by Annie O'Neil
“This is Leanne Soames, sixteen-year-old girl presenting with compound fracture, presumably the tibial-fibular.” A red-hatted ski medic recited the stats as they unclipped the stretcher from the skidoo.
“Any possibility of hypovolemic shock?” Fraser’s focus on the blood covering Leanne’s sky blue ski suit was laser sharp.
“Negative. Blood loss has been minimal. We happened to be passing as the accident occurred.”
On a quick count, the ski patrollers lifted the stretcher and, with the help of Tara and Fraser, carried Leanne into the clinic, her parents close behind.
Looking into the girl’s terrified face, Tara smiled gently. “Leanne, I’m Dr. Braxton and this is Dr. MacKenzie. We’re going to get you something for the pain straight away.”
“Am I going to be okay?” Fear laced the young woman’s whisper, her complexion drained of color.
“Dr. MacKenzie and I are going to do everything possible to help you heal properly.” Tara realized with a start that she felt complete and utter confidence in offering Fraser’s assistance as well as her own. Her declaration had come naturally. Normally, she liked to work with a doctor for a couple of weeks before passing judgment. Fraser’s ease, his confidence when treating a patient had already made an impact. Her gut told her any patient under his care had little to worry about. They could trust in him fully. She was sure of it. If only she felt as safe.
Tara didn’t risk eye contact with Fraser, instead catching the glance of a familiar ski medic across the stretcher from her.
“Eric! I thought you were off today!”
“I am!” Eric waved away Tara’s concern. “One of the guys scheduled on today had a flat tire so he’s going to be a couple of hours late. I said I’d fill in until he could get up the mountain.”
“Phew! I know Liesel’s been looking forward to her first Thanksgiving. You’d better not let her down or you’ll have me to answer to.”
“Don’t you worry, Dr. B. My mom’s already got her busy making cranberry sauce and heaven knows what all else. She’ll get a good Turkey Day all right!” He shot Tara a playful wink as the team carefully transferred Leanne to the waiting gurney. “Okay, there, Leanne?” Eric leaned over the ashen-faced girl and gave her ear a little tweak. “You’ve given your parents a heck of a fright. Make sure you try and get some pumpkin pie later, you hear?”
“Okay, thank you.” The girl’s voice was barely audible but she managed a weak smile for the curly-haired medic. It was easy to see why Liesel had been attracted to his sunny personality.
“Thanks, Eric. Any allergies?” Tara nodded in Leanne’s direction.
She gave him a nod of thanks as he confirmed Leanne was allergy-free. “You go on now, we’ve got it from here.”
“Great! I’ll just get her parents settled in the waiting room.”
“Thanks, Eric. You’re a gem.” Tara looked across the gurney, forced to connect eyes with Fraser. He was all focus now, fine-tuned to the task at hand. Good. After a quick nod from Tara he began, “Leanne, we are going to give you a local anesthetic for the pain. Have you ever had one before?”
“No, never.”
Tara gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s all right. You’ll be awake, you just won’t feel the pain as we reset your leg.”
Tara and Fraser set about prepping Leanne for X-rays. She was given a strong enough dose of painkiller to take away the immediate pain but not enough to fully sedate her. She was quickly put on an antibiotic drip and, after finding out she hadn’t had a tetanus shot in over five years, Tara injected the correct dosage and assured herself that the teenager’s vital stats would enable them to take her to X-Ray.
Next, Fraser helped Tara to cut away the girl’s ski pants. They cleaned the wound as best they could, and set Leanne’s leg in position for X-rays.
As they worked, Tara was struck by a sense of déjà vu. Working with Fraser was as organic a thing as she had ever experienced. They shared a quiet efficiency of movement and speech as they worked, each gently informing and assuring Leanne with every step they took. She admired the care Fraser took to ensure not to alarm the teen as it became clear she would require surgery on at least two torn ligaments as well as likely require screws in her broken bone, such was the severity of the break. It was a surgery they wouldn’t be able to perform here at the clinic because of the limited facilities.
