The Nurse and the Single Dad Read online

“It was rough, though, wasn’t it?”

  “It was. But we got along. Anyway, Elizabeth said your parents live in Florida...?”

  “In a condo on the beach. Living in grand style and loving the retired life.”

  “Do you see them often?”

  “I haven’t been down there for years, but they manage to visit Maddie and me about once every two or three months.” He had a good relationship with them. Talked to them via the Internet every few days, mostly so Maddie could keep in touch with them and have a visual reminder of what they looked like. Emailed them occasionally, texted every once in a while when something interesting popped into his mind and snail-mailed pictures that Maddie would draw for them. All in all, he was closer to his parents now than he’d been years ago, when he’d still lived at home.

  And it was a good thing, as Damien had practically dropped off the face of the earth in his newest venture. Sure, he snuck into civilization every now and again to hit up a computer for an Internet chat. He emailed whenever he could. Also, he called when he was near a cell tower. In fact, Damien even went so far as writing an occasional letter—short, to the point, often lacking in detail, but always welcome. Being in a remote jungle in Costa Rica might have hampered communication with his twin, but it didn’t cut them off.

  Daniel thought back to those very bleak days when Elizabeth had been deteriorating rapidly. He’d told his twin how he was feeling, how he was doing, how he was coping, and Damien had dropped everything to rush to his side to help him through it. It was such a relief to have him there—the closeness of twins couldn’t be overexaggerated.

  Sighing, as he thought back on those times, Daniel recalled how grateful he’d been to his brother for the support, and now he often caught himself wishing they could live closer together. Of course, Damien was happy in his life, where he was, doing what he was doing, and that was good. What made Damien happy made Daniel happy, as well.

  * * *

  Zoey was enjoying the antics of the comedian on stage who touted his credentials as a couple of late-night television appearances as well as his very own special on a comedy channel. A couple of his jokes had her laughing so hard she hurt.

  “He’s good,” she said, nudging Daniel. She looked over at him to gauge whether or not he was enjoying the entertainment, but she found it difficult to tell as he had a polite, fixed smile on his face.

  “He is,” Daniel agreed, his facial expression remaining flat.

  “But you’re not laughing.” She wondered what, if anything, ever struck his funny bone, or was he serious all the time?

  “Laughing on the inside,” he said.

  “Which is no laugh at all.” Elizabeth had talked to Zoey about her fears for Daniel, one being the way he drew in on himself. Was he doing that now? Feeling guilty for having fun without her?

  “It’s the best I can do. I’ve never cared that much for comedians.”

  Zoey sighed out loud and tried to refocus her attention to the act.

  “What?” he prodded.

  “Nothing,” she said, biting back her response, as what Daniel did or didn’t do was truly none of her business.

  “I know what follows that kind of sigh. Elizabeth was the master of the provoked sigh, and I’ve had a fair share of them directed at me. So let me have it.”

  “It’s not my place.”

  “It is if I invite you in.”

  “Don’t invite me in. You might be sorry.”

  “Why? Because you’re blunt?”

  She tossed him a tight-lipped smile. “Something like that.”

  “I’m a big boy, Zoey. I can take it.”

  “But we’re not really friends. Just passing acquaintances.”

  “We could remedy that.”

  “How?”

  “Coffee later on. Something one-on-one.”

  That caught her off-guard. She didn’t think he was asking her for a date, especially after what she’d told him about her dating life. Yet, whatever his intentions were, she was hesitant to be part of them. He scared her. Filled her with mixed feelings, as she could almost picture herself together with him. But there was always that one, huge drawback, wasn’t there? First her father, then Brad... The men in her life had never worked out and she often wondered if her history was doomed to repeat itself. “Sounds nice, but I’ve got an early morning ahead of me, and it takes me quite a while to go to sleep. So, unfortunately, I think I’ll have to pass.”

  “Suit yourself. But at least tell me what the sigh was about.”

  “Suit yourself.” She glanced up at the stage in time to see the comedian take his final bow and disappear from the stage. “You’re here in body but nothing else, and I have a hunch you won’t allow yourself to have any real fun. That guy was a riot and you never cracked your fake smile.”

  He paused before he spoke and frowned. “Elizabeth used to say the same thing about me—that I don’t know how to have fun.”

  “You wouldn’t know fun if it came up and bit you on the backside.”

  Before he had time to reply, one of the speakers appeared on stage and waved as the audience greeted him with thunderous applause. He was the CEO of the hospital, and Zoey assumed this was where he would make his pitch for donations. She looked over at Daniel and smiled. “Guess this cuts our conversation short,” she said, leaning over so he could hear her. “But keep in mind that having fun is...fun. You should try it sometime.”

  He nodded in response and relaxed back into his chair, folding his hands on the table in front of him as if he was getting ready to take in every word of the upcoming speech. Zoey didn’t buy that for a minute, though. Daniel had tuned out the room, the speakers, and probably even her, and he was transfixed in his own little world now. His eyes glowed a distant stare and she suddenly felt sorry for him.

