NYC Angels: An Explosive Reunion

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 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 so 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.

When they’d been together as far, far more than professional colleagues. Was that what Layla was really referring to here? Maybe he didn’t want to find out. He backed down.

‘I’ve just never seen you hanging around Recovery before,’ he muttered. ‘That’s all.’

She knew, dammit. She knew exactly how uncomfortable he was with her presence in what had previously been a sacrosanct area for him.

We’re colleagues. Her raised eyebrows managed to convey even more to the message. We work in the same hospital. We are mature, professional people who are passionate about our careers. Deal with it.

Fine. Alex would deal with it. He tilted his head towards the tiny patient in the bed.

‘What was the procedure?’

‘Just an ASD closure. But it was a big one and little Josh here is a real cutie. One of triplets.’

Triplets? Good grief … Why was nothing about Layla … ordinary?

Even this unusual visit was vaguely disturbing.

Any other doctor would be looking at the monitors or reading the recovery notes. Or at least quizzing the nurse. But not Layla. She was leaning over the tiny, unconscious boy. Finding a patch of skin that wasn’t covered by an electrode for monitoring or tape that was holding an intravenous line in place. Stroking that skin with such a gentle touch that Alex couldn’t look away.

‘Hear what that nurse told me, honey?’ he heard her murmur. ‘You’re doing just fine. You keep it up now. Your momma and daddy aren’t far away and they can’t wait to see you.’

Alex forced his attention back to the monitors attached to his own patient but he couldn’t ignore the knot in his gut. It tightened when he glanced back in time to see Layla on the point of leaving. She had two fingertips against her pursed lips and, having turned her head to check that the nurse wasn’t watching, she took that tiny kiss and transferred it to the forehead of the unconscious toddler.

A tiny moment in time. A very personal moment. If Layla hadn’t turned in his direction again as she’d straightened, she would never have known that she had been observed. Alex was busted. He wasn’t going to pretend he hadn’t been staring so he held her gaze steadily and it was gratifying to see the flush of colour that painted Layla’s cheeks.

But she didn’t look away. Her chin came up and the spark in her eyes was one of defiance.

So I get emotionally involved with my patients, the spark said. Deal with that, too. I happen to think it makes me a better doctor.

‘See you later, Alex.’

‘Yeah … I’m sure you will.’

The high heels of Layla’s shoes beat a sharp tattoo as she exited the recovery room and, despite himself, Alex knew he was watching her leave with the same kind of expression that every male in the cafeteria had had the day before.

You had to hand it to her. Layla Woods had very decided opinions and more courage than you could shake a stick at to defend them. And that feistiness, wrapped up in such an attractive package, was the kind of challenge any red-blooded man would get drawn to.

Look at him. He knew the deadly consequences of rising to that challenge and he was still finding it difficult not to get sucked in all over again.

Alex looked down at his small patient. He had done the best he could for her with the surgery to correct the spinal malformation and he was confident that it had been a success. This little girl would soon be able to sit up and walk and catch up with the developmental milestones she had missed. Her parents were going to be thrilled and he would take a great deal of pleasure in following up on her progress.

He cared about her. A lot. But he wasn’t going to start cuddling and kissing his patients. He’d learned long ago how dangerous emotional entanglements could be. Probably even before his mother had died.

Alex hadn’t needed the gut-wrenching confirmation of that lesson represented by the disastrous notion that Layla might have been different enough to deserve his trust. And he wasn’t going to lay himself open to the kind of heartache that came with losing a small patient that you’d got too attached to. He knew how to keep just the right amount of distance to make sure he stayed at the top of his game.

He just had to apply the same wisdom to his professional relationship with Layla, never mind how many times he found himself close to her. Or how many personal things he happened to notice.

Personal things like the kind of shoes she wore or shampoo she used were superficial and easily ignored. The personal detail he discovered about Layla a few days later nearly did his head in.

Plan B seemed to be going slightly astray.

The idea had been to show Alex that the past was well and truly behind them. That they could enjoy a professional relationship and put any lingering attraction behind them as well. Tuck it away, along with the malpractice suit and the way both their lives had been derailed.

But it seemed to be taking on a life of its own now.

Alex didn’t like it that she was invading his space. Layla could feel the ‘Oh, God, not again’ vibe whenever she just happened to be in the same place at the same time. Like the cafeteria or Recovery or the intensive care unit or one of the wards. She was getting so good at this she didn’t need to check his electronic calendar to guess where he might be next. Often her instinct put her in the right place. Or maybe fate was helping because her path seemed to be crossing with that of Alex far more often as she fulfilled her own professional duties.