“Do you mind calling Valley Hospital for me, Dr. MacKenzie? We need to book an ambulance and OR for Leanne as soon as possible.”
“Sure thing, Dr. B.”
Fraser had turned to make the call before Tara could catch his eye, but she was sure she had heard a healthy dose of humor in his stolen nickname for her. Original? No. Sending a nice lazy swirl of heat through her stomach? Definitely.
“Leanne? I’m just going to check your X-rays in the next room, all right?”
After receiving a murmured assent, Tara pushed through the swinging door into the central corridor of the treatment center. As she pushed the X-rays up against the lightbox she was suddenly very aware of a six-foot-something presence behind her—one she was pretty darned sure had a Scottish accent.
“Compound fracture to the tibial-fibular, as predicted. Your ski patrol boys know their stuff.”
Tara felt a blush of pleasure spread across her cheeks despite the fact she knew she didn’t have a single thing to do with hiring the ski patrollers.
“Nothing to do with me,” she quipped, hoping he couldn’t see her flushing like a schoolgirl.
“Well, I know something that has a lot to do with you...” Fraser drew out his sentence as if daring her to guess what he was alluding to.
Tara turned around so quickly she hadn’t realized how close Fraser was standing behind her. Her hands flew to his chest to steady herself and just as quickly she withdrew them. Touching Fraser anywhere, let alone on his muscular chest, was beginning to severely curtail her verbal skills.
“Don’t worry, Tara. I don’t bite.”
“Of course not. Don’t be silly, I... You just startled me by being right...there.” Winning comeback, Tara.
He looked down at her with a quirked eyebrow. “Shall we get to Leanne and start the realignment?”
“Absolutely. After you, Dr. MacKenzie.” And another conversational gold star! Being mute might be an option for the rest of the season.
Back in the exam room, Tara felt her senses realign themselves. This was her element. Her zone of focus. With Fraser helping to limit movement from Leanne, Tara deftly realigned the broken bones in order to prevent the fragments from causing further soft-tissue damage. Together, they applied sterile dressings to the open wounds then encased her leg in a soft-set splint that she would wear until she was ready for surgery. Fleeting thoughts of her research, which focused on exactly this type of injury, flew through her head. If she owned the clinic and could save some more, perhaps the research could go ahead one day... She shook the thoughts away. Not possible. Her ex “owned” the rights. Only a hospital could afford to buy them. Owning the clinic was within her reach. Buying back the intellectual rights to the operating technique—her operating technique? Way out of her price range.
Tara relinquished her spot in the ambulance so Leanne’s parents could ride along with her. There were two EMTs on board, so any concerns that might pop up in the hour-long journey to Valley Hospital could be dealt with.
Leanne’s parents, whilst clearly worried for their daughter, were able to make some half-hearted jokes about raiding the closed bakery so they could sneak some pie into the hospital they would undoubtedly be spending the next few nights in.
After waving the ambulance off, Tara gratefully re-entered the warm clinic. Pulling her hair out of the ponytail she’d bundled it into when Leanne had arrived, Tara allowed herself a moment to close her eyes, lean against the clinic wall and take a few slow breaths. She sure could do with one of Marian’s lattes right about now.
“A lukewarm gingerbread latte for your thoughts?”
“It’s after lunch. Marian’s closed for the holiday at noon, I think.” Wow. And strike three in top comebacks of the year award!
“Not unless you plan ahead!” Fraser’s eyes shone merrily as he pulled a tall latte cup out from behind his back, along with a familiar-looking bakery bag. He crooked a free index finger, beckoning her to come to the reception desk. “I got these earlier, but was, um, waylaid by a certain dancing doctor.”
