Page 102 of Primal God

“I’ll be right there.” I log out of Lilith’s chart and turn to Gerald. “Let me know when she’s in recovery.”

“Will do.”

If he thinks my request is odd, he doesn’t show it. I exit the OR suite and go to the next room where I’m working on a star player of a Dallas team. My mind is all over the place as I work. I should have used the fucking shoe rack. Lilith wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I had.

A nurse peeks her head in and says, “Dr. Santos, Dr. Barnett wanted you to know Ms. Wolfe is in PACU.”

I turn to my PA, who helps me on larger cases, and say, “I’ll be back in a moment.”

His eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything. Not that I give him a chance to object. Leaving the OR, I pull off my sterile attire and make my way to the recovery area. I spot Gerald and head toward the room where Lilith is.

Gerald says, “Our patient is just waking up.” He turns to Lilith and rubs her leg. “Lili, you’re in recovery. Your surgery is over. Time to wake up.”

People wake up from anesthesia in different ways. Some cry. Some are combative. Some wake up with a smile on their face.

Lilith’s eyes flutter open.

Her gaze lands on me and she smiles.

“You’re here.”

“I am.”

“I missed you, Daddy.”

Gerald covers a laugh with a cough. He, I’m sure, assumes Lilith is calling meDaddybecause I’m old enough to be her father.

I know better.

It makes me feel like an even bigger dick for pushing her away the last few days. After speaking to Alessandro, I was left not knowing what to do about the contract. I glance at Lilith. That’s not true. I know what I have to do. I’m just too much of a coward to do it…

I move, covering her hand with mine.

“Rest. It’ll be time to go home before you know it.”

She gives me a sleepy nod. It’ll be at least an hour before she’s ready to be discharged. Enough time to finish my current case and cancel the rest of my cases for the day.

Gerald follows me back to the OR hallway, laughing.

“Daddy, huh? Never heard that one before.”

I smile but say nothing. Instead, I scrub up and return to my OR, counting down the minutes until I get to see Lilith.

21

Lilith

I’m surprisingly not in that much pain when I wake up and find myself in the recovery area. A nurse helps me get dressed in the clothes that I came in, sans bra, and goes over some information once we’re done.

“You can shower tomorrow, but you must keep the splint dry. Plastic bags are going to be your new best friend for a while.” She sets a paper down next to me. “I’m sending home a list of things that you can and can’t do. Follow this list because we don’t want to see you back in here.”

She sets another piece of paper down.

“It looks like they gave youBridionduring your case. I’m going to send home some reading material on it.” I nod and she continues, “We’re calling in some pain medication and an anti-inflammatory. Your goal the first week after surgery is to control swelling and pain.”

She sets another piece of paper on the growing stack in front of me.

“Someone from physical therapy will reach out. It looks like Dr. Santos wants you to go for at least four weeks and up to eight.” Another paper. “Your post-op appointment is one week from today in Dr. Santos’ office. Your sutures will be removed and they’ll either give you a splint or cast.”

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