Free Changes by Danielle Steel

always. It depends on where I am. I suppose that in a place like this they do. It's their stock-in-trade.” She glanced at the well-filled tables all around, the Bistro Gardens catered to the moneyed, the chic, the celebrated, the successful, a host of important names. And then she smiled at Peter again. “It's like being around Dr. Hallam at the hospital where everyone was staring at you. It depends on where you are.”
    “I suppose.” But he had never noticed people staring at him. He could see a number of people watching Melanie now, and she handled it very well. She didn't seem aware of the curious stares at all.
    “This is a wonderful place.” She breathed a sigh in the balmy air, and turned so that she would get the sunshine on her face. It really felt like summer here, and one didn't have the feeling of being trapped in the city, which could happen in New York. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sun. “This is just right.” And then she opened them again. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
    He sat back in his seat with a smile. “I didn't think the cafeteria was quite your style.”
    “It could be, you know. Most of the time, it is. But that's what makes something like this such a treat. When I'm working I don't have much time to eat, or to bother with the niceties of a delightful place like this.”
    “Neither do I.”
    They exchanged a grin, and Melanie raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Do you suppose we both work too hard, Doctor?”
    “I suspect we do. But I also suspect we both love what we do. That helps.”
    “It sure does.” She looked peaceful as she looked at him, and he felt more comfortable than he had in almost two years.
    As she watched him, she realized again that she admired his style. “Will you go back to the hospital again today?”
    “Of course. I want to do some more tests on Pattie Lou.” Mel frowned at his words, thinking of the child.
    “Is it going to be rough for her?”
    “We'll make it as easy as we can. Surgery is really her only chance.”
    “And you're still going to take her heart out and repair it and put it back?”
    “I think so. We haven't had any suitable donors for her in weeks, we may not in months. There are few enough donors for the adults, who it's easier to find matches for. On the average we do twenty-five to thirty transplants a year. As you saw from our rounds today, most of what we do is bypass surgery. The rest is very special work and we don't do very much of it, although of course that's all you hear about in the press.”
    “Peter.” She looked puzzled and took a sip of the white wine the waiter had brought. She found that she was growing fascinated by his work, and regardless of the story she was here to do, she wanted to learn more. “Why are you using a pig valve?”
    “We don't need blood thinners with animal valves. And in her case, that's a real plus. We use animal valves all the time, and they don't reject.”
    “Could you use the whole animal heart?” He was quick to shake his head.
    “Not a chance. It would reject instantly. The human body is a strange and beautiful thing.”
    She nodded, thinking of the little black girl. “I hope you can fix her up.”
    “So do I. We've got three others waiting for donors right now too.”
    “How do you determine which one gets the first chance?”
    “Whoever is the best match. We try to come within thirty pounds from donor to recipient. You can't put the heart of a ninety-pound girl into a two-hundred-pound man, or vice versa. In the first case, it wouldn't support the man's weight, and in the second, it wouldn't fit.”
    She shook her head, more than a little in awe at what he did. “It's an amazing thing you do, my friend.”
    “It still amazes me too. Not so much my part in it, but the miracle and mechanics of it all. I love my work, I guess that helps.” She looked carefully at him for a moment, and then glanced around the glamorous crowd at the restaurant and back at him. He was