Tara cringed at the memory of their swinging-door collision. “If you don’t mind it being heated up in the microwave, it would be my pleasure to zap it for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” Tara felt her heart give a giddy skippity-hop. She hadn’t given a single thought as to why he’d appeared at the clinic this morning. Fraser’s gesture genuinely touched her. She knew it might seem small to some people, certainly to her ex who didn’t “do gestures”. He’d made her feel a fool more than once when she had left little notes in his pocket, a chocolate kiss in his briefcase. She’d never once received a surprise gift or otherwise from him.
Not that it was presents she was after. Sighting a spring daffodil gave her more joy than expensive displays of affection. It was the gesture that was important. Despite her ex’s attempts to wean her off her “silly affectations”, quiet little niceties remained her favorite way of showing people she cared for them.
But now, here, Fraser was virtually able to read her mind— You’d better stop that thought process right now.
“Yes.” Fraser twisted the cup round with his long fingers before putting it on the counter, seemingly oblivious to the coil of heat he’d ignited in her chest. “I did. I needed to come back.”
Tara looked up at him, struck by the sobriety of his voice. A shot of guilt made her catch her breath at the sight of his blackening eyes. “Whatever for?”
“I didn’t think we got off to the best start yesterday.”
“And today wasn’t much of an improvement.” Tara’s hands flew to her mouth as the words slipped out.
Fraser threw back his head and howled with laughter. Hardly the reaction she’d expected. Hadn’t he felt the same body-jarring wonder when they’d kissed? A kiss she would no doubt relive again and again in her bachelorette apartment upstairs once he’d gone. A kiss she could never again experience in real life if she were to keep on track as a lone wolf.
“Oh, Fraser, I—”
“It’s all right,” he interrupted, coughing away the rest of his laughter. “I know this can’t be anything. We can’t be anything.” He raked a hand through his dark hair, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. “I suspect you’ve figured this out already, but I am the last person on earth you would want to get involved with.”
“Of course. Why would I want to do something like that?” Tara felt her breath constricting in her throat as she added on a fervent nod of confirmation that getting together with Fraser MacKenzie was the last thing on her mind.
He was right. Who were they kidding? She’d been doing really well on her own. Her emotional Geiger counter was barely able to take on board the heady highs and lows she’d experienced over the last twenty-four hours. Who knew what a week, a month, a lifetime of emotional tailspin with Fraser MacKenzie would do to her?
“Friends?” He held out a hand. The same hand that had tenderly pulled her close in to his muscled chest just a couple of hours earlier.
“Of course. Colleagues and friends,” she replied brightly. Perhaps a bit too brightly but, of course, it was the right decision. The only path they could take. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
She waved away his hand, unable to trust herself to touch him again. “Go on, get out of here. You were a great help today, but you really should get something cold on that nose of yours.”
*
As the wintry air bit at his face, Fraser felt his nose throb. Good. He deserved to feel a good wallop of pain. Pain he definitely deserved. What had he been thinking? Kissing Tara as though he was going to offer her love and protection chased up by a weak-handed offering of friendship? He would’ve refused to shake his hand as well.
If his brother were alive, he would have frog-marched him right back into the clinic, demanding Fraser apologize immediately. Fraser scrubbed his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath of the freezing mountain air.
It was at times like this he really missed Matt. Like a piece of him was missing. The man had had more moral fiber in him than the whole of the army. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to bring him back.
Fraser broke a personal rule and allowed himself a few minutes to relive the worst day of his life as he strode along the snowy path to his condo. He may as well have been running a high-def video in his head. Still as crystal clear as the day it had happened. He stopped to throw a snowball at a tree to see if that helped dull the memories. Nope. No good.
Wiping the remains of the snowball from his gloves, he looked up to see the impressive central lodge house rising up above him at the end of Main Street. The large wooden hotel looked as though it could have been made out of gingerbread it was so picture perfect. Dusk was hinting at setting in, the slopes emptying as skiers sought out food, warmth, companionship. Through the windows Fraser could see the lodge’s restaurant was alive with the happy laughter and chatter of families, loved ones coming together to share their Thanksgiving meal.
