David was going to the conference instead of Dr. Benton? That meant that they’d be there together. “I’d meant to cancel the lesson myself as I’m going to be out of town at the conference too.”
“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Dr. Benton said from behind her. “I meant to tell you I was going to have to cancel. The wife is insistent that I stay in town till the next grandchild is born, though between the three of us I’d much rather be at the conference. I hate all that waiting in the waiting rooms. It seemed a shame to waste the registration fee and it’s a great chance for David to meet some of the board members.”
“What about Davey?” she asked. She was torn between hoping that she would finally have a good opportunity to talk to David about her son and concerned about being alone with the man after the way her body had just reacted to his.
“His nanny has agreed to stay over. Ms. Duggar’s a retired nurse and is great with him. I’ll have all his medications ready for her with a timer set and I can be back in an hour by plane if I need to be,” David said as he raised one of his hands toward the back of his neck.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” she said. It had to be hard to leave his son alone in a new city, especially after all that Davey had been through and how protective he was of his son. Though she should probably do Ms. Duggar a favor and have a talk with David, she knew by watching him with Davey and Jack at the ranch that he could be a little overprotective.
“So it’s settled,” Dr. Benton said as he started back toward the door. “It’s a very informative conference and the two of you will have a great time.”
“Oh, wait,” David said. “You said you wanted to talk to me. What’s up?”
“It’s nothing that can’t wait till later,” she said. It had waited this long, after all.
“How about we share a ride? I know you had been planning on riding with Dr. Benton to Dallas. We can talk then,” David said.
“Sure,” she said, then watched as the two men headed back to the surgical department. For the first time that day she felt as if she was free to relax. She’d been given a reprieve from having to come clean with David, at least for a few days. She would clear the air between them. She’d come clean about the night that she had seen him in the waiting room and her son’s donation. By the time they returned from Dallas everything would be settled as far as whether they wanted to find out about their donor and recipient relationship or not and she’d be able to move on from there. There would be no more of these pangs of guilt or the butterflies when she was around David. They would be able to return to the comfortable friendship that they had enjoyed earlier.
CHAPTER FIVE
BY THE TIME the two of them had set out for Dallas, David and Sarah both had put in a full day at the hospital. Lindsey had improved to the point that some of the sedation was being weaned down and her lungs had improved enough that Dr. Benton had called a meeting of the whole transplant team from the social worker to the cardiologist so that they could all work together to make a case on why Lindsey needed to be moved to the top of the transplant list at this time.
It had fascinated him to see all the parts of the team work together. It reminded him that it had once been his son’s case that had been discussed at length while he waited for the outcome. What if they hadn’t agreed to ask to move Davey up on the transplant list? It had been a miracle that a heart had become available when it did.
“He’ll be okay,” Sarah said from the passenger seat next to him.
“It shows, huh?” David said as he rubbed at the back of his neck.
“A bit,” she said with a mysterious laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked. Did she find the fact that he was worried about his son funny? He sure didn’t think so. “It’s the first time we’ve been separated like this.”
He opened his mouth to say something about her not understanding, and then stopped. He had no idea what had happened to her son and husband. If he had learned anything in the few years that he had worked in the medical field, he had learned to appreciate the fact that there was always someone out there who was going through more than you. He had no right to assume that his path with his son had been harder than the path she had taken with hers. He still had Davey but her son was lost to her forever.
“You don’t realize, do you?” she asked.
“Okay, tell me. What is it?” he asked. He couldn’t help but smile at the playfulness in her voice.
“I don’t think I should,” she said. “It would just make it worse if you knew you were doing it.”
“Doing what?” he asked. He wasn’t doing anything except driving. He looked over at Sarah where she sat curled up in the seat next to him looking more relaxed than she had all week.
“It’s just that you have this telling sign when you’re worried. Hasn’t anyone ever told you?” she asked.
What was she talking about? He looked back from the road to her. “You’re kidding right?” he asked as he returned his eyes
