The Heart Surgeon's Baby Surprise Read online

‘They don’t,’ Phil explained, when she voiced her

  doubts. ‘They watch it on a second monitor in another

  room, but I’ll be with you, explaining the procedure as

  you go. We used to do the cath and explain at the same

  time, but Alex decided that wasn’t fair on the patient to

  have even a small portion of the operator’s attention not

  on the actual job.’

  ‘Suits me,’ Grace told him, checking the equip-

  ment already laid out for her, measuring the flexible

  steel tubes that she’d ease into the blood vessel and

  steer up to the heart, checking the monitors, second

  catheter they’d use to place a guide wire, the balloons

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  THE HEART SURGEON’S BABY SURPRISE

  of different sizes which they would inflate to open up

  the valves.

  All was ready. Brett was brought in, and the opera-

  tion began, Phil talking from the end of the table, ex-

  plaining that quite often the operation was performed

  by paediatric cardiologists rather than surgeons, the

  work carried out in cath labs in their surgeries, but that

  Brett was here because his cardiologist believed the

  valve might be particularly tough and would need

  expert help.

  As he talked, Grace was threading the first wire in,

  a fluoroscope showing her on a monitor where the wire

  was at all times. Once into the heart, she had to measure

  the blood pressure in the right ventricle, beneath the

  valve, then in the pulmonary artery, above the valve. A

  tiny transducer on the catheter tip did this for her, dis-

  playing the pressures on a second monitor, giving her

  a valve gradient against which she could check the

  success of the operation later on.

  ‘Now Grace will measure the size of the ring of tissue

  that holds the valve,’ Phil explained to the students in

  the other room, while Grace asked for an injection of

  contrast—thick clear fluid that showed up dark on the

  fluoroscope—into the right ventricle. Filmed with a

  high speed camera as it passed through the heart, the

  contrast enabled her to work out the size of the ring she

  had to stretch, and then choose the correct balloon size.

  Satisfied she had all the information she needed, she

  carefully withdrew the first catheter and began the sec-

  ond part of the operation, to place a guide wire into the

  pulmonary artery to steady the final catheter while she

  inflated the balloon.

  MEREDITH WEBBER

  77

  Forty minutes later she was done, three inflations of

  the balloon opening up the valve enough for a final

  check of pressures below and above the valve proving

  very satisfactory.

  ‘Well done,’ Phil said to her as she stood at one side

  of the room, stripping off her gloves then removing her

  goggles and mask. ‘You work so calmly and effi-

  ciently—although I don’t know why I should be sur-

  prised. Everything about you suggests calm efficiency.’

  Including my clothes, Grace thought to herself, not

  at all happy with the compliment Phil had given her,

  although all her years in medicine this was exactly the

  image she had tried to project.

  It was Theo’s fault, probing into her past, opening

  the door to the possibility of an affair, making her body

  feel things she didn’t want to feel and her mind fear

  where such feelings might lead.

  Panic overwhelmed her, to such an extent that when

  she ran into Theo in the tearoom a little later, she

  couldn’t stop herself from speaking.

  ‘I think I’d prefer a straight donation and maybe

  more than one if that doesn’t do the trick, rather than

  revisions.’ She blurted out the words then, belatedly,

  looked around, wondering just who else might have

  heard this weird declaration. Aldo was over by the

  window, working on his laptop, and from the look on

  his face nothing short of a bomb going off on the table

  next to him would disturb him.

  He certainly hadn’t looked up, neither did he move

  when Theo, one of his beautiful eyebrows raised, mur-

  mured, ‘Is this really the right time and place?’ at her.

  She shrugged her shoulders, as awkward as a school-

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  THE HEART SURGEON’S BABY SURPRISE

  girl. ‘It just came out,’ she muttered at him, turning

  away to fill the kettle although she wanted neither tea

  nor coffee, just needing to hide her scarlet cheeks from

  him.

  Although she had meant what she’d said.

  Reluctantly she turned back to face him, hoping her

  blush had faded, but instead of assuring him she meant

  it, even if she hadn’t chosen the best place to voice her

  thoughts, she realised he was smiling.

  It wasn’t the condescending kind of smile Paul had

  used when she’d done something to embarrass herself,

  but a real, friendly smile—one that crept under her skin

  and made her feel warm with pleasure.

  A smile causing pleasure?

  This had to stop right now!

  ‘I meant it,’ she said, but it came out far more

  lamely than she wanted, her determination under-

  mined by his smile.

  Not any smile, of course—it was a really lovely

  smile, possibly the first she’d seen from Theo. And if

  he was handsome when he was being Greek and fairly

  grim, Theo smiling went far beyond handsome.

  And she needed her head read!

