The Surgeon's Rescue Mission

by Dianne Drake

  And maybe, just maybe, there would have been an endearment or two in his words. Not in the permanent sense, as she was perfectly clear she didn’t want that, but in the sense that he did care for her, and about her, and about what happened to her.

  Of course, one rip of the rib and it had all been over.

  “How are you going to work this out with Solaina?” Matteo asked straightforwardly.

  “I don’t know,” David gasped, finally making it all the way up. “It’s complicated. She has issues.”

  “And you don’t?” Matteo laughed.

  “Like I said, it’s complicated.”

  “Foibles of youth, Davey. You played, obviously you played wrong, and you grew up. You’re ready now.”

  “Maybe I am. But Solaina doesn’t want involvement. She’s told me over and over, in a dozen ways. And I honestly believe she’d go against her own feelings in this and walk away, she’s so rock-ribbed about not getting involved. I don’t know what to do about it either.”

  “So, like you said, it’s complicated. But what’s a little complication when there’s true love in the balance? Right? Makes it better in the end when it finally works out.”

  True love? For him, yes. But for Solaina? He just didn’t know. “Oh, and in case you’re interested, Solaina had no idea her father was involved in IMO. She was shocked when I told her.”

  “You’re sure of that?”

  David nodded. It was about the only thing his poor body could still do without aching. “She called him and he claims he knows nothing about the attacks,” David said, struggling to his feet. “Whether or not he’s telling her the truth, I don’t know. But Solaina is.”

  “She wouldn’t lie to cover up for him?”

  “Solaina is the most honest person I know. She wouldn’t lie about anything.” Two steps forward and he wobbled, then stopped. “I need a miracle cure, “ he grumbled.

  “You need a chariot.” He pointed to one of the old-fashioned wooden wheelchairs sitting in the corner. High wooden back, hard wooden seat, it could be pushed only by an attendant, and it was none too comfortable for the passenger. But it was the only kind they had at Vista, something David was, all of a sudden, regretting.

  “I can walk,” he protested, shrugging off Matteo’s attempts to help him walk across the examination room.

  “Yeah, and if you run into the fair Solaina along the way, can you stand more torn cartilage, or worse?” He scrambled to the corner, then wheeled the chair up to the examining table for David. Gesturing for David to take a seat, Matteo grinned. “Until you’re completely healed, I’m afraid I’m going to have to give you a rather severe restriction. Hate to do it, Davey, but you, of all people, should have realized what several broken ribs, combined with a beautiful woman, could lead to. Actually, in your case, did lead to.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” David grumbled, sitting down carefully. This time it felt like an entire army had stomped across his chest. Last time, when it had only been broken ribs…half an army. So Matteo didn’t have to warn him because, like it or not, he had the hospital to consider first. And what he’d just done could have compromised care at the hospital if he wasn’t determined to work through the pain, which he was. Grit his teeth and see the patients. That was his responsibility, that’s what he would do. What he had to do.

  Still, as Matteo wheeled him back to his room, a slight smile crossed David’s lips. The pain would go away eventually. The memories wouldn’t. In the end, what he’d had with Solaina had been worth the inconvenience. Anything with Solaina, he was beginning to realize, was worth the inconvenience.

  Solaina stayed in the shower until the warm water started to chill, then she stepped out, dried herself and tugged on some fresh surgical scrubs. Looking down at herself, she wondered why she still pretended. In the emergency area a little while ago, with the child Pholla, she’d proved she was anything but a nurse, running out the way she had. So maybe it was over—the whole nursing phase of her life. Her job in Chandella would end soon, and the hiring pool was contaminated, so to speak. Thanks to her father. Maybe it was time to face facts and start in a new direction.

  “Like what?” she snapped, sliding into bed.

  David had asked her to stay, and as appealing as that was, it was also a disaster—or at least, it would turn into a disaster for him once he got over his infatuation and realized that she wasn’t what he insisted she was. It would cause problems between them—his refusal to accept her as she was, her inability to be the nurse he expected. And personal and professional things did get tangled. She’d lived that life with her parents. There were few separations—her mother had been a doctor. That’s who she’d been, professionally and personally. It’s what had shaped her life, rooted her opinions, dictated her attitudes. No separations in all the facets of Gabriella Bontecou Léandre. The doctor and the woman had been one and the same. In David, the doctor and the man were one and the same, too. What he did was who he was, and it ran deep in him.

  For her to stay would disappoint him on the professional level. Eventually that would seep into the personal. And she couldn’t bear that to happen, no matter how she felt about him. David deserved much more than what she could be for him.

  Tonight, they’d made love instead of resolving things. But what about next time, when he forced her into a medical situation she didn’t want to be in, then expected her to perform? And the time after that?

  It would happen again. She was sure of it.

  Snuggling in under the sheets, Solaina stared up at the dark ceiling. “I can’t believe you did that,” she whispered to herself, resisting the urge to run her hands over her lips…her shoulders…her breasts…all the places he had kissed. Making love…and it had been making love…in the middle of the floor with a man she’d known but a few days. But she was falling in love with him, for so many reasons she didn’t understand, even though she’d put away the notion of that ever happening to her.

