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.
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