  ‘I realise that,’ he said, not smiling now. ‘But the

  regular way of conception is so much easier—for me

  certainly. In fact, I’m not at all sure I could manage any

  other way. And on top of that, given the attraction you

  must admit exists, isn’t it a good way for us to get to

  know each other better?’

  Having been distracted by the smile, it took a mo-

  ment for Grace to realise what he was saying, and she

  looked with horror at where Aldo had been sitting.

  MEREDITH WEBBER

  79

  ‘He left while you were pretending to fill the kettle,’

  Theo said, and although she felt hugely relieved she

  was also irritated that she was so transparent.

  ‘He wouldn’t have known what we were talking

  about anyway,’ she said, trying desperately to shore up

  her defences—trying to ignore the hot, excited feeling

  Theo’s words had caused deep within her body. She

  latched on to an earlier bit of his conversation. ‘And I

  thought any man would know how to…’

  She knew cool, detached women, especially doc-

  tors, should be able to say the word in a cool, detached

  manner, but when it came to the crunch she choked on

  it.

  ‘Masturbate?’ Theo finished for her—so cool and

  detached himself she could have hit him, especially as

  she could feel fire in her cheeks yet again.

  ‘Yes!’ she said, although it made her even more em-

  barrassed that he’d read her with ease.

  ‘I might not want to, and I do think we should
get to

  know each other better. Wouldn’t you think it irrespon-

  sible of me to father a child if I didn’t know the mother?’

  he asked, subtly turning the onus back on her. Grace

  shook her head, wondering just how she, Super-Cool

  Sutherland, had got herself into such a ludicrous situation.

  She was about to storm out of the tearoom when

  Theo’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

  ‘We’ll talk about it later,’ he said.

  ‘Later?’ She knew she was frowning at him, and as

  Phil and Maggie had just walked through the door she

  shouldn’t be.

  ‘Dinner, my place, tonight. I’ll call for you at

  seven, OK?’

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  THE HEART SURGEON’S BABY SURPRISE

  ‘Oh, lucky you!’ Maggie said. ‘Theo’s house is to die

  for and on top of that the man can cook.’

  Grace opened her mouth then realised that anything

  she might say would sound pathetic and closed it again.

  She nodded at Theo and escaped, but as she scurried

  along the corridor she bumped into Lauren Henderson,

  and all the contrary emotion she’d been feeling

  suddenly focussed on the dissatisfaction she’d felt as

  she’d dressed for work that morning—on her clothes.

  ‘Lauren, you’re a local. Where would I shop for

  clothes?’

  Lauren seemed surprised then she smiled as she

  glanced down at her own faded jeans and T-shirt.

  ‘As you can see, I’m not that into clothes shopping,

  but you know the shopping centre Theo took you to

  last night?’

  Grace nodded.

  ‘Well, there are two or three boutiques there. I know

  Maggie shops there and she always looks great.’

  There was a slight hesitation then Lauren added,

  ‘Not that you don’t always look great.’

  Grace had to smile because Lauren was looking as

  embarrassed as Grace normally felt.

  ‘I look neat,’ she said, to soothe Lauren’s kind heart.

  ‘There’s a difference.’

  Lauren smiled.

  ‘Neat’s not in my vocabulary—not with a nine-year-

  old boy in the house. But you look more than neat, you

  look classy.’

  They parted and although Grace knew she should be

  grateful to Lauren for the ‘classy’ compliment, she

  knew it was just another word for the cool, sophisticated

  MEREDITH WEBBER

  81

  image she tried to project—dull and boring fitted just

  as well.

  Neat!

  She found a cab outside the hospital and told the

  driver where she wanted to go, trying hard not to

  analyse why she was doing this, assuring herself she

  could look at clothes without buying any.

  Without buying any? Two hours later she was in

  another cab, half a dozen pristine white shopping bags

  on the seat beside her. Fortunately there was no sign of

  Jean-Luc in their common foyer and she was able to

  escape up to her flat without having to discuss her shop-

  ping expedition. And she hadn’t been in Sydney long

  enough for anyone to know much about her wardrobe,

  apart from work-wear, so no one—read Theo—would

  know that her reckless purchase of not one but two

  pairs of designer jeans and four new shirts—satin is the

  new black, madam—had been made because she’d

  panicked about going to his house for dinner.

  Fortunately for her sanity—she was really begin-

  ning to wonder just why she’d needed new clothes—

  she had no time to ponder. In fact, she had barely

  enough time to shower and change.

  She changed into one of the new pairs of jeans, black

  and skinny legged, making her own legs seem endless,

  especially when she added a pair of high-heeled sandals

  she’d bought at the last minute.

  A white shirt with thin black stripes—justified in the

  shop because it would go with both her black skirt and

  her white slacks—completed the new dramatic outfit.

