Anna shook her head, her face hot enough to raise the room temperature.
Sabine laughed, then they left the entrance and walked toward the operating rooms.
Just worry about Luke. Worry about the rest of your life later.
After consulting with the chief surgeon and looking at Luke’s latest blood test results, she agreed that he had to have an internal bleed somewhere. The surgeon asked her if she would observe the surgery and explain the finer points to their surgical residents.
She agreed, since Luke’s case was an excellent one to use as a teaching example.
The surgery was conducted in an OR with an observation room above it. Anna discussed not only the procedure being performed today, but everything that had happened leading up to it.
Discussion and questions were lively, and Anna found that even after the five-hour surgery was complete, she wasn’t as tired and stressed.
She felt more settled and confident in herself.
Zar was waiting for her outside the observation room so she said goodbye to the surgical residents and walked away with Zar.
“It went well?” he asked.
“Yes, very well. The surgical residents asked a lot of good questions, and the surgery itself was successful.”
“Was he bleeding internally?”
“Yes, a small artery hadn’t been completely closed in the area where Luke’s spleen was removed. We had so much damage to deal with when we operated right after the accident that it got missed.”
Her stomach growled.
Zar laughed. “I think it’s time I fed you.”
“I am quite hungry.”
“Can you wait thirty minutes?”
“Yes, I can wait.” She studied his face to try to figure out what he was thinking.
“Good, we can kill two birds with one stone. Actually, three birds since I’ll feed you, too.”
“So, we’re not going the castle?”
“Grandmother told me to take you somewhere private. Somewhere we can talk. Somewhere safe.”
She glanced at him. His smile was relaxed and easy, and his shoulders were relaxed, too. “I’m not sure if I should feel relieved or worried about your list of conditions on this location. Shouldn’t we be more concerned about security?”
“A lot was done while you were teaching all those young surgeons.”
“What do you mean?”
“We were able to eliminate most of the people who interact directly with the royal family and household.”
“Where does that leave the investigation?”
“With two main suspects.” He wasn’t so relaxed now.
“Two? That’s not very many. Who are they?”
“A young man who works in our garage. He’s responsible for keeping the vehicles clean and minor repairs, and no one can find him. The other is the brother of our dead shooter from the train. Anton Gaumond works for the train company as an engineer. He was in the hospital, since he was on the train with his brother, but he’s gone missing. We’re digging into their backgrounds and contacts right now. Hopefully, they lead us to more.”
“Oh my God, Zar,” she breathed. “Are you all right?”