A White Knight in ER

by Jessica Matthews

  ‘What is something you’ve always wanted to do?’ he’d asked. ‘The Denver Symphony is performing. Or we could fly to Seattle and visit the Space Needle. Then there’s a trip to Dallas so you can shop till you drop at a Nieman-Marcus store.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she’d told him. ‘I can’t afford those kinds of trips, especially not on short notice.’

  ‘Ah, but I can,’ he said.

  ‘You’re independently wealthy, too?’

  ‘I’ve put aside a few pennies for a rainy day. I don’t live a totally dissolute life.’ He winked. ‘So what’ll it be?’

  ‘None of the above. I want a special evening with Trevor and Angie. We’ll go to the zoo.’

  His smile was benevolent. ‘A trip to the zoo requires a full afternoon, if not longer. If I leave promptly at six, we’ll only have an hour or two of daylight. Let’s save that excursion for Saturday. Shoot, let’s think bigger than Friday night and plan an entire weekend.’

  ‘Won’t you miss out on golf or the car races, or whatever else you do on your days off?’

  ‘This is your weekend, not mine,’ he reminded her. ‘And speaking of which, I know how important Trevor and Angie are to you, but surely there’s something you’d like to do just for yourself.’

  Strolling down a moonlit beach with Jonas at her side. Watching the sun set and then, after hours and hours of exploring each other until every one of her senses had reached overload, watching the sun rise and doing it all over again.

  Because ocean beaches were in short supply in Nebraska and her health too uncertain, she modified her wish slightly.

  ‘I’d like to attend the outdoor community concert,’ she said slowly. ‘Just the two of us, so I can soak up the music without worrying if Angie’s tired or Trevor’s fussy. Then I want to sit on Painter’s Point and watch the stars come out while I sip champagne and nibble on Brie and strawberries.’

  ‘Sounds reasonable. Anything else?’

  ‘Isn’t that enough?’

  ‘It depends,’ he drawled, ‘but for starters, it’ll do. And just to be sure you won’t change your mind, I’ll handle the details, including the babysitter.’

  ‘It won’t be easy finding one,’ she warned.

  ‘Leave it to me.’

  So she did. True to his word, he arranged everything, even paying Doug Millard’s daughter, Jennifer, top dollar to watch Trevor and Angie.

  As the days passed, her fear began to build like storm-clouds on the western horizon. She envisioned every moment of her upcoming evening from the time Jonas arrived at her house to the appearance of the last star. She imagined going to his place afterward for a nightcap and staying for a special sunrise breakfast.

  When Friday came, she’d expected it to drag interminably, but she’d never been busier at the hospital. Everything from dog to spider bites, a prisoner who’d swallowed a bed spring to shorten his jail time, a heart attack, bleeding ulcer and a motorcycle accident came through the double doors.

  It wasn’t until Susan appeared on the unit at the end of Megan’s shift that she realized how swiftly the time had flown. Unfortunately, Jonas was with the motorcycle victim’s wife and Megan didn’t have any idea how long their visit would take.

  Susan glanced at her watch. ‘I’d love to wait for him, but I have another appointment. Shall we do this Monday?’

  ‘No!’ Megan lowered her voice. ‘No. Tell me now. If I have to wait two more days, I’ll need Valium.’

  Susan smiled. ‘I understand.’ She pulled an envelope out of her pocket. ‘I normally don’t give out hard copies, but I’m making an exception in your case because I doubt if you’ll believe it otherwise.’

  A knot grew in Megan’s throat and she struggled to swallow.

  ‘I’ve blocked out the patient’s identification, so you’ll only see the results.’

  Megan took the envelope and slid the small sheet of paper free. Hardly breathing, she unfolded it and scanned the printed page.

  Her vision swam as she struggled to read the results. ‘Oh, my.’ She glanced at Susan. ‘Oh, my.’

  ‘I said the same thing.’ Susan peered at her as she placed a hand on Megan’s arm. ‘You’re not going to pass out, are you? Would you like a glass of water?’

