by Radclyffe
“I can offer you an on-call room if you want to grab a little sleep.”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Good. Sutures first. Be right back. Stay put.”
Sawyer chuckled. “Roger that.”
Dara hurried down the hall and pulled an instrument pack and some local anesthetic from the med cart. As she headed back to the treatment room, Penny came around the corner, and she paused. “Any word from Gabby?”
“Not yet,” Penny said. “She said she’d call down with a report when she could. You need some help?”
“No, I can handle it. How are you doing?”
“My shoes are three sizes smaller than they were twenty-four hours ago, but I feel fine.”
“You need to get off those feet for a while. How’s your blood pressure?”
“It’s fine.”
“When was the last time you took it?”
Penny rolled her eyes. “A couple of hours ago.”
“Uh-huh,” Dara said. “As soon as I’m done with Sawyer, I want to check you out. Don’t disappear.”
“Like there was anyplace I could go. Oh…” A smile lit up her face. “Sampson checked in. He’s all right, but he said everything’s a mess. He and his team were called out to the Roc. One of the outside stairwells collapsed and part of a wall came down. They’ve got some occupants trapped. He doesn’t know how many. We’re probably going to get them soon.”
“Wonderful. All right. I’ll be here. See if you can get everyone who is not actively with a patient to get something to eat and some sleep.”
“What about you, Chief?” Penny said.
“I’m good.”
Penny dipped her head toward the curtained-off cubicle. “How’s the colonel?”
“Stubborn, but manageable.”
Penny grinned. “Atta girl.”
“I heard that,” Sawyer said as Dara slipped inside the curtain and opened the instrument tray on a portable stand.
“Which part?”
“The stubborn part.”
“I thought that was mild considering some of the things I could’ve said.”
“Really?” Sawyer caught her hand before Dara could open the pack of sterile gloves and tugged her over to the stretcher.
She suddenly found herself between Sawyer’s legs, and in the next breath, Sawyer’s mouth was over hers. Everything dropped away—the anxiety, the never-ending concern for her patients, for her family, for Sawyer. Fatigue melted like snow in the spring sun, and every fiber within her sprang to life. She wrapped her arms around Sawyer’s shoulders, her fingers finding the nape of Sawyer’s neck. She pressed into Sawyer’s chest, her breasts responding to the subtle curves of Sawyer’s body as if Sawyer’s hands had closed around them. She moaned softly, instantly aroused. Gasping, she clutched Sawyer’s shoulders and pushed away. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“I might,” Sawyer said, her voice husky and her eyes dark and devouring. “I know what you do to me, and it’s a craving like I’ve never felt before. Like if I don’t have you soon I’m going to burn up from the inside out.”
Dara stroked Sawyer’s cheek. “I can’t look at you without wanting your hands on me, without wanting to feel you everywhere.”
“When I get the chance, I want to take my time,” Sawyer murmured, stroking the swell of Dara’s hips. “And I never have any at all.”
“Listen,” Dara murmured, brushing her mouth over Sawyer’s, “I don’t care if it’s fast. All I care is that it’s you.”
Sawyer let out a breath and kissed her back. “It’s the very first thing on my to-do list.”
Dara laughed. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Taking a second to steady herself, Dara stepped back and wrapped her professional cloak around her erratic emotions and runaway body. She pulled on gloves, drew up the lidocaine, and motioned for Sawyer to lie back. “You know the drill.”
“I’m all yours, Doc.”
“Are you now,” Dara said quietly as she began injecting the long, deep laceration just behind Sawyer’s hairline.
“I am.”
Dara looked down, met her eyes, and found Sawyer’s gaze steady and absolutely sure. “Good.”
She worked quickly and efficiently and within a few minutes was done. She smeared some antibiotic ointment over the laceration, sealing it until the wound would seal itself in a few hours.
“You’re good to go, Colonel.”
“Thanks.” Sawyer sat up as Dara started to dispose of the instrument tray. “Where will you be?”
