Craving Her Ex-Army Doc

“You have a patient up there?” Sarah asked. “Who in their right mind would wait out in the cold for hours for you?”

Luke winked. “It’s a dummy.”

“Clearly.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s a simulation. A mannequin. It’s not a real person, but it’s simulating a very real situation.”

Sarah sighed. “Okay. Lead on.”

Luke nodded and pulled on his own pack. She watched him for a few moments as he broke a path ahead of her. Even though he was wearing thick snow pants you could still make out the outline of his strong, muscular thighs and his tight butt.

Sarah shook her head. It was apparent she was suffering from altitude sickness, because she was thinking about the strangest things.

Dr. Luke Ralston was off-limits.

He worked for Silas Draven as well, so that meant it was a no go for her. She didn’t mix business with pleasure.

So she couldn’t think about Luke that way.

She just couldn’t.

CHAPTER THREE

IT HAD BEEN three days since she last saw Dr. Luke Ralston and that was a good thing after the torment he’d put her through up on that high mountain trail. He hadn’t been kidding about a simulation. When they’d got to the mannequin, it had been half-buried in ice and under a tree trunk. There had been broken skis and fake blood.

Sarah had never picked up an axe before, but she did that day. She had the blister and the splinters to prove it.

Even though she’d wanted to tell Luke his simulation was cracked, she hadn’t backed down. She knew that he thought of her as some kind of spoiled rich girl and that was far from the truth. So she’d learned quite quickly how to use an axe. She’d shown him a thing or two.

She’d also learned how to make a makeshift gurney out of broken skis, rope, a tarp and duct tape. After assessing the mannequin’s ABCs, they’d got him on their gurney and down off the mountain.

There had been quite a few stares as she’d come down to the lodge with a mannequin on a stretcher splattered with craft-store paint. Still, she’d done it and he’d grudgingly admitted that she’d done a good job and that was the last she’d seen of him.

She thought she was going to be put through some more training, but so far she hadn’t seen him. She should be happy about that and she was, but she wasn’t totally. She looked for him everywhere, as if he were going to pop out of the shadows and frighten her. The thought of seeing him actually made her excited, as if she were some young girl with a crush.

There was no denying Luke was handsome. She’d thought that the first moment she saw him. But there was something else about him. A lone wolf quality. He was a man who didn’t want or need anyone else. The kind of man who was completely untamed.

He was a challenge, and she’d always liked a challenge.

Focus.

She couldn’t think about him that way. Distance. That was what she needed. Right now this time was about her. Career was her life.

If she got together with someone, her parents would never believe she could function on her own. That she was a surgeon.

Even then, she wasn’t sure of anything. Everything she’d thought she earned had really come because she was Vin Ledet’s daughter. Her father knew people on the admissions board at college. She’d fought so hard for her MCAT scores, achieving one of the highest that year, which should’ve been enough to get her into medical school, but apparently not enough for her father. Then her residency and her fellowship, her father had had a hand in that. Everything she’d pursued in her medical career her father had had a hand in.

No wonder her belief in herself was fleeting.

Except this place.

She’d earned this on her own by saving Silas Draven’s nephew Shane in Missoula.

Silas and her father moved in the same circles and never saw eye to eye.

Sarah knew it wasn’t because of who her father was. This job was because of her own merit.

Someone believed in her abilities and she wasn’t going to let them down.

She could do this.

This was her focus and she was going to prove to everyone she was up to the task. This clinic was going to be her pride and joy.

Her clinic had opened a bit earlier than she’d planned, but Silas Draven had had a large party of tourists coming in and he’d wanted to make sure that it was up and running. He wanted his resort to be all-inclusive, and didn’t want his guests having to go into town and wait at the local clinic.

Even though the resort hadn’t officially opened, the large party of skiers was certainly giving her a run for her money. Her clinic had been full the two days she’d been open. It was usually just minor stuff, cuts and sunburns, but she was enjoying the work and, the best part, it was honest work. Though, she missed surgery, the rush of the hospital, but this job she’d got on her own.

Her parents didn’t have a hand in it.

Really, Sarah? Sunburns? The only sun you should think about is evening out your tan.

She cursed under her breath, trying to shake away her sister’s annoying voice. Her sister had never said those exact words, but she could almost picture her, standing in the waiting room and saying them, because her sister had nagged her about similar things before.

“Patient ten?” Sarah briefly looked up from her chart, to the busy waiting room at her clinic. “Patient number ten?”

A man with a very red face stood up and walked toward her. He nodded and winced. “I am Mr. Fontblanc.”

Sarah smiled. “I know, we just use a numbering system here to keep anonymity.”

“Ah, oui. Merci beaucoup.”

“You can have a seat in exam room one. I’ll be with you momentarily.”

Mr. Fontblanc nodded again, shuffling off down the hall. She looked at her chart one more time and was about to call the next victim of a really bad sunburn when the door to her clinic burst open. Luke strode into her pristine clinic, dirty and breathless.

“What’re you doing?” he asked.

“I’m seeing patients,” Sarah said, trying not to look at him. Distance was the key.

“Good, I have a patient for you.”

“What? Where?”

“He’s in the lobby.”

“In the lobby? Why is he in the lobby?”

Luke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Would you stop giving me the third degree and just come to the lobby?”

“I have a patient waiting in my exam room. I can’t leave him there.”

“Is your patient bleeding profusely with a head injury?”

“That’s confidential.”

Luke shook his head and pushed past her into the exam room.

“Dr. Ralston!” Sarah tried to stop him, but he was in the exam room. Mr. Fontblanc looked a bit stunned.

“Sorry to keep you waiting …” Luke peered at the man. “Too much sun?”

“Oui … uh, yes.”

“Vous êtes Français?” Luke inquired in perfect French.

