Primal God (The Defiant God Brotherhood #4)

Chapter 20

20

Dimitri

Lilith is fully under anesthesia when I enter the OR suite. She looks so fucking helpless and it pulls something deep in my chest. Mostly because I know I’ve been avoiding her the last few days. And I know she knows. Fuck. But I can’t be around her when I don’t know how to solve the problem that was brought to my attention. The problem of getting her out of the fucking marriage contract…

The room circulator pulls me from my thoughts as she goes through the pre-op checklist, which includes making sure we have the right patient in the room. It’s a safety measure that you find yourself thankful for before bigger mistakes happen.

When she’s finished, I say, “Okay, folks. Let’s do this.”

I’m sure I shocked everyone I work with when I rearranged my entire schedule to do Lilith’s case.

I glance at her.

I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

I move to the right side, where her arm is prepped for me. Reaching for a scalpel, I make an incision on the palm side of her forearm and wrist. I haven’t done a procedure like this in a while, mostly because most of my clients are professional athletes, who need scopes and knee or hip replacements.

The nurses and scrub techs chat with me as I use surgical instruments to access the wrist and view the fracture.

One nurse asks, “This is your kids’ nanny, right?”

Ah, the good old hospital gossip mill. Got to love it.

I nod. “She is.”

“How did she fall?”

My cheeks feel warm under my surgical mask. “She tripped over shoes on her way to the kitchen and fell.”

I don’t mention that the fucking shoes were mine. I have a feeling my sweet Lilith was just too kind to tell me, but I know. I saw them before we left the house.

The nurse’s eyes widen. “Ouch!”

Gerald asks, “How much are nannies going for these days? My wife wants to get one for our kids.”

Gerald and his wife have three kids, all who are little shits. I wouldn’t wish them on anyone.

I say, “I’m sure it depends on the agency they work with. I can send you a few contacts if you’d like.”

“That would be much appreciated.” He makes a face. “My wife wants to go for baby number four. She’d be pissed if she knew I’m planning on getting a vasectomy.”

One of the nurses shakes her head. “I’d be pissed if my husband did that without my knowledge.”

“It’s my body.”

This leads to a lively debate about women’s rights to their bodies (or lack thereof) and makes time pass by rather quickly while I work on Lilith.

After realigning the fracture, I use a combination of a plate and multiple screws to secure the fracture position. The plate is small and shouldn’t give Lilith any problems down the road. I then close the incision using sutures. I look at my handiwork. There should be minimal scarring in the area, which is good.

“Give her Sugammadex . I want to make sure she wakes up as smoothly as possible.”

Gerald rolls his eyes, but says, “Giving Sugammadex . Also, making a note that the patient will need to be educated in PACU.”

I’m not listening anymore as I get to work placing the dressings over the incision. The splint is next and extends from the mid-forearm to the palm. I leave her elbow and fingers free to allow motion.

When I’m finished with my part, I move to a corner of the room so I can make some notes in the electronic medical chart, which includes ordering physical therapy for her hand. I want her to have full movement. My fingers fly over the keyboard and then I exit her chart. I can’t help but notice some of her other encounters below this one. The one that really catches my eye is a locked encounter that happened a year ago in the emergency room. Is that the same encounter that was in the report from my PI?

“Dr. Santos?”

I look up to find a different nurse.

“Yes?”

“Your next case is ready for you.”

“I’ll be right there.” I log out of Lilith’s chart and turn to Gerald. “Let me know when she’s in recovery.”

“Will do.”

If he thinks my request is odd, he doesn’t show it. I exit the OR suite and go to the next room where I’m working on a star player of a Dallas team. My mind is all over the place as I work. I should have used the fucking shoe rack. Lilith wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I had.

A nurse peeks her head in and says, “Dr. Santos, Dr. Barnett wanted you to know Ms. Wolfe is in PACU.”

I turn to my PA, who helps me on larger cases, and say, “I’ll be back in a moment.”

His eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything. Not that I give him a chance to object. Leaving the OR, I pull off my sterile attire and make my way to the recovery area. I spot Gerald and head toward the room where Lilith is.

Gerald says, “Our patient is just waking up.” He turns to Lilith and rubs her leg. “Lili, you’re in recovery. Your surgery is over. Time to wake up.”

People wake up from anesthesia in different ways. Some cry. Some are combative. Some wake up with a smile on their face.

Lilith’s eyes flutter open.

Her gaze lands on me and she smiles.

“You’re here.”

“I am.”

“I missed you, Daddy.”

Gerald covers a laugh with a cough. He, I’m sure, assumes Lilith is calling me Daddy because I’m old enough to be her father.

I know better.

It makes me feel like an even bigger dick for pushing her away the last few days. After speaking to Alessandro, I was left not knowing what to do about the contract. I glance at Lilith. That’s not true. I know what I have to do. I’m just too much of a coward to do it…

I move, covering her hand with mine.

“Rest. It’ll be time to go home before you know it.”

She gives me a sleepy nod. It’ll be at least an hour before she’s ready to be discharged. Enough time to finish my current case and cancel the rest of my cases for the day.

Gerald follows me back to the OR hallway, laughing.

“Daddy, huh? Never heard that one before.”

I smile but say nothing. Instead, I scrub up and return to my OR, counting down the minutes until I get to see Lilith.