“Penny says fire rescue is bringing in some patients any minute, so”—Dara shrugged—“I’ll be here.”
“How do I find out about my sergeant?”
“I’ll tell Penny to page you as soon as the OR lets us know. Gabby will call down.”
“You’re sure?”
“I promise. I know how important it is to you.” Dara stroked Sawyer’s jaw. “Let me show you the on-call room so you can grab some sleep, okay?”
“Okay. How about you?”
“I’m pretty good for now.”
“Come find me when you get a break?” Sawyer said.
Dara turned to go, turned back, and kissed her. “I will.”
Landfall plus 30 hours
“Sawyer,” Dara murmured softly, placing her hand lightly on Sawyer’s shoulder so as not to startle her. She hadn’t turned the room lights on when she’d come into the on-call room, and she didn’t knock either. For some reason, she wanted the dark and the solitude to shut out the chaos that permeated the brightly lit hallways, to still the cacophony of voices, to silence the constant demands for her attention and her energy. She wanted, needed, just these brief free moments to recharge. To grab something for herself, to restore what she had never realized before she needed. The calm, the certainty, the warmth that radiated from the connection to this one unique woman.
“I heard you coming,” Sawyer said.
“How could you?” Dara said lightly, sitting on the side of the bed, her hip touching the outside of Sawyer’s. Like the first time when they’d shared an on-call room, there was just enough light so Dara could see Sawyer’s eyes, the shape of her face, the length of her body. She’d stretched out on top of the covers in her clothes, her boots standing at attention near the foot of the bed, perfectly aligned, ready to be stepped into. Her shirt was unbuttoned, her belt loosened, but otherwise she was completely clothed. She was a second away from being ready for action, probably how she always slept when she was in the field. Possibly how she always slept. Dara filed the thought away with the many other fascinating images that made Sawyer so captivating.
“I recognized your footsteps.” Sawyer reached up and grasped Dara’s hand, their fingers intertwining easily. She tugged until Dara had to lean down. With her mouth just a whisper away, Sawyer added, “I smelled you too. The second the door opened. You smell like sunshine, you smell like life.”
“You make me feel alive,” Dara whispered.
Sawyer’s arm came around Dara’s shoulders, dragged her down, and her kiss was hard and hot and fast and what Dara had secretly been hoping for, but she was still taken by surprise. Surprised by the power and possessiveness of Sawyer’s mouth and her own eagerness to be possessed. Dara dug her fingers into Sawyer’s shoulders, not to push her away, not to escape, but to cleave even more tightly. Sawyer’s hands, her mouth, her body were hard and tight with tension. Dara shifted closer onto the narrow single bed, and Sawyer turned until their bodies touched along their lengths. Heat flared between Dara’s thighs and she moaned softly.
Sawyer’s hand pushed beneath the back of Dara’s scrub shirt, stroking the length of her spine, sending electric shocks into the pit of her stomach. She readied faster than she’d ever soared to the pinnacle before—trembling, amazed, terrified, and beyond reason. She found Sawyer’s free hand, dragged it between them, pressed it between her thighs. She might’ve heard Sawyer chuckle, a deep, supremely satisfied sound, and she didn’t
care how desperate she might seem. Not one little bit. She tugged at the strings on her scrubs, and finally, finally, Sawyer’s hand was on her skin, her palm hot against the base of her belly, her fingers streaking downward, stroking, finding the pounding pulse point.
Dara arched when Sawyer stroked her clit, one heartbeat, two heartbeats, and stretched tight to the breaking point, she shattered. She muffled her cry against Sawyer’s shoulder, fighting to absorb the explosion that racked her body.
Chest burning from holding her breath, afraid to miss one single incredible second, Sawyer wrapped her arms around Dara and held on tightly. She kissed Dara’s temple and buried her face in her hair.
“That was…” Dara’s voice faded and she sighed.
“Dara, I…” Sawyer blinked, struggling with too many feelings to contain.
