Page 3 of From the Moment We Met

“Is that a fact? Then why are you blushing? What kind of naughty thoughts are you having about Mr. Edmonton right now?”

Lilly felt her face go bright red. “Shush! I’m not having any dirty thoughts.”

“Right, not picturing him butt ass naked, six-pack on display, pushing you against a wall and having his way with you?”

I’m picturing much more than that, but hell, it’s a start, Lilly thought, focusing her gaze on the patient chart.

“You’ve read that same page for the last five minutes.”

Lilly snapped the binder shut, yanking out another patient chart and flipping through it with aimless abandon. “Quiet, or I’ll make you work overtime.”

“Admit it, he’s hot as hell.”

“I told you, I don’t like blonde men.”

“Girl, how are we friends? You’ll overlook all his perfection because of his hair color? I’ll buy him some black hair dye; does that help?”

Lilly giggled, hugging her friend around the shoulders. “We’re friends because I’m the only one who actually supports your dreams of karaoke stardom…and I’ll take your word on Edmonton’s sex appeal.”

“When I’m a karaoke star, I’ll be sure to remember you and all the little people.”

“At the rate you’re going, you might wind up in the looney bin first.” Lilly closed the chart. “Back to our dull, dreary and Jacob-less lives; any emergent cases in the operating theater?”

“My friend in Accident and Emergency said a cardiac patient tanked down there about thirty minutes ago.”

“Odd we haven’t heard anything.” Lilly glanced at her pager as it went off. “Ask, and ye shall receive. Emergent open-heart patient being prepped in OR 5 as we speak.”

“Who’s doing the surgery? Is it that beautiful new surgeon, or haven’t you noticed Cary Grant’s doppelgänger either?”

Lilly’s brown eyes narrowed. “I assume you mean Dr. Torres? Sabina, I’m selective, I’m not dead. He’s gorgeous. But he’s also a surgeon, and you know what they say about surgeons.”

“And what is that exactly?” A baritone voice reverberated behind her, causing Lilly to flush bright red.

Pointing in the voice’s general direction, Lilly mouthed to Sabina, ‘Dr. Torres, right?’, getting her answer when Sabina collapsed into giggles.

Turning, Lilly smiled at the young surgeon, hoping he missed the first part of her statement. “Dr. Torres, I was headed down to the OR Theater. Are you assisting with the emergent case?”

“I’m the lead surgeon actually. I wanted to speak with you, Ms. Staver, before I scrubbed in for surgery.”

Walking from the nurses station, Dr. Torres and Lilly were met by Ben, the hospital’s administrator. Ben and Lilly maintained a long-distance friendship for twenty years, and it was at his behest that Lilly was working in the UK. St. Luke was expanding from a community hospital to a trauma facility, and their fledgling critical care team needed an experienced manager to get the unit up to speed. It didn’t hurt that Lilly needed an escape from New York at the exact same time. The situation was kismet for both parties.

“Ben, is there a problem?” Lilly looked up at her friend, his face unreadable.

“This case is complicated,” Dr. Torres began. “The patient is young, but I’m not sure what the outcome will be after surgery. She may require a balloon pump, perhaps even a VAD.”

Lilly’s face paled; doctors only used these devices for the sickest heart patients. “A congenital defect, I’m assuming. How old is the patient?”

Ben squeezed Lilly’s shoulder. “She’s 34 and in otherwise perfect health, which is to her advantage. But our nurses are not equipped to handle this case without supervision. That’s where you come in; we need you to recover the patient until she’s stabilized.”

Dr. Torres smiled at Lilly. “Ben tells me you’re the best nurse at this hospital. Besides, I’ve watched you work, you know this specialty inside and out.”

Lilly pushed a lock of straight brown hair from her face and chuckled. “Ben is biased, but I’ll gladly supervise this case.”

“Thank you, I feel better knowing that.” There was a solemnity in the surgeon’s dark eyes. This case was weighing on his mind.

“Never a problem. I’ll go get changed, skirt and heels are a bit of an overstatement at the bedside. Ben, I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes?” Lilly walked into the locker room, grabbing surgical scrubs off the cart. She thought she was alone, save for a few knapsacks and random pairs of shoes.

“Lilly.”

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