Prognosis: A Baby? Maybe

by Jacqueline Diamond

  “Maybe he had his reasons.” Although Olive sounded dubious, she clearly hated to give up on such an intriguing possibility as a match for Heather. “He’s awfully cute.”

  “I doubt his secretary thinks so. He’s always chewing her out.” He’d only scolded Coral once, as far as Heather knew, but she wanted to rid her daughter of this crazy notion about a romance.

  “Maybe she needs to shape up.”

  “Olive!”

  “Okay, okay. I’m sure he’s a mean old ogre and his secretary is the sweetest thing since pecan pie.” When Heather emerged from the bathroom, Olive greeted her with a hug. “I suppose I’m worried about you, now that I’m leaving.”

  Heather hugged her in return, relishing their closeness. “Why on earth?”

  “Because I’ll have John and Ginger, while you’ll be alone,” her daughter said.

  “I’ve handled it fine all these years. Besides, I hope you’ll settle nearby.” From her daughter’s hesitation, Heather gathered there was something she hadn’t been told. “What?”

  “John wants to join his father’s insurance business in Texas,” Olive said. “I was waiting for the right time to tell you.”

  “There is no right time.” Heather struggled to hide her disappointment. She hadn’t even been aware, herself, of how much she’d been counting on watching her granddaughter grow up day by day. “Don’t worry about me. You two have to make your own plans, and this sounds like a good one.”

  “We’d love to have you visit as often as you can,” Olive said. “Oh, and Mom?”

  “Yes?” Heather hoped she wasn’t going to be treated to any more painful revelations.

  “I want to invite my grandfather to the wedding, too.” She was referring to her grandfather by adoption, Heather gathered. “I’m sure he’d love to be there. I wasn’t thinking straight after John called or I’d have included him in the first place.”

  Heather was ashamed to realize she’d been feeling sorry for herself when there were so many other people who loved Olive and were going to miss her, too. “That’s a great idea. And you know what? I’m just grateful I’ve had this time with you and Ginger. It’s been special.”

  “I’m grateful, too,” said her daughter, and hugged her again.

  Chapter Six

  During the next two weeks, Olive’s guest list grew by leaps and bounds. First an aunt and uncle also needed to be included, then John’s grandparents and brothers. Olive decided to add her best friend Julia as maid of honor, as well.

  The town house became a jumble of catalogs and wedding gifts. Heather was so busy she didn’t have time to soak in the spa and, mercifully, Jason didn’t invite himself over.

  She knew he was putting in long hours at work, handling administrative details and hiring staff as well as seeing patients. The opening of the Infertility Center was now less than a month away, although the official hoopla would wait until May to coincide with the conclusion of the Endowment Fund Drive.

  “I’m relieved that there hasn’t been any blood on the walls,” Natalie Barr said one Monday as she and Heather ate lunch with Amy at the remodeled cafeteria in the Birthing Center. The once-drab walls had been repainted mint green and the long tables replaced by more intimate settings. “From you and Jason fighting, I mean.”

  “Why should there be?” Although Heather had told her friends about Olive and Ginger, she hadn’t confided anything about Atlanta.

  “You know how the stories went around after he was named director instead of you.” After tucking an errant strand of black hair into her French braid, Amy dug her fork into her pasta primavera.

  “I knew you didn’t resent his appointment,” Natalie said. “But you’re both so hard-nosed, I figured you’d clash over everything.”

  “He’s been busy. We haven’t had time to talk much these past few weeks.” The lack of interaction with Jason had left Heather unsettled. She found herself watching for him at the town house and glancing up whenever someone walked by her office. “I’m sure we’ll have our disagreements from time to time, but we’re both professionals. We’ll work things out.”

  “With daggers?” Natalie asked.

  “Flaming e-mails?” Amy suggested.

  “Nothing of the kind.” Heather finished another bite of spinach salad before adding, “We’re both reasonable people.”

