Knocking at Her Heart (Conover Circle #1) (6 page)

It was the fastest way to get her
there.

“Oh, good grief.” She turned her
head toward his shoulder and buried her face in his shirt as he carried her down
the stairs. They hit the last step, and she turned her head slightly and
whispered. “Carol is going to be so worried.”

She amazed him. She was more
concerned about her friend than she was herself. He stuck his head into the
play area. “I think Maddie is having an appendicitis attack. Can you keep
Kelsie until my sister gets here?”

For once speechless, Carol simply
nodded.

“I’ll call her from the
hospital.” Sam walked a few more feet before stopping. “Don’t worry,” he added
over his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Maddie whispered.

*

Her head felt as if it weighed a
hundred pounds. She closed her eyes. When she heard the sounds of electronic
doors opening, she turned her head slightly and looked into the bright-eyed
stare of a young nursing assistant.

“Dr. Jordonson?”

The girl’s breathless tone
matched her baby-blue eyes.

“Evening, Sarah,” he said, never
breaking stride. “We’re going to do this admit up on four.”

“Of course,” Sarah said.

He pushed the elevator button with
his elbow. The doors opened and he waited while an elderly couple stepped out.
Then he stepped in and the doors closed.

It was just him and her and three
feet of space.  

“I’m sorry you got roped into
this,” she said, as the door closed.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said,
looking down at her. Again with his elbow, he hit the button for the fourth
floor. "You're going to be fine,” he said. “Harry Hanover is an excellent
surgeon.”

The elevator doors opened and
there was a short man wearing a white lab coat that came to his knees. He was
bald, had a salt and pepper beard and tired-looking gray eyes.

In one smooth motion, Sam shifted
her and gently set her down on her feet. Like he would for a small child or an
old woman, he carefully adjusted the blanket around her shoulders.

It took everything she had not to
jump, like Snowball would have, right back up in his arms. Of course, if she
tried that, it would be the seventh grade pole-vaulting experience all over
again. Not pretty and certainly not over the bar. 

“Harry, this is Maddie Sinclair.
Maddie, Dr. Harry Hanover.”

“Ms. Sinclair,” Dr. Hanover said.
“Based on Sam’s initial diagnosis, I’ve already ordered the blood work and a CT
scan. By the way, Sam, I’m darn glad to see you. I’ve got an industrial accident
coming in. Guy fell off a twenty-foot ladder. Tom is here, but we need somebody
to do the assist.”

She almost grabbed for his arm.
Sam already had a job—he was assisting her.

She wrapped her arms around her
middle. She would not be needy. Not now. Not ever.

Dr. Hanover motioned for her to
follow him. She didn’t move. Maybe it wasn’t too late to make a break for the
door. 

 “Get going, Maddie,” Sam
said, his tone light. “It’s show time.”

“I’m a fan of really long
intermissions,” she said.

He laughed. “Don’t worry. You’re
going to be fine,” he assured her.

And then he leaned in and kissed
her cheek.

She felt her whole face get warm
and knew it had nothing to do with having a temperature. She thought she might
have been in eighth grade the last time a boy had kissed her so sweetly. She’d
been embarrassed but not quite as much as the boy, whose face had turned a most
serious shade of pink. She’d mostly felt gawky and awkward, a feeling
exacerbated by the fact that she was a head taller than the boy.

Gawky and awkward was nothing in
comparison to this. She felt as if her blood had heated up to a fast boil.

From a kiss on the cheek.

Maybe it wasn’t too late to ask
for a lobotomy, too.

She didn’t die on the table.

When Maddie woke up in the
recovery room, that fact was a great comfort. She felt groggy and tired but
definitely alive. There was a nurse in the corner of the room, staring at a
computer screen, her nails making a soft clicking sound on the keyboard.

She must be fine because the
woman didn’t seem overly concerned. Satisfied, Maddie closed her eyes. When she
woke up the next time, she was in a different room. And Sam Jordonson sat in a
chair next to the bed, his head at a painful ninety-degree angle to his neck.
He was sleeping.

