Page 13 of Holiday Haven

Except for the one aunt, what was her name? Betty? Barbara? Beatrice? Yes, that was it, Aunt Bea. He'd met the woman a couple times. Danielle claimed she was the best out of the bunch. He remembered when Krista had asked for his help—she'd been worried Bea had suffered a small stroke and she'd been right. Even as a student her nursing assessment skills had been excellent.

He hoped Aunt Bea was doing better. Would Krista spend a quiet Christmas evening with her aunt? Or did she have to work the holiday? For some odd reason he didn't like to think of Krista spending the holiday alone.

It was all too easy to imagine how much she would enjoy the typical loud, chaotic Monroe family Christmas. Krista would fit in with his family better than Danielle ever had. His parents hadn’t liked Danielle much. And he’d known Amber and Andrea hadn’t gotten along with Danielle very well, either.

The only downside was that if he invited her over for dinner, his mother wouldn't understand they were only friends. She'd be so thrilled that he'd brought a girl home that she'd start planning another wedding.

Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. The last thing he wanted was to become involved in another serious relationship.

They hurt too much.

* * *

Krista wasa little disappointed when Adam left minutes after the carolers had finished their song. She understood he was busy. No doubt he'd gone back to the clinic to follow up on his other patients.

Yet even as she admitted a new eighteen-month-old baby, not Adam's patient this time, she couldn't help thinking about him. Even the seriousness of Denny's illness couldn't ruin Krista's cheerful mood. She'd been brave enough to broach the subject of Danielle with Adam and had succeeded in eliminating the awkwardness between them.

Adam hadn't seemed upset when she'd mentioned Danielle. In fact, he'd looked as if he couldn't have cared less what her sister had been up to over the past year.

She was confident he didn't still love her sister.

Yet his reaction after Denny's transfer to the PICU nagged at her. He'd seemed more upset than she'd have expected over the situation. Unless he was just the sort of doctor that took his patients well-being to heart? Maybe. Preparing Denny's mother for the potential worst case scenario couldn't have been easy. Maybe Adam had become a pediatrician because the likelihood of losing his patients was far less than in the adult world. As Krista finished her shift and headed home, she realized there were lots of things about Adam Monroe she didn't know.

She didn't know what had drawn him to medicine, or to pediatrics in particular. She didn't know what his plans were for the future.

There was no reason for her to be so curious about him, but she was. And found herself wondering how she might get to know him better.

* * *

The next dayshe was off work, so she ran dozens of errands, beginning with Christmas shopping. Krista had been designated to buy gifts for all the babies on the unit, spending the money the Six South had contributed. With her arms laden with bags of gifts, many of them for Joy, she didn't see Adam's younger sister, Amber, until she practically ran the woman over.

“Krista? Is that you?” Amber asked, once they disentangled themselves and their packages. “It's been a long time! How are you?”

“I’m great, thanks.” She'd attended high school with Amber, but instead of going straight to college like Adam's sister had, Krista worked for several years to earn money for tuition. Her parents had died when she and Danielle had been young, eight and ten respectively. They hadn’t thought about practical things like life insurance. She didn't blame them—what young couple expected to die when their car stalled on the train tracks? Losing them had been a horrible tragedy. “I hear you're happily married now to a guy named Nick.”

Amber's jaw dropped. “Yes. Who told you?”

Krista laughed. “Adam. I ran into him, taking care of one of his patients at Children's Memorial Hospital.”

“That explains it.” Amber's smile broadened. “You're a nurse too? So am I. That's how I Met Nick. He's a doctor, a rehab specialist.”

“That’s great. You look wonderful, Amber. Married life obviously agrees with you.” Krista was genuinely pleased. Amber had always been nice to her during those horrible years of high school. When the kids had made fun of her because she hadn't any money for nice clothes, Amber had befriended her anyway. They drifted apart though, after Amber had gone straight to college while Krista had worked two jobs to save money.

“So, you’re working with Adam.” Amber's curious tone wasn't lost on Krista.

“Yes, but get that gleam out of your eyes—he thinks of me like a sister.” No matter how much she wished he didn't. “We share an interesting patient, though, a baby girl who was abandoned as a safe haven baby in Adam's waiting room.”

“I heard about her. Joy, right? Alec mentioned it. Such a sad situation, but I'm sure the baby will be adopted very quickly.”

“Maybe not. We think she might be deaf.”

“Oh, no, the poor thing.” Amber glanced at her watch. “I wish we could do lunch and talk more about this, but I have to run. I promised to watch Shannon, Alec’s daughter, and need to be home by noon. Maybe another time?”

“I'd like that.” Krista smiled and hefted her bags once again. “Take care.”

“You too. Keep in touch.” Amber took off at a fast pace, clearly running late.

She moved more slowly, mentally reviewing her list. When she passed a bookstore, she stopped, then quickly darted inside.

---