  Natalie hooted. “We know how mild-mannered you are when you’re aroused, Heather! Jason, too.”

  “I’ve been known to speak my mind,” she conceded. “As for him, it’s time he learned to control his temper.”

  “Speaking up is healthier than letting your resentments simmer,” Amy said. “Although of course people need to be considerate.”

  “Oh!” With a clink, Natalie dropped her fork.

  “What’s wrong?” Concern wiped away all other thoughts for Heather. Natalie’s baby wasn’t due for another two months. If she’d begun labor this early, she needed treatment immediately.

  The mother-to-be rubbed her side. “Bun kicked me in the ribs.”

  “Bun?” Heather repeated.

  “You’re not going to name the poor kid Bunny, are you?” Amy asked. They both knew Natalie collected rabbit memorabilia.

  Nat kept one hand on her abdomen for a moment before lifting it away. Apparently the movements had subsided. “No. We’re considering Melissa if it’s a girl and Joseph if it’s a boy.”

  “That’s so sweet!” Heather said.

  Joseph Barr, Natalie’s husband’s late father, had founded Doctors Circle in memory of his first child, a daughter named Melissa who’d been stillborn. Joe had been convinced that, with better medical care, the baby might have survived. His hard work and dedication had ensured that the women of Serene Beach would never go without proper prenatal care again.

  “The names were no problem.” Natalie’s expression sobered. “I just wish I could say the same for…” She broke off as a couple of young women walked by. Heather recognized one as a receptionist who was a notorious gossip.

  After the pair set down their trays at a table across the room, Amy said, “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” Realizing her friends weren’t buying it, Natalie said, “Well, okay, I’m a little worried about the Endowment Fund and I prefer not to have the entire staff know it.”

  After Joe Barr’s death, the hospital’s administrator had made a mess of the finances. Joe’s son Patrick, a pediatrician, had left his practice to take over and had soon returned the medical center to financial stability.

  However, to ensure the center’s financial future and protect his father’s dream, he’d launched a thirty-million-dollar fund drive last fall in a symbolic nine-month campaign. Of the goal, ten million dollars had been raised quickly and another ten million in matching funds had been promised in December.

  “How short are we?” Heather asked.

  “About eight million,” Natalie said.

  “There’s two months to go,” Amy pointed out. “Loretta mentioned a fund-raising ball next month. That ought to help.”

  “Eight million dollars sounds like such an incredible amount of money.” Natalie had grown up on the poor side of town, one of five children. “I still feel weird spending more than a hundred dollars for a dress, but how else am I going to attend society events with Patrick?”

  “I’ll bet you’re the most beautiful woman there,” Amy said loyally.

  “And the most fun to be around,” Heather added.

  Natalie, who never stayed downhearted for long, grinned at her friends. “You guys are great for my ego.”

  A soft throat-clearing made them all look up. Coral Liu gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Dr. Carmichael asked me to tell Dr. Rourke he’d like to speak with her.”

  Didn’t the man know she was eating lunch? Heather wondered grumpily. Perhaps not, in all fairness. George Farajian of the Ob/Gyn Department was still making out her schedule as well as arranging her weekends and evenings on call.


  “Can’t it wait?” Natalie asked.

  “It’s okay. I need to diet, anyway.” The last thing Heather wanted was to put Coral in a bad light with her boss.

  After bidding her friends good-bye, Heather was heading to the West Wing when Coral shook her head. “He’s in his new office,” the secretary said.

  No wonder Jason had been virtually invisible recently, Heather mused. “I didn’t realize it was ready.”

  “The rest of the clinic isn’t, but he wanted to settle in as quickly as possible,” Coral explained.

  “The king’s in a hurry to stake out his kingdom,” Heather murmured.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “You don’t have to escort me, Coral. It’s probably your lunch hour, too.”

  “It’s better if I come along,” the young woman said. “In case there’s anything else he needs.”

