I want to be there.

I’m sure your schedule is full, and I’m sure Jenna and I can handle it.

I’ll see you Tuesday.

Sebastian sent his text and swiveled his office chair so that his vision landed on the pictures that his patients’ parents had sent him. Smiling babies.

He understood hospital politics and procedures better than Leah and Jenna. It was justified, generous even, for him to attend the meeting in order to provide backup.

So why did he feel guilty?

He pressed from his office chair and headed toward the stairs that led to the PICU, one floor below.

He felt guilty because he didn’t know how much his desire to see her again was influencing his certainty that she needed him at the meeting. Did his desire to see her again account for twenty percent of his motivation to be present at the meeting? Fifty? Eighty?

At exactly what point did helping Leah cross the line into betraying Ben? Had he already crossed that line?

No.

During his meeting with Leah at the hospital coffee shop, he’d encouraged her to date Ben. At the Colemans’, he’d talked Ben up. When he saw Leah this next time, he’d advocate for Ben again.

If Leah found the information she needed on Tuesday, that meeting would likely be their last. She’d no longer need his help with her search into her past, and so he’d see her again only through Ben. If he went out with Ben’s friend group in Misty River. Or if Leah became Ben’s girlfriend.

His stomach churned.

He strode toward Josiah Douglas’s room. Sebastian had performed a successful arterial switch operation on him a few weeks ago. Since then, they’d been monitoring him around the clock and administering medicine to improve his blood flow.

When Sebastian entered, Josiah’s mom and dad pushed to their feet to greet him. Josiah, awake and relaxed, still hooked up to his IV, was cradled in his mom’s arms.

“Good news,” Sebastian told them. “After morning rounds, we discussed Josiah’s case, and we all agreed he’s ready to go home. I’m discharging him.”

Instantly, Josiah’s mom’s eyes filled with tears.

“Thank you,” her husband said, looking more grateful than if he’d won the lottery.

It strained families to have their child admitted here for weeks or sometimes months at a time. The opportunity to go home was always celebrated, and Sebastian was always glad for them. This was the outcome he worked toward—hearts with congenital defects, repaired as much as medicine allowed.