“Sam,” she whispered, not wanting
to startle him.

Nothing.

“Sam.”

Good grief. He hadn’t even
stirred.

“Sam!”

He jumped up from the chair.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to yell,” she
said.

“Was I sleeping?” he asked,
looking embarrassed. He grabbed her hand, and she thought it was sweet until
she realized that he was taking her pulse. “Are you in pain? I didn't want you
to wake up alone.” His words tumbled against one another. “The surgery went
great. How do you feel?”

“Slow down,” she said. “I’m fine.
Just a little queasy,” she admitted.

“An after-effect of the
anesthetic. It’s just a little after eight. You'll feel much better in a couple
of hours. You might even get to go home tomorrow if there are no
complications.”

“When can I go back to work?”

“Not for several days. You’re not
going to be in any shape to chase kids. Give yourself a break.”

She hadn’t taken more than three
days off in a row in four years. “The owner doesn’t get breaks.”

“The owner does when she has just
had surgery. Listen to your body, it will tell you.”

The door swung open, and Dr.
Hanover and a young nurse entered the room. The older physician frowned at Sam.
"I didn’t expect to see you, Sam," Dr. Hanover said.

“Just checking on the patient.”

“Of course.” The man didn’t sound
convinced. He logged into the computer in the corner of the room. "How do
you feel now, Maddie?" he asked, not looking up.

"How should I feel?”

He glanced over at her and
smiled. "Sore. But it went well. I did laparoscopic surgery.  You
have a couple small incisions rather than a larger cut. You’ll need to take it
easy for a couple days, but in general, it’s a much faster recovery rate.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Look, I'll check
back during morning rounds.” He pushed away from the computer and then handed
her the remote control for the television mounted on the wall. “Is there
anything else I can do for you tonight?”

“No. Thank you for everything
you’ve already done.”

“No problem. Sam really deserves
the credit,” Dr. Hanover said as he opened the door. “He made the correct
diagnosis at the bedside. Not bad for a bone guy.”

Neither of them said anything
after Dr. Hanover and the nurse left. She wondered if Sam would mention the
kiss. Or had he already forgotten it? She might choose to ignore it, but she
sure as heck hadn’t forgotten it. 

“I guess I better shove off,
too,” Sam said, trying hard to cover a yawn. “I think we’re both tired.”

She could not fathom why she
suddenly had an urge to scoot over in the bed, to make room for six-feet of
Sam. “I guess I am a little tired,” she said. 

He took a step toward the door.

She could not let him leave—not
without thanking him. “I owe you, Sam,” she said, trying to keep it light. She would
not have gone to the hospital until it was too late.

He looked over his shoulder. “Not
bad for a bone guy,” he said, winking one of his brown bedroom eyes. He took
another step toward the door. Then he stopped. This time his whole body turned
back toward her. “You know, you could thank me by letting me take you to
dinner.”

“Dinner?” Her voice squeaked.

He laughed. “Yeah. It’s when
people consume food, although not generally cold pizza and boxes of cookies. I
could help you with your diet planning, maybe explain the basic food groups.”

Dinner was a date. Didn’t matter
how innocent or educational he tried to make it sound. And she had the craziest
urge to abandon everything she knew to be true and say yes.

She was clearly in a weakened
state.

She pushed the button to raise
the head of the bed. “Dr. Jordonson,” she said, once she was more or less
sitting up. “If there’s payment required, you just need to send a bill to my
house.”

He cocked his head to the side
and looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Dr. Jordonson?  Payment?”

She’d offended him. She was
tempted to apologize but realized that it was better this way. He’d leave
thinking she was a bitch, there’d be no more butterfly kisses, and she’d forget
about fairy tales where the knight abandoned his scalpel. 

He stared at her for several
seconds. Then he turned and reached for the doorknob. He was outside the room
before he looked over his shoulder. “Good luck with your recovery,” he said,
his voice flat. It matched the look in his dark eyes. 

