Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Dr. Aaron Monroe froze when he recognized his ex-wife, Maggie Dall, off to one side of the large conference room of the very fancy Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What in the world was she doing there?

Silly question. Obviously, they were both attending the same medical conference. But he hadn't seen Maggie in two years.

Two years, one week, and five days, if he were being honest. The worst day of his life, the finalization of their divorce, was etched in his memory forever.

Maggie laughed at something, tucking a strand of her long, dark curly hair behind her ear. His heart clenched, making him wonder for the millionth time if Maggie had found someone else.

Maybe even remarried.

Started a family.

The sting of regret was sharp. Their marriage had ended over their inability to have children. Maggie had walked away, and Aaron had let her go.

But he hadn't recovered from their split. And doubted he ever would.

Oh, he'd told himself to get over her. She was the one who'd left him. He'd tried to move on, had even left his position as a pediatric cardiac surgeon at Johns Hopkins to return to Milwaukee to be closer to his family. His dad's heart attack had been the primary motivation for the move.

But he'd also thought it would be the best way to avoid running into Maggie as she worked for Johns Hopkins too.

Ironic to run into her here in their hometown.

She moved toward the doors leading outside. For reasons he couldn't name, he quickly crossed the room to follow. Even though there were plenty of conference attendees that he could use as a buffer, he wanted to talk to her.

To see if she was remarried.

He hadn't noticed her name of Maggie Dall on the list of attendees. Maybe once he knew for sure she had remarried, he would also be able to move on with his life.

"Maggie?" He pushed through the door. The bright autumn sun flickered off the yellow and gold leaves on the trees.

Maggie turned to face him. Her brown eyes held his gaze, but she didn't look surprised to see him. He was one of the conference presenters after all. She couldn't really pretend to not have noticed his name and professional photo on the website.

Was that why she'd come? To see him?

Don't go there, he silently warned. Yet he couldn't quite squash the surge of hope when he saw her name tag read Maggie Dall.

"Hi, Aaron. How have you been?" Her polite tone put his teeth on edge. A quick glance at her left hand revealed she was not wearing a ring.

Which didn't mean much these days.

"I'm doing well, thanks." That was a big fat lie, but there was no sense dredging up the past. "How about you?"

"I'm good." The stilted conversation could not have been more awkward. "I heard you relocated to Milwaukee. How do you like working at Children's Memorial?"

"It's great." Why on earth had he followed her outside? This chitchat was pure torture. "My dad had a heart attack in the spring, and while he's doing fine now, I decided it was time to be closer to the family."

"Of course, you'd want to be near them. I'm glad your dad is doing okay."

Maggie had always liked his family, which made it that much worse when she'd walked away from their marriage. Aaron was the oldest of six, and they all worked in the medical field in some way. Except for his brother Alec who was a police detective. They often teased Alec that his lack of being a doctor was why he'd married a physician named Jillian.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi." He forced a smile as if seeing her wasn't ripping his heart from his chest.

"Aaron—" She was interrupted by a loud crash. He looked to the right, horrified to see that a large truck had T-boned a city bus.

Without hesitation, he ran toward the scene of the crash. Maggie quickly joined him.

"Get back! We're doctors! Call 911 and get back!" He shoved gawkers out of the way to reach the bus. Peering through the door, he could see the driver was bleeding from a cut on his head, but otherwise, he was conscious. When Aaron pounded on the door, he opened it.

"I—don't know what happened," the driver stuttered.

"I know. We're doctors and are here to help," Maggie said from behind him.

Ignoring the screams and crying from the passengers wasn't easy. He immediately focused on the right side of the bus where the truck had slammed into it. That side had sustained the most damage.

"If you're not hurt, get off the bus," he said in a stern tone. "We're doctors here to help those who are injured." He didn't want to be sidetracked by people who were panicked but otherwise physically okay.

He stopped at the seat two rows behind the driver where a man was cradling his bloody arm. The extremity was clearly fractured, and the patient seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness.

Bending over the injured man, he checked for a pulse. Present but erratic enough to indicate he may have suffered heart damage too. He glanced over to where Maggie had stopped at the next set of passengers, a woman holding her young son.

"She's not breathing and doesn't have a pulse," Maggie said, her gaze stricken.

The little boy clung to his mother, sobbing. Maggie gently pulled him away from the injured woman, and instantly the child wrapped his arms tightly around her neck.

"Let me get her on the floor so I can start CPR." He moved on from the gentleman with the broken arm to provide life-saving treatment to the woman without a pulse.

Maggie and the little boy scooted back so he could place the woman on the floor of the narrow aisle between the seats. He double-checked to make sure she didn't have a pulse before starting CPR.

To his surprise, Maggie shifted the little boy in her arms to kneel at the woman's head. "I'll hold her airway."

