Or her heart, for that matter.
‘Looks like our first presenter is missing in action,’ she continued, ‘so let’s get the ball rolling with our second case. Dr Donaldson is going to share one of our neonatal department’s case histories.’
‘Thanks, darlin’ …’ Tyler reluctantly let go of Eleanor’s hand and strolled up to the podium. He winked at Layla as he inserted a memory stick into the data projector.
Layla kept her smile in place with difficulty. She knew what that wink was about just as clearly as she could sense the significant looks being passed between the people seated in the tiered rows in here. They all knew that Alex’s name was on the top of the agenda. Now they were all wondering if he really had an emergency keeping him away or if there was something else going on. Were some of those rumours circulating about a romantic involvement between Alex and Layla true?
‘Meet Madeline,’ Tyler Donaldson announced, as a photograph of a tiny, premature baby almost hidden by wires and tubes came up on the screen. ‘Born at a gestation of twenty-five weeks, this li’l gal weighed in at six hundred and eighty grams and measured thirty-two centimetres. She was intubated immediately after birth and given positive pressure ventilation due to her prematurity.’
To outward appearances, Layla was listening attentively to the presentation of all the complications this baby had had but in reality she was trying to unravel the knot of anger forming in her gut.
He could have put in an apology for the meeting. Or arranged for Ryan to present the case. They could have both kept their dignity intact and made a fresh start by putting their professional lives onto some kind of an even keel. The gossip would be fuelled by his non-appearance with no explanation. Layla didn’t like being the subject of gossip. She didn’t like the ashes of the past being raked over. Would she ever get away from the mistake she’d made in getting involved with Alex in the first place?
Don’t you mean get over him?
That tiny voice in the back of her mind got ruthlessly silenced. Layla glared at Tyler.
This was all his fault, wasn’t it? They’d known each other practically their whole lives. Ty knew how badly her marriage had ended and how strained her relationship with her family was. OK, maybe he hadn’t known about the affair that had spelt the end of that marriage, or that Alex had been the man she’d had an affair with, but it had been Ty who’d persuaded her to apply for the job here at Angel’s.
The job that meant she and Alex were working at the same hospital.
Again.
Layla took a deep breath and tried to tune in to what Tyler was saying about the complex surgery baby Madeline had had to go through. The fleeting thought that his specialty had to be harder now that his fiancée was pregnant with his own baby only led Layla straight back to her own personal issues.
Like how she was going to deal with the tension between Alex and herself. It wasn’t just about avoiding damage to their reputations, was it? There was still something there. Something powerful. That kiss had been more than enough to make it obvious. And, despite what Alex had said, she didn’t believe that doing the right thing had been the only motive for defending her against the management board.
Did he care about her on some level?
Did she care about him?
Not like that. Layla may have fallen in love with him the first time around but the disaster the affair had created in her life had been enough for those emotions to morph into simmering resentment at how thoroughly her life had been derailed. Whatever was still hanging around was about lust, not love. But, man, that sexual chemistry hadn’t lost any of its power, had it?
She just needed to learn to control it.
Like she tried to control everything else in her life?
Good grief, that little voice was annoying. A control freak? Her? Well … Layla had to admit she’d engineered what had been supposed to have happened today but look how well that had worked.
She was already planning how to get around it, though, wasn’t she? To take control some other way. Instead of thanking him now, part of her wanted to let Alex know just how aggravated she was with the way he had dropped her into covering for his absence and fielding the ensuing curiosity.
She wanted to demonstrate that she was able to stand up for herself.
Like she had when he’d put her aside just before little Jamie’s operation?
When she hadn’t been prepared to stand aside quietly and she’d taken control and told him it was all over?
Why had she chosen the night before the surgery to take her stand? She could have contributed to why Jamie’s case hadn’t turned out to be the kind of miracle that the case she’d asked Alex to present today was.
The guilt was still there, wasn’t it? Not just that she’d been cheating on her husband but that she might have made a difference to Alex’s performance that day.
And maybe that was why it had seemed so important that she got the chance to thank Alex.
And why he didn’t want to hear it.
Why did it matter so much, anyway? It had been years and years ago. They’d both moved on.
Or had they?
Impossible not to remember that kiss …
It had been the last thing she had expected.
No. Maybe the last thing she had expected had been the way she’d responded to it. To have stepped so far back in time to when her desire for this man had made her throw her caution to the winds, along with too many of the values she’d grown up believing she held. They’d been fried in the heat that one touch from Alex could generate. Even now, Layla could feel a flicker of that heat, deep in her belly.
Was she blushing? Was that why there was this sudden silence all around her and why everybody seemed to be looking at her?
No. On an inward groan Layla realised that Tyler had finished his presentation. They were waiting for her, as the meeting’s chairperson, to move things along.
Her smile was bright. ‘Sorry, folks … Such an interesting case, I got lost in my thoughts. Anyone want to ask a question or add something?’
Several hands were raised and heart surgeon Molly Shriver got the nod.