  Somehow, her father always got in the middle of her life—dominating, controlling, always expecting something.

  Oh, she could stay in Kantha, as she was about to become a woman without an aim in life. But deep down in the recesses of her heart, she knew that wouldn’t work. Tonight she’d taken care of that little girl because David had insisted. He believed in her, and she loved him for that. But that belief came from love and not logic, and he simply didn’t understand that telling her she was a good nurse did not make it so. He was looking at her through the eyes of love and it was a wonderful fantasy, but it wasn’t enough.

  Staying in Kantha with him wouldn’t make it so either. “So I’ll leave,” she whispered. In the clear light of day she would walk away and never look back. Because if she did look back and caught even the slightest glimpse of everything she wanted and couldn’t have, she would end up doing something she would regret. Or they both would come to regret.

  Jacob Renner…His face floated over her as she drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “SOLAINA?” David whispered, sitting down on the bed next to her.

  She’d heard him come in, and pretended to sleep. Right now she simply couldn’t face him. He would kiss her again, or ask her to stay, and all her resolve of just an hour ago would fly right out the window, leaving her to gather it back once he left again. So she ignored him.

  “Solaina,” he whispered again, this time laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We need to talk.”

  There were no more words. What he expected of her she couldn’t be. That’s all there was.

  “Look, I can’t even pretend to understand what you’re going through with your father, with your memories of Jacob Renner, with your career…”

  “Do you believe my father’s the one behind the accidents?” she said, her face still to the wall.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. IMO wasn’t happy when I left. It put them in a bind…”

  She finally rolled over, but only to her back and not to face him. “He wanted me t
o take over the administrative operations for IMO. That’s why he took a seat on the board. His choice for me, David. He saw me as the administrator, and he was arranging it because that’s what he thought I should be.”

  “You’d be very good at it,” David said.

  “But that’s not the point. It wasn’t my choice. Just like taking care of Pholla wasn’t my choice. I’ve had a lifetime of people making decisions for me, telling me who I am and what I can do. My father has paved the way for me even when I didn’t know it. And you forced me into treating that child, David.”

  “Because you’re a good nurse, Solaina. Even if you don’t see it. You had a incident with one patient, but you shouldn’t let that influence your entire career.” David pulled back the sheet, pulled up her scrub top and placed a kiss to her belly button. Then he straightened back up and struggled to grab a breath. “Matteo might have been right about his diagnosis,” he groaned, wrapping his arms around his midsection.

  “Bed rest, alone?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Serves you right,” she said, climbing out of bed. She was glad of the distraction, because David simply didn’t understand. He saw what he wanted to see. And he loved the perception of her. That was probably the saddest thing of all, because she could have been all that at one time. And she desperately wanted to be what he saw now. “Serves you right for disobeying doctor’s orders,” she said, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. It had been her choice after all. When it was all said and done, it had always been her choice.

  Once Solaina’s bare feet hit the floor, David toppled into the spot where she’d been lying. “Now what are you doing?” she asked. As if she didn’t know. He intended to stay there. That was obvious in the way he was already settling in, and she wanted him to stay. One more night… “Getting ready to tear the rest of the cartilage away from your ribs?”

  “Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind. But right now I’m afraid I’m only half the man I was on the floor, and the half crawling into your bed intends only to sleep. With you, I hope. We did it once, and it was rather pleasant.”

  “You accused me of snoring,” she said. He was so hard to resist. If she were smart, she’d be on her way back to Chandella right now, instead of tempting herself to sleep with him. If she had any sense, she’d find another room and lock the door before he got there. If she had any willpower when it came to David, she wouldn’t be inching her way back to the bed. Which she was. Rather quickly, at that.

  “Snoring in a sexy way, though,” he added, grinning.

  “You called it a chainsaw.”

  “But a very sexy chainsaw.” He stretched out next to the wall and patted the empty space beside him.

  “You know we shouldn’t be doing this. It’s not going anywhere, David.” Truer words had never been spoken. Even so, those eyes…that devilish smile…And, oh, how she was growing to love his blond hair…Such an enticement, and she desperately wanted to be enticed. “What we have, what we did…that’s just—”

  “You talk too much,” he interrupted. “Out here, in my world, we take things one step at a time. That’s the only way we can get through. One step at a time, Solaina.” He patted the bed again, grinning. “One snore at a time.”

  “I don’t snore,” she grumbled, climbing in next to him and snuggling into his side. Gingerly, of course, since he was all aches and pains. Even her slight movement on the bed evoked an involuntary wince from him. “And I won’t do anything to rip any more cartilage.”

  “Maybe a kiss?”

  “Where?” she asked.

  “Where it doesn’t hurt.” He pointed to his left elbow and Solaina kissed it lightly. Then he pointed to his left shoulder and Solaina raised herself up and placed a kiss there. Then his throat and jaw. As she reached his earlobe, David exhaled a long, deep sigh and she knew he was asleep.

