was able to do it laparoscopically, through three small incisions. The appendix wasn’t ruptured, but it was severely inflamed, so I’d like to continue intravenous antibiotics for another twenty-four hours.”
“Thank you, Luke,” I say impulsively. Troy raises an eyebrow at my use of Luke’s first name.
“Dr. Carlton,” I quickly correct myself.
The ghost of a smile touches Luke’s lips. It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile in ten years, and something flutters low in my belly.
“The anesthesiologist is still waking her up, but you should be able to see her soon,” he tells us. “The nurse will come out when they’re ready for you.”
With that, he turns and walks away without a backward glance.
FOUR
LUKE
As I walk out of the waiting room, I have to force myself not to look back at Melissa.
It’s clear she’s still worried, even though Claire came through surgery with no complications. I was tempted to hold Melissa’s hand and take her to see Claire myself, but it would be inappropriate. We don’t have that sort of relationship, and if we did, operating on her daughter could get me in huge trouble with the Medical Board.
That was the main message of the Ethics and Professionalism course in first year medical school: Do not sleep with your patients. The Ethics professor, a folksy middle-aged woman with curly hair and Birkenstock sandals, had opened her lecture with that exact statement. Getting involved with a patient’s relative wasn’t quite as bad as sleeping with a patient, but it was still a very bad idea.
Not only was it unethical, an inappropriate sexual relationship was the most common reason for a doctor to lose his medical license, sometimes permanently. At the time, I couldn’t imagine what sort of idiot would be stupid enough to risk his career for sex.
And I can honestly say I’ve never had inappropriate thoughts about a patient, or anyone related to a patient, until today. My reaction to Melissa was instinctive, and I’m angry at myself for it. We’ve been over for a very long time, and I still resent her for the way things ended. Resent myself, too, because it was my fault as much as hers.
And I still haven’t gotten over the fact that she jumped into a relationship with Troy Thompson so soon after we broke up.
I head to my office and spend an hour catching up on charting before deciding to check on Claire. According to the electronic chart, she’s already been moved out of the Recovery Room to the pediatric ward. I take the stairs up and find Melissa perched on Claire’s bed, smoothing her hair. Troy and Olivia are sitting in the visitors’ chairs, and Liam’s on the floor playing with a toy truck.
Claire’s actually the first to notice me, and she gives me a tired smile.
“Hey, Claire,” I say. “You came through that like a superstar. How are you feeling?”
Claire’s face lights up, and she looks so much like her mother it’s unnerving. She gives me a thumbs-up and clears her throat. “Okay, I think,” she croaks, her voice still hoarse from the anesthetic.
Troy rises to his feet and offers me his hand.
“Thanks so much, again, Dr. Carlton,” he says. “We really appreciate what you’ve done for Claire.”
I want to tell him I didn’t do it for him, but instead I just smile and shake his hand. When he winces, I relax my grip a little.
I turn back to Claire. “I’d like to keep you in the hospital tonight, and probably tomorrow night, too. If everything goes well, you can probably go home Saturday. Sound okay?”
Claire nods and gives me another thumbs-up.
Melissa catches my eye. “Thanks, Dr. Carlton,” she says stiffly.
I nod, equally stiffly, and leave the room. I’m on call tonight but there are no other cases pending, so I decide to escape while I can. My friend Austin is having some friends over for pizza and beer, and although I told him I probably wouldn’t make it, I think I’ll go. Operating on Melissa’s daughter has unsettled me, and I need a distraction. And since Austin and I own condos in the same building, I really have no excuse.
I stop at my condo and grab a bag of pretzels to take to Austin’s. It’s not a particularly inspired offering, and I find myself wishing I had something else. Reese’s peanut butter cups would be good. My mind flashes back to the blissful expression on Melissa’s face as she bit into the chocolate. She always had a weakness for peanut butter.