“Perfect,” Dara gasped. “In case you were wondering. Perfect. Not too fast, not too slow. Just right. Just exactly right.”
Sawyer laughed. “You’re amazing. I think I’m going to need CPR in another second.”
“Are you all right?” Dara asked, trying and failing to rise up on one elbow. She settled for resting her cheek on Sawyer’s shoulder.
“All right? Hell no. I’m totally blown away. Totally crazy about you.”
Dara laughed shakily. So much, so fast. Too much? How could she tell? She could barely think. “I just want you to know—oh hell, what does it matter what happened in the past. That was amazing. And I’ve never, ever come like that in my life.”
Sawyer sat up with her back against the wall and tugged Dara until she was curled in her arms. “We don’t have much time, do we?”
“No. We don’t. I’m sorry.” Dara pressed her hand to Sawyer’s abdomen and felt her tense. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“You mean, am I going to walk around in a state of constant arousal?”
“That would be it, yes.”
“Probably, but since that’s kind of been the case every time I’ve been anywhere near you lately, it’s not much different.” She tilted Dara’s chin and kissed her. “Besides, I like it. I like the way you make me feel.”
“I like that,” Dara muttered.
“How about you? Are you okay?” Sawyer asked.
“You mean, how do I feel about coming in here and practically attacking you?”
“If you want to call it that. I sort of thought of it like giving me a present.”
Dara laughed, and lightness flooded her heart. “Did you now? Well then, I’d say we both got a fabulous present and I feel…like I’ve never felt before. Satisfied, content, happy.”
“Happy. Yeah, that’s what it is. Crazy how that can be with all that’s going on.”
“I know.” Dara’s feelings went far beyond what her simple words could convey, and she didn’t even try to resist. She closed her eyes, breathed her in. Smiled. “You somehow still smell like wintergreen.”
“I ought to smell more like a swamp in high summer,” Sawyer said dryly. “I need to shower and get a change of clothes. Gabby should be done by now, right?”
“I’ll call up and get you a progress report.” Dara sensed their time running out, and God, she didn’t want to let her go. And she couldn’t ask her to stay. With a sigh, she sat up. “I’m going to have to grab a change of clothes and get back out there too. I’m waiting on some X-rays on a patient who might have a broken forearm.”
Sawyer caught Dara’s arm just before they reached the door, pulled her close, and kissed her again. “Thanks again for the present.”
Dara gripped her shirt. “Well, next time I want my own.”
Laughing, Sawyer whispered, “My pleasure.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Landfall plus 46 hours
Dara pushed the stack of files away with a long sigh. It didn’t matter how shorthanded she was or how many patients waited to be seen—fortunately, right now, the emergency room wasn’t full—she still had to do paperwork. It didn’t help that Gretchen, from the safety and comfort of her Manhattan pied-à-terre, had sent her a ream of forms to review and sign off on documenting for the state just how much it was costing the facility to function as the medical emergency command center; or that the pharmacy needed override clearance because they’d run out of several key drugs and other critical supplies and would have to special order them at twice the normal delivery costs; and that requests from half a dozen other departments had somehow filtered through to her in the absence of much of the management staff. Most of the management staff, really. In all fairness, everyone was a lot better off with the administrators high and dry somewhere, so the rest of them could get on with handling the medical emergencies.
And as of right now she was done with paperwork, and the hospital would just have to manage to run without the proper forms for a few more days. Just as she was about to head back to the intake area, her cell rang and she snarled. Her snarl died abruptly when she saw the caller ID.
“Hey,” she said quickly, “everything okay?”
“Better than okay,” Sawyer said. “I might have some good news for you.”
Leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes, Dara let the sound of Sawyer’s voice soothe her frazzled nerves and caress that place inside her where she desperately needed to be touched. “What news? I could use something good right about now.”
“You sound pretty beat. Did you get any sleep?”