  They hurried across the courtyard, past staff members eating at the round tables near the fountain. “You must have a lot of patience to put up with him the way you do.”

  “I’m as much a perfectionist as he is,” Coral said.

  “Have you always worked for doctors?”

  “Oh, no.” Despite her slim build, the young woman walked with a quick step. “I used to assist the vice-president of a company that makes replacement parts for oil wells. I decided I’d be happier working somewhere that I cared about the product.”

  “And in this case, the product is babies,” Heather observed.

  Coral nodded. “I don’t have any children myself. I’m not sure whether I want them. Still, they make other women very happy. I suppose oil wells make people happy, too, but it isn’t the same.”

  “You can’t hug a gusher or sing it a lullaby,” Heather said. “On the other hand, you don’t have to change its diaper in the middle of the night, either.”

  The secretary giggled. “You have a funny sense of humor.”

  “So does Dr. Carmichael,” Heather said, “although I don’t suppose you see that side of him.”

  Amazement made Coral miss her stride. “Dr. Carmichael? He seems very serious.”

  Heather decided not to describe how ridiculous he’d looked smuggling a puppy inside his jacket. “Once in a while he breaks down and does a fair imitation of a human.”

  Coral started to smile, then brought her features under control. Heather had to admire her sense of loyalty, or perhaps it was abject fear.

  Inside the clinic, the flooring felt springy underfoot and the walls reeked of fresh paint. She heard voices in the lab, probably workmen installing equipment under the watchful eye of the new embryologist, Eric Wong, Ph.D.

  Coral spared a wistful glance in that direction. Heather wondered if there was more than one kind of chemistry going on in that laboratory, and decided it was none of her business.

  Having entered through the main atrium, they passed unfurnished examining rooms en route to the offices in the back. “I would have brought you through the side door but it was just painted this morning,” Coral said.

  “That’s okay. I like to see how the place is coming along.” She hadn’t yet selected an office, Heather recalled with a guilty twinge.

  In an anteroom, a desk and file drawers testified to the fact that Coral was already working here. She tapped at the inner door. “Dr. Carmichael? I’ve brought Dr. Rourke.”

  “Send her in.” Jason sounded distracted and gruff. Heather could understand how he might be intimidating, at least to a woman who hadn’t seen him nearly naked. Come to think of it, he’d been impressive in that state, too.

  She entered. “What can I do for you?”

  There was no sign of the puppy-smuggling rascal in the man who glanced at her from behind his desk. He was standing, as if too impatient to sit, with a couple of open files spread in front of him.

  Legs apart and muscular arms braced on his desk, he might have been a general planning a dangerous campaign. Taped to the walls, flow charts and schedules gave the office the appearance of a war room.

  “Hang on a minute.” Jason made a note on a sheet of paper. Heather registered the newly laid carpet, the large desk with a computer blinking on its return arm, and the neatly arranged shelves. It was quite well-organized for a man who didn’t bother to unbag his groceries, but then, he didn’t have his secretary to help at home.

  “Will there be anything else, Dr. Carmichael?” Coral asked.

  “I said, hang on!” The edge to his tone made his secretary flinch.

  “I could have finished my lunch if I’d known you weren’t ready to talk to me,” Heather said.

  He looked up. A couple of blinks later, her point sank in. “You were at lunch?”

  Coral tensed as if she feared another rebuke simply for following his orders. “I don’t mind,” Heather said. “I knew you might not be aware of my schedule.” And if you bark at your secretary on my account, I’ll throw something at you.

  Her silent threat must have communicated itself to Jason or perhaps he remembered his manners. All he said was, “I apologize, Doctor. Thanks, Coral, I don’t need anything else.”

  The secretary left. Heather could almost hear her sigh of relief.

  “What’s going on?” she said.

