“Wow. That must have been stressful.” Actually, stressful seems like an understatement. Operating on Amber Tate must have taken balls of steel.
“Uh huh. But Peter Tate only asked about a transfer once, when she was in the ER and I called to get consent for the operation. I told him that in my opinion, Amber’s best chance was immediate surgery in Somerset, and he said go ahead.”
“Damn. You weren’t tempted to recommend a transfer? So it wouldn’t be your responsibility?”
He chuckles. “I was tempted to say I was operating with or without his consent. It wasn’t a complicated surgery, but it couldn’t wait. Fortunately, he agreed with me, and it went well. The next day I told the Tates she was stable to be transferred, but they decided to leave her in Somerset.”
“That’s flattering.”
“I guess,” he agrees with a shrug. “And management made sure they got a lot of attention. Heather Larkin asked me to clear my schedule so I could devote myself to Amber Tate full-time.”
“And did you?”
“Of course not,” he scoffs. “I wasn’t going to cancel surgeries so I could sit and hold hands with the Tates. But I spent a fair bit of time with them. And after Amber was discharged, they invited me and the CEO to dinner at their cottage and told us they were making a large donation to the hospital. They’ve had me to the cottage a couple times since, and they come to the Spring Fling Gala every year.”
“And this thing with Nina?” I’d like to know just what I’m walking into tonight. “How long has she been interested in you?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a sigh. “My last relationship ended about a year ago, and Nina started texting about a month later. Just every couple weeks, but it’s been a bit awkward. I mean, her parents donate a ton of money to the hospital every year.”
“Yeah, that’s awkward.”
He nods. “I don’t think they donate because they’re hoping I’ll date Nina, and the money doesn’t come to me directly, but . . .”
“Still awkward.”
“Yeah,” he says. “In retrospect, I probably should have made it clear I wasn’t interested when she first started texting. But she was doing her PhD in Toronto, so there was the distance . . . I guess I just assumed that if I didn’t encourage her, she’d lose interest.”
“But now she’s thinking of moving to Somerset for her post-doc.” It seems pretty clear that Nina Tate hasn’t lost interest.
“Yep,” he agrees.
“What does she study?”
“Fish.”
“Fish?” I repeat incredulously.
“Yeah. Fish.” He glances over at me. “You seem surprised.”
“Well, from the way she was talking about helping with your research, I assumed she was in the medical field. Or at least something medically adjacent.”
“Well, fish are part of the animal kingdom.” He pauses. “I think.”
I try to suppress a chuckle and fail miserably. Drew Malone’s sense of humor is subtle, but it’s definitely there. “So Nina studies fish health?”
He frowns. “I think so. Something to do with environmental toxins? Or maybe migration patterns?”
“You don’t really know, do you?”
“Not really, no,” he admits. “But if the conversation’s slow tonight, you can ask her about it.”
“I might just do that,” I reply. “What do you study?” It seems like the sort of thing his girlfriend would know.
“Brain aneurysms,” he replies. “An aneurysm is basically an outpouching off a blood vessel that can burst and cause a bleed. So you can put a clip across, which is usually effective but needs open surgery. Or you can put a metal coil inside, which will cause a blood clot and decrease the risk of rupture. A coil is much less invasive because you can thread it up through an artery in the groin, but historically it hasn’t worked as well for big aneurysms. We’re looking at a new coiling technique for high-risk aneurysms.”
“Oh,” I nod. “That sounds interesting.”
“Some days it is,” he says with a grin. “And some days it’s really frustrating, but that’s research. Anyway, that’s enough of a lecture for tonight.”
