Her Kind of Doctor

by Stella Bagwell

  “You’re still a young man, Luke.”

  “Physically I’m thirty-six,” he admitted. “Mentally, I feel at least seventy.”

  Because of his work, she wondered, or his personal life? She wanted to ask, but decided it would be nicer if he’d share his feelings without her prodding him.

  “Grandfather would say your mind is still young,” she teased.

  Glancing up, he gave her a wry smile. “Your grandfather sounds like an inspirational person.”

  “He’s helped me get through some rough times,” she admitted. “When no one else cared he was always there for me.”

  “You’re blessed to have him. But I can see you already know that.”

  She wanted to ask him if he had anyone like her grandfather in his life. His parents? A sibling? Or a friend? Maybe one of these days he would tell her more about himself. Until then, she could only wonder.

  “Yes, I’m very blessed to have Grandfather.”

  A few minutes later, the food on their plates had been consumed and the last of the coffee drained from their cups. Luke paid the bill and drove back to the hospital parking lot so Paige could collect her car. By now the morning sun was high in the sky and Paige was going to have to rush through her errands if she expected to get home and get some sleep before the evening shift started again.

  He must’ve been reading her thoughts. As he parked in an empty spot next to her car, he said, “I’ve cut into your morning. You’re not going to get much rest today.”

  She glanced over at him as she unsnapped her seat belt. “Neither are you.”

  “I’ll be fine. Besides, having breakfast with you was nice. It was worth every minute.”

  His words knocked the breath from her and before she could gather it back, he leaned across the console and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

  The touch of his lips against her skin was electric, making the whole side of her face tingle. As he eased away from her, she desperately wanted to press her hand against the burning sensation, but somehow she kept it planted firmly in her lap. Not for anything did she want him to know how much the simple kiss had affected her.

  “Why…did you do that?”

  A grin transformed his face in a way that Paige had never seen before. His expression was playful and teasing and far too sexy for her rattled senses to contend with.

  “Isn’t it customary for a man to thank a woman for joining him for a meal?”

  “Not with us,” she blurted. “Not like that.”

  He chuckled and in spite of the warning bells going off in her head, the sound of his pleasure had her heart singing.

  “Why? Because I’m a doctor and you’re a nurse?”

  If she didn’t get out of this car—and quick—she was going to need emergency care herself, Paige thought.

  “Something like that,” she murmured.

  “We’re also a man and a woman.”

  “Since when?”

  Another chuckle rolled out of him and then he climbed out of the car and came around to open her door. When he reached to help her out, Paige placed her hand firmly in his and wondered how long it had been since she’d been out with a man who made her feel weak in the knees. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this way.

  This time you spent with Luke Sherman wasn’t a date. And forget about the way his strong hand feels against yours. He’s out of your league. Besides that, he’s volatile. A man that can instantly go from cold to hot obviously has issues that you can’t fix.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she managed to fight off the voice going off in her head and gave him a smile. “Thank you for the breakfast, Luke.”

  “You’re very welcome. See you tonight.”

  He dropped her hand, but instead of giving her a measure of relief, she felt lost.

  “Yes. See you tonight,” she replied, then hurried to her car before he could guess how much this morning with him had upended her world.

  Chapter Six

  Four days later as the evening shift neared midnight, four car-crash victims arrived in the ER, sending the whole staff into a flurry. Luke prioritized his focus on the two most critical patients, who’d suffered internal injuries. After stabilizing them enough to be transported to surgery, he turned his attention to the remaining two. Both had experienced broken limbs and head lacerations, the last of which had required numerous stitches. By the time he’d finished with the outer wounds and sent them to X-ray, the front of his lab coat had been smeared with blood and his legs felt like he’d worked twenty hours nonstop instead of seven.

  When he finally reached a spot where he could take a small break, he stopped by the nurses’ station and informed Helen he was taking ten minutes in the doctors’ lounge.