‘Can you talk us through your choice of antibiotic to deal with the pneumonia? And did you consider a blood transfusion immediately after the first surgery?’
Layla couldn’t help looking past Molly, up into the dimmer corners of the lecture theatre where someone could have arrived unnoticed during Tyler’s presentation by using the back stairs.
Not that she really needed the visual confirmation that Alex wasn’t present. She could feel it. Like a shadow blocking the sun.
Forced to stop the hard physical activity due to exhaustion, Alex bent over, palms on his thighs, fighting to catch his breath again. Cade mirrored his action.
‘It’s working,’ Cade panted. ‘Think I’ve pulled the burr out from my saddle, anyway. How ‘bout you?’
Again, Alex ignored the query. ‘So what was your beef?’
‘I’m fed up,’ Cade growled. ‘I was in charge of my department back in L.A. I don’t like being told what to do like I’m just an intern. Getting squeezed out of the best cases. Having my decisions second-guessed.’
‘You knew you were going to be second-in-charge when you took this job.’
‘Yeah … I just didn’t know how much I wouldn’t like it. I’m beginning to think I should have followed your example and tried the other side of the world to escape. Australia is looking pretty damned attractive right now.’
‘You didn’t have something big enough to get away from.’
‘Wanna bet?’ Cade had caught his breath. He was moving again. His expression suggested he needed to blow off a bit more steam. He certainly didn’t want to expand on that cryptic comment.
Alex tucked it away. He’d find out. He knew better than to push his half-brother to reveal more than he was ready to. It was too fragile, this newly re-formed relationship they’d managed to forge in the wake of the recent trouble.
<
br /> Cade scored another goal. He was well ahead of Alex now.
‘Anyway …’ he panted, letting Alex get the ball again. ‘It’s all sorted, isn’t it? The whole deal with that malpractice suit. You know I’m sorry for letting the cat out of the bag but we’re good now, aren’t we?’
‘Yeah …’ Alex was standing still, taking aim at the basket. Better than he could have hoped they’d ever be, that was for sure, given their history.
‘And it’s all out in the open and they’re not going to fire you. Any more than they’re going to fire Layla after you stood up for her.’
Alex missed the hoop and swore softly. He grabbed the ball as it bounced and took aim again.
He just couldn’t get away from it, could he?
Away from Layla.
Away from the memories.
The demons he’d tried to deal with by running away after the malpractice suit that had followed the Jamie Kirkpatrick case were only part of the story.
Cade was trying to distract him from shooting the goal. Standing in front of him and waving his arms. He was grinning. He didn’t know that Layla was another demon.
He’d heard she was divorced now. Well … no surprises there. Alex could feel sorry for the mug she’d conned into marrying her in the first place. Had she just dumped him—the way she’d dumped him when she’d got bored with their affair?
Affair.
Nasty little word but there was no getting away from the facts. He’d had an affair with a married woman. He wasn’t proud of it and he certainly didn’t want people to start talking about it. Had Cade been getting away from something that bad?
Now wasn’t the time to find out. It was too hot for this and they both needed to go and shower and cool off.
Alex took another shot at the basket and the ball went through without even touching the backboard.
‘Nobody’s getting fired,’ he finally agreed. ‘And the whole mess taught me something very valuable.’
‘Oh?’ By tacit agreement, both men were calling it a draw and finishing the match. They high-fived each other and started walking back into the hospital.
‘You don’t beat demons by running away from them,’ Alex told his younger brother. ‘You can only beat them by confronting them.’
The sound Cade made was dismissive and Alex couldn’t blame him for his disbelief.
He wasn’t exactly confronting the demons that Layla represented, was he? He’d been avoiding her like the plague ever since she’d tried to thank him for standing up for her and saving her job. And then he’d marched into her office and told her to stay away from him. How was that supposed to sort anything out? And had he been entirely truthful? He’d told her that he’d gone to that board meeting to defend her because the Kirkpatrick case had done enough damage and it should be left in the past, but weren’t the feelings Layla stirred part and parcel of the whole Jamie Kirkpatrick business anyway?
It had been so hard to put her aside so he could focus on that little boy’s surgery. And he still suspected, deep in his heart, that the body blow of getting dumped the night before that high-profile operation had been why he hadn’t been completely on top of his game that day. Yes, the demons were so intertwined they were impossible to separate.
Which meant he hadn’t really confronted anything, despite letting the whole thing get aired in public again. Maybe he’d made it worse by giving Layla a reason to be grateful to him. He certainly hadn’t helped his cause by giving her something to be angry about today.
Deliberately avoiding her hadn’t done the trick. Fronting up and warning her hadn’t achieved much either. And Layla was right about one thing. If they both wanted to keep their jobs here, they had to find a way of being able to work in the same hospital.
A corner of Alex’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. Maybe he’d subconsciously realised that what he needed was to have Layla avoid him. The way she had after Jamie’s death when she wouldn’t even acknowledge him. All that was needed was a good push to get her started and what better way than a public refusal to let her jerk his strings?
