Heart Surgeon's Second Chance

“Small comfort, I suppose.”

She smiled at him, but the sadness radiating from her eyes penetrated deep into his soul. She looked as if the world had just collapsed on her and she couldn’t hold it up any longer.

Rhiann had always been so strong, but there was an air of fragility to her now.

He pushed away from the counter and laid a hand on her shoulder, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the frailness in her frame. “You okay?”

She nodded.

Charlie’s radio crackled behind them, alerting them that their patient was now ready for transport.

“We need to go, Rhiann.”

Patrick wanted to say more, but he didn’t know where to begin or how to condense it down into a moment or two. His mouth opened and closed with no sound while Rhiann gazed up at him. Those big green eyes had been rendering him stupid for years, and it seemed they hadn’t lost their power over him.

“I’ve got to go.”

She gave him a quick hug and was gone again before he could return the gesture. Her arms around him had stunned him, and he couldn’t process the feel of her softness pressed against him before she’d moved away and the entire moment was gone.

Clay came back in as Rhiann and Charlie rushed out.

“I come bearing gifts.” He held out a cup of steaming coffee. “Rhiann was right—the nurses up there are incredibly friendly. I walked away with coffee for us both and three phone numbers.”

Patrick took the coffee and sank down into a chair with a sigh.

“Wanna talk about that hug I just saw?” asked Clay.

He shook his head. There was no way he could talk about what he himself was struggling to understand. Having Rhiann’s arms around him had him so mixed up it was like he had been thrown in a blender. How could he want to hug someone he had sworn to hate?

“No? How do you feel about Rhiann reappearing in your life?”

Patrick lowered his eyes to the coffee in his hand. “I don’t want to talk about that either,” he growled out.

“You haven’t seen her in a long time. You have to be feeling something about her showing up after so long. She was your best friend for half your life.” He paused. “Still don’t wanna talk? Okay, I’ll talk. You listen.”

Clay moved a chair until he was sitting directly in front of Patrick.

“Your best friend there still wants to be a part of your life. You need to pull your head out of your nether regions long enough so that you can see that.”

He took a sip of his coffee and stared at Patrick until the urge to squirm was almost more than he could bear. Clay had a gift for making anyone feel like a child with a simple raised brow.

“I can’t trust her. She let—”

“I know what you think she did, and I still maintain that you’re wrong—because Rhiann is a walking heart. She cares too much about everyone she meets. I know she would have done everything possible, even if you are too stubborn to see that.” Clay plowed over Patrick’s objections like an unsubtle bulldozer. “What if Rhiann has come back into your life for a reason?”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m saying outright that you need to forgive her. And you need to forgive yourself for not being there when Mallory and Everly died. You couldn’t have saved them, and you need to accept that Rhiann couldn’t either.”

“I didn’t ask for your advice.” Patrick stood up, intending to put some space between himself and his annoying partner.

Clay rose to his feet and blocked the only exit. “And yet I’m still offering it—and it’s because you need to hear it. These last three years you’ve been grieving, and I gave you space to do that. But all this negativity is eating you alive, man. You have to stop just existing and move forward with your life. Do you think Mallory would be happy about how you’ve been living? About you being alone and shutting everyone out?”

“Clay—”

“Mallory would be heartbroken at the thought of you freezing out your best friend over her. She knew how much Rhiann meant to you.” Clay got one more stab in. “I’m surprised that you’ve forgotten.”

“Shut up, Clay.”

But Clay continued, “I think that woman holds the key to your future happiness in the palm of her tiny little hand, and I think you are too smart to lose her twice.”

Patrick’s phone buzzed with the notification that their patient was ready for them. He glared at his partner and changed the subject. “We need to go scrub.”

Clay tossed his cup into the trash and gave Patrick a somber look. “Once again, saved by the bell. One day you won’t be so lucky. You’ll have to face your past and learn to forgive.”

Rhiann

Rhiann could tell by the number of glances that her partner kept sneaking in her direction that he had something to say. The older man was not known for subtlety, but he’d wait until they had a modicum of privacy before he unleashed his opinion on her.

Thankfully they had a patient who was not only awake, but chatty, so that should buy her a little time while she tried to figure out just what had happened in that break room with Patrick.

They were transporting an elderly woman back to her assisted living facility after a short hospital stay.

“Tell me something good,” the lady said, reaching out to pat Rhiann’s arm with her age-spotted hand. “I’ve got to go back to the home with all those old biddies who have nothing better to do than compare whose health is worse.”

“I don’t know much that’s good right now. I’m not the one to ask.” Rhiann laughed a wry, humorless laugh. “I can switch spots with Charlie and you can do a little flirting, though?”

“You’ll do no such thing. I remember Charlie when he was hiding behind his mama’s skirts. I can no sooner flirt with that child than I can run a marathon.” She clucked her disapproval. “What kind of woman do you take me for? I’m no cradle-robber.”

Rhiann met Charlie’s gaze in the mirror, smiling at the hint of red she saw tingeing his cheeks. “Oh, really? Maybe you’re the one who needs to tell me something good, then. You have any dirt on my partner that I might use to my advantage?”

“You could tell her about that pair of doctors you were getting friendly with while we waited on her to get ready,” Charlie said loudly. “I’m sure she would rather hear about two handsome single doctors who got a little handsy with you in the break room than tell a story about me when I was a snot-nosed brat.”

