right away.”
“That’s ground zero for Lyme exposure.” He nodded. “Go ahead and add the panel, but explain to him it’s a two-part test and it will be a week before we get results.”
“I will. Thank you, Doctor.” She nodded, keeping her eyes downcast as she walked away.
So it was going to be the cool doctor-nurse relationship between them. He could do that, too. He watched as she walked away. Her body had changed since back then. There was something different about the way she walked, more confident, more sure of herself, and her posture was definitely more upright. She actually appeared to be a little taller than her five-foot-five, petite frame, which had fit him perfectly. Now he’d have to reconsider that. Not that there was going to be an opportunity for her to fit to his body anymore. Ever.
An hour later she approached again. He was still in the same position at the computer console, having gotten no further in his documentation. “Can you see this patient now? The possible Lyme guy?”
“Sure. Are labs back?”
“Yes. Chest X-ray, too.”
“Let me have a look at them first.” He clicked a few times, certain he was following the right pathway to the test results, but there was no X-ray. “It’s not here. Are you sure you ordered the right tests on this patient?” Irritation crept into his voice, despite his desire to not react to her at all. “Being timely is important around here, Emily. We don’t sit around—”
“Yes. I’m sure. I printed them up if you’d like to look at them the old-fashioned way.” She gave a tight smile. “Might be easier for you.”
“No.” Focusing on the screen, he gave an irritated sigh, then clicked and clicked again, with no better results. “Dammit.”
With a sigh, Emily leaned over his shoulder and took the mouse from his right hand. “Let me see. Oh, you’ve got the wrong patient up, that’s all.” She masterfully clicked here and there and in seconds had the proper patient with the labs and X-ray reports side by side on the screen. “There you go. Easy.”
He cast a baleful eye at her and really wanted to feel irritated, but the fact was he hated this computer system and had refused to spend the time to learn it properly. As soon as he did that, it would be changed to something else, so why bother?
“Show-off.” The second he turned to glare at her he knew it was a mistake, making him grit his teeth again. The fragrance he’d never been able to get out of his mind filled his senses and images of her in his arms hit him like a ton of bricks. The memories came over him hard and fast. The body wash she loved to use in the shower, her long hair slicked back from her pretty face, the water sluicing down her body, over the curves of her breasts and hips. Jeez, his thoughts were inappropriate. So much for being a professional.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, as lush and full as he remembered it. The smile on her face froze as she met his gaze full on. Her pupils dilated, and he knew she was thinking the same thing. Would there be anything, any spark between them again? Could there be? Then she straightened and took a step back.
“Yes. Well. There they are, Doctor. I’ve used this system a few times at other hospitals. Pretty simple once you get to know it.” She dropped her gaze and blew out a quick breath.
“I see.” Clearly, she was not unaffected by his presence and not as cool as she pretended to be. But that was not his problem.
Nothing Emily Hoover did was his problem. Ever again.
THE SOUND OF raised voices generally got some attention, even in an ER full of chaos. This one was in relation to Emily’s last patient of the day, who had come in thirty minutes ago. A woman, in her midforties, had said she’d tripped over her cat and hit her cheek on a doorknob. Emily had seen plenty of trips and falls and doorknob injuries, but this was not one of them. The woman had warned Emily her husband was going to be making an intoxicated appearance. He stumbled his way through the automatic doors right on cue.
“I don’t care who you are—I’m going in there to see my wife.” The man was a belligerent one, not used to a woman who had her own power and didn’t care one whit about his. He was used to getting his way by bullying and it wasn’t working, which only made his color go from pink to a florid red.
“Sir, your wife doesn’t want to see you right now. You’re drunk and—”
“The hell you say.” Unable to stand up without swaying only added proof to her statement. Emily kept him in full view of the security camera so there would be plenty of evidence if needed later.
“I don’t say. She says, and what she says goes. Got it?” Emily stood her ground, facing the large man dressed in hunting camo. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to handle an upset family member, so she called on her years of ER experience to remain calm and keep the upper hand. She cast a glance at one of the staff members and nodded. It was a silent signal to notify Security they were needed in the ER immediately. Her job was to keep him distracted until they arrived.
“Get out of my way, bitch.” The man reached out to grab Emily by the shoulder, obviously intending to shove her out of the way.
Emily had good reflexes and jumped back so he couldn’t touch her, but Chase hurried over to her, putting himself between her and the drunk. The man was huge, and towered over Chase by a foot.
“Don’t touch her.” He spoke forcefully to the man and tried to calm his nerves at the sight of him reaching for Emily. “Don’t touch any of our staff, or you’ll be looking at assault charges.” Chase didn’t know if the words were penetrating the man’s whiskey-soaked brain cells but he had to try.
“Like I care.” He glared at Chase, but didn’t move to touch him.
“Sir, I said your wife doesn’t want to see you right now, and if you continue to resist, you’ll be hauled out of here by Security.” Emily spoke from beside Chase. She’d moved forward to stand beside him, providing a unified front with him. Other staff members eased closer. If the man lunged for Emily again, they could jump him without anyone getting hurt.
“You got no reason to keep me from my wife.” The man was sweating, his face was red and he stunk to high heaven.
“Actually, we can. You can’t be in here drunk. Security’s on the way, and they’re going to call the police to haul you off to jail.” Chase experienced significant satisfaction that the situation was going to end without incident. Having Emily assaulted in front of him would not have been good. Just thinking about it brought back all sorts of horrid images he’d buried. Or so he’d thought.
“What? You can’t have me arrested.” The man started toward Emily again and tried to kick her, but she avoided his inaccurate jabs. Chase held his hands out to the sides and jumped to block him from getting any closer.
“Dr. Montgomery, he can’t get to me. Don’t worry,” Emily said. She gave a quick grin in his direction, and his heart reacted against his will. That impish grin had never left his mind and, combined with the short, spiky hair, she looked like a little fairy with a bad attitude.
Two muscled security team members, dressed in black, arrived and joined Chase. “We’ll take it from here.”
“He’s all yours. I have patients to wrap up before the end of shift,” Emily said, and stepped around the man, but he took a swipe at her and missed. Again. Nerves calming, Chase watched as Emily easily avoided the man’s giant hand and wondered what she’d been doing to gain such reflexes.
“You little bitch. I’m gonna get you for this.”
“Is that a threat? Are you threatening her?” Chase stepped forward, all amusement gone. “I think you’ve just threatened a staff member here. In front of witnesses and on security cameras. We’ll add