Their Forever Family: Her Family for Keeps / A Father for Poppy / His Little Christmas Miracle. Abigail Gordon

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СКАЧАТЬ like someone beat me with a hammer.” He looked at his watch. “And it’s not even lunch yet.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a very long sigh. “I’ll be okay. I think. Eric’s critical, on a vent, the works. I’ve never seen so many tubes hooked up to a kid that size, and I thought I’d seen it all.”

      “I’m so sorry.” She gave his arm a squeeze, intending to offer him some of the comfort she’d offer to any of her patients and families. His arm beneath her hand was warm and firm. Though this child wasn’t related to either of them, he was special and bonded the two of them together.

      Duncan turned his dark-eyed focus fully on her, and she gulped at the intensity of him. When he focused on something, it was something else. His dark, dark eyes seemed to have no pupils. His aura nearly reached out to her, like some invisible cloak trying to cocoon her into its warmth.

      “And how are you holding up?”

      “I’m okay, I guess.” She shrugged. “Are you ever okay after an event like this?” She’d been through many traumas in her career as an ER nurse and some patient situations stuck with her, no matter how long ago they’d happened.

      “You might want to go home. The paperwork for employment can wait until tomorrow.”

      “I’m good, really—” Denial had gotten her through many tough situations in life, why not one more?

      He gave her such a doctor look, knowing she wasn’t all right, knowing she’d been through the wringer today, and knowing she wasn’t telling the truth, that she actually felt a flash of shame.

      “Rebel. We don’t always have time to shake off the vibes from work while in the midst of it. Take the time to relax and shake this off.” Duncan spoke like a man who had been on the front line of healthcare for a long time. That kind of experience didn’t come without a toll on the body and the psyche.

      “Thanks. You’re right.” She nodded. “I usually like to meet with the charge nurse the day before I start and introduce myself to see who I’m going to be working with. Stuff like that.”

      Duncan gave a snort as the elevator doors whooshed open. “I think you’ve had quite an introduction already. The entire staff knows who you are by now, so just go home. I’ll tell Herm.”

      “If you’re sure it’s going to be okay…”

      “It’ll be fine.” The elevators took them to the first floor, and they exited. “Today is an admin day for me, so I’m going to do the bare essentials and head to the gym. Always helps me blow off the stress of the day.”

      “My apartment complex has a pool. Maybe I’ll take a swim.”

      “Good idea. Don’t forget the sunscreen. At this elevation the rays are more intense. See you tomorrow.” He’d hate to see all that luscious skin damaged by the sun. It was beautiful and she obviously worked to keep it that way.

      Rebel turned and held out her hand. Duncan took it. “I’d like to say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I’m not sure that’s the right thing to say.” She met his eyes and held his gaze. This was a very interesting man. Unfortunately, she hadn’t come here to be sidetracked by gorgeous doctors. Men and emotional relationships didn’t go with her long-term goals, so there was no use in establishing a short-term one either. Men were fine as friends and the occasional lover. Too many times she’d counted on a man and had been disappointed. She needed to be in control and if she were in a relationship, she lost that. Plain and simple.

      “How about ‘See you tomorrow’?”

      “Good enough.” They shook hands, and Rebel untangled her sunglasses from on top of her head and walked out into the bright June sunlight, determined to make it to her car before another disaster happened.

      Hitching her backpack across one shoulder, she tried not to look at the scene of where they had found Eric. That, like so many other bad memories, already had a permanent place in her brain.

      Thoughts of Duncan, however, lingered. How would it be to work side by side with such a dynamic man? She’d worked in many types of hospitals and clinics, and there had been plenty of handsome doctors to be had, but this one was different. Somehow, deep in her gut, she knew something was different about Duncan, and she itched to know what it was. Could it be that the intensity of the situation they’d just been through was making her see things that weren’t there?

      She didn’t think so, as she’d been through many tough situations with many doctors in the past. Today, however, made her think more about what it would be like to have a man like that around her more often.

      Those dark, dangerous eyes of his remained in her mind.

       CHAPTER THREE

      THE NEXT DAY dawned as bright and shiny as any she’d ever seen.

      Until she arrived just before her morning shift to find the ER in complete chaos. This ER was shaping up to be just like most of the ones she’d worked in. Either it was complete bedlam, or the staff were falling asleep from sheer boredom.

      She took a deep breath, shoved her backpack beneath the desk and hurried to the first busy room she found. “I’m your new traveler. Someone give me a job.”

      A Hispanic man strode over to her with his glasses perched precariously on top of his graying hair and shoved a clipboard into her hands. “Here. Run the code. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

      Gulp. Running a code within thirty seconds of arriving. That was a record, but this was something she was fully capable of managing. She squeezed behind staff members who were performing all kinds of tasks around a patient who had been in a traumatic accident.

      She looked at the clipboard. Pedestrian. Hit by a high-speed vehicle, thrown forty feet in the air. Possible neck and spine injuries. Probable head injury. Punctured one lung. Blood in the abdomen.

      If he survived, he’d spend the next year in rehab all because someone hadn’t looked both ways. She read the cardiac monitor. His heart rate was fast, rhythm good.

      “What do you need next, Doctor?” She hadn’t met any of the physicians yet, so she didn’t know who she was working with.

      “Glad you’re here, Rebel. Call Radiology. Need a chest X-ray, abdominal films.” She knew the voice and a little bit of her relaxed, and a little of her got excited at the compliment. Although she couldn’t see his face behind the mask and goggles, she knew Duncan was in charge of this case. The sound of his voice was reassuring and made a funny squiggle in the pit of her stomach at the same time. The man had definitely made an impact on her senses yesterday.

      “Got it.” She turned to the phone on the wall. Fortunately, there was an extensive phone list posted nearby. After the first call, she checked the monitor again. The heart rhythm had changed. Not looking good.

      “Doctor. He’s had a rhythm change.”

      Duncan twisted around and looked at it for himself. “Dammit. I was hoping we could get him to the OR before he crashed. Get a chest tube set up.”

      She set the clipboard down. “Where are they?”

      “There. СКАЧАТЬ