  Megan slid the form back into the envelope with shaky fingers and drew a deep breath—the first deep breath she felt she’d taken since her ordeal had begun. ‘No. It’s taking me a little time to get used to the idea that I just got my life back.’

  Susan chuckled. ‘I understand. I know this is a silly question, but what are you doing to do this evening?’

  Megan grinned. ‘What else? Celebrate.’

  Jonas nearly ran down the ER hallway in his rush to find Megan. Her shift had ended twenty minutes ago and he was afraid that Susan had come and gone.

  He stopped in front of the nurses’ station. ‘Where’s Megan?’ he barked at Karen, the clerk who’d taken over Louise’s duties for this shift.

  ‘She left.’

  He ran his hands over his short hair. ‘Do you know if she talked to Susan Forbes?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And what? They talked. That’s all I can tell you.’ She frowned at him. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Nothing. Did Megan say anything before she left?’

  ‘Yeah. She gave me a message for you.’

  He waited expectantly. ‘And?’ Did he have to drag every little word out of people today?

  ‘She said to tell you there’s a change in plans.’

  He raised his voice. ‘A change in plans?’

  ‘That’s what she said.’

  Too upset to stand still, he started to pace. ‘Did she say anything else?’

  Karen paused from her task of sorting files. ‘Yeah, but I can’t remember for sure. Something about…’ Her voice died.

  He stopped in his tracks and forcibly lowered his tone.

  ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but can you, please, just spit it out?’

  Karen sniffed, clearly used to high-strung physicians. ‘Well, aren’t we in a bad mood? If you’re in such an all fired hurry, ask her yourself.’

  ‘She’s gone,’ he reminded her.

  Karen waved to a spot over his shoulder. ‘I was wrong. If you hurry, you can catch her.’

  Jonas swirled to see the back of Megan’s head as she passed through the exit. Not caring what his colleagues thought, he dashed after her and burst through the glass door as he called her name.

  She stopped on the sidewalk and turned, and the tears on her face sent his heart sinking like a block of cement. Hurrying to meet her halfway, he sidestepped the foot traffic and held out his arms.

  ‘Oh, Jonas,’ she cried, as she flew into his outstretched arms.

  He hugged her close, wishing he could turn the clock back to the morning before Carl Walker had come into the ER. ‘It’s OK,’ he murmured in her ear as he stroked her soft hair.

  ‘Oh, Jonas.’ Her voice sounded choked, but there was a note he couldn’t quite describe. ‘I can’t believe it. It doesn’t seem possible.’

  ‘Then you talked to Susan.’ He stated the obvious.

  ‘Oh, yes. I decided that I couldn’t wait. She gave me the results and then we talked for a while, but you never did come back. How’s the motorcycle guy?’

  She’d just heard bad news and was worried about someone else? ‘He’s fine. What did Susan say? Was the test positive?’

  Megan dug in her purse with one hand while she swiped her cheeks with the other. ‘Here. I’ll let you read it for yourself.’

  ‘Tell me,’ he demanded.

  She stared at him, incredulous. ‘I thought I did.’

  ‘No,’ he said patiently, as if talking to a child. ‘You didn’t.’

  She grinned. ‘He’s negative.’

  ‘Negative?’

  She nodded as she handed over the paper Susan had given her. ‘Everything was negative, including his repeat HIV screen. Su
san can’t explain it, except he must have had some interfering substance in his sample when the lab tested it the first time.’

  Unable to contain himself, Jonas picked her up and swung her around. She squealed with delight. ‘Put me down, Jonas. People are watching.’

  ‘Who cares?’ he said, although he slowly let her feet touch the concrete. He’d been fretting over the idea of leaving town without a solid support system for her in place, and now he could rest easy.

  ‘You scared me to death,’ he scolded her good-naturedly. ‘When?’

  ‘When I saw you crying.’

  ‘Those were tears of joy.’

  He knew exactly what she meant because he wouldn’t have minded shedding a few himself.

  ‘Would you mind if we changed our plans this evening?’ Megan asked as Jonas parked on the street in front of the town’s bandstand.

