The Millionaire and the M.D. by Teresa Southwick Read Free Book Online Page A

salad bar. Then she grabbed a cup and filled it with ice and diet soda. After picking up her tray, she carried it around the corner and kept walking when the cashier waved her on. Complimentary meals were a perk, however dubious, of doctors on staff at Mercy Medical.
    Rebecca glanced around the sparsely filled room where people in civilian clothes mixed with employees dressed in different-colored shapeless scrubs similar to her own royal-blue ones. It was nearly seven-thirty and dinner was over. The cafeteria would close in about half an hour. She spotted a nurse she knew from the E.R. and walked over to her.
    Kate Carpenter was a beautiful brunette with big hazel eyes and a gift for connecting with the patients who came into Mercy Medical for emergency care. She was alternately tender and tough, depending on what was needed, and situations in the E.R. could get pretty intense. It was important to have someone who moved fluidly between people looking for help and the doctors who made the hard calls. Rebecca knew some of them weren’t easy to get along with.
    â€œHi, Kate. Mind if I join you?”
    Kate shrugged. “Sure.”
    Rebecca sat down in the hunter green plastic chair across from her. “How’s life in the E.R.?”
    â€œHectic. As usual.” Kate pushed away her plate and what was left of her salad. “How’s your patient doing?”
    â€œElena Castillo. Mother and baby are doing fine.”
    She’d gone into labor and come into the hospital through emergency. Kate was on duty and on the ball. She’d sent her straight up to Labor and Delivery. It didn’t often happen, but sometimes an expectant mother got hung up with paperwork. Kate was good about making sure that didn’t happen.
    â€œThanks for sending her straight upstairs,” Rebecca added. “There wasn’t much time to spare. That baby was in a big hurry. Her last office visit was three days ago, and I told her then that she wouldn’t need another one. I was sure the next time I saw her would be here.”
    â€œAnd you were right,” Kate said with a smile that showed off her dimple.
    â€œI love being right,” Rebecca agreed. “And now she has a beautiful baby girl.”
    Kate cut her apple in half then in quarters. “Good APGAR?”
    APGAR, an acronym for activity, pulse, grimace, appearance and respiration, was the test designed to quickly evaluate a newborn’s physical condition post delivery. It was done at specific intervals.
    â€œThe one-minute APGAR was eight. Not bad for a forty-year-old mother’s first baby.”
    â€œAny reason she waited so long?” Kate asked.
    â€œShe didn’t want to go the single mother route, and it took her a while to find the right guy.” Her friend didn’t comment, and Rebecca noticed the pensive expression. “Speaking of babies, how’s your little guy?”
    â€œJ.T. is perfect.” She smiled and the shadows in her eyes evaporated. “Getting too big too fast.”
    Rebecca didn’t believe she would ever experience those maternal feelings, and that made her a little sad. She believed that a child should have two parents in a committed relationship and since Rebecca wouldn’t commit again, she wasn’t likely to become a mother. She knew her friend was a single mother, but not much more than that. “What does J.T. stand for?”
    â€œJoseph Thomas. After his father.”
    â€œJoe—nice name,” Rebecca said. “What does he do?”
    â€œHe’s a Marine Corps helicopter pilot.”
    â€œA dangerous job these days,” Rebecca commented.
    The shadows regrouped and gathered in Kate’s eyes again. “Yeah.”
    â€œIs he excited about being a father?” Rebecca asked.
    Kate stirred her coffee without looking up and finally said, “He never responded to my letter telling him about the baby, so I’d have to say he wasn’t