Marrying the Playboy Doctor - By Laura Iding Page 0,27
“I’ll watch for him.”
Kylie clung to Ben’s hand, trying to put on a brave front although he could tell she was tense.
He pulled his gaze away, sweeping the ED area, and noticed a tall man in his midthirties talking to Simon. In a few minutes he headed in their direction.
Dr. Greenley? Having never met the man, he’d expected him to be older. He’d imagined a Santa Claus type of guy, a little rotund, with white hair and a beard. Not someone about his age, who seemed to appeal to the women—at least from what he could tell from a few of the nurses’ reactions to him.
And, since he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, he had to assume Greenley wasn’t married, either.
“Kylie? Ben?” Dr. Greenley barely spared Seth a glance as he came into the room, going directly to Ben’s side. “So, your vision seems to be getting worse, hmm?” he asked, addressing Ben.
“Yeah, it’s blurry,” Ben said.
“Along with some double vision,” Kylie added.
“We need to examine you again, young man.” Dr. Greenley glanced around. “They have a special eye exam room here. I’ll just go find out if it’s open.”
“I’ll get it,” Seth offered, knowing exactly where the eye exam room was. He should have taken Kylie and Ben there right away.
Seth stepped out into the area and immediately Alyssa, the charge nurse on duty, crossed over. “Hey, Seth, what do you need?”
“Would you unlock the eye exam room for us?” The charge nurse always carried the keys.
“Sure.” He and Alyssa led the way, with Kylie, Ben and Dr. Greenley following close behind as they made their way through the ED to the exam room. Alyssa opened the door and stepped back. The eye exam room was small, barely large enough for all four of them to fit inside, but just when he’d considered stepping out, too, to give Kylie and Ben more room, Kylie slipped her hand into his, hanging on tight.
Dr. Greenley lifted Ben up into the chair and began using the complicated set of eye exam equipment to peer into Ben’s eyes.
Surprised by the way she’d reached out for him, Seth drew Kylie closer and lowered his mouth to her ear. “Are you all right?”
“A little nervous,” she confessed.
He gently squeezed her hand, wishing he could offer more than mere hand-holding for support. But he was pleased she’d accepted even that much from him. “It’ll be all right. No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you.” He was a bit surprised at how much he meant it. But parenting was a tough job. He didn’t like the idea of her dealing with Ben all alone.
Had that been partially why his own father had been so great with him and his siblings?
“I need to give you a couple of eye drops, Ben.”
Seth glanced at Kylie, half expecting Ben to put up a fuss, but he had to hand it to Greenley—the guy had expertly put the drops in so fast Ben had barely noticed.
While they waited for the medication to work, he continued to hold Kylie’s hand, gently rubbing her cold fingers. He’d already accepted the fact that their dinner plans were shot. Heck, even if Ben didn’t get admitted to the hospital, which he seriously suspected might happen, Kylie wouldn’t leave her son alone at a time like this.
He understood. Ben’s eyesight was too important. Children tended to adapt better than adults did to having vision from only one eye, but that made Ben’s right eye all the more important. And who knew what his future held? Maybe he’d have other vision problems, too, on top of this one. He was too young to start out with such a disadvantage.
“Hmm.” Dr. Greenley made some annoying nondescript sounds as he examined Ben. Finally he turned toward Kylie. “I’m afraid Ben does have a detached retina. He’ll need to be admitted to the hospital tonight. I’ll need to do surgery on his left eye first thing in the morning.”
“Surgery!” Kylie’s hand tightened around his. “How dangerous is detached retina surgery?”
“Well, every surgical procedure has its risks. He’ll need to be placed under general anesthesia, due to his young age. But I think I can repair the detached retina without too much trouble. I’d like to keep him in the hospital at least for a night or two afterwards, to keep him quiet and sedated.”
Kylie glanced up at Seth, as if silently asking for his opinion. He nodded, agreeing with Greenley’s assessment. “I think it’s a good idea, Kylie.