The Nurse's Christmas Gift. Tina Beckett

and a life where long-term connections with other people were neither expected nor desired. It was more in line with the way he’d grown up. And far removed from what he’d once had with Anna. He’d decided that keeping his distance from others was the safer route.

      ‘Who is the specialist?’

      ‘Hmm...someone told me, but I can’t remember her name. I do remember it’s a woman. I’d have to look.’ She stopped in front of a set of double doors. ‘And this is where we work our magic.’

      The surgical unit. The epicentre of Max’s—and Sienna’s—world. Even with all the prep work that went on before the actual surgery, this was still where everything would be won or lost. Annabelle had once said she didn’t know how he did it. He wasn’t completely sure either. He just did it. The same way she did her job, standing beside the incubators of very sick babies and taking the best care she could of them.

      Why was he even thinking about Annabelle right now? ‘Can we go inside?’

      ‘Of course.’ She hit a button on the wall and the doors swung wide to allow them through. Glancing at the schedule on the whiteboard at the nurses’ station, she said, ‘Do you want to scrub up and observe a surgery? There’s a gallbladder being taken out in surgical unit two.’

      ‘No, I’m good. But I would like to observe your next cardiac surgery.’

      Sienna gave a sigh and put a hand to her belly. ‘Sure, but I’m really hoping to scale back by about seventy-five per cent over the next week so I can leave without worrying that you haven’t carried an actual caseload.’

      Maybe he should have been offended by that, but he wasn’t. Sienna didn’t know him from Adam. He was pretty sure that she could still carry her share of the patient load, but her comment had been more about wanting to see him in action. To reassure herself that she was leaving her little charges in the best possible hands. He was determined not to disappoint her.

      ‘That sounds fair enough.’ He paused. ‘And the baby who was in crisis? Baby...Hope?’

      ‘She doesn’t have an official name. Hope is Annabelle’s pet name for her. I think it’s a fingers-crossed kind of thing. Whatever it is, it’s stuck, and we all find ourselves calling her that now.’

      That sounded just like Annabelle. Refusing to give up hope, even when it was obvious that the procedures were not going to work.

      ‘Annabelle mentioned social services. And that the mum took off?’

      ‘Yes. The mum came in while she was in labour. She was an addict and abandoned the baby soon afterwards. We have no idea where she is.’

      Max’s chest tightened. His parents had never actually abandoned him physically, except for those long cruises and trips they’d taken, leaving him in the care of an aunt. But emotionally?

      ‘Anyway,’ Sienna went on, ‘I’m assigning the case to you. Make sure you become familiar with it. Your best bet for doing that is to get with Annabelle and go over her patient file. She has followed that baby from the beginning. She knows more about her than anyone, maybe even me, and I’m Baby Hope’s doctor.’

      Max’s heart twinged out a warning. The last thing he wanted to do was spend even more time with Annabelle, because it was...

      Dangerous.

      But what else could he do? Say no? Tell Sienna that he couldn’t be a professional when it came to dealing with his almost-ex? Not hardly.

      Maybe Sienna saw something in his face. ‘Is that going to be a problem considering the circumstances? I’m sorry, I had no idea you two even knew each other.’

      If there was one thing Max was good at, it was disengaging his brain from his heart.

      ‘It won’t be a problem.’

      ‘Good.’

      He’d work with Anna. Until it was over. Because one way or the other it would be. The baby would either have a new heart, or she wouldn’t. The twinge he’d felt seconds earlier grew to an ache—just like the one he’d dealt with on an almost daily basis while working in the Sudan. He rubbed a palm over the spot for a second to ease the pressure.

      ‘How often do hearts come available?’

      ‘Do you mean here in Cheltenham? Some years there are more. Some years, less.’

      ‘How many transplants have you done?’

      ‘One. In my whole career. We deal with lots of holes in the heart and diverting blood flow, but hypoplastic cases are rare at Teddy’s.’

      So why was she handing the case over to him? This was a chance that she’d just admitted didn’t come across her desk very often. ‘Are you sure you don’t want it?’

      ‘Very.’ Something flashed through her brown eyes. A trickle of fear? His gaze shifted lower. Was she worried about the health of her own baby?

      He remembered well the worry over whether a foetus would make it to term. In fact he remembered several times when he’d prayed over Annabelle as she’d slept. Those prayers had gone unanswered.

      ‘When are you due?’

      ‘Too soon. But right now it feels like for ever.’ Her glance caught his. ‘Everything is fine with the baby, if that’s what you’re wondering. My handing that case over has nothing to do with superstition. I just don’t think I have the endurance right now for what could be a long, complicated surgery.’ She pressed a hand to the small of her back. ‘And if for some reason I go earlier than I expect, I don’t want to pass Baby Hope over to someone else at the last second. I want it to be now, when it’s a deliberate decision on both of our parts.’

      That he could understand. The need to be prepared for what might happen. Unlike in his relationship with Annabelle when he’d impulsively issued an ultimatum, hoping to save her from the grief of repeating a tragic cycle—not to mention the dangerous physical symptoms she’d been experiencing.

      It had worked. But not quite in the way he’d expected.

      This was not where he wanted his thoughts to head. He’d do better to stick with what he could control and leave the rest of it to the side at the moment.

      ‘Your patients will be in good hands. I’ll make sure of it.’

      ‘Thank you. That means a lot to me.’ She sent him a smile that was genuine. ‘Do you have any other questions before we officially end our tour and go on to discuss actual cases?’

      ‘Just one.’

      ‘All right.’ The wariness he’d sensed during his mention of Montanari filtered back into her eyes. She had no need to be worried. He was done with discussing personal issues.

      ‘Is the food as bad here as it was at my last gig?’

      Sienna actually laughed. ‘I’ll let you be the judge of that. I don’t mind it. But then again, I eat almost anything, as long as it isn’t alive or shaped like a snake.’

      ‘Well, on those two points we can agree. So I take it Teddy’s doesn’t serve exotic fare.’

      ‘Nope. Just watery potatoes and tasteless jelly.’

      He glanced at his watch and smiled back at her. ‘Well, then, in the name of science, I think I should go and check out the competition. Can we save the case discussion until later?’

      ‘Yes, I’m ready for a break as well. And you can tell me what you think once you’ve sampled what the canteen has to offer. Just watch out for the nurses.’

      ‘Sorry?’

      ‘Some of them have heard you were coming. While you’re checking out the food, don’t be surprised if they’re checking you out.’

      Would they be? He’d made it a point not to get involved with women at all since his separation. And he wasn’t planning on changing