he was the last man with whom she ought to be getting involved. Her father, and very likely even her brothers, would disapprove. Why, she disapproved! She’d always assumed she’d find some quiet, bookish fellow with a clear calling to service, something they could share and work at together. Stephen Gallow was so far the opposite of her imagined mate that she couldn’t think why she felt so drawn to him. But drawn to him she was, and so she’d cowardly stayed away.
That had been possible yesterday. The man was in the hospital, after all. Today he was supposed to go home to Chatam House, and that changed everything. Still, Kaylie had prayed long and hard before she’d decided to come here this morning. The inescapable facts were that, no matter how foolishly she had behaved yesterday, she was still a nurse, and he was still her patient. She had an obligation to Stephen Gallow.
Now that she was here, though, she couldn’t bring herself to go into his room—not alone anyway. Thankfully, Craig Philem breezed into the corridor right on schedule.
“Good morning, Kaylie. Ready to take your guy home?”
Her guy. Gulping, Kaylie nodded and waved toward the door, inviting the doctor to go in. Ever the gentleman, however, Craig reached around her and pushed the door open, standing back so she could enter first.
“Kaylie!” Stephen exclaimed, his voice imbued with relief and concern.
Guilt stabbed her. He had been worried about her. She hadn’t expected that. In fact, she’d assumed that he would be angry and petulant. For some reason, she’d rather have faced his anger than his concern. Fearing that he would immediately begin apologizing, explaining or cajoling in front of Craig, she sent him an imploring look, but he didn’t even notice. He was too busy frowning at the doctor.
Craig, thankfully, did not seem to realize that anything might be amiss as he went about checking Stephen’s vital signs. As he did so, Stephen sat quietly in the bed, his gaze on Kaylie. He seemed sad. Alarmed, she wondered if anything had gone wrong during the night.
“Heartbeat’s a little rapid,” Craig noted, stuffing his stethoscope back into his coat pocket. “You that anxious to get out of here?”
“More than anxious,” Stephen said, looking directly at Kaylie. She couldn’t quite manage to hold his gaze. Hers went skittering to Craig.
“How’d you rest last night?” Craig asked Stephen.
“Well enough, when they let me.”
Craig chuckled. “Yeah, we slap you in here, tell you to rest, then we send the nurses in every couple of hours to hassle you. It’s our way of keeping you from getting too comfortable.”
“No worry on that score,” Stephen muttered.
“You’ll be glad to know, then, that I’m letting you go home.”
“About time,” Stephen said, closing his eyes and sighing.
Craig let them know that the nurse would be in shortly with discharge papers and written care instructions. “Not that you need them with Kaylie on the job. Strictly protocol.”
Kaylie smiled and nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment.
“I’ve been told to ask you, though,” Craig said to Kaylie, “when you might return to pediatrics.” He slid his hands into his coat pockets. “Seems I’m not the only one missing you around here.”
“Oh, I, uh, really couldn’t say,” she stammered. “Dad still depends on me.”
“I thought your father’s condition was stable.”
“Well, yes, but his age and…” She waved a hand ineffectually.
Craig glanced at Stephen, nodding. “Mmm. I see. Other responsibilities.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. On one hand, he seemed to have made a completely erroneous assumption. On the other, he was entirely correct. Suddenly she realized that he was about to leave her alone with Stephen.
Noting that Stephen’s breakfast tray still rested on the rolling bed table, which had been pushed to one side, she rushed to snatch it up, saying, “I’ll just get this out of the way.”
Craig looked at the tray. It had barely been touched. Doctor and nurse spoke at the same time.
“Not eating much.”
“You didn’t drink your coffee.”
Stephen shrugged. “Never found runny eggs and raw bacon appetizing. And that’s not coffee. I think someone accidentally drained their crankcase into my cup.”
“I’m sure Hilda will have something more appetizing for you,” Kaylie told him. “Meanwhile, I’ll run downstairs and get you a decent cup of coffee.” That would keep her busy until the discharge nurse joined them.
Stephen shrugged listlessly again. Newly concerned, Kaylie followed Craig from the room, deposited the tray on the wheeled rack in the hallway and fled downstairs to the cafeteria, where