Harlequin Medical Romance July 2015 - Box Set 2 of 2: Her Playboy's SecretTaming Her Navy DocHer Family for Keeps

by Tina Beckett

  The closer he got to Rebel, the harder it was for her to get away, to run away from her past when confronting it right here and now was going to heal it. He knew it. He just had to make her believe it. “Don’t belittle someone else’s experiences because you don’t think they’re as tough as yours. Open your eyes, Rebel. There’s plenty of pain and suffering for everyone. We see it roll through the ER every damned day. There’s also enough joy and love and faith and hope for all of us. Including you, Rebel. Come out of the darkness for just a second into the light that’s right in front of you.” Like he was. Standing right in front of her, and she couldn’t see him. See the potential right in front of her face.

  At that moment lightning flashed again, followed quickly by a roll of deep thunder. The gods themselves seemed to want to have some input into their discourse.

  “I. Can’t.” Tears now fell, and she covered her face with her hands. “Oh, Duncan, I’m sorry, so sorry that you lost your fiancée and for all the pain your family has suffered. But I don’t have your courage. It’s too painful. Everyone leaves or dies, and I can’t take it. I couldn’t take it if I lost you, too.”

  “So you won’t even try? You are worthy of being loved, worthy of having the greatest thing ever happen right here, right now.” He wanted to comfort her, but it wasn’t what she needed right now. He also wanted to shake her to make her see how crazy her thinking was.

  He stepped back as the first raindrops fell. There was nothing else he could say right now to change her mind. He’d put it all out there. There rest was up to her. Vanquishing her demons was within her power. He just didn’t know if she would pick up the sword. He unlocked the door to the truck and let her in, then returned to the plane to lock it down and put the covers on.

  Soaking wet, he got into the truck and started it, not looking directly at Rebel. She sat with her eyes closed, as if that would prevent her from seeing the world around her.

  “I’m sorry you got wet. I should have helped you.”

  “It’s fine.” He negotiated the wet streets until he arrived at her apartment complex.

  “Thank you for the amazing weekend. I won’t forget it.” She straightened, then unbuckled herself and opened the door. “I’ll see you at the hospital.” The smile she tried to paste on was pathetic. His words had apparently had no impact on her.

  He watched as she dashed through the rain to her front door, waited until she entered her apartment, then drove away into the deepening night knowing that once again he’d bet money on the wrong horse.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  WORK SUCKED. THE SUMMER was shaping up to be one of the hottest on record. Tempers flared. People lost their patience on the freeways and crashed like dummies, drank to levels of idiocy and got into fights with their relatives, or committed acts of stupidity that landed them in the ER.

  For the next few weeks all staff worked overtime, gave up their summer fun to take care of the never-ending stream of patients rolling into the hospital, and became the most tightly knit group Rebel had ever seen.

  “I knew this was a busy place, but this is as crazy as some of the big city hospitals I’ve worked in.” Rebel sat at the desk with Herm and a few other nurses, taking the opportunity to have a quick lunch.

  “We’re a level-one trauma unit for the entire state. No one else has the ability to care for trauma the way we do here.” Herm nodded, obviously proud of the work this hospital performed.

  “How long have you been here?” She was curious. In her life, relationships and jobs were all short term. People who stayed in one place fascinated her.

  “I was born in this hospital, and I feel like I never left!”

  Shared laughter warmed a little of the ice in her chest.

  The fragrant and distinct smell of green chili got her attention, and she froze as Duncan joined the conversation. A plate of green chili cheese fries sat in front of him as he stood at the counter.

  “Hey, Duncan. When’s the chili going to be ready?” one of their coworkers asked.

  “Very soon. Report from the ranch is that things are looking good.” His gaze honed in on Rebel, and he tipped his head to her. “Things are looking very good.”

  “What’s the heat level? I can’t find the extra-hot stuff in town.” Another person posed the question.

  Keeping his eyes on Rebel, he answered the question. “Yes, we have the hot stuff. So hot you’ll need a cold shower.”