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t.
Her chest felt tight, her throat burned, and her eyes stung. She managed a nod.
And after the door closed behind him, she carefully rolled to her side and
stared out the window. The slots of the blinds were open just enough that she
could see the stars in the dark sky.

And just like that, one shot
across the black velvet, leaving a sprinkle of light in its wake.  Unable
to resist, she closed her eyes and made her wish. It was foolish, she knew. No
amount of wishing could make Sam Jordonson anything except what he was. No
amount of hoping, or praying, or pretending.

Maddie woke up shortly after six,
hopeful that once she got home, she'd be able to get some sleep. Throughout the
night, nurses had waltzed in and out, stopping just long enough to check her
temperature, her blood pressure, her incision, and then they’d left, wishing
her a good night. It felt like she’d managed to just get back to sleep when the
routine started over.

When yet another nurse opened the
door, Maddie barely resisted the urge to rip out her IV, wrap herself in a
blanket, and walk home.

"So how long have you known
Dr. Jordonson?" the young woman asked as she finished taking Maddie’s
blood pressure.

That’s what you got for arriving
at the hospital in the arms of the most eligible doctor.  "Not
long," Maddie said.

"He is so cute. Don’t you
think?"

“I suppose,” Maddie said. Cute
actually seemed a disservice to Sam. 

“We’re hoping he’s gay,” the
nurse lowered her voice to a whisper.

“What?”

“Then we wouldn’t all feel so bad
that we can’t get him to give us a second look. It’s discouraging.”

Maddie felt the heat spread from
her toes, up her legs, across her stomach, and settle in her chest. Her whole
body seemed hot. Sam had given her a first, second, and maybe even a third
look.

Not that she’d be getting a
fourth. “I don’t think he’s gay,” Maddie said.

The nurse shook her head, looking
forlorn. “We don’t either. Oh, by the way,” she said, picking up the plastic
grocery bag that she’d dropped on the chair when she’d entered the room, “some
lady dropped these clothes off this morning.”

Maddie reached for the bag and
pulled out a pair of yoga pants, a tank, and clean underwear. Attached to the
bag was a note.

Thought you might need some
clothes. Sam called late last night and said the surgery went well. Call if you
need anything. Love, Carol.

Sam had called Carol. She’d
insulted him and still, knowing that Carol would be worried, he’d looked up her
number in the phonebook to give her an update.

Okay. Now she felt really bad.
She was a jerk and maybe, just maybe, he was a decent guy.

With soft, warm lips. 

With a medical diploma hanging in
his office.

What the hell was she thinking?

She didn’t have to answer that
question because Dr. Harry Hanover picked that moment to enter the room. He
greeted her and looked at her incision. “You can go home,” he said. “It’ll take
an hour or so for the nurses to process the paperwork. In the meantime, you can
call somebody to pick you up.”

“I live next door,” she said.
“Can I walk home if I promise to go slowly and take really small steps?”

He studied her. “I can see why
Sam likes you. You’re funny.”

“Oh,” she protested. “He doesn’t
like me. We barely know each other.”

Harry Hanover nodded. “That’s
right. Sam does carry all my patients to me.” He opened the door. “Good luck.
I’ll see you in a week to check that incision.”

*

It was almost noon by the time
Maddie opened her front door. She heard Carol before she saw her. The woman was
holding court in the play area around the corner. Surrounded by at least eight
children, she had a big book in her lap and her arms were in motion. Alligator
Carol was evidently trying to escape from the zoo. One child slept on the soft
carpet, but the others sat up straight, engaged in the story.

Carol looked up when she flipped
a page. She saw Maddie and waved. She put down the book. “Don’t move,” she
instructed the children. “I’ll be right back.”

 When Carol wrapped her
strong arms around her, Maddie could feel the love. “Welcome home, sweetie. You
had me worried.”

“I’m fine. Truly.”

“That true, Doc?”

