Blake wasn’t ready to let the doctor out of his sight. “I’ll come with you.”
As he escorted her down the hall, he could tell that his words had fallen on deaf ears. Elizabeth had already shut him out, just like his dad used to do. She was his father all over again.
His long strides ate up the tile flooring as he kept pace with the woman. Her face expressionless, he knew she was already in the E.R., mentally going over how to treat her future patients. Neither he nor the janitor polishing the floor existed.
Invisible. Again. Was she this way with their daughter? Suddenly Blake was ten-years-old and waiting for his father to help him build his derby car for the Cub Scout Pack race. A race he never participated in because his block of wood never made it out of the box. His mother had always helped him before, but she’d died ten months earlier from breast cancer. After that, he’d quit scouting like he’d quit almost everything else he’d started in his life.
He wasn’t going to quit this time. He wanted to meet his daughter. She was the only thing that tied him to Tessa. “I will meet Jordan, Elizabeth. You can count on that.”
“Only on my terms.” Her lips drew a straight line. In the distance, he heard the adrenaline-pumping screech of the sirens as the first ambulance pulled in.
He mentally shook himself. Lives stood on the line here. There was no telling how extensive the injuries were. And in her defense, she had been giving him her full attention until the call came in. A piece of understanding wormed its way past the painful memories of his father.
Once inside the E.R., she discarded her purse underneath the desk, then pulled on her lab coat and kept moving.
“Dr. Randall?” A harried nurse stopped short of running into her. She clutched her clipboard to her chest, a look of relief on her face.
“I was in the cafeteria. What are we looking at?”
“An SUV ran a red light and T-boned a car.”
Blake felt useless and in the way. He only did fieldwork—basic life support—this wasn’t his territory. This was Elizabeth’s domain. Why had he insisted on coming?
After marching to the sink, Elizabeth turned on the tap and scrubbed her hands. The sliding doors to their right swooshed open and a paramedic and EMT wheeled in the first patient. After throwing her paper towel away, he watched Elizabeth clasp her hands and bow her head.
“What are you doing?” he asked as another ambulance arrived.
“Praying.”
“Praying?” She didn’t strike him as the religious type. He wondered if he should tell her prayer didn’t really work—if it did, his mother would still be alive.
“Yes. Praying. I don’t do my work alone.” She strode away from him and never looked back.
Chapter Three
“You should really wait for Dr. Randall before you do this.” Eric stopped beside Blake outside room 403. “All it takes is one look and bam, she’ll nail you to the wall. I’ve seen her reduce interns to tears.”
“I’ve met worse. Her bark couldn’t be any worse than my dad’s. I can handle Dr. Randall.”
“Yeah, well, your dad wasn’t so good-looking.”
Blake looked at Eric, surprised. Dr. Randall was a looker, he couldn’t deny that.
“Didn’t think you ever noticed women anymore, Eric. You always have your head in a book or worse, glue all over your hands from your model kits.”
Eric grinned. “I have my eye on one of the nurses in the E.R.”
“Maybe you should live on the edge a bit and ask her out, then.”
“Maybe you should call Dr. Randall instead of asking me to sneak you into the Children’s Wing.” Eric folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall.
“We didn’t exactly sneak in. I asked and you delivered.” Blake flexed his hands as he stood outside of his daughter’s room. Getting the visitor badge had been the easy part. The receptionist downstairs hadn’t even batted an eye when Eric told her their destination. “My guess is we weren’t even in the elevator before the receptionist called the E.R. and told Dr. Randall I was here. I suspect she’ll be joining us momentarily.”
“Still. This doesn’t feel right. What are you going to say to Jordan?”
“Look, I’ve waited three days for Dr. Randall to call. I’ve got to force her hand. I deserve to at least see my daughter.”
“Maybe she’s been busy.”
Like Blake’s father always had been. Some people should have never been parents.
Did Blake fall into that category? Tessa thought so. Why else had she given Jordan up without consulting him?
Leaning back, Blake allowed the unforgiving wall to bite into his back. Inside the room he heard the drone of the television tuned to some kids’ channel.
What did girls like to do? What did they watch? What did they talk about? Blake hadn’t thought this through. He couldn’t just barge in and say, “Jordan, I am your father.”
“Maybe you’re right. This wasn’t one of my most brilliant moves.”
“Look, I’ve got to get back downstairs. Don’t do anything that’s going to get me in trouble. In fact, if you’re smart, you’ll wait for Dr. Randall to call.”
“We all know I’m not smart. That’s why I dropped out of med school.”
“Stop being so hard on yourself.”
“I will if you go ask that nurse out.”
Eric smiled and headed down the hall. “Good luck, man,” he said.
A band of sweat broke out on his forehead despite the air-conditioned temperature inside the hospital. He hovered, unsure of his next move. Just inside the open doorway to his left Jordan Randall lay in a hospital bed, her body ravaged with leukemia. Unlike in his childhood, this time around he understood what cancer was and knew the implications.
What if she didn’t make it?
He’d spent most of his adult life running from emotional commitment because he didn’t want to feel the pain of abandonment again. Still, he had to see the child he and Tessa had created, and be a father even though he had no example to work from. William Crawford would never have won a father of the year award.
Inside the room he heard Jordan cough.
This was crazy. Could he deal with her sickness?
Yes. He had no choice. He’d been given an opportunity. Somehow he knew this was where he was supposed to be, except it would be better if Elizabeth were here.
He should leave.
In a few minutes.
Once he took a peek.
No interaction. Just one tiny glance to see what she looked like, then wait for Elizabeth to call. Which she would once she found out he’d been up to the fourth floor.
Do it. He commanded his body. He’d pretend he’d walked into the wrong room, see her and leave.
A bead of moisture meandered down Blake’s cheek as he remained plastered against the wall. The rapid sound of footsteps caught his attention.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Elizabeth asked.
His plan worked. “I came to see my daughter.”
“How did you manage to convince Dr. Stevens to get you in?”
“Eric and I