“Why don’t you join us?” her mom said as Lindy just stood there, staring at him. Damn. Soon Zeke was going to think he’d been right when he’d said she seemed distracted. She was. And this time it wasn’t by thoughts of her daughter.
It was by the surgeon himself.
“That’s up to Lindy.”
What? Why was it up to her? She did not want to cast the deciding vote. “It’s fine with me.” She shifted Daisy a little higher on her hip, keeping her close. But thankfully Zeke hadn’t shown much interest in her daughter. And Lindy would rather keep it that way.
They somehow made it through the line, although she no longer felt like eating. And it wasn’t due to the quality of the food on offer in front of them. She tried to take one of the two trays her mom was wrestling with, only to have Zeke take it instead. “I’m not eating much, so I’ll put mine on your tray, if that’s okay.”
Great. She guessed it didn’t matter since she’d already said he could join them. “It’s fine. No surgeries this afternoon?”
“I had one in the middle of the night and ended up staying. As soon as I eat, I’m heading home to crash.”
A surgery in the middle of the night was never a good thing. “Was it bad?”
He nodded, a muscle in his jaw tight. “Very bad. A teenager hung herself.”
“Oh, God.” Her mom was thankfully ahead of them, since her lungs had suddenly seized as remembered sensations washed over her. The cramping of muscles starved of oxygen. The blackening of her vision. The realization that if she passed out, it was all over.
Somehow she got hold of herself and swallowed several times to rid herself of the memories. She cleared her throat, somehow needing to ask the question. “Did she make it?”
“Yes. Her trachea suffered a partial separation, and we had to do a tracheotomy and then go in and repair the damage. But she’ll be fine physically. And hopefully she’ll get the emotional help for whatever caused her to do this.”
“How terrible.” Lindy had been fortunate that there’d been no permanent damage to her throat. Nothing to repair. Except her heart. And she was still dealing with some of the fallout from that. Like when Nancy had tapped her on the shoulder. Even after two years of freedom, she was sometimes easily startled. And she tended to walk on eggshells around people, afraid of making someone angry, even though she knew that fear was irrational. But, like her therapist had said, it would take time.
Lindy picked out an egg salad sandwich and a small cup of fruit, while her mom put Daisy’s picks on her own tray. And, yes, there was a cheeseburger. That made her smile.
She still had her daughter. There’d been no custody battles. No lengthy court cases. There’d been no need for anything, other than a coffin, in the end. Daisy would never know her father. But she couldn’t help but think that was for the best.
A minute or two later they were seated at one of the small tables. Zeke yawned and downed a healthy portion of his coffee.
“Sorry. I’ll try not to fall asleep on you.”
A pang of compassion went through her. Anyone who saw medicine as a glamorous profession hadn’t seen the toll it took on those in the field. Zeke had probably been uprooted from his bed to come in and do the surgery. And then he’d probably gone on rounds this morning and dealt with his own caseload of patients. “Were you scheduled for today?”
“Yes. But I wasn’t slated to come in until seven.”
“And your surgery was when?”
“Two.”
“You have to be exhausted. Are you off tomorrow?” She wasn’t sure why she cared. Plenty of healthcare professionals went through the same thing on a daily basis. But she could see the tired lines bracketing his mouth and eyes. Maybe that’s what had made his earlier frown seem so fierce.
“Yes.”
Her mom laid Daisy’s food out on a napkin and put a straw in her cup of juice. “I remember the days when you pulled those kinds of hours before you got...” Her voice faded away.
Thankful her mother had caught herself. Lindy nodded and forced herself to smile. “I’m sure you pulled your share of all-nighters when I was a kid.”
“Of course. But that’s different from what you and Dr. Bruen do. And you were a pretty healthy child.”
As was Daisy, thank goodness.
“Call me Zeke, please.”
Lindy’s brows went up. So it wasn’t just the staff who were allowed to call him by his given name. That privilege evidently extended to their immediate relatives.
He took another gulp of his coffee, bloodshot eyes glancing at her for a second before moving over to Daisy. Then they closed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose as if suddenly sporting a massive headache.
“You don’t have to stay here and keep us company. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep?” This time her smile wasn’t as difficult to find. “Besides, if you drink too much of that stuff you won’t be able to do anything but stare at the ceiling.”
“Said as if you’ve done exactly that.”
“I have. And it wasn’t fun.” It also wasn’t for the reasons he thought. It had been when her marriage had been at its lowest point, and she’d been worrying about Daisy’s future and the hard decision ahead of her. That choice had been taken out of her hands a day later.
At least Daisy would never have to decide whether or not she wanted to see her father in the future.
Zeke pushed his cup away. “I’ll take your word for it. And sleep sounds like heaven right now.” He stood. “I think I’ll try to do just that. Thanks for letting me join you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Daisy lifted her cheeseburger and waved it at him. “Bye-bye.”
He looked like he wasn’t sure what to do for a second, then he gave a half-smile. “Goodbye to you too. And nice meeting you, Mrs. Anderson.”
“Call me Rachel, since I’m calling you Zeke.”
“Okay. It was nice meeting you... Rachel.”
“You as well.”
Once he was gone, her mother looked at her. “The doctors here are a lot cuter than at your last hospital.”
“Mom!” It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed how good looking Zeke was. The word hunk—of all things—wasn’t something she threw around every day. But the last thing she needed was to fantasize about the man.
Oh, Lord, no. You are not having fantasies. About anyone!
“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me. You can’t let one bad experience turn you off love forever.”
“It was a little more than a bad experience, don’t you think?” She worded it carefully. Even though Daisy didn’t know exactly what had happened, she might be able to understand more than Lindy thought.
“I know, but not all men are like Luke. Take your father, for example.”
“I know, but I’m not ready to date. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever want to again.” Even Mr. Hunk himself would have a hard time moving her off that mark. Even if he wanted to. Which he didn’t.
Her mom reached over to squeeze her hand. “I understand. Really, I do. When the time is right, you’ll change your mind.”
This