Open Heart Series by Stacy Sterling

I'm a surgical nurse, but today my daughter is on my operating table, and I'm being forced to watch her through the glass. She's only six years old, and they won't let me in because the hospital says you can't work on your own family. She collapsed this morning at breakfast because the doctors said she was born with a small hole in her heart, but we didn't find out until just now... moreI'm a surgical nurse, but today my daughter is on my operating table, and I'm being forced to watch her through the glass. She's only six years old, and they won't let me in because the hospital says you can't work on your own family. She collapsed this morning at breakfast because the doctors said she was born with a small hole in her heart, but we didn't find out until just now. Last week, the surgeon who is operating on my daughter found out that I was a single mom, and my pay increased overnight. He's been working in the operating room healing my daughter's heart, and he hasn't looked up once. I heard a couple of the other nurses whisper, "He's never worked twelve hours straight on one patient before. ". The director of the hospital tried to pull him out of the room, saying he's been working too long. He glanced over at me for a moment, then turned back to the director and growled,. "I'm not leaving until this little girl is healed. ". less

I just rescued a boy from some bullies in the back alley behind my flower shop. I cleaned his split lip, made him hot chocolate, and called his father. But the man who showed up was a total jerk, and he looked at me like I was a crazy woman. That should have been the end of it there…. Until my father told me he’s been dating someone for the past three months. He finally asked me to meet her. But then her son walked in behind her…... moreI just rescued a boy from some bullies in the back alley behind my flower shop. I cleaned his split lip, made him hot chocolate, and called his father. But the man who showed up was a total jerk, and he looked at me like I was a crazy woman. That should have been the end of it there…. Until my father told me he’s been dating someone for the past three months. He finally asked me to meet her. But then her son walked in behind her…. And it was the same man I told to “Go to hell,” just three days ago. But there was one thing that we could both agree on. We both thought our parents being together was a disaster. So we teamed up to slow the wedding down. That meant late-night phone calls, and forced family dinners. But then my father collapsed, and his diagnosis changed everything. The wedding we tried to sabotage became the only thing that mattered. And the man I was pretending not to fall for…. Became the only person who could hold me together. less

I just kissed a stranger to save my life. A man was following me through the resort and I had no plan, so I pulled the first guy I saw down by his collar and pressed my mouth to his. He kissed me back, but I ran before he could ask my name. Two weeks later, I'm starting over at a new clinic, and the cardiac surgeon running it looks up from his chart. It’s my brother's best friend. And the same man I kissed to get away.