"YOUR HÔPITAL is all you have on your mind, mon ami. You
should take the night off. Enjoy with me. Drink the cham-
pagne, look at the pretty women. All work and no play
makes Dr Paul Killian a very old man very fast. And once
you wither up and blow away, what will become of your
hôpital then?" Bertrand Léandre threw back his head and
laughed heartily, then took a puff of his big fat Cuban
cigar. A mountain of a man in his tuxedo, he was big,
broad and obviously the dom- ineering factor in the room,
domineering in every physical as- pect. And the people at
the party responded positively to him, hovering around
him, listening and laughing.
All except Paul Killian, who was already tired. For them,
it was a party. For him, it was work. He couldn't even
remem- ber when he'd taken the time to enjoy, and it was a
pity be- cause as parties went, Bertrand Léandre always
threw the best. But raising funds for his hospital was a
vital part of Paul's job now, and Bertrand had the funds
Paul needed. More than that, he attracted the funds, so
there was no turning his back on generosity, especially
when he wanted to add a new children's wing and buy
another whirlpool therapy tub.
Paul laughed. "All work and no play adds a whirlpool to
physical therapy." He tugged at the tight collar of his
starched, white shirt. Tuxedos weren't his style. Neither
were the silk bow-ties nor the stiff, shiny black shoes
that protocol de- manded with the formal ensemble.
Horrible dress for a man who had gotten use to the garb of
Kijé and found it not only fetching but comfortable. Gauzy
pants, loose cotton shirts, sandals. If anybody had told
him two years ago when he ar- rived on Kijé that the tops
of his toes would soon be tanned, he would have laughed.
But they were now, as were the toes of every other fair-
skinned person who spent their time in a tropical
paradise. And that's what Kijé was. A tropical Caribbean
paradise. Blue skies, blue waters and those legendary
balmy breezes, none of which required formal garment.
But an evening in a tuxedo was part of the job, and shed-
ding comfort for formality was worth all the bother
because people, overall, were generous at these affairs.
And he counted on that generosity to improve the condition
of his hospital. Bottom line. That's what he was about.
Finding the funds that made Killian Hospital run.
Paul flagged a passing waiter for a flute of ginger ale,
be- cause he bypassed the Dom Perignon at these affairs
when he was representing the hospital and so much was at
stake. "And as for the pretty women, even if I did notice
them, when would I have the time, Bertrand? You know my
life. Do you think a woman in her right mind would even
look twice at me if she knew that I was destined to run
off at a moment's no- tice?" He'd been married to a
beautiful woman who hadn't been able to abide the
lifestyle. She'd wanted to wake up every morning looking
at his face on the pillow next to hers, which had turned
out to be a rare occurrence in their marriage.
Traditional domesticity wasn't his strong suit, but it's
what Joanna had needed. Too bad they hadn't known that
before they'd married. "Tried it once, mon ami, and you
know how that turned out." And trying it twice wasn't on
his agenda. So he didn't tempt himself. All work and no
play...the substance of Dr Paul Killian.
Bertrand snorted. "You are too hard on yourself. Even the
most untraditional of marriages can be the most wonderful,
if the two people involved are meant to be together. You
and the other Dr Killian were not meant to be together no
matter what the circumstances. In marriage, mon ami,
that's what you get: either meant to be or meant not to
be. You, unfortunately, fell into the not category, and it
had nothing to do with your absences." He smiled
wistfully, then sighed. "I know these things, Paul."
Bertrand referred to his own marriage to the late Dr
Gabriella Léandre. She had been a pioneer in heart
surgery, living most of her life in Paris while her
husband had lived in Miami and Kijé. It had worked nicely
for them, but it hadn't worked at all for Paul and Joanna,
and he was fully aware that many, maybe even most, of the
shortfalls in that fiasco of a marriage had been his. "You
were the fortunate one in your marriage, but for me, like
you said, it wasn't meant to be. So now I have my work and
it makes me happy." He cast Bertrand a well-rehearsed
smile, one he used so often in affairs such as this. "And
speaking of work, I need to get back to it."
Paul took a sip of his ginger ale, glancing around to size
up the guests there this evening. Most of them he knew,
some he did not. Some would be generous donors, others
would re- fer him to their accountant for that obligatory
contribution — the one that would make Bertrand Léandre
take notice of them — and still others would simply
decline. But that's the way it was in his world, and he
didn't take it personally. "So tell me, Bertrand, to whom
should I be talking instead of you now? Who will be the
best use of my time here tonight?"
"My, but you have become proficient, haven't you?"
"I've had a good teacher," Paul responded, his eyes still
scanning the crowd.
"Always the work, Paul." Bertrand tsk-tsked him, shaking
his head. "Always the work, and yet you are so rarely
there to see the work. All that education and you reduce
yourself to a common beggar." He shook his head again,
this time frowning. "It's such a waste, my friend. You
could be the head of a great hospital somewhere. You have
the talents and I have connections. Would you like for me
to see what I can do for you?"
Paul smiled patiently. They'd had this discussion before.
Many times before. "About picking some pockets for me,
yes, please see what you can do. But about finding me
another job, you know the answer. I have my job." And he
loved it. Passionately. Because in the end, people who
couldn't afford treatment from other sources received
treatment at his hospi- tal. At no cost. So maybe he
didn't doctor in the traditional sense so much now, but
the outcome was the same. People who needed help were
helped.
Paul glanced away from Bertrand to the entryway, to the
woman standing there, looking around the room. His breath
caught in his throat for an instant. Then he blinked. Had
she stumbled into the wrong party? Dressed in khaki
shorts, a blue T-shirt and hiking boots and standing there
so elegantly in her jungle attire amid all the sequins and
silks and Ferragamo shoes, that had to be the case.