  The head nurse pursed her lips. “You need more than ten minutes, Dr. Sherman. It’s been a madhouse back there. Take whatever time you need. If anything critical arrives, I’ll call you. Otherwise, the nurses can deal with the sore throats and bumps and bruises until you get back.”

  Grateful for Helen’s thoughtfulness, he nodded. “Thanks, Helen.” He started to step away from the counter, then paused. “By the way, have you gotten any word on the critical patients yet?”

  With a sober shake of her head, she said, “Still in surgery. Dr. Lyons is working on the female. Dr. Simmons has the male. The last I heard they were both alive.”

  “That’s something, at least,” he said.

  “That’s everything.”

  Luke walked on to the doctor’s lounge, while mulling over Helen’s parting words. Being alive was everything. No one knew that more than Luke. Each time a car-crash victim was wheeled into the treatment room, he felt something cold and robotic come over him. As he dealt with injuries, whether minor or critical, his emotions would shut off completely. For those tense minutes nothing existed beyond the patient in front of him. It wasn’t until later, after the patients were sent to long-term care, that Luke allowed his blocked feelings to return. And once the flood of emotions returned to him, so did images of his parents.

  Even though Wells and Beatrice Sherman had died five years ago, questions about their last hours on this earth still nagged at Luke. Maybe it was the doctor in him that wondered what had gone on in the ER where they’d been taken after their car had crashed on a foggy mountain road. Had they been conscious and aware of their surroundings? Had the attending physician worked frantically to save them? And when they’d died had that doctor felt sick with loss? The same way Luke felt whenever he lost a patient?

  Oh, God, why couldn’t he let it all go? Luke wondered. His parents were gone. No amount of questions or answers would bring them back.

  You can’t let it go, Luke, because you caused their deaths. You with your lofty ambitions and your need to be more than a poor mechanic’s son. If you’d never left the coal-mining hills of West Virginia they’d still be alive. But you did leave and you should’ve stayed gone. A person can never go home. Never.

  The tormenting voice going around in his head was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door of the lounge opening. As he shrugged out of the bloodstained lab coat, he turned to see Paige stepping into the room. The anxious look on her face had him thinking his ten-minute break was going to end before it started.

  “I apologize for interrupting, Luke. When you left the treatment area I thought…you didn’t look well. Are you okay?”

  In the five years he’d worked at Tahoe General, he couldn’t remember one nurse asking him that simple question. The fact pointed out just how much he was disliked. On the other hand, the notion that Paige cared enough to ask warmed him.

  “Yes. I’m fine. Thank you for asking, Paige.” He balled up the dirty lab coat, then carried it over to a closet where he kept a duffel bag. “Have more patients arrived?”

  “Only what looks to be a shingles case and a heat-exhaustion victim.”

  “I’d better get back.” He pulled a fresh lab coat from a hanger and quickly put it on.

  “Neither are cri
tical, Dr. Sherman. Chavella is already busy cooling the heat victim. You have time to take a few deep breaths.”

  Raking a hand through his hair, he walked over to the couch and sank wearily onto the middle cushion. “I thought you were going to reserve the ‘Dr. Sherman’ for the ER floor.”

  “Old habits die hard.” Her gray eyes full of concern, she eased down beside him. “You look pale.”

  “Don’t worry. The doctor isn’t going to keel over.”

  She gave him a lopsided smile. “That’s good. I’d hate to have to throw water on you.”

  “Hmm. Guess it wouldn’t occur to a nurse to get the smelling salts instead,” he said wryly.

  “No,” she replied, “but I’ll get you a cup of coffee if you’d like. Or a bottle of water.”

  “No thanks. I’ll grab something later.”

  Smiling faintly, she said, “It’s been crazy out there tonight.”