  He kept his life so compact that he didn’t know how to open himself up to other possibilities. For another woman he might certainly be a worthy project, but for her, well, she wasn’t getting involved any more than she already was. The last thing she needed in her life was any kind of a relationship that called upon her for a fix. And a relationship of any sort with Daniel would definitely require some fixing.

  Not that she didn’t have issues of her own. Because she did. But she had to solve those first before she brought anybody else into her circle.

  Ten minutes into a speech that touted all the high points in the workings of a busy hospital, Zoey leaned over to Daniel and whispered in his ear, “So you think his speech will last much longer?” She wasn’t exactly bored with it, but this was definitely not the high point of her evening.

  Daniel laughed out loud and drew the scowling attention of the entire table. “I think he’s probably winding down. But, if he’s not, now would be a good time for you to send me to the bar to get you a drink,” he replied. “Go with me and we can both slip out the side door.”

  “What, and miss the dancing afterward? You do dance, don’t you?”

  “Only under the table after a couple of double Scotches. Remember?”

  So he did have a sense of humor! In spite of herself, she laughed aloud. “I’ll take a glass of white wine.”

  “Large?” he asked, arching his eyebrows at her.

  “Bring the whole bottle if you can.”

  “The offer of coffee still stands.”

  “So does my excuse for not going.”

  “Ah, there you go, being blunt again.”

  The older lady straight across from Daniel shushed him, causing Zoey to giggle. It wasn’t the shushing so much as the incongruity of her appearance compared to Daniel’s. He was decked out in a finely tailored tux while she wore a pink, non-formal floral dress with a large, flowery hat. She had champagne-colored hair and a sour squint to her eyes—a squint she was aiming straight at Daniel.

>   “Maybe bring her a drink, too,” Zoey whispered. “She looks like she needs one.”

  Daniel pushed back from the table and arose to all his six-feet-plus glory. He was a good-looking man. Actually, downright handsome. Someone to swoon over. And the sour lady across from him nearly melted in her chair when Daniel turned a charming smile on her and nodded.

  Damn, he had a way about him.

  “I’ll be back,” he said, leaning down to whisper in Zoey’s ear. “No escaping. Promise.”

  She’d never doubted that for a moment. Perhaps Daniel hadn’t wanted to come tonight but he was, if nothing else, dutiful. She’d seen that in his devotion during some very rough times with Elizabeth, and she saw that now, as he endured something he hated.

  Maybe she should have accepted his invitation to coffee.

  “No!” she said aloud to herself. He might have some attributes she admired, but admiration from afar was all she was going to allow herself.

  CHAPTER THREE

  DAMN! HE’D HOPED for a better result, but the lab tests only confirmed what he already suspected: Mr. Baumgartner had a long, rocky road ahead of him, with a questionable outcome at the end of it. His diagnosis: congestive heart failure—when the heart muscle quit pumping the blood adequately and fluid backed up in the lungs and chest cavity. Treated properly, it could be managed over an extended period of time. Left untreated, it was fatal. As for Mr. Baumgartner, it was too soon to tell what would happen to him. His case now was critical. Simply put, he’d waited too long for treatment and, as of this moment, he was dying. But Daniel hoped that could be reversed.

  Daniel hated telling his patients bad news; it was the worst part about being a doctor. But bad news was everywhere, and it wasn’t like he didn’t have his fair share of cheery results, because he did. Every day. On that brighter note, however, Baumgartner was going home to adjust to the drastic changes he’d need to make in order to stay alive, and that was the best Daniel could hope for.

  “Zoey,” he said into his smart phone. “It’s Daniel Caldwell.”

  “Daniel. How are you?”

  She sounded excited to hear him. Almost animated. He counted back the days and realized they hadn’t seen each other, nor had they talked, in nearly a month, but he’d thought about her. Oh, had he thought about her! Thought about calling her and hadn’t been able to find a reason to click her number into his cell phone. Thought about dropping into the coffee shop some afternoon, but hadn’t found a plausible excuse for wandering in at that particular time when she knew that wasn’t part of his regular schedule. “I’m fine. Hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “I’m with a patient right now, but that’s OK. She’s watching TV, and she’d rather not be disturbed when her shows are on. So I’m checking her meds, counting them to make sure she’s taken what she was supposed to and calling in prescription refills. Which means, now’s a good time.”

  Something was pulling at Daniel to turn this into a social call, but the practical side of him dredged up the last time he’d asked her out to coffee. She’d refused. Turned him down colder than cold. Twice, actually, off one invitation. So he knew better than to veer off the professional path with her lest he returned with hat in hand. “Well, this won’t take long. I need a professional favor.”

  “Name it,” she said cheerfully.

  “I have a patient, Horace Baumgartner, who needs to go into hospice care, and I’ll be dismissing him from the hospital day after tomorrow. Is this something you can help me with?”

  “Sure. Just give me the details so I can figure out what we need to do.”

  “Well, going home is what he wants, and I can’t see any reason to deny him. He’s still pretty active, though weak, and I don’t think keeping him in an in-patient situation is advisable because I’m holding out some hope that we can reverse his course. I think the emotional boost he’ll get from being at home will benefit him in the long run.”

  “What’s his diagnosis?”