Standing still in the snow, letting his eyes flit from table to table of smiling faces, Fraser felt himself soften a little.
His behavior had been lacking. Sorely so. Taking in a deep draft of air, he let his shoulders drop as he exhaled.
Would there ever be a right time? A time to let go of the past? Somewhere in him he knew he could not use his brother’s death as an excuse to keep the people he held dear to him at bay forever. He was grateful his parents hadn’t been alive to bury their youngest son, but that didn’t make things better. Not by a long shot. He’d left his sister-in-law and niece and nephew to deal with the numbing grief of loss all on their own. The number of times he’d nearly jumped on a plane...
Fraser changed his course and headed towards the ski lifts. Maybe a run on a black diamond would help shut down a thought process he wasn’t ready to have. Yes. It had been awful. Yes. There were decisions he could have made that day that might have saved Matt. Then again, he could just as easily have become a victim of the crossfire as well. Then neither he nor his brother would be alive. And, more importantly, no one would be in a position to provide for Matt’s family, as he was now. He knew the anonymous monthly deposits he made into a trust set up in their name would never replace his brother’s presence, but it was something. Not that he had seen or spoken to them since the funeral. They were good people. They didn’t deserve a regular reminder of their husband and father’s killer.
CHAPTER FOUR
TARA’S FINGERS PLAYED idly with the aspirin bottle. She had a cracking headache and was pretty sure she knew why. A perfectly formed, six-foot-two, dark-chocolate-locked headache. Had she mentioned the crystal-clear blue eyes that made her swoon like a damsel in distress whenever she saw them? No? Well, those gave her a headache, too.
Not even three hours of patients after Leanne left, her fail-safe plan for keeping dark thoughts at bay, had proved a tonic to the pain. Neither had the missed call from New York City she’d seen on her mobile. Typical of her ex—not even enough time to leave her a message. It was how he’d always done it. She was just supposed to know that when his number flashed on her screen she was meant to be available. She was glad she’d missed the call. She hardly needed more reminders that her life wasn’t strictly going as planned.
What was it about her that made men want to run away? Her ex hadn’t even been able to stay faithful before fleeing the coop. Admittedly, he’d had double the reason to run, having also stolen a year’s worth of her breakthrough r
esearch. Research that could have launched her career amongst the medical elite. Instead, he had taken credit for her advances in orthopedic care and had published everything under his own name. The move stamped his name on the technique and with the addition of registered intellectual rights, made him the only one who could approve other doctors performing the surgery. Classy.
She placed her fingers on her temples in a vain attempt to rub away the throbbing pain. At least the patients would benefit from her innovations one day. Which was the entire point of it all.
To be honest, the world of lab research had never been for her. She had enjoyed discovering new ways to advance patient healing, and would definitely agree to continue her research if it involved being in a hospital or clinic because being here in Deer Creek, meeting patients and giving hands-on help was exactly what she loved. She was giving frontline help to patients.
The satisfaction she felt from every single day at the clinic was a tenfold improvement on attending yet another fundraising cocktail party her ex had bullied her into attending to climb yet another rung on the social ladder. The truth was she had done the research because she’d wanted to make a difference. A real impact. And that was exactly what she had been doing here in this little mountain hamlet. Making a difference.
Now all that remained was to see if she could clean up the disastrous oil spill of emotions Fraser had unleashed in her. He was right. Friends was the best way to go. The only way to go. It was obvious to Tara she wasn’t over the hurt she’d suffered in New York. At the very least she knew she wasn’t ready to trust anyone romantically yet. Not by a long shot.
Fraser’s arrival was serving as a potent reminder that sticking to the lone-wolf survival plan was the only way forward.
Tara flicked the aspirin bottle across the desk in a satisfying series of spins. Woohoo! This was shaping up to be pretty much the worst Thanksgiving ever.
Sighing, she looked at the big clock hanging above her desk.