  “First, I wanted to let you know about the two new specialists who’ll be joining us.” He handed over two résumés. “You can read those at your leisure. Also, unless you have any objections, I’m assigning you the other corner office. It’s the next biggest one after mine and it meets your specifications.”

  “My specifications?” Oh, yes. “It’s on the far end of the corridor.”

  He almost smiled. In Jason’s present state of mind, she suspected his face might crack if his mouth stretched any further. “You can start moving in on Friday, if you like.”

  “I’ll be out of town on Friday.” It was, amazingly, time for Olive’s wedding.

  His brow furrowed. “No one informed me.”

  “I didn’t think of it,” Heather admitted. “George made out my schedule and arranged for someone to cover when I’m away.”

  Jason indicated one of the wall charts. “Our schedule won’t start until next month, but in future please consult with me before taking time off.”

  “Yes, sir.” She stifled the impulse to salute.

  “Anything interesting?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Where you’re going,” Jason said. “For your long weekend. Not that I’m being nosy. I just wondered where people go for vacations around here.”

  “Las Vegas.” Not wanting him to suspect her of a gambling problem, Heather added, “I’m attending a wedding.”

  “I see.” He lost interest immediately, she could tell from his expression. “Oh, one more thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “From now on, our focus will be strictly on our infertility patients. I realize you’re seeing some general patients, and I want you to start transferring them to other doctors.” Jason’s brisk tone implied that of course she would comply.

  Heather nearly dropped the two resumés. “Some women get very upset at having to change doctors.”

  “You’ve only been at Doctors Circle for three years.” Obviously, he’d looked up her background. “It’s not as if you have elderly patients who’ve been with you all their lives.”

  “That’s true, but some of them were distressed when their last doctor left,” Heather pointed out. “They’re finally starting to feel comfortable again.”

  “I don’t want your loyalties divided between the needs of the Infertility Clinic and the demands of your old practice,” Jason said.

  Heather fought down her instinct to defy him. Although his high-handedness irked her, she needed to weigh his position. Perhaps he had a point, although right now she had a hard time accepting it.

  “I’m scheduled to deliver Natalie Barr’s baby. She’s due in May,” she said. “I hope you’re not going to insist that I hand her over to someone else.” Surely even Jason
Carmichael wouldn’t force her to abandon the administrator’s wife.

  “Fine. I’ll make an exception for Mrs. Barr.” Jason snapped a file shut. “As I mentioned, we’ve got two additional physicians joining us next month. The same rules have to apply to everyone. We can see our infertility patients through to delivery, but we refer routine exams and non-infertility problems to Ob/Gyn.”

  “I see.” How could a man be so quick to bend the rules when it came to his lease and so rigid about his department? Perhaps that wasn’t a fair question, Heather knew, but she was in no mood to cut Jason any slack. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

  “Thanks for stopping in.” His cell phone rang, and as she let herself out of the office, Jason was already absorbed in his conversation.

  “Did it go all right?” Coral asked in a low voice.

  Heather closed the door behind her. “Next time, I’ll wear body armor. I hope this job is worth what they’re paying you.”

  “It is,” Coral said. “I just hope I make it through probation.”

  “You’re on probation?” That possibility hadn’t occurred to Heather.

  “For three months,” the secretary said.

  “Who decides whether you pass?” Heather hoped it was Dr. Barr.

  “Dr. Carmichael.” Coral tapped her fingers nervously on her desk. “I’m doing everything I can to please him.”

  “Let’s hope he appreciates it.”

  Heather was still simmering when she reached the Ob/ Gyn Department. George Farajian caught sight of her from where he stood by the nurses’ station. “Problems?” he asked.

  “Grrr,” Heather said.

  The department head steered Heather into his comfortable office. “If it’s about Dr. Carmichael’s request that you divest yourself of non-infertility patients, he already told me about it.”

  “I feel as though I’m abandoning them,” she said.

  “The women will be disappointed, but surely they can sympathize with those who are desperate to have babies,” he said.