“How dare you.” She stood up and glared at him. “I would never put business above the welfare of a patient. Especially the welfare of a teenage girl who’s at risk—”
“Risk?” He tensed and was instantly alert. “What risk?”
“No, you don’t.” She’d let him sucker her temper into a twist and slipped up. It was a mistake she wouldn’t make again. “I’ll supervise Amy’s pregnancy until her baby is born or she fires me, whichever comes first, regardless of her ability to pay. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly. And send me the bills.”
“Fine. Then I think we understand each other. And we’re finished.”
“For now.” The man had the audacity to grin but it didn’t chase the anger from his eyes. “See you around, Doc.”
“Not if I see you first,” she mumbled.
And she wouldn’t hold her breath about seeing him at all.
There was no question that he was good-looking, and she hated that she noticed, but Rebecca knew her judgment in men was seriously flawed, and Gabe was all the worst parts of mistake number two. If that was anything to go by, it was pretty unlikely that she’d see him around.
And yet she couldn’t help wondering why he’d pushed so hard for Amy’s medical information. Why would he bother to get her examined when he planned to pack her off to Texas? Probably to make sure she was healthy enough for the trip.
He’d shown his true colors, and any minute now she would stop thinking about Gabe Thorne because it was a waste of time. Thanks to men just like him, she’d already lost too much that she could never get back. Smart women learned from their mistakes, and she was nothing if not smart.
Rebecca walked briskly along the sidewalk under the portico and toward Mercy Medical’s automatic front door. There was a whooshing sound as it opened into the two-story rotunda with marble floor and information disk on the right, gift shop on the left. Every time she entered this hospital, the echo of hushed voices and hurrying footsteps surrounded her along with a feeling of reverence. The medical center endeavored to treat the whole patient with a combination of technology and compassion that healed mind, body and spirit.
When Rebecca looked around at the quiet beauty of the yellow rose painting on the wall and the words inscribed over the archway—Dignity, Collaboration, Justice, Stewardship, Excellence—her own soul sighed contentedly. Within these walls, she felt confident, fulfilled, at peace.
She stopped at the information desk and smiled at the older woman with glasses. “Hi, Sister Mary.”
“Dr. Hamilton. How wonderful to see you. You’re here for your workshop. Do you also have patients to see?”
The hospital board of directors had talked her into doing ongoing educational workshops to educate the public about the prevention and risks of teenage pregnancy. This was her third time and the first two had had dismal turnouts. Sister Mary was in charge of volunteers and felt guilty that Rebecca’s time was wasted unless she also had another reason for being here.
Rebecca nodded. “Yes, I have a couple patients to look in on while I’m here.”
“Good.” The nun glanced down at a paper in front of her. “You’re in the McDonald conference room again.”
Rebecca nodded. “If anyone shows up, promise me they won’t go down the street for a Happy Meal.”
“I’m terribly sorry about that misunderstanding, dear. The volunteer was new. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Assuming anyone actually shows up.”
“Someone already has. I made sure he knew the McDonald conference room was not a fast-food establishment.”
“Thanks, Sister.”
Rebecca’s curiosity spiked as she walked away from the desk. He? Her goal was to reach teenage girls and prevent situations like Amy Thorne’s. But it takes two to tango as the saying went and just because boys were anatomically incapable of carrying a baby didn’t mean they shouldn’t understand their responsibilities in preventing conception. Unfortunately, she’d found that an abundance of testosterone limited a boy’s ability to think with his head, and they didn’t normally seek out information voluntarily. So a he at her workshop was a major surprise.
She pulled open the heavy conference room door and walked past the chairs in the reception area. The McDonald conference room was divided into two smaller areas that could be combined into one large room if turnout warranted. Based on past results, she had no illusions it would be warranted for her.
When she rounded the corner into the tiny room and saw who her “he” was, she wanted to walk out again.
“Gabe,” she said, hoping he’d chalk up her breathless tone to hurrying into the room. It was, in fact, on account of her heart beating too fast, something quickly becoming a habit when she saw him.
He was resting a hip against one of the long tables in front of a dry erase board. “Rebecca.”
“How nice to see you again. It seems like only yesterday.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “It was yesterday.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I work here.”
She wasn’t born yesterday. “Really? Patient facilitator? As in facilitate them right back to Texas?”
“You have quite the sarcastic streak. Did they teach you that in medical school?” he asked.
“No. It’s a gift.” She readjusted her stethoscope, then folded her arms over her chest.
“Nice accessorizing.”
“I like it.” Unlike you, she thought uncharitably. “Seriously, why are you here?”
“To talk to you.”
“How did you know I’d be here?” she asked.
“Like I said, I work here.”
She was in and out of this hospital all hours of the day and night, and she had never seen him until two days ago in her office. “Doing what here exactly?”
“My company was retained to do the hospital expansion project.”
With great difficulty Rebecca resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead. She knew Mercy Medical was adding four patient floors to their existing facility in order to accommodate the explosive population growth in the Las Vegas Valley. She’d seen the evidence of construction—a portable trailer and signs around the hospital that said T&O Enterprises, but she hadn’t connected the dots. For a smart woman she was d-u-m-b.
“I see,” she said.
“Because of that, I’m in and out of the hospital. There are flyers everywhere publicizing community outreach programs—yours included. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try again to get you on my side.”
“And what if I didn’t have time to do this with you again?”
He looked around the still-empty room, then met her gaze, a knowing glint in his own. “Yeah. I can see where that’s a problem. What with the line out the door waiting to get in and hear Dr. Rebecca Hamilton’s words of wisdom.”
“I see someone else has a sarcastic streak.”
“Imagine that. Common ground. It’s a beginning,” he said.
A beginning was the last thing she wanted. And when he graced her with a grin that made her heart palpitate, the wisdom of her instincts was confirmed. Her knees actually went weak and she felt giddy as a schoolgirl. She’d never felt giddy when she was a schoolgirl. She didn’t want to talk to him again.
“My