The Doctor's Baby(3)

“I appreciate the offer, but duty calls.” Travis gestured with one hand toward the door. “They’re prepping a C-section for me now and I have another on her way in.”

“Looks like it’s going to be a busy day in the nursery,” David murmured, remembering how empty the beds had been over the weekend.

“Speaking of deliveries…” A speculative gleam filled Travis’s hazel eyes. “I heard about your unexpected one this morning.”

Travis was an OB and one of the best in town. It figured he’d heard about the delivery.

“Baby couldn’t wait for you to show up.” David kept his tone offhand. “The boy sure had a good set of lungs on him. Cute little fella.”

“The mother’s pretty easy on the eyes, too.” Travis wiggled his brows. “And according to her admission form, she’s single. I stopped and saw her before I came down here. You don’t see eyes that shade of green all that often.”

“I didn’t notice her eyes,” David said pointedly. “I didn’t have time because I was too busy doing your work.”

“Ouch.” Travis brought a hand to his chest and stumbled back against the locker in a melodramatic gesture. “Felt that one.”

David just chuckled.

But when Travis straightened, his gaze grew sharp and assessing. “A man would have to be blind not to notice those eyes.”

An intern who’d been helping out in the emergency room earlier exited the lavatory and cast a curious glance their way.

“She had good prenatal care.” Travis acknowledged the other doctor with a nod while effortlessly changing the direction of the conversation.#p#分页标题#e#

“I’m sure the Sun Times has good insurance,” David responded then cursed himself when Travis paused, head cocked.

“She told me she’s a freelance photographer.” Travis spoke slowly and David could almost see the mental wheels spinning. “She didn’t say anything about working for a newspaper.”

“I must have misunderstood.” David grabbed his jacket. “Gotta go. I want to check on her and the baby before I head over to Mary Karen’s house.”

“No need,” Travis said. “I already looked in on her. And John Watson is following the baby.”

“It’s not a bother.” David kept his tone casual. “I don’t get to deliver many babies. I want to make sure everything is okay.”

Travis arched a brow. “Sure that’s all it is?”

The guy was like a dog with a bone. David exhaled harshly and raked a hand through his hair. Maybe he should just tell Travis the whole story. But before he could yield to the impulse, the alarm on his watch buzzed. No time for confessions today. He slammed his locker shut and strode to the door. “I really have to go.”

“What am I going to tell the nurses?” Travis hurried to catch up. “You didn’t give me squat.”

“What are you talking about?” David didn’t break stride.

“I’m not naming names, but the day shift told me you couldn’t keep your eyes off the new mommy. They got the impression you knew her and asked me to get the inside scoop.”

David skidded to a stop on the shiny linoleum, keeping a firm grip on his temper. Hospital gossip drove him crazy but he’d long ago learned the best way to handle it. “Tell them the new mommy and I have been having a torrid affair and I’m madly in love with her. Oh, and you can tell them that the baby is mine, too.”

As he’d expected, Travis chuckled. “I’ll let ’em know it’s a false alarm.” He clapped David on the back. “Enjoy the party and give that pretty sister of yours a kiss for me.”

“If you want to kiss her,” David shot back, “you’re going to have to do that yourself.”

But as David left the lounge, he found his mind not on his sister or his nephew’s party. It was on the woman upstairs in room 202. And on the baby in the nursery. The boy with the dark wavy hair…just like his own.





Chapter Two




In an attempt to avoid elevator small talk, David took the stairs to the second floor. Once he reached the nurses’ station, he chatted with the staff while flipping through July’s thin chart. There wasn’t much information. She’d listed her marital status as single, her job as a freelance photographer and her address as Chicago, Illinois. There was no next of kin listed so if she was involved with someone, the relationship couldn’t be that significant.

He wondered what had happened to her job at the Sun Times and what had brought her to Jackson. While this was a beautiful part of the country and he’d always been proud to call it home, it wasn’t a “passing through” kind of place.