  Jonas turned off the ignition key, realizing he’d forgotten that part of Karen’s message in all the excitement. ‘I thought the rule was that we were supposed to stick to our plan, no matter what.’

  ‘I know. It’s just that…’ Her voice faded as she stared up at him.

  ‘It’s just what?’

  ‘I feel so antsy, like I’m about to jump out of my skin.’

  ‘The weatherman predicted a storm. You’re probably feeling all that electricity building up.’

  ‘What I feel doesn’t have anything to do with a storm. I’m so happy, I want to just explode with it.’

  Jonas grinned. ‘A concert is a little too tame for you?’

  ‘Crazy, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘I’ve decided that I don’t want to be a spectator tonight. I want something physical, for lack of a better word.’

  He had his own ideas of physical activity, but this was her night and unless it was her suggestion, he’d keep his thoughts to himself.

  ‘It’s not crazy. You bottled up so much emotion and now it wants to come out.’ He clenched the steering-wheel with a white-knuckled grip. ‘What did you have in mind?’

  ‘Tennis?’

  ‘No racquets.’

  ‘Jogging?’

  He pointedly glanced at her clothes. She was wearing a thigh-length skirt and short-sleeved blue sweater while he’d donned a pair of tan chinos and a green plaid cotton shirt. ‘We’re not dressed for it.’

  ‘Golf.’

  He pointed to the horizon. ‘It’ll be dark soon. Why don’t we hit a bucket of balls at the driving range?’

  Her face brightened. ‘Great. I haven’t played for so long, I can use the practice.’

  After she sliced and hooked her way through half a bucket, Jonas could tell she hadn’t been stretching the truth.

  ‘I give up,’ she said, holding out the three-wood club she’d borrowed.

  ‘You can’t. Not yet.’ Jonas put his arms around her and helped her with a few practice swings. ‘Keep your head down,’ he instructed, hardly able to think straight with her scent teasing his nose.

  He positioned a ball in front of them and swung. ‘Like that,’ he said.

  She tried it on her own and hooked it toward the groundskeeper.

  ‘Fore!’ Jonas yelled seconds before the man ducked and saved himself a headache.

  ‘Oh, my gosh.’ Megan covered her mouth with her hands. ‘Maybe I should quit before we have to call for an ambulance.’

  ‘You’re doing fine,’ Jonas said. ‘Let’s try again.’ He gripped her hands in his as he went through the motion of swinging again. Having her nestled against him as he worked on her form and technique was like torture. After ten minutes, sweat broke out on his forehead and he wondered how he’d continue.

  She turned her head so that her breath kissed his cheek. ‘Maybe we should leave.’

  ‘Leave? Now?’ He didn’t know if he was glad or disappointed.

  ‘I’d like to go home.’

  ‘Home?’ He was starting to sound like a parrot. ‘You want to go home so soon?’

  She twisted in his arms to face him. ‘Your home. Not mine.’

  Jonas couldn’t believe what he was hearing and he mentally shook himself out of his dream.

  ‘Your house,’ she said softly. ‘Remember how you told me that I should do something for me?’

  Did he remember? His imagination hadn’t stopped running since. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Well, this is it. This is the something I want to do for me. And you,’ she tacked on. ‘If you want, that is.’

  ‘Oh, I want. I definitely want.’ He grabbed the club she’d been using and returned the half-empty bucket of golf balls to the clubhouse.

  During the fifteen-minute drive to his place, he let Megan fiddle with the radio station settings until a romantic soft-rock song drifted out of the speakers.

  She pointed in the distance as a thin flash of lightning skewered the sky. ‘It looks like rain.’

  ‘What did I tell you?’ He parked in his driveway and ushered her inside. ‘Let me check on Penny. She usually goes nuts when I come home.’

  He didn’t need to check on Penny—he knew she’d be content unless he opened the door to the backyard. He simply needed a few minutes to compose himself and to think this through. Whatever happened in the next few minutes, the next few hours, would completely change the tone of his relationship with Megan.

