The Surgeon's Convenient Husband

by Amy Ruttan

  “No, you don’t want to see that.” Ruby shuddered. “That is not pretty.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Aran said dryly.

  They followed Mitchell to his truck and Ruby was crammed between Mitchell and Aran. She was used to being crammed into a truck with Mitchell and John, or Lacey, but she wasn’t used to being flush up against Aran.

  “I’m not hurting your bad leg, am I?” Ruby asked as she tried to position herself so she wouldn’t hurt him.

  “No, it’s fine. You’re nice and soft.”

  His blue eyes were twinkling and he smirked. She realized then that he was trying to get her goat since they weren’t alone.

  She rolled her eyes and tried to angle herself away from him. Aran moved and rested his arm on the back of the seat, so that he almost had his arm around her, forcing her to move into the crook of his elbow.

  “Cheap move!” Ruby teased.

  Aran chuckled softly as Mitchell fired up the old truck and headed away from the tiny airport and across town.

  Most of the homes there were built up on stilts because of the permafrost and the tides from the Beaufort Sea. Whitehead was right on the coast, near an inlet, and there were a lot of traditional fishermen who made their livelihoods out on the water.

  There weren’t many vehicles in town. Most people got around via ATV in the summer or snowmobile in the winter.

  Even though it was the end of June there were still patches of snow on the ground, covering up the rock and lichen that grew over the tundra this far north.

  The houses were painted in bright colors, and as Mitchell drove through town people came out and waved. They were happy to see Ruby.

  Whitehead was far away from any other town, but it was a friendly place. It struggled with the same issues that other places did, but Mitchell was passionate about taking care of the people.

  Ruby’s father had been very involved in the council and making sure that the people in her own village had what they needed. Residential school may have broken him in some ways, but in others it had taught him the meaning of keeping family and community together, of healing and making sure that everyone was taken care of. Of making sure to reclaim what was once lost.

  “This is a nice place, Mitchell,” Aran said, but Ruby wasn’t completely sure that he meant it—because Aran came from San Diego and had told her that he preferred the south over the north.

  “Thanks,” Mitchell replied. “We work hard and we work to take care of each other, but there are some things we can’t do—and that’s why we appreciate Lacey and doctors like you and Ruby coming up here and helping us out.”

  Mitchell pulled up to a long building that was partly built into a side of a hill and partly on stilts. There was a long wooden ramp for wheelchairs and stretchers.

  “Here we are,” Mitchell announced as he opened the door and climbed out. “My boys should be along soon with the medical supplies.”

  “Great. Thanks, Mitchell,” Ruby said.

  Aran slid out and Ruby was glad to have her own personal bubble back and intact. Now, if she could just calm her nerves a bit, she would be good to tackle whatever today threw at her.

  The door to the clinic opened and Lacey stepped out—with a very round belly.

  Ruby’s eyes widened. “You’re pregnant?”

  Lacey grinned. “About twenty-nine weeks. Over the danger zone.”

  Ruby gave her a hug. “I had no idea. You were away and I dealt with another nurse practitioner the last time I was here.”

  “I was in Anchorage for a couple months on a course, and getting checked out. I hope my replacement did good?”

  “She was fine,” Ruby replied. “What does Jack think about being a dad?”

  Jack was Lacey’s husband and the village State Trooper, who kept the peace and made sure fishing and gaming laws were respected. Also, when convicts were released they would often return to their own communities, and Jack made sure that they met the conditions of their parole. He didn’t just serve Whitehead, but traveled by bush plane to several other communities that dotted the Beaufort Sea coast.

  “He’s thrilled—but he wants me back down in Anchorage to give birth. He’s worried. I’m not worried. We have a midwife up here besides me.” Lacey looked past Ruby. “Who’s this?”

  “This is my...my husband, Dr. Aran Atkinson.”

  Lacey’s eyebrows shot up. “Wow!”

  Ruby shook her head and Lacey covered her mouth.

  “Sorry, pregnancy brain,” she apologized. “It’s nice to meet you finally, Aran. Ruby has told me a lot about you.”

  Aran cocked an eyebrow and chuckled. “Has she? It’s nice to meet you too, Lacey.”

  “Let’s get inside and I’ll fill you two in on what’s going to happen today.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Ruby glanced back at Aran, who was still chuckling to himself, and couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t know exactly why Lacey had said that to Aran. All she had ever told her about her husband was that she was married and he was overseas, serving.

  Lacey had been something of a matchmaker when Ruby had first met her. In fact, Lacey had been trying to set Ruby up with Jack—but Ruby had known the moment she’d met Jack that it was Lacey he truly wanted. Another time when her fake marriage to Aran had come in handy. Once people knew you were married they stopped trying to fix you up with every single guy in a hundred-mile radius.

  The clinic was warm and quiet, but Ruby knew that wouldn’t last long. As soon as the doors opened, in an hour, the clinic would be packed.

  “You guys can set your stuff down in the staff lounge.” Lacey pointed to a door behind the desk. “I just have to get some of the charts ready. I’ll come back in ten minutes and we’ll go over the day’s work.”

