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The way she’d cried with Cathy had caught him off guard.
Had Kimberly given so much of herself to her other patients?
Caring so much was physically exhausting because there wasn’t a way to save everyone. Unfortunately. Was that why
she’d gone into marketing rather than continue in direct patient care? Because she hadn’t been able to deal with the losses?
Some days he had trouble dealing with them himself.
“Perhaps we could go to dinner tonight? As we couldn’t go last night?”
Daniel blinked.
They’d definitely reached a turning point the night before in Evert Reed’s room. Something had changed and perhaps that something was acceptance of the way they reacted to each other.
Fighting it sure hadn’t helped.
“I’d like that,” he admitted, although he’d be exhausted. After pulling an all-nighter in the OR with only an hour’s worth of rest on his office sofa that morning before starting back, he’d be ready to crash.
But a few more hours of being awake wouldn’t hurt when it meant getting to be with Kimberly. He could sleep next week after she left.
She smiled at him, a weary sadness in her eyes that he didn’t understand, but her smile was real and for him and it stole his breath.
Made him question everything about the moment because it wasn’t enough.
“Are you sure this is what you want, Kimberly? Spending time together that isn’t business related?”
Slowly, she nodded. “I’m sure.”
He almost believed her.
“Come on.” Now wasn’t the time for talking about the past, the present, or the future—not that he thought they had a future, but for this week he wanted to spend every free moment with her. “We have a full morning. Let’s get started.”
Daniel looked so exhausted by the end of the day that Kimberly was tempted to cancel their dinner date. But she needed to talk with him. She needed to tell him about Ryan. For that conversation they needed privacy, away from the hospital.
“Any place in particular you want to go?” Daniel asked when they were settled in his car. He drove to the exit of the parking garage and waited for her instructions before pulling out.
“Back to my hotel.”
He spun toward her.
“To eat,” she clarified. “You’re exhausted, and it’s been a long day. Let’s just dine at one of the hotel restaurants so you don’t have to drive so far to get home.”
Not that she knew where home was for Daniel. She knew nothing about his life now, so how could she feel so strongly toward him?
Nothing about this man and her reaction to him made sense.
He shrugged. “Okay.”
He drove the car out of the garage and in the direction of her hotel. Heavy traffic clogged the streets, but Daniel turned onto a back street and bypassed the worst of it.
“Mr. Reed looked excited at the prospect of going home,” she said to fill the silence.
“Too bad his daughters didn’t look as excited.”
“They’re scared of being alone with him.”
“Taking care of an ill parent is a lot of work.”
