The Heart Consultant's Lover. Kate Hardy
‘Agreed. But they don’t have to be stupid ones.’
‘Miranda,’ Ralph said warningly.
‘Professor, I know you won’t admit it, but you were in the wrong. And if you do it again, I’ll complain again—and I’ll copy my letter to the CEO next time, as well as to Human Resources.’
‘For your information—and not that I should have to explain myself to you—I’d booked the demo several weeks ago. Someone else needed the theatre I’d booked, because of the specialised equipment, and I had to move things around. Yours wasn’t the only slot I moved.’
‘Oh.’ She flushed. She hadn’t known that. Jordan hadn’t told her.
‘So I suggest you check your facts first next time before you write stroppy letters.’
She took a deep breath. But before she could apologise there was a rap on the door and Jack came in.
‘Sorry—I’ll come back later,’ he said.
‘Not at all. We’ve finished. Come in, my boy,’ Ralph said.
Miranda’s stomach lurched at the words. My boy. She wasn’t his boy—and never could be. The tone, too, was different: when he called her ‘my girl’, it meant he was putting her in her place, not being genial and proud.
‘I wanted to see you anyway,’ Ralph continued, smiling at Jack.
Why didn’t the professor ever smile at her like that?
‘We’ve got a little one coming into Paeds tomorrow. Possible tetralogy of Fallot. I’d like you to take a look at her.’
Well, excuse me. I’m supposed to be the consultant here, Miranda thought. But her father had made it obvious that he respected Jack’s abilities above her own.
‘Is that OK with you?’ Jack asked, looking at her. ‘Or do you need me here?’
What could she say? If she said, no, he couldn’t do it, they’d both think she was being petty—jealous even. The worst of it was, they’d be right. She was jealous of Jack, and the fact that the Professor clearly respected him. A respect he certainly didn’t feel for his daughter. ‘Fine,’ she said tightly. ‘Was there anything else you needed me for, Professor?’
‘No.’ His voice cooled noticeably as he looked at her. ‘Just think about what I said.’
She nodded, her throat tight with misery. Same old, same old. She’d thought by working with her father she’d finally persuade him to value her abilities. All she’d done had been to make things even worse between them.
When Ralph left, Miranda virtually snapped at Jack. ‘So what can I do for you?’
He lifted his hands in surrender. ‘Hey, what did I do?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Then what’s the problem?’ When she said nothing, he folded his arms. ‘So much for straight talking.’
‘If you must know, the Prof was tearing me off a strip. Apparently he’d booked the demonstration ages ago. Ours wasn’t the only slot he’d moved.’
Jack shrugged. ‘Might be better to check before you act next time.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘So you think I’ve been unreasonable?’
‘Yes and no. You were right to challenge our slot being moved—but you should have made sure of your facts.’ Maybe he should have warned her about Jordan’s slapdash tendencies—though he’d tried to be fair and let her make up her own mind about their theatre manager instead of prejudicing her against him.
‘Great. So you think I’m incompetent, too.’
Jack frowned. ‘No, of course not.’ And her father couldn’t think it either, otherwise he wouldn’t have let the others on the selection panel offer her the job. ‘Just…you’re playing a dangerous game.’
‘So what am I supposed to do? Curry favour with the Prof?’
Was that what she thought he was doing, just because he’d agreed to go down to Paeds? It wasn’t that at all. He was interested in paediatric cardiology—besides, he owed it to his family to get on as well as he could at the hospital. He wasn’t going to turn down opportunities just because Miranda was having a private war with the Prof. Just in time, he stopped himself telling her that. It was none of her business. ‘If you’re going to argue with your father, that’s up to you—but leave the ward out of it.’
Her eyes darkened. ‘I’m not playing games.’
Yeah, right. And neither had Jessica, he thought bitterly. Except on a day with a Y in it. ‘You asked my opinion. I gave it to you.’
‘OK. I’m sorry. What did you want to see me about?’
He couldn’t remember now. Not now she’d made him think of Jessica. ‘Doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘Some other time.’ He left, closing her office door and resisting the temptation to bang it. He was not going to let her get under his skin. In any way.
Thursday was less fraught, until Miranda promised to help their new student with setting up an ECG and reading the results.
‘Dr Sawyer, can I borrow you for a second?’ Miranda asked.
‘Sure,’ Jack said, with a smile that turned her knees temporarily to jelly. ‘What’s up?’
‘I need a model. I’m walking Hannah through a 12-lead ECG, and she doesn’t want to do it on a patient.’
‘So you’re just after my body?’
She wished he hadn’t said that. The images his words brought to mind were way too disturbing—particularly after the way he’d smiled at her. But she wasn’t going to let him know that he’d rattled her. ‘That’s right. Any old body’d do, but I thought Hannah might find a supposedly young and fit male easier for her first ECG,’ she said, adopting the same light, teasing tone he’d used. ‘Come into my office and strip to the waist.’
Definitely disturbing, she thought as Jack took off the white coat, shirt and tie to reveal a perfectly toned torso and a light sprinkling of dark hair on his chest. Just pretend he’s middle-aged with a paunch, she told herself. He may be gorgeous, but he’s off limits. ‘OK, Hannah. The V1 lead goes on the edge of the sternum, on the patient’s right-hand side. Count down between the ribs until you get to the fourth intercostal space.’
‘Here?’ Hannah asked.
‘Perfect. The V2 lead goes in the same place on the left-hand side.’
Hannah did as she was asked.
‘Now we’ll do the V4 lead. Why do you think I want to do that one next?’
‘No idea,’ Hannah admitted.
‘V3 goes halfway between V2 and V4, so it’s easier if you put V4 in place first,’ Jack explained.
Miranda was forced to meet his eyes. She stopped herself blushing—just. She only hoped he wasn’t a mindreader—she definitely didn’t want him knowing what she was thinking, right then. ‘Exactly. V4 picks up the patient’s apex beat. That’s the point furthest from the manubrium—that’s the hexagonal part at the top of the breastbone—where we can still feel the heart beating. It’s in the fifth intercostal space, in a line roughly halfway across the collar-bone.’ She found the spot and her fingertips brushed lightly against Jack’s skin. Just as well he was the one having the ECG, she thought. Her own heartbeat had just become extremely erratic, simply from touching him. This was crazy. He was her colleague. Her junior. She couldn’t think like this about him. Particularly when she’d agreed to go on a date with someone else. This really, really wasn’t good.
‘Can you show me where you’d put V3?’ she asked Hannah, avoiding looking at Jack.
Hannah