Falling Again for the Single Dad by Juliette Hyland

Author:Juliette Hyland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-06-03T15:34:58+00:00

* * *

Eli wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched the intensive care team race Tabitha upstairs. The mobile CT scanner had identified a clot in her brain, the reason for her stroke. She’d stabilized after Eli had ordered an injection of tissue plasminogen activator. But her recovery was still uncertain.

Eli made his way to the waiting area to find Tabitha’s husband. He was stunned to see his father sitting next to the worried man. He’d assumed Marshall would have headed back to the office by now or to his own hospital. He’d never known his father to take an afternoon off.

“Sir...”

“Mark,” Tabitha’s husband said. “How is my wife?”

“We managed to get her stabilized, Mark.”

The man’s gaze shifted between Eli and Marshall. “What does that mean?”

Eli hated this part. There was never a good way to tell someone that their life was changing. Even if their loved one recovered. “They’re running some tests now. Your wife had at least one stroke.”

Mark’s eyes filled with tears. “But she is going to be okay, right?”

“Of course,” Marshall stated.

What was his father doing? There was no way for him to know that. “Dr. Collins, that may not be true.” Marshall’s eyes flashed, but Eli ignored it.

Directing his attention to Tabitha’s husband, Eli started again. “She coded once today. She was breathing on her own when we transferred her upstairs, and that is excellent. But if she makes it through this, your wife will have a long recovery.”

Mark flinched. “Can I see her?”

Eli nodded. “Of course. I’ll have someone take you to her shortly.”

Eli waited until Mark had gone before rounding on his father. “You might not like telling Tabitha’s husband that she has a difficult road ahead, but it wasn’t appropriate for you to say she’s going to be fine. You’re not her physician, and you have no idea what her medical prognosis is at the moment.”

Eli was shocked by his own sharp tone. The only other time he’d stood up to his father was when he’d chosen not to become a surgeon. Marshall hadn’t spoken to him for years after that, but Eli would not allow his father to offer poor medical advice in his hospital. Patients deserved the truth, no matter how much it might hurt to hear. He’d have thought his father understood that.

“I hate the family and patient interaction part,” Marshall grumbled. “Easier to cut out the problem and replace it than talk to the family.”

Eli wanted to shake his father. The patient and their family were the reasons Eli practiced medicine. To help people live their best lives.

For a man who always told his family that it was the patient who came first, Marshall often seemed more concerned about his success rate. He just saw the problem he could fix, not the whole person.

But he saved lives too, Eli thought, a lot of lives.

Eli was different from his father, but their reasons for practicing medicine were the same.

Save as many people as possible.

If their approach differed, did that really matter?

“Amara told me you were a better doctor than me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.