“I feel like I’m back in my residency days,” Dara said, trying to inject a little levity into her voice. Sawyer sounded worried and was no doubt as worn down as her. No point in spreading around the misery. “I remember lying down a few hours ago and closing my eyes, and I think I was sleeping, but I might’ve been sleepwalking. It’s been pretty steady around here. I’m okay, though. I escaped for a while to dig out from under the paperwork, and honestly, I’d rather be running a code.”
“I hear you.” Sawyer laughed.
“So come on,” Dara prodded, “what’s your news?”
“We’ve cleared one of the major thoroughfares, and we’re going to let essential civilians come through. Essential meaning public works employees, city officials, and hospital personnel. You should be getting some relief very soon.”
“That would be great.” Energized, Dara sat up. “If I can get a few more staff in here, I can put together some kind of reasonable call schedule. I really need to send Penny home. She’s coming up on two days straight.”
“Where is she going? Most of the residential areas are without power, even the ones that aren’t still blocked off by fallen trees and building debris, or underwater.”
Dara laughed. “Penny’s husband is a firefighter—the belt and suspenders kind of guy. They have a generator, and so does Penny’s sister Cissy, who lives a few houses away. Cissy says their road is passable, and Penny is going to stay with her. I wouldn’t let her leave if she wasn’t headed somewhere safe.”
“Huh. Is she driving?” Sawyer sounded dubious. “She’ll still have to navigate some pretty iffy areas to cross the city. Probably not a good idea for her to go alone.”
“I’m due a few hours’ break. I can drive her.”
Sawyer was quiet a few seconds. “How about this. I need to do recon and check in with some of our squads. As soon I clear things at my end, I’ll come by and take you both to Penny’s sister’s. Your area still has no power.”
“And I have no food.” Dara’s first instinct was to say no, to say she could take care of things herself, but Sawyer was right. She couldn’t risk running into trouble with Penny along, and she couldn’t be foolish either. Sawyer had the means and the experience for this situation, and oddly, she didn’t find letting Sawyer take care of her the least bit uncomfortable. Warning bells didn’t sound either. “Only if you can take the time to do it.”
“How does three hours sound?” Sawyer said. “We’re moving into the recovery stage. We’ve still got civilians who need to be transported to secure locations and the usual emergencies, but that’s
why we call it mobile command. I’m always available, no matter where I am.”
“Then I’ll see you when you get here.”
“Good. I want to see you.”
“Same here,” Dara murmured. “You have no idea how much.”
National Hurricane Center Atlantic Ops
“Stan,” Bette called. “It’s Anna on two.”
Stan yanked his cell out of his pocket and swore when he saw that it was dead. He kept forgetting to charge the damn thing. Somehow, he’d completely lost his sense of time in the last few days. He grabbed the landline off the counter where Bette had left it. “What’s the matter? Are you all right?”
“This is the part where you get to say I told you so,” Anna said with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“I’ll hold that in reserve. You’re okay?”
“I’m fine. What about you? You sound stressed, and you never do.”
Stan barked out a laugh and rested his rear against the counter. “Well, I suppose that’s a matter of opinion. I’m okay. I’m damn tired of being here, and”—he lowered his voice—“I miss you.”
“Me too. And I’m sorry you’ve been worried,” Anna said. “I really should’ve listened to you, as it turns out.”
“That’s not important now. What’s going on?”
“We’re marooned. Our block, really, the whole neighborhood, is an island. The best I can tell from the news reports which, to tell you the truth, are about as confused as most of us feel right about now, is that it’s something to do with the sewer system not being able to handle the volume in some parts of the city.”
“How deep is it out there?”
“About knee high, still. I haven’t ventured out, I’m not that crazy, but from what I see, people are using boats for the most part. There’s a tremendous amount of debris in the streets. But that’s not why I’m calling.”
“Really?” Stan shook his head. “All that isn’t enough?”
“You’re really not going to believe this, but I’m honestly not lying.” Anna laughed. “One of the building maintenance crew managed to get here this morning in a fishing boat with an outboard motor on it because the generators have been going in and out for the last twelve hours, mostly out.”