Whatever the reason, the Fates had sent her here only for
him, and the man who never looked was already grateful for
the gift, because she was the most stunning woman he'd
ever seen in his life. With flawless skin and wild black
hair hang- ing well past her shoulders, she was tall and
lithe, and her legs... Dear God, those legs... Covering
them in the formal wear all the other women at Bertrand's
affair wore would have been a high crime.
Quite simply, everything about her took his breath away
for in that moment as she stood there surveying the room
and he surveyed her, it was just the two of them. Dim
lights, soft jazz, and no one else. And as her eyes
searched all the peo- ple and finally came to rest on his,
he didn't hear the next words from Bertrand, neither did
he hear any of the stifled gasps coming from the crowd
over her audacity to gatecrash the affair dressed as she
was.
No, he heard none of that because as her eyes finally met
his, he heard only the pounding of his heart.
Then as she started to move across the room, her strides
purposeful and not at all in the graceful manner he might
have expected from one so exquisite, he found himself
still drawn to her every movement — the way she pushed her
hair back from her face, the way her shoulders swayed with
each step she took, the way she moved through all glitz
yet emerged as the most captivating person in the room.
No, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Didn't even try.
Per- haps she was looking for directions to her rightful
destina- tion — a place to which he already ached to
follow her.
But she didn't stop, not even when one of waiters ap-
proached her to offer champagne. She merely refused him
with a gentle smile and continued on, showing to everyone
who looked on that in a room full of tuxedos and designer
gowns, that she was the standout, the one all eyes
followed, and not because of her attire.
The farther into the room she moved, the more hushed it
became, and by the time she reached the spot where Paul
and Bertrand were standing, it was so quiet throughout,
even the clinking of the champagne flutes on the
waiters'trays seemed an intrusion.
Stopping there, she glanced up briefly at Bertrand
Léandre, offering him a faint smile. "Papa," she said,
pausing briefly as he bent to kiss her cheek. Then to
Paul, "You are Dr Paul Killian, are you not?"
Paul nodded, and before he could utter a word she grabbed
hold of his hand and started to pull him away from her
father. "Good. My name is Dr Solange Léandre, and I must
speak with you, Dr Killian. Privately."
"You don't look like your photograph," Solange commented
once they were in the hall. Then she smiled shyly, quickly
add- ing, "I mean that in a good way. You look much better
than your photo." He was much more handsome in person.
Larger, too. Well over six feet tall, with light brown,
slightly long and unkempt hair, blue eyes, perfect smile —
yes, he was hand- some, but in a way she'd certainly never
considered worth a second look. Until now.
Dr Mauricio Raúl Muñoz had certainly been a handsome one.
The type who'd never failed to turn her head and, in ret-
rospect, the type she should have turned her head away
from. He was shorter than Paul, with dark, wavy black
hair, and those dark, brooding eyes. Solange shivered, and
not in a good way, thinking about him. Mauricio had been,
oh, so wrong for her. Three years wrong, as it turned
out. "I saw your photo in the newspaper. You were posing
with my father at one of his charity events, and he was
donating some lab equip- ment to your hospital, I
believe." Actually, she knew. She'd kept the copy and
memorized Paul's face in the expectation of this meeting.
And, admittedly, she'd liked his smile in that photo. The
same smile he was flashing at her right now. The one that
was causing her to shiver again, but in a good way this
time.
"I'm flattered that you remember me and, more than that,
recognize me from the photo, because it wasn't very
flatter- ing." He chuckled. "It's true what they say about
cameras. They put on ten pounds and, in my case, ten
years."
Solange tossed him an impertinent smile. "Are you fish-
ing for a compliment, Doctor?"
"Having you notice me was the best compliment you could
have paid me." He snagged a flute of champagne from the
tray of a waiter scurrying into the Salon Rose and handed
it to Solange. "In my dreary life, that's a rare
occurrence," he con- tinued, grimacing. "Sadly, more rare
these past two years than I should be admitting to a lady
such as yourself. It makes me seem rather pathetic."
"I think we all get noticed where we want to be noticed,
Doctor. Where and how." She took a sip of her champagne,
then set the flute on a replica Queen Anne hall table
against the wall behind her. "If you live a dreary life, I
suspect that's by choice."
"Or necessity."
"I understand necessity. That's the reason I'm here. Out
of necessity." She drew in a deep breath. That sounded a
bit too sharp-edged, she thought. But she was nervous, and
this was so important. "Forgive me for getting straight to
the point." To take the edge off, she retrieved the
champagne and drank it all in one effort. She simply
tilted the glass back and let the bubbly slide down her
throat in the hope that it would brace her for this, as
well as make her a little more mellow.
"Basically, what I want is a place to send my patients for
various tests. Yours is a private hospital, your money
pays for the tests, your equipment performs them, and I
thought that proper protocol demanded me asking you before
I started sending people your way. A medical courtesy."
"Your patients?" he questioned.
"Rurals, Doctor. I work up in the Massif des Montagnes
Noires, traveling to the various villages."
"And the rurals rarely seek out traditional medicine,
Doctor?" Paul asked. "In my two years here on Kijé, I can
re- call only one or two instances where they came to the
hospi- tal. Most of the time they don't trust us."
Solange smiled. "It's a challenge. I understand that. But
for me, I like knowing there's help available if I need
it. Some- place to send my patients if the situation
warrants it."
"And how are you going to persuade them to come to me?"
"I have a partner who travels with me who is the persua-
sive one. I think I'll leave getting them here up to him."
"Another doctor?"