  “That’s the way of the ER. Mundane one minute and chaotic the next.” He rubbed his hands over his face, then glanced at her. In spite of the hectic pace of the past few hours, she looked alert and composed. She also looked incredibly beautiful with her face lightly made up and her hair pulled into a braided bun. Ever since she’d told him she was divorced, he’d been wondering how some fool of a man had let her slip away. “You were great back there.”

  “That’s my job,” she said with a modest shrug of her shoulder. “The same with you.”

  “Yeah. But tonight—I’m not sure I did enough for the critical patients.”

  “You did everything possible. If it hadn’t been for your quick treatment I doubt either of them would’ve made it to surgery.”

  His parents hadn’t made it to surgery, Luke thought sickly. Maybe if he’d been with them he could’ve done something, anything to keep them alive.

  “Luke? Did you hear me?”

  Shaking himself out of the mental fog, he blinked his eyes and focused on her face. “I’m sorry, Paige. Yes, I heard you.” He drew in a deep breath, then slowly released it. “I was thinking about…my parents. They had a car accident and died together in an emergency room.”

  She stared at him for long moments. “I don’t know what to say,” she said softly. “Except that I understand now why you looked shaken.”

  If he appeared shaken now, he could only imagine how he’d looked that night when the state police had found him waiting in the Roanoke airport for his parents to meet him. When the officers had given him the news that they’d both been killed, he’d been in a dazed denial. His mother and father couldn’t both be gone in an instant. Not without some sort of warning. But in the following days of making funeral arrangements and settling their small estate, reality had brutally moved in. And had remained with him ever since.

  Rising to his feet, he muttered, “Now you know, Paige, I’m far from a perfect doctor. There are times when I can’t reel in my emotions. Other times a part of my brain turns off and I run on automatic.”

  She stood quickly and it was an immense relief to have her faint scent swirling around him and feel the comforting warmth of her presence.

  She said, “You’re being melodramatic now.”

  Her terse comment was just what he needed to snap him back on course and he smiled at her. “That’s what I like about you, Paige. You’re not afraid to speak your mind.”

  “As you very well know, there are times I can’t reel in my tongue,” she said teasingly.

  He cupped a hand around her elbow and guided her toward the door. “Come on,” he urged. “We have patients waiting.”

  *

  With an hour to go before the shift ended, Paige stood in the drug dispensary, checking their inventory after a hectic night that had sent nurses racing back and forth for meds. When she heard footsteps behind her, she expected it to be Chavella. Instead, she stared in surprise as Luke walked up to her.

  Ever since she’d found Luke in the lounge, his lab coat bloodied, his face pale, she’d not been able to quit thinking about him. When he’d spoken about his parents’ death, she’d felt his deep loss as much as if she’d suffered it herself. The need to comfort him had been strong and she’d wanted to gather him in her arms and hold him tight.

  Unfortunately, the urge was still with her.

  “Oh, it’s you, Dr. Sherman. Is there something you need?”

  His green eyes suddenly took on an unfamiliar glint, one that had Paige’s heart taking an extra beat.

  “Actually there is. And it’s not meds or gauze or swabs.”

  She glanced around at the shelves stacked with medical supplies. “I’m sorry. But medical supplies are the only thing in here.”

  “Hmm. Looks to me like you’re in here.”

  This was not the same Dr. Sherman who charged through the ER barking orders like some sort of dictator. This wasn’t even the same man who’d pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek a few days ago.

  “Excuse me?”

  He chuckled and Paige watched in dismay as he stepped over and closed the door, cocooning the two of them in the small space.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve not cracked up and have plans to hold you hostage in here.” His expression playfully wicked, he stood in front of her and reached for her hand. “I want to ask you about going on a date with me.”

  Paige’s jaw dropped. Perhaps after their breakfast together, she should’ve seen this coming, but she hadn’t. Not in a million years had she ever considered Luke Sherman asking her on a date.

  Numb with disbelief, she stared at him. “A real date?”

  One corner of his mouth lifted in a humorous slant. “What other kinds are there? Fake ones? Dates of pretense or convenience?”