  Ruby opened the door to the lounge room and peeled off her coat. Aran followed her in.

  “I have a question,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “What exactly have you been telling people about me? I mean, everyone I’ve met knows exactly who I am and is excited to meet me...”

  “What do you mean, what have I been telling them? I’ve told you what I’ve been saying.”

  “And what is that again?” he teased.

  “That you served overseas and your name.”

  “That’s it?” he asked, and there was the smug smirk she remembered.

  “Yes. What’s your point?”

  “Lacey hearing ‘so much’ about me.”

  And there was another saucy smirk on his face.

  Oh, Creator.

  “Again, I only told her your name, the fact you were a surgeon in the Army, who your mother was, and that you were overseas. Also that we did a year of residency together.”

  Aran looked a bit disappointed. “That’s it?” he said again.

  “What else was I going to tell her?” Ruby asked, and then she lowered her voice. “I didn’t tell them that our marriage was a sham and that we barely knew each other.”

  “We know more about each other now, after only a couple of days.”

  Ruby cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Oh? Enlighten me.”

  “You know I come from San Diego. You know that I haven’t seen much of Anchorage and don’t know much about the north. And you know the damage done to my leg.”

  “And I know you’re a pretty good surgeon.”

  Aran smiled and his expression softened. “See? Those are things. But I was kind of hoping that you’d told some juicy lies about me.”

  Ruby tied back her hair into a bun and then pulled her scrubs out of her bag. “I’m not a good liar. I give this tight smile and just kind of stare off into space while I try not to sweat.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve seen that expression before. You were wearing it the day we got married.”
>
  “What?” she asked.

  Aran grinned and she laughed out loud.

  “I did not grin like that,” she said.

  “You so did.”

  Ruby rolled her eyes. “I suppose I did. That was a very uncomfortable situation.”

  And she remembered how, even though she knew now that he had been upset about his father’s death, he’d taken her hand and calmed her down, and how much she’d appreciated it.

  “Agreed.” He pulled out the set of scrubs he’d packed and then slipped off his shirt.

  Ruby tried to not watch him as he changed, but she couldn’t help it. He wasn’t as ripped as he had been before he’d shipped out, but he was still a well-built specimen.

  She could see scars from the shrapnel littering his side. He hadn’t told her much about the IED explosion, but from the way his leg had been damaged and the scars on his torso it seemed he was lucky to have survived.

  The thought of him almost dying caused her anxiety.

  What if he had died? How would she have got her Green Card?

  And then she felt bad for thinking so selfishly about herself.

  As if he knew she was staring, he glanced over his shoulder. “What?”

  “Your scars. That must’ve been one of heck of an explosion.”

  His jaw tightened and he pulled his shirt down over his head and covered them up. “Yeah.”

  She’d obviously touched a sore spot and she couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t even begin to fathom what it would have been like and she knew that she wasn’t going to press him on the matter—just as she didn’t want him to press her on the matter of her father’s death.

  They finished getting changed in tense silence and Lacey came back to the room with a pile of charts.

  “You two ready? Our cholecystectomy patient is ready to go!”

  “Yeah,” Ruby said.

  Aran just nodded, and then they followed Lacey out of the lounge area to start their long day of surgeries and consults.

  * * *

  Aran was exhausted. He hadn’t pulled such a long day since before his injury. He’d done that surgery with Ruby when he’d first arrived in Anchorage, but that had been just one surgery. Then there had been the flail chest in the woods but, again, that had been one isolated incident.

  It was a much different thing seeing case after case and doing many minor day surgeries to save the people of Whitehead a very expensive trip down to Anchorage or Juneau.

  His leg was aching too, but there had been a lull, so he quietly slipped away and made his way back to the lounge. There was a comfortable-looking couch there, and after he’d grabbed himself a cup of lukewarm coffee he sat down and leaned his head back.

  Ruby hadn’t been joking when she’d mentioned that it would be tough work. Now he understood his limitations.

  He’d had physiotherapy, and had been cleared to do surgery, but he should’ve eased himself into it rather than thinking he could just go back to the way he’d always done things.

  He hated that the injury was preventing him from just getting back into the swing of things as he’d always done.

  One thing that had made it easier was working with Ruby and Lacey. They both ran a tight ship and he appreciated that. Lacey’s staff were well equipped to handle day surgeries and that was impressive.

  It wasn’t just the people in Whitehead who were utilizing the clinic today—they were flying in from all the other isolated little communities.

  Lacey had handled the day-to day-appointments, while Ruby and he handled what Lacey couldn’t.

  “How are you holding up?” Ruby asked as she came into the room and poured herself a cup of coffee.

  “A little sore, but I just need ten minutes and I’ll be back at it.”

  Ruby leaned against the counter and took a sip of coffee. “I think we’re done.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Inevitably when a doctor says that there will be some crazy emergency.”

  Ruby chuckled softly. “Not here. No other flights are coming in and Lacey is dealing with the last of the regular check-ups.”

  Aran scrubbed a hand over his face. “I hope you’re right.”