  Smiling, she shut her eyes and decided to drift off with him. One day at a time. Maybe he was right. Maybe in one more day she would have an answer. “One day,” she murmured as sleep began to claim her.

  “I love you, pretty lady,” David whispered back.

  Had he really said that, or was it a dream? She wasn’t sure, and maybe it was better that way.

  Still, they were such nice words to take with her into her sleep.

  One more minute, she kept telling herself. That’s all I want. Just one more minute, then I’ll leave while he’s still sleeping. But by the time the next minute came along, she was already promising herself yet another minute. Just one more minute.

  It was so difficult even thinking about leaving him…and it wasn’t quite dawn when Solaina shut her eyes for the tenth time since she’d crawled in next to David. One more hour, she promised herself, and this time she meant it. One more hour and she would begin that long road back to Chandella. With this promise, though, her eyes were not shut for more than a few seconds when she heard thunderous steps in the hallway outside her door and a frantic cry from someone banging on David’s door across the hall. “The hospital’s on fire,” the female voice was screaming. “Dr Gentry, the hospital is on fire!”

  It took a second for Solaina to fully comprehended the words, and she bolted up out of bed. David woke up and struggled to sit up.

  “Fire,” she gasped. “The hospital’s on fire. We’ve got to get out!”

  He was trying to push himself over to the edge of the bed, and going about it so slowly she realized that was all he had in him. She grabbed David’s arm and pulled at him, not even bothering to protect his injuries, until he was on his feet. Then she scrambled to grab his shoes.

  “Take these,” she said, shoving them into his hands, “and get out of here. Right now. Go outside, take a count of everybody who comes out. And make sure they stay as far away from the building as possible. Get names, David,” she continued, thrusting her overnight bag at him. “I have a notebook in there. Write down the name of every patient who comes out and tag it on them. And triage them, if they’re injured. I’m also going to try and get the patient charts out to you, so you can compare—see if anybody’s been left behind.”

  She ran to the door, then turned back to make sure David was behind her. “I’m going to go help evacuate the patients. You take care of yourself, because I do love you, David. I want you to know that in case—”

  “No,” he choked.

  “This is something I can do, David. Something I’m trained to do.” She reached to brush his cheek, then disappeared into the crowd in the hallway, trying to make it to the exit.

  “Where’s Davey?” Matteo yelled at her.

  “On his way outside to do triage. How many patients do we have to evacuate?”

  “Twenty who aren’t ambulatory at all, another ten who are ambulatory with assistance, and twenty-five who can manage on their own.”

  “Staff?”

  “Most of them live in the outbuildings. We have eight live-in staff and I assume they’re helping, but I—”

  “Look,” Solaina said, stopping him, “you stay with the non-ambulatories. Get them out to David. Now! I’ll go make sure everybody else is getting out.”

  “Fire’s in the surgery,” he shouted, heading out the door. “It’s at the opposite end to the patient wards, and it’s contained right now, as far as I can tell. But be careful, Solaina. Davey will kill me if the lady he loves doesn’t come through this.”

  The lady he loves…The words played through her mind, over and over, as she ran down the hall to the ambulatory ward, passing, on her way, several of the medical staff who were assisting patients to safety. Solaina grabbed one young nurse, who looked more baffled than useful. “Get all the patient charts that you can,” she yelled over the clamor and cries of those fleeing the building. “Don’t put yourself at risk, but try to find as many as you can, then get them out to Dr Gentry.”

  “But I need to—”

  “No, you need to get all the patient charts,” Solaina shouted. “Before the fire spreads and we can
’t get to them. Find someone to help, if you have to.” She spied an older man, a patient, shuffling down the hall. He didn’t appear at all bothered by the frenzy going on around him. “Do you speak English?” she called to him.

  “OK,” he responded, giving her a hesitant smile. “Speak English some.”

  “Can you help us?”

  “I can help you OK,” he responded again.

  “Take him,” Solaina told the nurse. “Throw the charts from the first unit on a cart and have him wheel them outside, then keep doing that until they’re all safe. Do you understand?”

  Both the nurse and the man nodded, even though Solaina was sure the man didn’t understand, then they headed off together in the direction of the nursing station outside the patient ward closest to the fire. The ward most likely to burn down first.

  “And you…” Solaina shouted at another attendant. “Go to the emergency area and take as many supplies out as you can. Oxygen and masks, blankets—anything. Grab some of the ambulatory patients to help you, if you need it.”

  The young man nodded, then ran in the opposite direction to Solaina toward Emergency. She stood there for a moment, making assessments. The fire was still contained, the smoke under control, but it might only be a matter of minutes before the fire spread to something combustible, like some of the medical gases. Thank God the surgery was so far away from the patient wards. That was the only saving grace in all this. The patients would all escape and, with luck, much of the necessary equipment could be dragged out before the full fiery force claimed the hospital.

  By the time Solaina reached the ambulatory ward, it was practically deserted. A few stragglers had hung back, trying to gather the scattered belongs they had brought to the hospital with them—probably the only things they had left, she thought briefly. “Can anyone here speak English?” she shouted.