  She brushed her hair, touched her face with make-up,

  glossed her lips, then, feeling half excited and half

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  THE HEART SURGEON’S BABY SURPRISE

  foolish, hurried downstairs so she would be waiting

  when Theo arrived. Heaven forbid he came in and saw

  all her not-yet-unwrapped parcels. He would get totally

  the wrong idea.

  Wouldn’t he?

  Theo double-parked outside Grace’s place, and leaned

  over to open the door.

  ‘Thanks for being ready, and I’m sorry about not

  getting out to open the door. Getting a place to park

  around here is often impossible.’

  He spoke the apology automatically, watching the

  traffic around him, the man in the car behind gesturing

  impatiently, so it wasn’t until he reached the traffic lights

  that he had time to turn and actually look at his compan-

  ion.

  ‘You look stunning.’

  The words were out before he had time to consider

  either their impact on Grace or on why he should be sur-

  prised.

  ‘I mean, you’re a beautiful woman, you always look

  classy, but tonight…’

  He let the sentence hang, his mind already miles

  ahead, wondering if she’d dressed up—could you call

  jeans and a shirt dressing up?—because she was recon-

  sidering his ‘revisions’?

  His body tensed with excitement…

  She didn’t reply, simply leaned back in the seat and

  crossed her legs—legs that went on for ever—encased

  in black jeans, a strappy black sandal dangling negli-

  gently from her foot.

  Had he misjudged her completely?

  MEREDITH WEBBER

  83

  Was this elegantly sexy creature the real Grace?

  And, if so, how had he come to be feeling sorry for

  such a beautiful woman?

  ‘Is it far away, your place?’

  Her question made him realise he’d been lost in specu-

  lation, and he explained how, although he lived in a

  neighbouring suburb, one-way streets made it seem

  further.

  ‘I’ve a terrace house. For someone with a house on

  an acre of land it will seem minute to you. It was in a

  sad way when I bought it but I like working with my

  hands and I’ve enjoyed doing it up.’

  Such normal-sounding conversation, Grace thought,

  wanting to ask him if DIY activities were a substitute for

  operating, wondering what she would do if she couldn’t

  use her skill on babies, but he was doing the polite thing

  so well that she had to respond in the same way, pretend-

  ing they were newly met acquaintances and colleagues,

  not people who’d already discussed something as ri-

  diculously personal as the possible transfer of sperm.

  The house looked like something out of a picture

  book, a two-storied stone cottage squashed in the

  middle of a row of attached cottages, all in various

  states of disrepair. But Theo’s house stood out, the

  stones newly sand- or water-blasted so they had turned

&nb
sp; a dusky pink in the light from the streetlamp on the

  footpath. The top storey boasted a tiny veranda with in-

  tricate wrought-iron lacework painted a pristine white.

  ‘Did it look as bad as the others when you bought

  it?’ she asked, as Theo gave her his hand to help her

  from the car.

  ‘Worse,’ he said. ‘I decided to start with the worst.’

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  THE HEART SURGEON’S BABY SURPRISE

  ‘But you’ve only been with the team eight months,

  someone said. Have you done all the work in that time?’

  He was leading her through a minuscule front yard,

  paved with old cobblestones and decorated with huge

  urns and pots containing ferns and flowering annuals,

  so bright petunias spilled down the sides of one and lacy

  leaves spread outward from another.

  ‘I’ve lived in Sydney for a few years now, working

  at the Children’s Hospital before coming across to

  Jimmie’s.’

  It wasn’t the first time she’d heard St James’s Hospital

  referred to as Jimmie’s but, being new, she’d felt uncer-

  tain about using this nickname, as if it was too familiar

  a thing for a stranger to do.

  Theo was unlocking his door, and as he pushed it

  open she forgot about hospital nicknames and looked

  around in wonder. Yes, the house was small, but Theo

  had opened up the downstairs so it was all one big

  room. The floor was polished wood, gleaming with

  golden life, and on it he’d set just one rug, an old rug—

  the jewel-rich colours suggesting Persian—to desig-

  nate the sitting space. Comfortable leather armchairs

  were grouped around it, and further in a round table

  held an arrangement of leaves and flowers she knew

  had come from his pots out the front.

  Had he brought them in and arranged them because

  she was coming, or was he a man who liked having their

  beauty in his house all the time?

  Uncertainty crept over her—a new uncertainty. This

  one nothing to do with hooked atoms and everything

  to do with the fact that as she got to know this man, she

  might find herself liking him.

  MEREDITH WEBBER

  85

  A lot.

  ‘Bedroom and bathroom upstairs—it’s a bachelor

  pad, no room for visitors—and if you come this way,

  you’ll see my latest project.’

  He led her past a streamlined kitchen tucked against

  the back wall and out into a courtyard, enclosed by high

  brick walls. Vines grew up the walls and on the

  southern side she saw an apple tree espaliered to precise