"Check the others first," he said between compressions. "I've got this."

"Okay." Maggie turned to begin examining the other crash victims even while the little boy clung to her like a monkey. The child had stopped crying but seemed as if he was determined not to let Maggie go.

Seeing them together only reinforced the reason their marriage had failed. Maggie was a natural with kids and deserved to be a mother.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the first responders. He waited as the first crew of EMTs took the man with the shattered arm out first, leaving the second pair of EMTs to assist with his injured woman.

"Keep doing CPR while we get her connected to the AED," the one paramedic said.

He didn't announce his profession as a cardiac surgeon. Right now, they were all doing their best to save the lives of these patients.

Glancing toward the rear of the bus, he noticed another pair of EMTs had come in through the rear door. They were assisting another patient that Maggie had been caring for. When they had the situation under control, Maggie moved back, cradling the little boy.

She looked at him expectantly, clearly hoping that the child's mother would survive.

"Okay, stop CPR so we can do a rhythm check," the paramedic said.

Aaron sat back on his heels, eyeing the monitor. The straight line across the screen was not good.

Asystole.

He had a bad feeling this woman had died on impact.

"Stay back," the paramedic said. "I'll deliver a shock in case this is fine V-fib."

It wasn't, but Aaron didn't argue. Delivering a series of shocks might help. And if not, she would be just as dead.

Three shocks later, the straight line across the monitor was unchanged.

"Continue CPR," the paramedic said.

"There's no need. I'm Dr. Aaron Monroe, a cardiac surgeon with Children's Memorial. I'm calling this code. We can document the time of death as ten forty-five a.m."

The two paramedics looked at each other, then shrugged. "We'll need you to sign the paperwork, Dr. Monroe," the red-haired paramedic said. His name tag read Finnegan, and Aaron vaguely remembered meeting a Dr. Faye Finnegan. Possibly related, but no way to know for sure.

"No problem," he assured him. He glanced over to where Maggie sat with the little boy on her lap. Her stricken expression stabbed deep.

Aaron sighed and dropped his chin to his chest, knowing he'd failed her.

Again.

* * *

Maggie Dall cuddled the frightened boy close, wishing she could assure the child he would be fine. But his mother had just died, and from this moment on, this little boy's life would be changed forever.

Dear Lord, please have mercy on this child!

"What's your name?" she asked, smoothing a reassuring hand down the child's back. She estimated he was between three and four years old, and a little too scrawny for her piece of mind. "Can you tell me your name?"

He shook his head, burying closer to her. His arms were wrapped tightly around her neck as if he'd never let her go.

Did he somehow sense his mother was gone? That his world had been turned upside down?

"We'll have to get Child Protective Services involved," Aaron said. "He may have a father or other family."

"I know." She squelched a flash of anger. It wasn't Aaron's fault that this had happened. He'd done everything he could, performing CPR and delivering shocks to save the little boy's mother's life.

"My name is Maggie," she said to the little boy. "Can you say Maggie?"

The child shook his head again, gripping her tighter. So much so that she had to shift his hold so he wouldn't cut off her airway.

"His mother's name is Pamela Johnson," Aaron said. "Her address is an apartment in Milwaukee. I'm sure the police will head over to see if there are other family members there."

"Okay, but I'm going to ride along to the hospital with him." She couldn't have pried the little boy's arms from around her neck if she'd wanted to. "He needs a full assessment to evaluate for internal injuries." The fact that his mother had died as a result of the crash concerned her that the child was hurt too.

"I'll go with you," Aaron offered.

She frowned. "That's not necessary. Don't you have a presentation to give?"

He glanced at his watch. "Yes, but after lunch, so I have a few hours."

When Maggie had signed up for the Midwest Cardiac Surgery Medical Symposium, she'd known her ex-husband was one of the esteemed presenters. But she honestly had not expected him to seek her out.

The two years since their divorce had been difficult. She had been the one to initiate the filing, but she'd done that for him, not for her.

She was the one who couldn't have children. Aaron came from a large family, and she knew how much he'd wanted to carry on the Monroe name. She'd told herself she was doing the right thing by letting Aaron find someone else to share his life with.

Yet to her knowledge, he hadn't.

And now that she was face-to-face with him again, she realized her heart still ached for what she'd given up.

"Ma'am?" An EMT touched her arm. "We can take the boy now."

"I'm Dr. Maggie Dall, a pediatric anesthesiologist," she said. "I'm going to the hospital with him."

"Oh, uh, sure." The EMT wasn't about to override a physician's decision. "Please come with me."

She nodded and stood. Suddenly Aaron was there with his hand beneath her elbow to help steady her. She hoped he didn't notice the tremor that rippled through her body at his touch.

"I'll meet you at Children's Memorial," Aaron said, after helping her into the ambulance.

