LITMIR.BIZ

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asked, his fine brows pinched together.

      “If I give you a dollar, will you buy me a chocolate bar?” With her free hand Beth found a dollar and some change in the other pocket and gave him a handful. “Get yourself something, too.”

      He shot out of the room as though on a world-saving mission before Carmen had a chance to expose a needle.

      “So what did you do to Gavin? He looks like Lobster Man.”

      “I know! And because he’s running around here, I can’t read his skin tests to find out what he’s allergic to.” She sighed. “What am I being tested for?”

      Carmen was so skilled at drawing blood that Beth barely felt the needle pierce her skin. “The usual lab tests. Blood sugar. Electrolytes. When was your last period?”

      Beth scratched her head and thought about it. Wait a second. Normally, she’d be having her period around this time, or maybe it was supposed to be last week?

      Hesitating, she gave the information to her nurse.

      Subtly lifting a brow, Carmen said, “Maybe I’ll throw in a pregnancy test.” She gathered her vials and left the room without giving Beth a hint about whether or not she knew what had gone on between her and Gavin a few weeks ago. Beth recognized her distinctive voice. But did Carmen know who Beth was?

      The ripple effect of her poor judgement caused a second wave of lightheadedness, and forced Beth to lean back on the bed. Nah. No way. They’d used protection.

      “Who’ll get the results?” she called out, without thinking things through.

      “Rick will call you if anything’s abnormal.”

      She’d been in this situation before, twice. Hell, that was the reason she’d gotten married, and her husband hadn’t been in the least bit happy about it. She hadn’t done it to trap him. It had just sort of happened. Back when she’d married Neal, she’d wanted nothing more than to have a family, but after they’d married, she’d miscarried within the first trimester. A year later, it had happened again; it wasn’t meant to be. Then he’d run off with that woman after maxing out Beth’s credit cards. Just thinking about her ex and the bosomy blonde he’d left her for sent her blood pressure into the stratosphere.

      Oh, God, what if she was pregnant? She’d promised herself to only marry for love in the future, no matter what. Gavin was a total stranger.

      To distract herself, Beth watched the girl standing outside the boy’s room across the ward. She’d been working at the teen clinic a couple nights a week for the last year and, with her own memories of teenage angst, she felt she’d finally cracked the code of what made them tick. Drawn by the girl’s silent scream and avoiding her own over a possible pregnancy, she decided to check things out.

      “Hi,” Beth said, when she approached.

      “I belong here. That’s my brother,” the girl answered, with both shoulders raised as if ready for a fight.

      “You look pretty worried.” Beth edged closer.

      “Well, wouldn’t you be?” she barked, and bit at the hangnail on her finger, avoiding Beth’s eyes.

      “Oh, gosh, yes. But he’s in good hands now.” She was careful not to invade the teenager’s space and remained a couple of feet away while the girl leaned against the wall. “Mind if I keep you company?” Before the girl could answer, she went on, “What’s his name?”

      “Andrew.” The petite girl shrugged.

      “Well, Andrew will get the best of care. The surgeons will do everything they can to save his hand.”

      “It’s my fault he’s here.” Frightened eyes peered above her knuckles, tears slipped over the red rims of her eyes and down her pale cheeks. Her composure completely gone, the girl’s shoulders jerked up and down with a new onslaught of sobs.

      Beth reached out and wrapped the twig-thin teen under her arm. “It’s not your fault, you know.” She guided the girl toward a bench along the wall, away from her brother’s room. “You didn’t bite him.”

      “I left him alone when I answered my cellphone.” Guilt wrenched through a squeaky, gasping voice.

      Beth took a deep breath, unsure what tack to take. “Was he a vicious dog?”

      “No!” the girl snapped, then backed off a bit. “That’s the thing—he’s been our family pet for ever.”

      “So how were you supposed to know…? What’s your dog’s name?”

      “Max.”

      “How were you supposed to know Max would attack Andrew?” Beth gently prodded the girl to sit down and joined her.

      She sobbed into her hands. “Now we’ve got to put Max down and my brother’s lost his hand, all because of my stupid cellphone.”

      Beth placed her arm gently across the girl’s back. “Sometimes life just happens and we don’t have any control over it.” Beth sat in silence, giving the girl time to think while turning over and over her own thoughts about a possible pregnancy. “The doctors may be able to save your brother’s hand. Just have some faith. My name’s Beth—what’s yours?”

      “Courtney.” She wiped her eyes and glanced at Beth.

      “Courtney, it’s not your fault—have you got that?” Beth squeezed her bony shoulder. “Maybe Max was in pain or he was frightened or he’s started to get senile. Maybe a bee stung him. There could be several reasons why he’d attack your brother.”

      The girl whimpered and nodded.

      Gavin watched with an ache in his heart as the orderly wheeled the sedated child toward the door on his way to the operating room. Finally, the traumatized boy was calm and on his way to surgery.

      Thick black lashes rested on the child’s blanched cheeks, reminding him of his own son. If the doctors did their jobs properly, Andrew would have no memory of what was to come, and his hand would be useful again. Gavin made a mental note to follow up on the boy’s progress later.

      His gaze went to a scrawny teenager outside the room, wrapped in the comforting arm of his newest favorite nurse, Bethany Caldwell. She must be feeling better. Patrick was sitting beside her and they were all sharing a couple of candy bars.

      Gavin liked seeing her in his department; he liked that she’d taken the initiative to support the forgotten family member. His own nurses rarely had time for such things. And she hadn’t stuck Carmen with watching his son, as he often was forced to do.

      His son suddenly being left with him by his ex had clearly turned into a gift—the gift of a second chance. He smiled, thankful for odd favors.

      “Hi, Dad!” Patrick waved from across the room, content to hang around until he could go home. His heart squeezed. What a trouper. The way things were going, he’d be stuck here several more hours, which wouldn’t be fair. As Carmen got off at seven, once again he’d have to ask her to watch Patrick. Theirs wasn’t a perfect situation, but they’d been working things out just fine and, more importantly, Patrick seemed to like living with him.

      Gavin smiled and waved back, thankful for Carmen for the tenth time that day. If she had a clue he actually appreciated her, she’d never let him live it down.

      He nodded at Bethany as he headed to room three, thinking how pretty she was, while he maintained his professional physician demeanor. After he’d passed, he smiled and recalled what they’d done together that first night. And even though the focus of his life had changed since Patrick had moved in, he couldn’t help but wonder if and how soon they could arrange to do it again. What would she think if she could read his mind?

      Even an hour after the testing, a lingering itch drew his attention to his back. The meds had taken care of the worst of it, but a few areas still bothered him. He reached behind and, using his thumb, scratched

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