PATIENT CARE (Medical Romance) (Doctor Series) by Bobby Hutchinson Read Free Book Online Page B

her for a couple of minutes, until she had time to regain her composure. Had he really said she was sexy?
    “I’m going to see Mom,” she said to fill the sudden awkward silence.
    He waited until she’d stepped out of the elevator, then followed her. “That’s where I’m going, too.” He sounded preoccupied.
    They walked together down the hallway and turned the corner. No one was at the nursing station, but that was because the entire staff was gathered around Betsy’s bed.
    Melissa’s heart almost stopped. “Oh, my God, what’s wrong? Is she—”
    “She’s the same. There hasn’t been any real change in her condition,” the nursing supervisor, Lydia, said quickly. “We did have an incident, but it’s over now.”
    “What sort of incident?”
    James moved toward his patient to check her pulse and examine her eyes. Betsy was obviously unaware of anything. She lay as limp and unresponsive as ever, but there was an angry red mark on her neck. “Exactly what happened here?”
    Melissa saw the concerned looks the nurses exchanged. “Mrs. Clayton somehow fell out of bed,” Lydia said. “She became tangled in a sheet, and would have strangled if we hadn’t found her immediately.”
    Melissa was horrified. “But how could that happen? Weren’t you watching her?”
    The words were out before she could stop them. She didn’t want to blame the nurses; she knew from her own nursing career that accidents occurred, and that it was always the nurses who bore the brunt of the blame.
    “That’s totally unacceptable,” James snapped. “Weren’t there signs that she was going to have a seizure? Surely the nursing staff must have recognized that something was different.”
    But no one had. A nurse had come in, talked to Betsy, turned on the radio, checked the IV, and Betsy had seemed the same.
    James did a thorough examination. “The fall doesn’t appear to have done any harm,” he told Melissa when he was finished. “But there’s been no improvement, either.”
    His voice wasn’t exactly warm, but Melissa could see by his expression that he was both concerned and disappointed. Maybe he wasn’t as unfeeling as everyone imagined. Maybe he was just incapable of verbalizing emotion. Maybe—
    Stop making excuses for him just because he kissed you , she chastised herself.
    “Your bedside manner is atrocious,” she accused. “You haven’t once spoken directly to my mother. You know there’s a possibility she can hear you.”
    Melissa caught the indrawn breaths of the nurses.
    To her amazement, he took the criticism well. “You’re right, of course. I will from now on. I’m sorry, Melissa,” he added. He sounded sincere.
    Suddenly, Melissa was sorry, too. Her mother didn’t deserve what was happening to her. She bent and kissed Betsy’s cheek to hide the tears that gathered in her own eyes.
    “Hang in there, Mom,” she told her, squeezing her hand. “Things are gonna get better soon, I promise. And don’t go trying to get out of bed again by yourself. Call one of the nurses. The button’s right here.” She put her mother’s hand on it and tried not to notice how it toppled away. “I’ve got to get to work or I’m gonna be late for a meeting, Mom.” She scrabbled in her oversize handbag. “I brought in a tape player. I’ll get you some tapes later today. And there’re pictures here. I want to talk about them with you, but right now I’ve gotta go. I’ll be here to see you again this afternoon.”
    Melissa didn’t look at James again. She hurried down the hall and into the elevator, but just as the doors were about to close, he stepped in. This time there was a man from the cleaning staff along, which, Melissa told herself, was a big relief.
    On the second floor, James got off with her and walked beside her toward the boardroom where the meeting was scheduled. He was quiet until they reached the doorway, and then he said, “If there was anything I knew that I could do for your mother, I