  “Congestive heart failure, end stage. If he’s diligent, we may get to keep him around for longer than what his condition dictates right now, but he’s going to have to be willing to make some drastic changes to his life.”

  “Let me guess. He doesn’t want to make changes.”

  “He’s nice, but he’s stubborn. What can I say?”

  “Say that his unwillingness to cooperate is going to kill him. So, how bad is he?”

  “Right now, bad. Blood chemistries are off, heart’s only working at half its capacity, lungs are filling up with fluid, kidneys are sluggish, extremities are swollen.”

  “Well, it sounds like somebody’s got his work cut out for him, trying to motivate the fellow. Anyway, call my office and schedule an appointment for Mr. Baumgartner to meet one of the hospice nurses. Talk to Sally, the office manager, and she’ll get you started in the right direction. She coordinates all our hospice efforts, and makes the nursing and therapy assignments.”

  “I could do that, but I thought that maybe you...” Who was he kidding? He’d wanted an excuse—any excuse—to call her, to hear her voice. “You know... I thought I could cut corners by calling you directly.”

  “I can make the referral for you, but you’ll still have to write the orders and send them over to the office.”

  He knew that, of course. But he also knew that he liked talking to Zoey on any pretense. “I’ll do that later today. Can I suggest you as Mr. Baumgartner’s nurse, though? I’ve seen you work, and I know how good you are. And I want my patient to have the best.”

  “Are you trying to flatter me, Daniel?”

  “Maybe a little. But what I said is true. You’re the best, and that’s why I want you on the case.”

  “Well, you can suggest me, and as long as the office approves, which I’m fairly certain they will, since I’ve only just had an opening come up in my schedule. So, go ahead and name a time to meet with him in the hospital, and I’ll make the arrangements on this side of it.”

  “Any time you’re free works for me.”

  “Shouldn’t we be going by your schedule?” she asked him.

  “My schedule is probably more flexible than yours, seeing how you have specific appointment times for your patients. It changes about fifty times a day depending on what’s going on and I’m always at liberty to make those changes if necessary. So is later today good for you, or will tomorrow work better?” Was he going to ask her out to coffee again, or leave well enough alone? Actually, he didn’t know. The practical side of him kept telling him to keep it strictly professional. But there was this little voice—a nagging little voice—that was taunting him to jump on in and try again. Did he want to date, though? Or was this more about making a connection to someone who’d touched Elizabeth’s life in such a personal way? A last desperate attempt to hold on to something he’d lost?

  “Go on without me, Daniel. Go on... Go on...”

  “Hang on a second while I check my schedule.”

  Things went quiet on the line and he strained to hear anything in the background. A slight hum pricked his ears. Was she humming a song? He smiled, thinking about how nice it would be to have that kind of noise in his personal background more often. Sometimes he missed the noise—the little sounds that connected him to something bigger and better.

  “I can see him at five thirty, make it my last stop for the day, if that’s OK for you. Also, that’ll give you time to square things away with the office.”

  Daniel glanced at his watch. It was only ten right now, which meant he had seven and a half hours to wait. That was a lot of time in which to anticipate something he wasn’t sure about. “That’s fine. Come to my office first, and we’ll go see Mr. Baumgartner together. I’m on the second floor; take the blue elevators and turn to your right when you get off them. I’m the fifth door on the left.”

 
“Your name’s on the door, right?”

  “It is. And if I’m not in when you get there take a seat in the waiting area and I’ll get to you as soon as possible, barring any emergencies.” Emergencies happened all the time, but he’d be sorely disappointed if one encroached on his appointment with Zoey.

  “Then I’ll see you in a little while,” she said brightly.

  “A little while,” he repeated absently, wondering if this was a smart move or not.

  * * *

  Zoey glanced at the time on her cell phone. Normally she didn’t have time to schedule last-minute appointments, but for Daniel she’d made the exception. She’d thought about him this past month. Wondered how he was getting along. Wondered if he’d taken her turning down coffee personally. Wondered if he’d ever ask her again. In fact, she’d thought about him so much she’d even gone so far as to go to his office to see him. But when she’d gotten there she hadn’t been able to bring herself to knock on his door. There’d been no reason for her to see him without making it seem like she was out for anything more than a casual meeting. The thing was, she never went out of her way to call on families or friends of her patients. Daniel had turned into the exception, though. And maybe that was because he’d seemed so lost, and she’d let that get to her.

  Zoey sighed, as she tucked her phone back into the pocket of her navy-blue scrub pants. It was a little after five now, and if she hurried she’d make that appointment on time. Warnings over what she was about to do were pelting her brain, nevertheless. Daniel was dangerous to her outlined plan for herself. She knew that as surely as she knew her own name, yet she couldn’t define why, or how, that was happening to her. But he was dangerous, and that was enough to keep her aloof...she hoped.

  With a fair amount of trepidation mixed with an equal amount of tingling excitement, Zoey climbed into her little car and headed away from her last patient’s house. Traffic was unusually light for rush hour and before she knew it she was pulling into a parking spot in the hospital garage, purposely putting all her movements into slow gear.