Maddie jerked her head up so
quickly that she was surprised she didn’t pull her stitches out. Across the room,
near the coat rack, Sam squatted next to Kelsie. He was zipping up her
backpack.  

“Sam,” she said, her voice
squeaking.  “What are you doing here?”  He had on green scrubs, a
white lab coat, and a stethoscope hung around his neck. When he stood up and
turned toward her, she could see the dark circles under his brown eyes.

“You look tired,” she said. 

“I spent the night at the
hospital. Most of it, anyway. I’d been home less than an hour when I got paged
to come back in. Two kids on a motorcycle hit a tree.

She swallowed hard. “Are they
okay?

“I don’t know. Twenty-four hours
will tell us a lot.”

She couldn’t remember her father
ever admitting that he didn’t know.    

“Did you get much sleep?” Sam
asked.

No, I spent the night thinking
about how I’d insulted you.
“I
don’t think that’s possible in a hospital.”

He smiled. “Sorry. Worst place to
be when you’re sick.”

He sounded truly
contrite. Why couldn’t he just be a jerk? It would make everything so much
easier.

“So if you worked all night,
shouldn’t you be home sleeping?” Carol asked.

“I promised Kelsie I’d take her
shopping. Her mom’s birthday is next week.”  He stood, shifting from foot
to foot.

Maddie’s mouth felt like it was
filled with cotton.  But Carol wasn’t helping her out. The woman was
silent, looking from Sam to Maddie, then back to Sam.

Where was a quick one-liner when
you needed it? It really was up to her.  “About what I said last night,
Sam. It was stupid. I’m sorry—”

“Look, Maddie,” he said, sounding
as weary as he looked. “Let’s just forget it.”

“No, really, I—”

“Maddie,” he interrupted.
“Apology accepted. Okay?”

Okay.
No, not really. But probably as
good as it was going to get.

“Where’s Terese?” Maddie asked,
turning away as Sam helped Kelsie with her coat.

“She couldn’t come today. Her
daughter had a baby boy last night. She took off for Nebraska this
morning.”

This was getting crazy. “You’re
not here all by yourself?” Maddie asked.

Carol shook her head. “No. I got
Bertrice Jackson to come in. She’s in the kitchen.”

“I thought she was working at the
courthouse.”

“She is. Today’s her day off.”

Maddie chewed the inside of
bottom lip. She needed to think, but how could she do that when suddenly it
seemed like Sam was all ears. Kelsie had her coat on, her backpack zipped, and
still, the two of them weren’t moving.

“Maybe we can call Sally
Phillips?” she said. “She helped out two summers ago when you went to Mexico.”

“No. I tried her first,” Carol
replied. “She broke her leg three weeks ago. Tripped over her grandson’s
scooter. She’s fine. But besides not being able to, I don’t think she’s much
interested in being around a group of rambunctious kids.”

Maddie was out of ideas. She
looked at Carol, shrugged, and said, “Well, then, I guess we’ll just have to do
the best we can.”

Sam took two steps toward her.
“You had surgery less than twenty-four hours ago. You can’t possibly work
tomorrow or Friday, either. Next week will even be pushing it.”

Maddie shrugged her shoulders. “I
have to. I can’t leave Carol here by herself. First of all, it wouldn’t be fair
to her. Second of all, it wouldn’t be fair to the kids. They wouldn’t get the
kind of attention they are used to. And, I’m not going to risk my license. The
state says that there needs to be two of us at all times with this many
children.”

“Maddie, there has to be someone
else you can call,” he said. 

Maddie waved a hand in the
direction of the kids. “All my friends work. They trust me to take care of their
children. I’m not going to let them down. So unless you’ve got any other ideas,
I’m it.”

“Now that you mention it,” he
said, “I do have another idea. I’ll help you.”

“What?” Carol got the word out
before Maddie could form a coherent thought. “Doc, what do you know about
little kids?” 

“I have a niece. I did a
pediatric rotation. I was a kid,” he added, with a smile. 

It was ridiculous. But given that
she’d already severely insulted him in the last twenty-four hours, Maddie
tempered her response. “Sam, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer. But
you have a job.”

