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Justin scrubbed for surgery. He had two hip replacements on his schedule today. One on a fifty-two-year-old male with severe arthritic changes, and another on a thirty-year-old who’d had high-dose steroids administered repetitively in primary care that had resulted in necrosis of the hip joint. Both were total replacements, and would be mentally and physically demanding.
And emotionally. Because both meant being in the operating room with the woman he’d thought about almost non-stop since she’d left him.
Riley frustrated him. He kept telling himself to forget her. Then he’d remind himself that he’d been telling himself that for months and it hadn’t worked. Had he really thought it would after Saturday night? After their sweet garden kiss and how much fun they’d had at the party? How much fun they’d had after the party?
Even the boys had commented that he wasn’t his usual upbeat self during their fishing trip yesterday afternoon.
It hadn’t been a fish he’d wanted to catch, but a woman he’d thought he’d hooked, but who’d gotten away.
He’d already gotten involved with one woman who hadn’t wanted the same things as he did. Obviously Riley didn’t either or she wouldn’t have left.
He seriously needed to move on.
Maybe telling himself that would work this time.
Knowing he’d way over-scrubbed, Justin made his way into the operating room where he’d spend the next few hours.
Good thing Bernie Jones’ hip would require all his attention.
* * *
Riley had been dreading this moment since she’d left Justin’s. The moment they came face-to-face.
Well, not face-to-face, since they both wore surgical masks and were covered from head-to-toe.
Still, their eyes were visible beneath their protective shields.
Justin’s eyes were expressive.
Usually.
Exactly as it should be—even if it did sting a little—he’d not bothered to look her way yet. He’d just entered the operating room and asked to start the check-in procedure.
What had she expected? For him to say something directly to her?
Hello, Riley, so how about Saturday night?
She didn’t want him to do that—would have been mortified if he had. So why the disappointment that he was ignoring her?
Maybe it was lack of sleep making her crazy. Certainly, despite knowing she’d made the right decision, she’d struggled to keep her mind off Justin.
And off her missing necklace.
Yeah, that was why, when she finally had slept, it had been after tears shed over her lost treasure and nothing to do with Justin.
She needed to ask him if he’d found her necklace. No one had found it at Cheyenne’s party or anywhere else. When she could get him alone, she’d ask.
Not that she wanted to be alone with him, but she couldn’t very well ask if he’d found her necklace at his condo without raising a few eyebrows. They’d already caused enough eyebrow-raising on Saturday night.
She was working as the nurse overseer that day. Her job was to make sure everyone had what they needed, that a sterile field was maintained, and that everything went the way it should and was recorded accurately.
An anesthesiologist, his assistant, a scrub tech, a circulator, and a scrub nurse were also in the room, along with their patient.
“Bernie
Jones, age fifty-two. Controlled hypertension and no other known health conditions,” Riley informed the, starting the check-in while double-checking the patient’s ID bracelet. “No known drug allergies.”
“I will be performing a minimally invasive left hip arthroplasty,” Justin began, and then proceeded to give a one-minute synopsis of what the planned surgery entailed. Sometimes that changed, as unexpected issues arose, but for the most part the hip replacements performed at this hospital were uneventful.
