Reunited With Her Brooding Surgeon

There had been plenty of rumours about the family. Grace had grown up hearing them and then when Marcus had disappeared as well, the rumours had only intensified. The most popular theory amongst the kids at school had been that Marcus’s father was responsible for the disappearances. They’d said he’d killed his wife and then he’d killed Marcus. As a seven-year-old that had frightened Grace immensely, and because of those stories it was unlikely she’d ever forget about Marcus Washington. The story of his disappearance had become an urban myth. The kids had been fascinated by it and Grace’s imagination had led her to not only believe the stories but to embellish all sorts of gory details.

Her parents had told her and her brothers that Marcus had gone to live with his aunt but at the age of seven she’d put that story in the same category as the one about the fate of their pet roosters. Her parents had told her that the roosters were sent away to live on a farm because they were happier there, but her brothers had gleefully informed her that they really ended up in someone’s pot with their heads chopped off. Grace feared Marcus had met the same fate and that her parents were lying to protect her because, surely, if he had gone to live with his aunt he would still come back to visit his father. And he never did. In Grace’s seven-year-old brain this meant the rumours must be true. Marcus was dead.

It wasn’t hard for her to believe the rumours and to imagine that Mr Washington had somehow played a hand in the disappearance of his family. When they were never seen again that story made sense. And, in Grace’s young opinion, Marcus’s father was a strange man. Walking past Marcus’s house had always spooked her and after his disappearance things had only got worse. The house had been untidy and unloved. Paint had been peeling off the woodwork, the iron roof rusty and the front garden overgrown with weeds. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Mr Washington had often sat or slept on an old sofa on the front veranda you would have thought the house had been abandoned. He’d always looked dishevelled and, if she saw him on his feet, unsteady.

She’d had to walk past the house on her way to and from school and after Marcus’s disappearance she had always crossed to the opposite side of the road just in case Mr Washington was out the front. Lachlan, who was then twelve, had told her not to be ridiculous. He’d insisted that if Marcus’s dad had killed him he’d be locked up, not wandering the streets, but Grace had remained wary for many years until she’d been old enough to understand Lachlan’s logic and recognise the rumours for what they were.

Later she’d understood that Marcus’s father had been an alcoholic but at the age of seven she hadn’t got any of that. When she’d learned the truth she’d then wondered what had made him drink. Had it been losing his wife and son that had done that to him?

But Grace didn’t share her thoughts with Lola. Normally she wouldn’t hesitate to gossip with her but something about this felt wrong. Obviously Marcus hadn’t been murdered and all her thoughts were based on rumour and supposition. She was sorry she’d brought up the topic now. She recalled the look in Marcus’s eyes. The look that she’d thought had been daring her to say something. Maybe it hadn’t been a challenge but fear? Was he afraid of what she might say about him?

What could she possibly say? What did he think she knew?

Did it matter? Even imagining she had tales to tell could be enough. She knew what that was like. After her boyfriend had taken his own life Grace had felt the eyes of a small town on her. Mostly the town had been supportive of her and her grief after Johnny’s death but she’d still felt horribly exposed. That had been one reason why she’d wanted to leave Toowoomba. Too many people knew too much about her. She knew what it felt like when others made assumptions about you. How it felt when things you’d rather keep to yourself were discussed in public.

Was that what Marcus was worried about? That she would reveal his secrets?

But what did she know about him? What could she know about him when she hadn’t seen or heard anything about him for twenty years?

Nothing.

The truth of the matter was it wasn’t her story to tell and she was sorry she and Lola had even been discussing him. She knew he wouldn’t like it and for some reason that bothered her. She picked up her bag and tucked her phone inside it. ‘I should go,’ she said. ‘I have a big day tomorrow.’

* * *

Grace was at the hospital bright and early the following morning. She had checked on her patients and found them in varying degrees of anxiety but otherwise okay. She’d contacted the renal transplant co-ordinators at the other hospitals, double-checking and making sure there were no last-minute problems, and now she was heading for the conference room to prepare her notes in anticipation of the doctors’ meeting that was scheduled for half past seven to have a final run-through of the day’s proceedings.

She scrolled through the messages on her phone, making sure again that she hadn’t missed anything important as she waited for everyone to arrive. Elliot was first, followed by Janet and then Marcus. She wasn’t watching the door but she knew the minute Marcus entered the room. She looked up to find him watching her. Was that what she could sense? The feeling of being watched? No, it was more than that. Her body recognised him. Her body responded to his proximity. But she suspected she was being fanciful. It was nothing more than an awareness of an extremely good-looking man. Who had absolutely no time for her.

He didn’t hold her gaze. Didn’t acknowledge her in any way. He didn’t smile. Or nod. He gave her nothing and she was disappointed. He greeted his colleagues as he found himself a seat but he did not make eye contact with her again. Was that deliberate or not? She wanted him to like her but she got an uneasy sense that something about her irritated him and that bothered her. She wanted him to like her but right now she didn’t have time to think about why that might be. She lowered her eyes and looked over her notes. She refused to waste any more time wondering about Marcus. She was just as capable of ignoring him as he was of her.

She listened as Elliot ran everyone through the day’s schedule. He was following the notes she had written on the whiteboard as soon as she’d confirmed every patient’s status and he checked a couple of minor details with her. The surgeries were scheduled to commence at eight o’clock with concurrent harvesting of the kidneys. The donor patients were being prepped for surgery as he spoke and once Grace received confirmation that every patient was anaesthetised the surgeries would begin. The timing and, in a way, the success of the surgeries depended on her. She controlled the process and she needed to focus.

The actual transplant timeline varied and was dependent on when the donated kidneys arrived at their respective hospitals. There was still a lot to co-ordinate and it was going to be a long day for her. She would be on deck until the last patient went to Recovery. She was the link not only between the surgeons and the hospitals but also between the patients and their families. It was going to be hectic but while she would co-ordinate the surgeries the actual outcomes of them would be out of her hands. It was almost over. The final day was here and all that was left for her to do was to continue to liaise and to watch and to hope. And to wait. She crossed her fingers and hoped the day would be successful.

The medical staff split into their surgical teams at the conclusion of the meeting and Grace headed for the observation gallery that overlooked two of the theatres. She watched as the patients were wheeled in, Rosa in one theatre to her left, Rob in the other. She would be able to communicate with the operating teams via an intercom and she waited and watched as the anaesthetists began their job. The surgeons hovered, gloved and gowned.

She held her mobile phone in her hand, waiting for the sound of incoming text messages and constantly scanning the screen to check she hadn’t missed anything. She saw Rosa’s eyes close as the anaesthetic took hold and then, one by one, the messages started coming in. One, two, three and four. She waited for confirmation from the two theatres in front of her before sending her own reply.

‘All donors confirmed asleep.’

Until everyone was under anaesthetic there was always a chance that one or more donors could change their minds. But no one could back out now. The six harvesting surgeries could begin.

Grace waited again, holding her breath until she got confirmation that all surgeries had begun. She breathed out and sank into a seat behind the viewing glass. Technically she could watch both Rosa’s and Rob’s operations but she concentrated on Rosa’s. That was where Marcus was. She had vowed to ignore him but her eyes were repeatedly drawn to him regardless of her decision.