  “That’s the stuff I’m talking about. I want it to make me sweat.”

  “Oh, you’ll definitely be sweating.” Everyone at the table got animated, eager in their anticipation of the new crop of chili. Everyone except for Herm, who raised his brows at Rebel.

  “What?” She cleared her throat. “Um…I like green chili, too.” The flush up her neck betrayed her lie. It wasn’t only green chili she liked, and Herm knew it.

  “I see.”

  And then the moment was gone when the doors burst open with an ambulance crew, fire crew, and police all looking like they’d been at some smoke-filled rave.

  Strapped on the gurney lay a firefighter, having succumbed to burns and inhalation of smoke during a structure fire. She’d never seen so many impressive men and women at one time.

  “Trauma one,” Herm instructed, and pointed to the room. “Gina and Candy, you’re on it. Duncan, you’re it for now. Rebel, crowd control, then suit up and come in.”

  Everyone sprang to action at the direction of the charge nurse. He knew who he had working with them, their skills and where they would best be utilized.

  The overpowering stench of smoke invaded the entire emergency room. The highly sensitive sprinkler system clicked on and purged the main area with water from the ceiling.

  “Out! Everyone who smells like smoke, take it outside!” Rebel waved her hands to get the attention of the firefighters, whose only focus was on their fallen comrade. “I’m sorry, everyone. Please go outside and ditch the stinky stuff, then come back.”

  She dialed the operator. “Please call off the 911 alarm, half the department is here. We need Maintenance for water cleanup.” She herded the first responders to the waiting area reserved for VIPs. There was nothing like the support of your peers, who in this case were like family, to help through the tough times.

  “I want to know what’s going on in there.” The tallest woman she’d ever seen emerged from beneath protective gear. She was strong, fit, but highly agitated. Her hair was a wild, iron gray and her steel-blue eyes pinned Rebel in her spot. Tension filled the posture of her shoulders and the tightness around her lips. This was a woman who was used to being in control and had suddenly gotten lost in unfamiliar surroundings.

  “I’m Rebel, one of the nurses—”

  “Kat Vega, Station Nine Commander. What’s going on with Jimmy?” There was no handshake, no polite query.

  “Right at the moment he’s being assessed by Dr. McFee and the trauma team.” She held her hands out to stop the tirade of questions she knew was going to be coming. “I can’t answer any more questions, because I just don’t know. I’ll go in there and check his condition. When I have something to report I’ll be back.”

  “You’d better be, or we’ll be coming in there to find you.” The woman with pain in her eyes turned away from Rebel. She held her hands out to two of her crew members, who clasped them and pulled her into a tight hug. Though she was obviously tough, she depended on these men to hold her up in times of need.

  These people weren’t afraid to feel. They embraced every second of it because they never knew if it would be their last. Rebel hurried from the scene and hoped she would have good news to share. Her meager concerns and needs dropped away in the face of real tragedy. She hoped this firefighter was made of strong stuff, because he had a long road to recovery.

  “I’m back.”

  “What’s going on out there?” Herm asked. “I heard alarms.”

  “Those firefighters set off the smoke alarms.”

  “What?”
>
  “Yeah. Those guys were so hot they set off the sprinkler system. Literally.” Rebel contained herself, knowing the situation was serious, but any chance at levity helped people perform better by cutting some of the tension right out of the air. “What do you need?” To prevent the chance of bringing any infection to this patient, she pulled on a protective gown and mask as she entered the room that stank to high heaven of smoke.

  “He’s got one IV in, but we can’t get another one in. Both arms are burned and Doc’s going to put in a central line.” Herm supplied the information. Though his voice was casual, tension filled the lines on his face and the concern in his eyes. The man was not immune to the stress of the job.

  “Have you checked his feet?” she asked, and began the process of removing his protective boots. “Sometimes the feet are good, especially since he’s had these big honkers on.”

  Both boots thudded to the floor, and Rebel reached for an eighteen-gauge IV catheter. In seconds she felt the tip enter the vein. “Got it!” Carefully, she secured it and connected the bag of fluids.