  As he’d suspected before he peered through the glass, Penny was lying on the blanket he’d provided, her eyes closed.

  ‘Is she OK?’

  He turned to discover Megan standing a few steps away. ‘Are you sure about this?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Don’t expect anything permanent,’ he cautioned. ‘I won’t.’

  ‘Would you like a glass of champagne?’

  She smiled. ‘Later.’

  ‘What about…?’

  Megan stepped forward. ‘You’re talking way too much.’

  ‘I am, aren’t I?’ he said as he drew her close.

  She freed the top two buttons of his shirt. ‘Need I remind you that this is my evening?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And as hard as it is to find a sitter, this could well be our only chance to be together for a while.’

  He didn’t need further urging. He whipped off his shirt, then hers. ‘Are you ready for action?’

  She stood on tiptoe to reach his mouth as he flicked the catch on her bra strap. ‘Ready, willing and able.’

  Megan had never realized two bodies could generate such heat. Everything about Jonas whirled around her until she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. His scent, the mint on his breath and his touch rolled over her like ocean waves, wrapping her in his essence.

  Her legs moved, although she didn’t understand why or where they were taking her until she felt as if gravity had disappeared and she was lying on something soft. His bed, the analytical portion of her brain identified.

  Zippers rasped and more clothes disappeared as if by magic. A heartbeat later, nothing, not even air, separated them.

  She ran her hands along his body, noticing the play of muscles in his arms and shoulders as he paid her equal homage. His skin was rough and the wiry hair tickled her skin as he slid over her.

  ‘Are you sure?’ He sounded hoarse as he whispered his question against her mouth.

  ‘More than anything,’ she mumbled.

  She’d never dreamed how high she could soar with Jonas as a part of her. Her body trembled as she left the world behind on a flight that seemed to last for hours before she fell to earth in his arms.

  Slowly he pulled away but she grunted her protest and he didn’t go far. He simply tucked her against him and let the afterglow continue its soothing warmth.

  Words seemed trite, so she simply let the night air wash over them. The darkness was cozy, but an occasional flash of lightning reminded her of the powerful forces they’d unleashed in this very room.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said when she could speak again.

  ‘I should be thanking you,’ he said. ‘That was fantastic.’


  ‘What can I say? We’re a great team.’

  As soon as she’d said it, a tremendous sense of loss came over her. They might be a great team but, no matter how much she wanted it to be otherwise, Jonas didn’t form partnerships that lasted. If only knowledge could override emotions.

  Megan knew nothing would come from this evening but, as she’d told him, she’d wanted this for herself. He would leave, but before then she’d enjoy what moments she could.

  After this particular moment, though, she didn’t understand how Jonas could walk away as easily as he did. His life could be much more full if he let himself stop wandering. If she wasn’t able to convince him, she’d let him go, but she couldn’t imagine falling in love with anyone else.

  Then, because she wanted to keep the mood light, she asked, ‘Should we break out the champagne?’

  ‘I thought you wanted to go to Painter’s Point?’

  She stroked his chest. ‘We could, but I think our storm will hit before we can get there.’

  ‘It already has,’ he said before he trailed kisses down her neck. ‘And if I have anything to say about it, it’s going to last for hours and hours.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  ALONE at two a.m., but not by choice, Jonas should have been asleep, but Megan’s scent had permeated his bedroom to the point where he couldn’t close his eyes without imagining her beside him.

  It had been an evening he would never forget, even if he lived to be a hundred and ten. Being with Megan had given him such a sense of belonging, a sense of connection that he’d never felt so strongly in his entire life.

  His interlude with Megan wasn’t supposed to have been like that. Sure, he’d expected to enjoy himself, to give pleasure as well as take it, but he hadn’t dreamed that the experience would make all others pale in comparison.

  Everything about this was so right. No one else had ever made him feel as if he was the other half of a whole. From the moment she’d undone his shirt buttons to the time when they’d sipped champagne on his bed, he’d felt as if they were two wheels with perfectly matched cogs holding them in place.