“Oui.”

Sarah stood back, stunned. She didn’t know French at all. Spanish, she knew quite a bit, but French, she was at a loss. Luke seemed to know it. He questioned the man briefly and then pulled out a tube of topical cream from her medicine cupboard, handing it to her patient and then patting him on the back.

The patient still seemed shell-shocked, but overall was happy.

“Merci.”

“Pas de problème,” Luke said.

The patient left the room and Luke turned back to her. “You ready to go and help the patient in the lobby now?”

“What just happened here?” She watched as Luke began to grab suturing trays, gauze and a bolus for an IV. “What’s going on? Why are you stealing my supplies?”

He groaned and grabbed her hand. “Come on. I need another doctor’s help with this.”

Sarah didn’t really have much of a choice as she was dragged from her clinic. The other patients watched her leave, just as confused as she was at the moment.

“If this patient needs another doctor, why didn’t you get your brother to help you?” Sarah asked.

“There was no time to take this man to town.” Luke pushed the button on the elevator, not looking at her, but watching for the door to light up and open.

“What’s wrong with the patient?” she asked.

“Have you ever seen a mauling?”

Sarah gasped. “Did you just say a mauling? By what?”

Luke glanced at her. “A bear.”

She shook her head. She’d seen pictures in textbooks when she was a resident. As a trauma surgeon you had to be prepared for everything, but she’d never actually encountered one personally. She was aware of the damage that could be done. Her stomach twisted in a knot at the very idea, but they were in bear country. It was to be expected.

The elevator arrived and they got on. It was a quick ride down to the lobby. When the doors opened everything was in chaos and Sarah could see a trail of blood from the door to a boardroom down a darkened hall.

“I don’t get it,” Sarah remarked as she fell into step beside Luke.

“What don’t you get?” he asked.

“Bears hibernate. It’s January.”

Luke sighed. “No, not really. It’s called torpor. It’s like hibernation—they can be woken. This idiot was fool enough to stumble on a bear’s den and, instead of leaving the bear well enough alone, he crawled inside to get a picture. Thankfully, people were with him.”

“Idiot is right.”

He nodded. “If you haven’t seen a mauling before, prepare yourself.”

She nodded. “I’ve seen worse stuff in the ER.”

“Possible disembowelment and bite marks?”

“Yeah. A car can do damage to a patient, too. I’m ready.”

A small smile played on his lips, but just briefly. It was almost as if he was impressed that she didn’t shy away or that she wasn’t squeamish at the prospect. It scared her. It was something she was completely unfamiliar with. It was something she was a little terrified about herself since moving from Manhattan to a remote town in northwest Montana, but this was her job. She was going to help Luke any way that she could. It was the trauma surgeon in her.

“Did you bring enough supplies down?” she asked.

“We’ve got enough supplies in here. We have to get him stabilized before the air ambulance gets here.”

Sarah nodded. “Okay.”

She walked into the room and tried not to gasp. The man was in bad shape. There were deep lacerations to his arm, his legs and torso, but his face was really bad. She could see teeth marks, deep gouging all over; she could see bone on his arm and the bandages on his abdomen were already soaked through, which tipped Sarah off that this guy would need packing if he was going to survive the trip to the nearest hospital. The way his abdomen was distended, she knew from her trained eye he would suffer from compartment syndrome sooner rather than later and that could be fatal if not controlled.

“Buddy, I’ve brought another doctor here to help me.” Luke spoke to the man. “Just take it easy.”

The man just moaned.

“I’m surprised he’s lucid.”

“Me, too,” Luke said. “I did give him a shot of morphine in the field when I found him, but he’s lost a lot of blood.”

Sarah nodded and pulled off her white lab coat. “Gloves?”

Luke gestured in the direction of the sideboard, where a box of rubber gloves was waiting. She slipped on a pair and then grabbed a pack of gauze.

“I need you to hold him down—I’m going to put in a central line,” Luke told her.

“You’re going to put in a central line here?”

He nodded. “No choice. Look at his arms, and his veins are chunky. The bear did damage. Lots of damage.”

“Sure.” Sarah leaned over and held the man down. She looked down into his dark eyes, full of confusion and fear. “Don’t worry, sir. We’re going to get you patched up in no time. Soon you won’t be in so much pain. I promise.”

“Hold him now for me,” Luke said.

“I’ve got him. Just do it.”

Luke inserted the central line quickly and efficiently. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen someone put in a central line so fast before. She was impressed. The patient barely flinched, but that could be because maybe some of the fight had gone out of him, or it could’ve been the morphine.

Once he was hooked up to a drip, he passed out and Luke went about stitching what they could to help control the bleeding. Sarah packed his face and set a broken bone in his arm. They didn’t say much to each other; there wasn’t much to say, really. They were both totally focused on their patient.

The last time they’d worked on a patient together, they were at each other’s throats. This was different. It was nice. Comforting almost, as if she’d been doing this with him for a long, long time, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt such a familiarity with another surgeon before.

“He has extensive damage to his abdomen. There is nothing I can do here.”

“Pack him?” Luke asked.

She nodded. “No choice. If I start poking around to find the source of the bleeders I could do more damage. His body needs to rest before repairs. Does bear saliva have an envenomation? You know, like the wolverine or Komodo dragon?”

“No, but the saliva often carries staph or strep, which can lead to infections and organ shutdown.” He frowned and seemed upset for a brief moment. “Either way he’ll need a good course of antibiotics, tetanus and rabies. Though rabies from bear bites are rare.”

“Why is that?”

“The injury rate from bear attacks in North America is like one person per couple million. Of course, that report by S. Herrero is from 1970. It could be different now.”

“Wow.”

“The more we encroach on their territory, the worse it gets. I read a lot on animal attacks for obvious reasons.”

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