“Oh, yes? Are you being courted by two doctors?” Their patient’s furrowed face lit with excitement. “Do tell me. I love a good romance.”

Rhiann sighed, not wanting to disappoint the old woman. “There is no romance.”

“You only say that because you didn’t see the look in that man’s eyes when he thought you weren’t watching.” Charlie snorted. “If I could show you what I saw...”

A wrinkly hand waved, urging Rhiann to spill her story. “If you don’t tell me I’ll get Charlie to—and, while I know his version will be quite entertaining, it will only contain a hint of the truth.”

Rhiann pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. But there is no romance.”

“Let me be the judge.”

“The abbreviated version is that the two doctors are old friends of mine—Patrick and Clay. I met Patrick in high school, where we became best friends from day one. He went off to med school while I stayed here locally, and when he came back it was with a wife and Clay. We were all friends for some time, and then something tragic happened. Patrick’s wife and daughter...” She trailed off, unable to finish that part of the story. She wrapped up her tale in a no-nonsense, definitive tone. “Now we aren’t friends anymore. See, I told you—no romance.”

“Hmm...” the woman said. “That’s quite a story you’ve told in only a few words there.”

“You notice she only really told you about one of them. Right?” Charlie said.

Rhiann closed her eyes and sighed. “Charlie...” she warned.

“She only told you about one because she barely saw the other one. I was only teasing about her having the two of them after her. Even if poor Clay was interested he doesn’t stand a chance—not standing next to Patrick.”

“It sounds like there are a lot of strong emotions on both sides,” the elderly lady said wisely.

“Hate is definitely a strong emotion,” Rhiann agreed.

“Except hate is not what that man’s feeling for you.”

“Shut up, Charlie.”

Charlie laughed from the front of the rig. “She got a little emotional and he nearly launched himself across the room to comfort her. Couldn’t help himself—he just had to touch her. That’s not how a man reacts to someone he can’t stand. Even if he hasn’t admitted to himself that he’s got feelings for her, let me tell you, he’s got them.”

“My mama, God rest her soul, always used to say you couldn’t have hate without love,” said their patient. She shifted on the gurney. “I believe that’s true. Maybe the boy had to hate you so he could see how much he loves you now.”

Rhiann shook her head. “You’re as bad as Charlie, aren’t you?” She ignored the hope that was trying to blossom in her heart like a stray flower in the crack of a city sidewalk. “I’m going to tell you what I tell him—and that’s that I don’t have time for romance. There’s no room in my life for a bunch of hopes and dreams I have no control over. The only man I have room for in my life is my son, and I don’t need anyone else.”

“Pshaw! You’re too young to be so jaded.” She reached out and grasped Rhiann’s hand.

“He shut me out entirely—told me to stay out of his life. Not only that, but he shook my faith in my own abilities. I gave up a job I loved to better be able to avoid him. If I’m jaded, there are plenty of reasons,” Rhiann said quietly.

“Well, you met me, though, so that was fate,” Charlie argued. “But I’m telling you true: that man might have some hate for you, but there’s something far deeper peeking out when he looks at you.”

“Listen to an old lady and don’t let a chance at love pass you by. You might get burned—but what if you don’t?”

Rhiann held the woman’s hand, closing her eyes before tears made it to the surface. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“You have his cell number, right?” Charlie asked.

“Yes...”

“Call him.”

The old woman made a tsking sound. “That’s a bit forward. Perhaps you could send him one of those little messages on his phone, though. Just something small.”

“Oh, yeah, a text might be better,” Charlie agreed. “Ask him how his surgery went. How many kids that donor saved. I bet he’s found out since you mentioned it.”

“I don’t know about this...”

Rhiann swallowed hard. Patrick had made his position clear, and while he had shown hints of the friend she’d lost he was still ice-cold in most of their interactions. What if she pushed too far and he refused to help Levi as a result?

“Text him.” Charlie’s voice got gruff and his words came out like orders. “Go on.”

“Yes, dear—go on.” The elderly lady smiled at Rhiann. “I insist.”

“Peer pressure doesn’t end in high school, does it?”

Rhiann pulled her phone out and tapped in a message, asking if Patrick had found out how many lives the donor had saved. Surely such a simple follow-up question wouldn’t be too upsetting?

She shoved the phone back into her pocket, her cheeks warming as she blushed. “There. Done. And when he ignores me I’m going to come over and tell you about it.”

“I’d love to have you visit—even if it is just to say I told you so.”

Rhiann’s heart softened at the hope in her patient’s voice. She squeezed the elderly woman’s hand. “My son has some health issues that make taking him out much a little dangerous right now, so I can’t make any promises. But I’ll do my best to visit when I can.”

Charlie volunteered to visit on occasion too, and they passed the rest of the ride in simple small talk that took some of the pressure off Rhiann.

They’d dropped the patient off and were sitting around at the station house when Patrick’s response came.

Six lives saved. Heart, lungs, kidneys to two

patients, liver, and pancreas.

She held the phone close to her heart and tried not to tear up. Not just because six lives had changed for the better that day, but for the family whose world was now shattered.

“That your doc?” asked Charlie.

She wiped at her eyes. “I told you before—he’s not mine.”

“Yet.” Charlie winked as he went to clock out. “Keep texting him and he might be.”