Alex stood under the cool shower, letting the sweat sluice away. Be nice if the demons could get washed away as easily but he’d soon find out if he’d made life any easier for himself by what he’d just done. Monthly Report would be well and truly over by the time he was dressed again.
The discussion about Tyler’s case was taking off now. They might finish a few minutes early but there certainly wouldn’t be time for another case.
The gap left by the unpresented case would probably be old news by the time everybody headed back to their normal routines. They would all move on with ease.
The way Layla and Alex needed to if they were both going to keep their jobs and work together.
Maybe what was stopping them was that it was unfinished business.
And if there was something that bothered Layla more than being the subject of gossip it was having unfinished business hanging over her.
Mulling it over as she headed back to her office, Layla realised that dealing with this particular business would be dangerous. The tingle that kissed her skin as if she could still feel Alex’s presence in this private room was enough of a warning. The way the memory of that kiss was lingering rang an even louder alarm.
But facing something dangerous … and winning … was kind of an attractive challenge.
And Dr Layla Woods had always found a challenge irresistible.
Besides, it could be good for both of them. She had a responsibility to try and ensure that the senior staff members could work together on good terms, didn’t she?
Of course she did.
Layla took a moment to enjoy the view from her window. Plan B was beginning to shape up rather nicely.
CHAPTER TWO
EVERYBODY WAS WAITING.
Expecting Alex Rodriguez to be taken to task by the chief of paediatrics for failing to put in an appearance or even the courtesy of an apology for the monthly report meeting.
Alex had caught more than one oddly expectant glance from people over the course of the afternoon following that meeting. When his path crossed again with that of Layla for the first time he was in the cafeteria for lunch the next day, and the air of anticipation around him was palpable. A public arena and an attentive audience to witness a senior staff member being told off was gold for feeding a grapevine.
Alex gritted his teeth and waited for the kind of acerbic comment that would let him know by how far he’d missed the mark in his professional responsibilities.
Instead, he was treated, along with everybody else snatching a quick meal, to one of those thousand-watt smiles that Layla was so good at.
‘Good to see you’re finding time to eat,’ she said, with that husky Southern edge to her voice that always made her sound vaguely amused about something. ‘I hear you’re busier than a one-armed paper-hanger over there in Neurology.’
He waited for the kicker. The jibe about being so busy that he couldn’t have found the good manners to let her know he couldn’t make the meeting. But that smile didn’t dim. With a flick of those tousled, shoulder-length blonde waves, Layla continued moving towards the food counter, leaving nothing but a faint scent of something deliciously fresh in her wake. Apples?
Realising that he was sitting there with his mouth half-open, trying to identify what flavour shampoo Layla used, was enough to make Alex aware of the unpleasant burn of embarrassment, but he needn’t have worried. Everyone around him was still watching Layla. Especially the men. And the collective gaze was laced with admiration.
Definitely apples, he decided the next day when Layla brushed past him in the recovery room to visit with a small patient of hers who’d just undergone open heart surgery.
He knew it was a coincidence that had placed her patient right next to the little girl he’d just operated on to correct a spinal abnormality but did she have to stand on his side of the bed? Did she really have to be here at all?
‘I’ve been s
o worried about this wee man,’ he heard her say to the nurse. ‘I just had to come and have a peek.’
‘He’s doing just fine,’ the nurse reassured her. ‘We’ll be transferring him to PICU any time now.’
Recovery was an extension of the operating theatre suite. Alex’s turf. As Chief of Paediatrics, Layla often got involved with the more serious cases that came into Angel’s and he’d often seen her in places like the paediatric intensive care unit. Even when she was sticking to her own specialty of paediatric cardiology, she would often have small patients who spent time in there when their condition deteriorated or after they’d had surgery. But he’d never come across her in the actual recovery area and it felt like more than a professional coincidence.
Was he getting paranoid or was Layla trying to get in his face at every possible opportunity and … and enjoying it?
‘Don’t tell me …’ Alex didn’t try and erase the sardonic lilt to his words as the nurse sped off to attend to another patient arriving from Theatre. ‘You’re regretting your choice not to become a surgeon.’
‘Not at all.’ Layla’s glance flicked the whole length of his body and Alex instantly felt at a disadvantage.
Underdressed, standing here in his loose-fitting scrubs. He still had a theatre cap on his head and he’d only broken the top strings on his mask so it was hanging around his neck like a bib. Layla was wearing a smart, close-fitting pencil skirt and a crisply ironed blouse under her spotless white coat. And she had her trademark high heels on. Alex was wearing white, plastic gumboots.
‘I adore cardiology,’ Layla continued. ‘I get to make the diagnosis and I get to enjoy the follow-up and see the way lives improve after surgery. I don’t have to do the messy, in-between bit of adjusting the internal plumbing.’ Her gaze seemed to intensify. ‘My surgical rotation back when I was an intern showed me that it wasn’t where I wanted to be.’
That rotation had been when they’d met. When Layla had become little Jamie’s champion and she’d persuaded him to take on the toddler’s complex surgery.
NYC Angels: An Explosive Reunion Page 2