  A groan of frustration slipped out of her. “You know what I mean!”

  His expression turned serious. “All right, since you seem to be confused, I’ll explain. Yes, I mean a real date. We’ll both be getting off on the Sunday night shift. I thought it would be a good chance for us to go out to dinner, or whatever you’d like to do.”

  This was getting crazier by the second, she thought. “Do you really mean this, Luke, because—”

  “Damn it, Paige,” he interrupted, “would it be more believable if I yelled the invitation to you?”

  “Probably.”

  He rolled his eyes, but the look of annoyance was quickly replaced by a slow, seductive smile. “Sorry, I’m too tired to yell. You’ll just have to take my word that I’m serious.”

  The quick thudding of her heart drummed in her ears as she looked down at his hand wrapped around hers. It was a sight she’d never expected to see and yet it felt right somehow. But did that mean it would be smart to let herself get any closer to this man? The question was too little, too late. Because her heart was already taking over her common sense.

  “Okay. I accept your invitation,” she told him. “Just give me a bit of warning before Sunday night so I’ll know what to wear.”

  “A smile will be sufficient,” he said. “The rest won’t matter.”

  Her brows shot up and, with a faint chuckle, he turned and left the dispensary.

  Feeling as though she’d just ridden out a sudden storm, Paige removed the clipboard jammed beneath her arm and tried to concentrate on the long list of medications. Instead, her mind was spinning with thoughts of Luke.

  Earlier, she’d followed him to the lounge because she’d been concerned about him. Not because he’d made any mistakes, or hesitated for one second about a patient’s care. No, as a doctor, he’d been perfect. He’d saved two young lives with his quick and expert treatment. But later, after the patients had been wheeled away to surgery and he’d finished the last stitch on the remaining accident victim, she’d seen his face go pinched and ashen, his hand tremble as he turned away and peeled off his gloves. It was the first time she’d ever seen the iron doctor show any sort of vulnerability and the sight had shaken her.

  She was still trying to push the disturbing image from her mind, when the door to the dispensary
swung wide and Chavella stepped into the room.

  “Paige, was that Dr. Sherman I just saw leave here?” she asked with a look of confusion.

  No doubt Chavella and every other nurse in the treatment area was wondering what she was doing behind closed doors with Dr. Sherman. His tough attitude toward Paige had always been a talking point among her coworkers, but what would they think when news got around of her upcoming date with the doctor? The gossip mill would go wild with speculation, she thought ruefully.

  “Yes. It was,” she admitted.

  “What happened? He suffered a relapse and came in here to rake you over the coals? Instead of doing it in front of the rest of us nurses?”

  He’d had some sort of relapse, Paige thought, but not the sort Chavella was thinking of.

  “No. He’s not gone back to his tyrannical ways. He—” She paused, unsure about whether she should tell Chavella about the invitation at all. But there was really no reason for secrecy, she decided. She and Luke were both free and single. Besides, no secret was safe around this hospital. “Actually, he came in here to…ask me for a date.”

  Chavella looked so stunned it was comical.

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “Not at all. We’re going out Sunday night. Somehow we both managed to be off at the same time.”

  “Paige! I realize I’ve teased you plenty about Dr. Sherman. But I only did that because…well, all the stuff he’d say to you and the way he treated you—I was just trying to make you feel not so bad about the situation. I honestly didn’t think things between you and the doctor would turn into this!”

  Paige shook her head. “This? Things haven’t come to anything. It’s just an outing between two coworkers. And don’t go telling everyone any differently.”

  Concerned now, Chavella shut the door so that no one could pick up on their conversation. “Listen, Paige, I don’t butt in to your private life—unless you need my help or something. And you don’t interfere in mine. But a date with Dr. Sherman, that’s—”

  She broke off, searching for words, and Paige could’ve told her she was wasting her time. There wasn’t any simple way to describe being in the presence of a man like Luke.