Protecting What's Mine(8)

His build reminded her of the neighbor she’d accidentally spied over her backyard fence in the early dawn hours putting himself through a punishing workout, a yellow lab delightedly shadowing his movements.

Not a bad way to wake up.

“Feel like giving a wounded man a ride home, doc?” Linc asked.

Mack heard the internal swooning of a half-dozen women.

“Sorry, Lefty. I’ve got plans.”

On cue, RS poked her head around the curtain and held up her pager. “Yo, doc. Caught another one. Next shift pilot’s late. Raincheck?”

Mack sent her a wave. “Happy flying, RS. Next shift.”

Linc’s grin broadened. “Looks like you’ve got time to drive me home after all.”





4





Linc liked the conflict he read on her bare face. Freshly showered—her hair smelled like lavender and honey—Doc Dreamy was as attractive in shorts and a worn National Guard shirt as she was in a flight suit.

“Where do you live?” she asked, chewing on that now naked lip as she gave the idea some thought.

“Little town called Benevolence. I’m sure it’s on the way to wherever you’re headed,” he said, all charm now. The sock-in-the-gut speechless reaction he’d had to her on-scene was going to be chalked up to being distracted by his shoulder. Now that he was trussed up like a damn turkey and rehydrated, he was free to focus on those wary green eyes.

“Honey, I don’t care if he lives in South Dakota.” Janice the RN had twenty years on him and barely topped out at five feet even. But she returned his shameless flirting with an expertise he hoped to someday possess. “You drive our boy home and thank us later.”

It was official. Janice was his favorite.

Linc’s cell rang from the depths of his gym bag. Automatically he reached for it with his right hand and winced.

Doc Dreamy—he wondered if knowing her real name would ruin any of the entertaining fantasies he’d concocted while Dr. Ling ruthlessly shoved the head of his damn humerus back into the socket—rolled her eyes.

She took the bag from him and fished out the phone.

“What’s up, Lighthorse?” he said.

“Checking in. Still have both arms?” his friend asked.

“Good as new. In fact, if you’re still at the scene, I can probably swing by and help with cleanup,” he offered.

“No!” Dr. Ling and Doc Dreamy announced together.

Brody laughed. “Sounds like you’ve got some babysitters. We’ve got it under control. DUI, by the way. Truck driver had five doubles at a dive bar before climbing behind the wheel. Ran after the wreck, but the highway patrol found him. One dead. Seventeen injured. Six seriously.”

Linc swore under his breath.

One was too many. A useless death for a selfish, bullshit reason.

“One’s better than I expected,” Brody said.

“Me, too. Still.”

“Yeah. Still. Anyway, I sent the rook to take Sunshine home. Want me to have her swing by the hospital? Give you a lift?”

Linc looked at Doc Dreamy, who was stuffing the patient care instructions he fully intended to ignore into his gym bag.

“Nah. Got it covered. Thanks for taking care of my girl,” he said.

“Your girl probably ate your curtains and pissed on your toaster by now,” Brody predicted.

That sounded about right. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow at the station.”

“For light duty only,” Dr. Ling yelled.

“Busted,” Brody snickered. “Save your energy for the forty tons of paperwork.”

They disconnected, and Doc Dreamy took Linc’s phone and stuffed it in the bag. “Let’s go, Lefty.”

“You want to ask about my girl, don’t you?”

“Nope,” she said, shouldering his bag. “You ready?”

“Dr. Ling?” He extended his left hand and shook hers. “Ladies? Thanks for the superior medical care. Five stars all around.”

“Happy to help,” the doctor said dryly.

He followed the doc out of the curtained-off bay into the bustle of the emergency department. A kid, young from the sounds of it, wailed pitifully from somewhere. A guy in the next bed held a towel soaked with blood over his forehead and stared miserably at his shoes. Nurses—at least the ones of the female persuasion—paused long enough to flash Linc a smile before sailing off to the next patient. They flirted in rotation, folding a wink or a sweet smile in with the rest of their duties.

“Chief! Wait!” Lurlene rushed up, cheeks flushed. “I just heard from the OR. Splenectomy is going well. She’s expected to make it.”

“Thanks, honey.” Linc placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“Said she coded on the way here and the air team brought her back and intubated her. She was real lucky.”

“Yeah, she was,” he murmured, thinking about the devastation caused by one man and his problem. “Nice save, doc.”

Dreamy looked embarrassed. “You ready?” she asked abruptly.

His very attractive chauffeur looked like she was ready to crawl out of her skin if she had to stand there another second and accept accolades.

“I am.” Linc used the exhausted and injured thing to his advantage and slung his good arm around her shoulders. She stiffened for a second and then shifted her bag and his to better handle his weight.