  “Get one in the other foot, and we’ll hold off on the central line for the moment.” Duncan spoke to her from behind his protective gear, his voice calm and professional. “Good job, Rebel.”

  “Thanks. I worked burns in a few places and the feet are usually a good bet.” She grinned, excited to share this moment with him, forgetting she was supposed to be maintaining a wide boundary from him and any emotions she didn’t want. He nodded and turned back to the patient. “Need to intubate him right now. I don’t like the look of his saturation level.”

  “He’s got soot in his nose and mouth. Sure sign of inhalation injury.” Rebel clucked her tongue and shook her head. Inhalation injuries destroyed lung tissues if the fire was hot enough, but inhaling smoke suffocated the patient at the blood level.

  “What about a blood transfusion?” Duncan said aloud, almost talking to himself, trying to puzzle out the problem and the solution.

  “That would add fresh oxygen-carrying ability right away, wouldn’t it?” she asked Duncan.

  “Yes.” He nodded and smiled at her and gave a nod of approval that made her flush.

  “Brilliant idea, Doc! You two are quite the team.” After receiving Duncan’s nod, Herm called the blood bank. “Need two units of packed cells right now. I’m sending someone for it.” He hung up and turned to Rebel. “See why that scavenger hunt is so important?”

  She removed her protective gear and dashed toward the blood bank, but skidded to a halt, changed direction and raced back to the waiting room.

  “Do you have news?” Kat crossed the room in two strides.

  “Yes.” Rebel caught her breath. “We’ve got good IV’s in him, I’m going to blood bank now, and we’re going to transfuse him.”

  “I’ll go.” A blond firefighter stepped forward.

  “Me, too.” Another one approached.

  “I can donate.” And another.

  Several people rushed her at once, willing and eager to donate their life-giving blood to help their friend. Their eagerness and intensity impressed Rebel. Never in her life had she had friends the way this Jimmy did. And she wanted them. More than almost anything else, she wanted to belong, wanted people to call her own, friends to depend on.

  “It might not all go to him, but come with me, and we’ll see if they can take your donations now.” Rebel led the way to the basement, negotiating the way as if she’d run this route a hundred times.

  In minutes she had the two units of blood in her hands, the proper paperwork, and had set up two donors with the blood bank.

  Rebel returned to the ER, huffing and puffing, out of breath. “I have…it…here.” She held up the two pints of red stuff.

  “Are you okay, chica?” Gina asked.

  “Out…of breath…for some…reason.” She was in good shape. Why running up a few flights of steps should wind her, she didn’t know.

  “It’s the elevation. We’re over five thousand feet here, and you aren’t used to it yet.” Gina verified the blood type was correct with Rebel.

  “How long does it take?” she asked, and took some deep breaths, beginning to feel better. At least the stars spinning around her vision had vanished. Maybe Gina was right. Her gut churned. Maybe Duncan was right too. He’d told her the exact same thing and she hadn’t believed him, hadn’t been willing to believe it. Maybe she was overreacting to symptoms that really weren’t related to the Huntington’s. Maybe.

  “About a month. You might have headaches, hand tremors, too.” Herm supplied the answer. “Keep up the fluids, exercise slower and eat more green chili.”

  “That doesn’t help. Don’t listen to him.” Gina gave her a look of disbelief.

  “Okay, but it won’t hurt anything, will it?” Rebel asked.

  “Green chili never hurt anyone,” Duncan said, amusement in his voice.

  “Good to know, thanks.” She paused and took a step back from him. “Think I’m going to see Jimmy’s friends again. Give them an update.”

  “Oh, his parents are on the way from Belen. The fire chief lady called them.” Herm made a notation on his notepad as he spoke.

  “Where’s Belen?” She had no idea. There were so many little towns around the area.

  “Don’t you remember? I pointed it out to you in the plane—” Duncan began, then stopped talking when the other staff became very interested in the conversation.

