Fling with the Children's Heart Doctor by Becky Wicks

Author:Becky Wicks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-04-12T17:35:13+00:00

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‘He’s going to require three open heart surgeries, one right after birth, one at about four months, and the third one could be at about two or three years old...’

‘And what about after that? Be honest with us, Lucas.’ Anne Marie’s eyes were pleading, and Lucas tried not to look at Freya. It wasn’t easy delivering news like this to anyone, let alone friends, and he was already doing his best to keep his emotions in check, knowing his own family needed him more than ever, while he was here at the hospital dealing with everything from famous teenage football stars like Valerie, to the underlying tension between him and Freya, to this.

Freya cut in suddenly. ‘After that, well, we would do everything in our power to keep him going, and strong enough for a heart transplant.’

‘A heart transplant, when he’s just a toddler?’ Anne Marie’s eyes flooded with desperate tears.

‘Unless you want to schedule the prenatal surgery, which, as you already know, is very high risk, then those are our options.’

‘It’s all high risk,’ Lucas said. ‘It’s not fair on you for us to sugar-coat it, guys. With the intact atrial septum on top of the defect, his chances of survival without the prenatal surgery are small...minuscule. With no left ventricle his lungs would be filling with fluid from the get-go, and with all that congestion there’s a slim chance he would make it to the first surgery after he’s born.’

‘I’ve been researching this condition for hours already.’ Anne Marie put a hand to her swollen belly and made a weary sound as her back hit the couch.

‘She has. I can’t get her away from the laptop.’ Ruben arranged some cushions behind her and took her hand, and Lucas watched Freya stand and cross the room. She lit another aromatherapy candle, but he wondered if it was more for her own benefit, to soothe her own busy mind in a tricky situation.

This was a lot for her to deal with too. As well as the chemistry between them that they were trying to ignore, it was tough, having a personal connection to a patient, even through him.

Anne Marie sniffed. ‘We just don’t know what to do.’

‘Lucas is the best surgeon for the job,’ Freya interjected. ‘I’m sure you know that. If you want to know what I would do, I would go for the foetal intervention.’

He met her eyes, and she nodded, as if permitting him to continue explaining. She had invited him in here for this consultation after all, it being a special situation. ‘I use ultrasound to help guide a catheter through the baby’s abdomen,’ he told them. ‘We go in, poke a needle through the septum, expand it with a balloon, and place a stent in there.’

‘We’ll have to run more tests to see if the baby is eligible for the procedure,’ Freya said, taking a seat again beside him. ‘We need to see if the atrial septum is likely to withstand the pressure

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