“I’ll take some vacation time,”
he said.

He’d lost his mind. “An
orthopedic surgeon wants to use his vacation days so that he can clean up
spilled milk and organize art projects? That’s crazy,” she said, unable to
pretty-up the sentiment.

“Uncle Sam is crazy,” Kelsie
repeated, turning in circles.

“Sorry,” Maddie mouthed.

Sam put a hand on Kelsie’s
shoulder to stop her turning. “I want to make sure my niece is in a safe
environment. It’s not, you know, C.R.A.Z.Y. at all.” 

“Sam, I assure you. I’ll work
this out,” she protested. “I will think of someone we can call.”

“I’m not sure who that will be,
Maddie,” Carol said. “Oops, I gotta go.” 

Maddie looked over the woman’s
shoulder. Four of the kids were wrestling, their little bodies rolling around
on the carpet, their short arms and legs flailing. The sleeping child was now
awake and crying, obviously not expecting to wake up in the middle of a war
zone.

“I say you give the good doctor a
chance,” Carol said, before she marched into the noisy room. “We need help.”

Maddie watched Carol bust up the
scuffle. There was a bunch of reaching and bending and squatting and Maddie,
with a sinking heart, knew she’d be hard pressed to do anything remotely
resembling it.

She turned to Sam. “We start work
at six-thirty.”

“Won’t be a problem.”

“I can only pay you ten dollars
an hour.”

When a muscle in his jaw jerked,
she thought it was likely he was remembering their conversation of the previous
evening.

“I insist, Sam,” she added, not
willing to treat this as anything but a temporary business arrangement. “If I
can’t pay you, the deal is off.”

“Fine. Ten bucks an hour is
great.”

She needed to deal with the
elephant in the room. “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked. “I mean,
after what I said last night, I didn’t think you’d feel all that friendly to
me.”

He shrugged. “You were tired, so
was I. It probably wasn’t the best time to have a conversation.”

He was letting her off the hook.
“I handled it poorly,” she said. “Sometimes I can be an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” he said,
his tone serious.

“Maddie is not an idiot,” Kelsie
said, starting to turn again.

Oh yes she was. Hadn’t she just
agreed to let Sam into her life? She was a freakin’ idiot. But she wasn’t
saying that word out loud. “You’re sure this won’t interfere with your work at
the hospital?”

“I don’t have any surgeries
scheduled and I’m not on call for a few days. I’d been planning on finishing a research
paper that I’m working on. I can still do that at night, after I leave here.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” she
protested.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said.

Oh, not true. Sam was a slice of
warm apple pie with a piece of cheddar cheese melted on top. A big, big,
deal. 

“Come on, Kelsie,” he said.
“You’re making me dizzy. We need to buy your mom something that sparkles.”

Maddie waited until the door was
completely shut behind them before she quietly said, “Like your eyes.”

*

Kelsie ended up buying her mother
a stuffed monkey so Sam took it upon himself to find something shiny for his
sister. He had the jewelry store wrap the gold necklace in a pretty box, and
then he took it and the bag they’d stuffed the monkey in and shoved both of
them into the corner of his trunk. 

It felt good to be able to buy
his sister nice things. His mother certainly didn’t have any jewelry to pass
down to her daughters. He remembered the time she’d sold her own mother’s
wedding ring when it looked like they were going to lose their apartment. He’d
heard her crying that night. Years later when he’d reflected upon the memory,
he’d felt like shit. All he’d been thinking about was that if she could get
some money, he wasn’t going to have to change schools again. He hadn’t been thinking
about how devastated his mom must have been. How worried.

Neither his mother nor sisters
were ever going to worry again like that. Ever. He was going to make sure of
it. He made a good living now, but once their new offices were up and open,
he’d be in even better shape. They’d probably have more business than they
could handle.  Patients hated going to a big, impersonal hospital for
surgery when they could go to a small, intimate place that specialized in their
type of care.