"Only if you have time." She forced herself to give him an out. "You have a presentation to prepare for, so I'll understand if you can't make it."

"I'll meet you there," Aaron repeated, a stubborn glint in his green eyes. Then he stepped back so the EMT could shut the ambulance doors.

The little boy relaxed his tight grip as if sensing he was safe. She continued stroking a hand down his back, whispering reassurances. Then she gently palpated his limbs.

He didn't appear to be in pain. But he also wasn't talking, so she wasn't even sure he could understand her. The child didn't look Hispanic, but that didn't mean he'd been exposed to the English language.

The little boy cried out in pain as her hand passed over his side toward his abdomen.

"Does that hurt?" she asked.

He nodded and pressed closer to her.

At least he understood that much. "I'm Doctor Maggie. What's your name?"

He didn't respond.

The ambulance ride to Children's Memorial Hospital located right next to Trinity Medical Center didn't take long. When the EMT opened the back, she carried the little boy down and into the emergency department.

"Who do we have here?" the friendly woman at the front desk asked.

"I'm Dr. Maggie Dall, pediatric anesthesiologist, and this is a young victim of the bus crash outside the Pfister Hotel. Unfortunately, I don't know his name."

The woman frowned. "Where is his parent or guardian?"

"Not here." Maggie didn't want to say the word dead in front of the boy. "I know his last name is Johnson, and he needs to be scanned for internal bleeding. He has tenderness on the right side of his abdomen, could be a lacerated liver."

It looked as if the woman might argue, but just then she felt someone come up to stand beside her.

"Dr. Aaron Monroe," he said, introducing himself. "We need a room for this child ASAP."

"Of course, Dr. Monroe. This way." The woman stood and led them through a doorway into the emergency department.

The fact that her title hadn't garnered the same respect made Maggie cranky, but she held her tongue. How they'd gotten through to the back didn't matter; providing this little boy the medical care he needed did.

"I need you to lie down on the cot," she told the child.

He shook his head, gripping her tighter. Her heart ached for him, but she had to be able to examine him.

"Please, for me," she cajoled, trying to gently pry his arms from the locked hold he had on her neck. "I won't leave you. I'll stay right here with you, okay?"

He shook his head again but then relaxed his grip. "You'll stay?"

They were the first words he'd uttered since she'd found him, and she bent her head to meet his gaze. "Yes. I'll stay. I promise. I won't leave you."

He nodded, then put his hand on his abdomen. "Hurts."

"I understand, we're going to find out why your tummy hurts and make it all better, okay?" She smiled reassuringly, thrilled the boy was finally talking. "I'm Dr. Maggie, and I'm going to help take care of you. What's your name?"

There was a long pause as he gazed up at her. "Joey."

"I love the name Joey. Can you tell me if you hurt anywhere else?" She didn't see any other obvious signs of an injury. "Your head? Your arms or legs?"

"My tummy," he said. "Hurts."

"Okay." She glanced at Aaron who stood near the door, watching her interact with their young patient. When the nurse came over with a hospital gown, she took the garment from her. "Joey, can we take your shirt and pants off to put this gown on?"

"No. Don't wanna." His lower lip trembled. "I want my mommy."

"Oh, sweetheart, I know you do." She gathered him close, wishing more than anything she could present his mother.

But his mother was gone and never coming back. Something she'd have to explain to the boy sooner or later. Maybe after he'd gotten his scans to make sure he wasn't bleeding internally. "He can stay in his clothes for a CT scan, right?" she said to the nurse.

The nurse glanced from Maggie to Aaron, then nodded. "Sure. If that's what you want."

"Let's get the CT scan ordered so we know what we're dealing with," Aaron said. Again, the nurses acted as if he were the doctor in charge rather than the pediatric emergency medicine physician hovering nearby, who appeared to be deferring all decisions to Aaron.

Apparently, Aaron Monroe was the big cheese around here. Good for him.

They were able to create a new medical record for the boy under the name of Joseph Johnson. She sank into the closest chair, holding Joey on her lap as the emergency department doc spoke with Aaron and entered orders using the computer mounted on a rolling stand in the opposite corner of the room. While waiting, she was far too conscious of Aaron's penetrating gaze.

There was so much emotional baggage between them she was surprised he was here. Especially when he had the excuse of being a presenter at the medical conference. The way he'd jumped in to help those injured in the crash reminded her of the man she used to know.

The man she'd fallen in love with.

Doing her best to ignore Aaron and their fractured past, she focused her attention on the little boy in her arms. She was content to hold him, to stay with him.

To get him through this.

She hated the idea of Joey ending up in the foster system. As she soothed the child, she silently hoped and prayed Joey didn't have anything seriously wrong with him.

And that he had other family members who would soon arrive at the hospital to help take care of him.