Well, Alex had only himself to blame. The effect of her subtle campaign was magnified considerably by how successful Alex had been in trying to avoid her in the run-up to that meeting he’d stupidly decided to miss. This could have all blown over by now. She would have given Alex his moment in the limelight, taken the opportunity to say thank you in a heartfelt manner and they could have agreed that this was a fresh start for both of them.

Bygones could have been bygones.

But no … Alex had taken a stand and presented a challenge and she knew perfectly well that he would have been expecting her to front up and tear a strip or two off him because everybody knew that she didn’t hang back from necessary confrontation. The perfect opportunity had presented itself the very next day, in fact, in the staff cafeteria, with the bonus of a built-in audience.

What a stroke of brilliance it had been, doing the complete opposite of what they had all been expecting. Her ultra-friendly smile and the way she had simply ignored the whole issue had thrown Alex off guard completely. He was still suspicious of her motives and she couldn’t blame him for not liking what was happening. She was in control here.

The problem was that she was enjoying herself. A bit too much perhaps. She was quite confident of how aware of her Alex was. She could sense the way he watched her, like that time in Recovery. She could feel the intensity of that gaze like a touch on her skin.

No. The real problem was the flip side of that particular coin.

She was equally aware of him.

Just how unhelpful this awareness was became strikingly obvious a few days later after Layla had been called to the emergency department to consult on a ‘blue baby’ case that had been rushed in by ambulance. The mother had had almost no prenatal care so the baby’s cardiac abnormalities had not been picked up prior to birth and, to complicate matters, the young mother had gone into labour and had given birth at home. With the baby safely intubated and stabilised and now under the care of the neonatal surgeons, Layla was free to leave the department to carry on with the rest of her duties when she spotted Alex.

He was standing just outside one of the resuscitation rooms where the more serious cases were assessed and stabilised. Right next door to the one she had been in. That small thrill of excitement and the way her heart rate picked up was due purely to the stroke of luck crossing his path in such an unexpected place. Neither of them had much to do with the emergency department so what were the odds of them both being here at the same time? That this would annoy Alex no end might be a kind of a bonus.

Except that he didn’t even seem to be aware of her standing so close by. His attention was focussed on the woman he was with. White-faced and sobbing, she looked barely more than a teenager. She had long, dark, wildly curly hair and she was talking fast and loudly. In Spanish.

Alex was looking stunned. As though he had no idea how to handle the situation.

Layla had never seen him look like this.

She’d seen him in charge of emergency situations in Theatre. Running a resuscitation scenario in the intensive care unit. Dealing with distraught parents. But never once had she seen him look as if he wasn’t in complete control.

Looking … vulnerable?

Well … she had once. When things had gone so disastrously wrong at the end of Jamie Kirkpatrick’s surgery. She’d had to stand back and watch helplessly then. She didn’t have to now.

Layla moved swiftly towards them. ‘Can I help you?’ she said to the young woman. ‘Te puedo ayudar? Digame lo que pasa …’

Her Spanish was fluent. The woman grabbed her arm in relief and sobbed out her story. Alex looked, if anything, even more stunned when Layla turned back to him.

‘Ramona says you’re treating her baby. Felix?’

His nod was terse. ‘He’s got a skull fracture. I was hoping to get to the bottom of the story but the language barrier’s suddenly got a lot worse.’

Layla asked Ramona a question and then translated the response. ‘His brother hit him with a toy brick.’

She could see the total disbelief in Alex’s face. ‘I’m talking about a fracture here. A broken skull. An unconscious child.’ His voice was so tense it cracked.

Layla’s brain sent out the kind of alert signal that any Chief of Paediatrics would be wise to pay attention to. It had been known to happen, hadn’t it? She’d read of more than one case where parents had had children taken away from them by social services and had been prosecuted for child abuse.

One sprang to mind immediately, of an eight-month-old boy whose sibling had hit him with a toy aeroplane and caused a fracture. And what about the Tommy Jenner case a few months ago when the child-abuse screen had been started and then they’d found that Tommy had actually been injuring himself because of the seizures caused by his brain lesion?

Alex needed to be careful of what he was saying here but Layla found that she was thinking of something else entirely as she stared at him. Had she really not noticed before how those glimmers of grey had crept into his jet-black hair? The way those lines at the corners of his eyes had deepened over the years they hadn’t seen each other? Had she really forgotten the way those chocolate-brown eyes could darken when something emotionally intense was going on, like anger or … physical passion?

Heavens … they looked positively black at the moment.

Ramona had picked up the tone of Alex’s voice. Looking terrified, she made a huge effort to pull herself together and change languages.

‘No … don’t say those words. No person hurt my baby. I … I love him.’

The anguish in her eyes and broken words was heart-breaking. Alex put his hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

‘Try and calm down, Ramona. I won’t ask any more questions now. We’ve got Felix stabilised and we’ll be taking him up to surgery in a few minutes.’