  “As soon as my last patient comes out of the post-anesthesia recovery room I’m going to suggest high-tailing it out of here. I’ve been watching the radar and there’s a nasty storm coming down from the mountains. I’d like to get back to Anchorage tonight.”

  “Because of Chinook?” Aran asked.

  “No, he’s fine. Sam will check on him. But if it’s a bad storm we could be stuck for a couple of days. The temperature has dropped outside.”

  “You’re not seriously telling me it’s a snow storm?” Aran asked in disbelief. “It’s June.”

  “Yeah, exactly. It’s June. Stranger things have happened.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll go get...” Aran trailed off as Lacey came in. He could tell by her pained expression something was wrong.

  “Hey, guys. It’s Mitchell...”

  “What about Mitchell?” Ruby asked.

  “Appendicitis. It’s bad. His son Max just brought him in.”

  “Okay.” Ruby finished her coffee.

  “See?” Aran said, and he finished his coffee and got up.

  “You were right.” Ruby stretched. “You okay to handle this?”

  “I’m good. Maybe we can stabilize him with some antibiotics and fly him down to Anchorage?”

  “Hopefully—and hopefully before the storm hits.” Ruby tossed her coffee cup in the garbage. “You ready?”

  Aran nodded. “Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  He followed her and Lacey as they made their way to an empty exam room. The last of the post-operative patients were being taken care of and discharged. As soon as he walked into the exam room and saw Mitchell he could tell that this appendicitis wouldn’t be stopped with simple intravenous antibiotics.

  The man’s appendix was about to rupture.

  Ruby took the chart from Lacey and shook her head gently, showing him the last recorded temperature.

  “It’s high,” Aran said quietly.

  “I did an ultrasound and the appendix is enlarged. He is unable to pass gas and his blood test shows a high white blood count,” Lacey said.

  “What’s wrong with my dad?” Max asked.

  “Appendicitis,” Ruby said. “Mitchell, were you feeling this bad this morning?”

  Mitchell winced. “I thought I had some indigestion, but it just got worse as the day went on.”

  Ruby looked at him. “Well, what do you think, Aran?”

  “That appendix needs to come out before we can fly him down to Anchorage.”

  “My dad has to have surgery?” Max asked, shocked.

  “Yes,” Aran said. “He needs that appendix removed. If it isn’t it could burst and be fatal for him.”

  Max nodded, but looked worried. “I should get my mom. Dad, you going to be okay?”

  Mitchell nodded. “I am. Be careful, yeah?”

  “I will.”

  Max left and Lacey began prepping a bag of antibiotics and getting Mitchell some pain medication.

  “Lacey, can you prep Mitchell for surgery and we’ll get the operating room ready?” Ruby asked.

  “Of course, Ruby.”

  Aran followed Ruby out of Mitchell’s room.

  “I don’t think we’re going to beat that storm. And even if we did, I wouldn’t want to risk transporting Mitchell to Anchorage this late in the evening.”

  “Agreed. So we stay here and hope that the weather clears in the morning?”

  Ruby nodded. “There’s no other choice. That appendix is going to rupture before we can get him to the hospital and that’s much worse than getting stuck in Whitehead
for a couple of days.”

  “Okay, well, let’s get that appendix out.” Aran winced slightly. His leg was bothering him. “I’m going to take some ibuprofen and I’ll meet you in the operating room.”

  “Okay.”

  Aran headed back to the lounge to grab some medication, just so he could make it through this last surgery. As he got to the front of the clinic the light disappeared and the wind shook the building, rattling the windows as the snowstorm darkened the sky.

  He’d never seen anything quite like it before. And he worried that it might be more than just a night that they were stuck in Whitehead.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  RUBY WAS TRYING not worry about Aran as he stood on the other side of the operating table. She could tell that his leg was bothering him, but he was still focused on his work and she had to admire him for that.

  There was a lot she liked about him. She’d forgotten what he was like. How much she’d missed him—how much she’d missed working with him.

  She definitely needed his help in operating the laparoscope to remove Mitchell’s appendix. Lacey was sitting next to Mitchell’s head, monitoring him, and her anesthesiologist was making sure that Mitchell stayed under.

  Ruby kept her attention on the screen in front of her as she navigated through Mitchell’s peritoneum to find the nasty little appendix.

  “There it is,” Ruby said confidently.

  It was red and swollen. A couple more hours and she had no doubt that it would burst. Long before they’d be able to get to Anchorage.

  “Looks bad,” Aran said.

  Ruby nodded and adjusted the laparoscope so she could remove the appendix and invert the stump into the cecum. “With the storm raging outside, there’s no way we would’ve made it to the hospital. I’m wondering how long he’s been masking his symptoms...”

  “I don’t know,” Lacey piped up. “He’s pretty good at hiding things like this. He doesn’t ever want to be a bother and he doesn’t want to take off time from work.”

  “Ah, that sounds like Mitchell for sure.”

  Ruby finished removing the appendix and sealing off the wound. Mitchell would still have to go down to Anchorage and be on intravenous antibiotics for a few days, to make sure that no abscess formed and he didn’t get a post-operative infection. Post-operative infections were uncommon, but with something like the appendix Mitchell would have to be closely monitored.