  Gulp. Secret out. “Oh. Yes. I remember now.” Face flushed, she returned to the waiting room to escape the knowing looks of her coworkers. They had questions she was not going to be answering. She would be professional. She would do her job, and she would not be caught alone again with Duncan.

  Ten minutes later she was alone with Duncan.

  She went to the staff lounge for coffee and a short break. Burn patients were always intense. Seconds after she turned the coffeemaker on the door swung open and Duncan entered.

  “Oh. Hi.” He paused for a second when he saw her, then recovered and approached. “Coffee?”

  She didn’t make eye contact or even look in his direction, but kept her gaze on the drips of java that came way too slowly out of the pot. “Yes. Coffee.” She was so skillful at trite conversation. She amazed herself. So not! How embarrassing. Did the elevation make her heart beat fast now, too? Or was that Duncan’s presence?

  “You were great.” His voice was low and sexy and rattled her nerves.

  “Oh. Thanks.” Work related…phew! Then she looked at him.

  Mistake.

  The longing in his eyes almost brought her to her knees. The feeling was mutual. “Don’t look at me that way,” she whispered.

  “Why not?” With his gentle hand, he reached out and pushed her hair behind one ear. The gesture was so sweet she wanted to cry.

  “You know how I feel.” Despite her words, her resolve lacked the strength to resist him.

  “I do.” He stepped closer, his voice dropped. “I know how you feel in my arms. How you feel when you put your arms around me and squeeze me.” He moved closer still. Though he didn’t touch her, he pressed his face into her hair and spoke into her ear. “I know how you feel when you let yourself go and how you feel when you let me inside you.”

  “Oh, God, Duncan.” She whispered his name in protest. What was he doing to her? “Please don’t.”

  “Don’t what? Remind you of how good you felt when we were together? Of how you laughed and how you loved me?” He took her hand and moved it around his neck, his chest and abdomen. “Did you forget what I feel like when you touch me?”

  “No, I haven’t forgotten.” She looked up at him, longing now in her own eyes, but curled her hand into a fist. “But it can never be.”

  “Only because you think it can’t.” He pressed a kiss to her palm. “I won’t forget how you felt, and I hope you don’t forget what you felt like because it was real, Rebel, not just some fantasy for you to bring out when no one is looking.”

 
; Tears pricked her eyes. Images of them together at the ranch, in the plane, in the barn in the rain, and snuggled together beneath the covers, skin to skin, bombarded her mind and her heart. This man cared deeply for her. How could she walk away from him, from what they could have? How could she love him and then die too soon?

  The door to the lounge swung open, and Herm stuck his head in. “He’s crashing.”

  They all raced to the trauma room where fifteen firefighters stood around the stretcher of their fallen one.

  “Everyone back up.” Duncan, in command again, pushed his way through the pack of people. “What happened?”

  “His parents arrived and there was a scene,” Gina said. “His mother got hysterical and fainted.”

  “Dammit. Let’s get him settled down again. Give him some more sedation and pain control.” He issued the orders as Rebel ushered everyone from the room.

  “Everyone except Kat has to go.” She led the woman to the head of the bed. “Sit here.” Rebel indicated a stool by the stretcher. “Talk to him. Tell him everything that’s going on, everyone is safe, use their names.”

  “But—” She looked down at Rebel, but sat as directed.

  “Just do it, Commander. He needs to hear a familiar voice to tell him everything out there is okay so he doesn’t worry and can focus on himself.”

  Kat began to talk low, directly into his ear. “Jimmy? It’s Kat. I’m going to tell you what’s going on, like the crazy Rebel nurse said, but you have to relax and let me do the talking and the worrying right now.” She took a breath and gave a questioning look at Rebel. “Trust me to take on your burden.”

  Rebel nodded and backed away from Kat. Even though they were in a room full of people, there was a little privacy she could give them.

  “Rebel, you’re just brilliant,” Herm said as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him. “His oxygen level is better and his heart rate is slowing down.”

  “It’s probably the sedation.” She denied any responsibility for his improvement.