Falling For The Single Dad Surgeon (A Summer In São Paulo Book 2)

by Charlotte Hawkes

  “Find any ID at the accident scene?” Leilani asked over her shoulder to the EMTs standing near the door of the trauma bay. “Any idea what he’s on?”

  “Cops got his license,” one of the EMTs said, a young woman name Janet. “His name’s Greg Chambers. According to the officer who ran his plates, he has a history of DUIs and a couple arrests for meth too.”

  “Great.” It wasn’t, in fact, great. It was exhausting and brought up a lot of memories Leilani would just as soon forget, but that wouldn’t be professional, and she couldn’t afford to seem anything but perfect these days with the Emergency Medicine directorship up for grabs.

  A quick check for signs of distress on the guy—airway, breathing, circulation—all seemed intact and normal. Next, she moved to palpate the patient’s torso and extremities. “Do you have pain anywhere other than your head, Mr. Chambers? Can you feel your arms and legs?”

  “I feel you poking and prodding me, if that’s what you mean.” The guy groaned and raised a hand to the bandages covering his scalp. “My head hurts.”

  “Smashing it into a windshield will do that,” Leilani said, finding no evidence of broken bones or internal bleeding on exam. She returned to his head wound. He was lucky. If only the people Leilani had loved most in the world had been so fortunate.

  She blinked hard against the unwanted prickle of tears. Must be the exhaustion. Had to be. She never let her personal feelings interfere with her duties.

  “Everything okay, Doc?” Pam, the nurse, asked while adjusting the patient’s heart monitor.

  “Fine. Thanks.” Leilani gave her a curt nod, then turned to the paramedics again. “Any other casualties from the accident?”

  “Other than the palm tree he hit at forty miles per hour?” Peter, the other EMT, said. “No. No other passengers or vehicles involved, thank goodness. When we arrived, the patient was standing outside his vehicle, texting on his phone. He took one look at us and complained of neck pain before collapsing on the ground claiming he couldn’t stand.”

  “Where’s my truck?” Mr. Chambers grumbled.

  “Your vehicle is a total loss, sir,” Leilani said, hackles rising. People died because idiots like this guy drove under the influence. She checked the laceration on his head.

  “No!” He wrenched his arm away from the phlebotomist who’d arrived to take his blood. “You can’t take it without my consent. I know my rights.”

  Energy and patience running low, Leilani fixed the man with a pointed stare. “You keep complaining about your rights, Mr. Chambers, but what about the rights of the other people on the road who just wanted to get home to their family and friends? You put innocent lives at risk driving while intoxicated. What about their rights?”

  His chin jutted out. “Not my problem.”

  It will be, if your test results come back positive, she thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

  Leilani had dealt with her share of belligerent patients during her ten years working at Honolulu’s Ohana Medical Center, but this guy took the cake. She turned to Pam. “Call radiology and see if they can get him in for a stat skull X-ray, please. Also, we need a Chem Seven, tox screen and blood alcohol level.” Then, to the phlebotomist, “Strap his arm down if needed.”

  “I’m no addict,” the guy yelled, trying to get up and setting off the alarms on the monitors. “Let me out of here.”

  Several orderlies stepped forward to hold the guy down as Leilani recorded her findings in the patient’s file on her tablet.

  “How much have you had to drink tonight, sir?” she asked, glancing up.

  “Few beers,” the patient said, shrugging.

  The scent of booze had been heavy on his breath, and Leilani raised a skeptical brow. Based on his delayed reaction times during her exam and his uncoordinated movements, he’d had way more than he was letting on. “And?”

  “A couple shots of whiskey.”

  “And?”

  His lips went thin.

  Right. Her simmering anger notched higher. The fact someone could be so reckless as to get behind the wheel when they were obviously impaired sent a fresh wave of furious adrenaline through her.

  Movements stiff with tension, she set her tablet aside and returned to the bandages on the guy’s forehead, peeling them back to reveal a large bruise and several small cuts. She dictated her findings as she went. “On exam there are no obvious skull fractures. Several small lacerations to the forehead and a golf-ball-sized hematoma over the left eye. No obvious foreign bodies seen in the wounds, though we’ll need the X-rays to confirm. Sutures aren’t necessary, but Pam, can you please clean and dress this again.” She glanced over at the EMTs once more. “You said he hit the windshield?”

  “Glass starred from the impact.”

  “Okay. Let’s examine your spine next, Mr. Chambers.”

  “No.” He attempted to climb off the bed again. “I want to go home.”

  “You’re not going anywhere until I sign the discharge papers and the police release you from custody,” Leilani said, leveraging her weight to hold her uncooperative patient down. People always assumed because she was petite she couldn’t handle it if things got rough. What those same folks didn’t know was that she was an excellent kickboxer and had already survived way more hardship than most people faced in a lifetime. She was more than capable of fighting her own battles.

  “Cops? Aw. Hell. No.” The patient gave Leilani a quick once-over. “What are you, ten?”

  “Thirty-four, actually.” She opened his brace with one hand and carefully palpated his neck with the other, moving her fingers along his spine before cupping his head and turning it slowly from side to side. “No step-offs. Pam please order a stat spinal series as well, since he complained of difficulty walking at the accident scene. Mr. Chambers, were you wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident?”

  “Nah. Don’t like them. Too confining.”

  That was kind of the point. Seat belts saved lives. She was proof.

  The phlebotomist finished drawing her last vial of blood, then placed a bandage on the patient’s arm. “I’ll get this right up to the lab, Dr. Kim.”

  “Thanks.” Leilani picked up her tablet once more. “Patient has a possible concussion and will need observation for the next twenty-four hours. Pam, make sure the jail can accommodate that order.”

  “Will do, Doc,” Pam said.

  “I ain’t going to jail,” Mr. Chambers snarled.

  “The police might think differently. You caused quite a bit of property damage, from what I’ve been told, and this isn’t your first offense.” Leilani rubbed the nape of her neck, her fingers brushing over the scar there. Twenty years since the accident that had changed her life forever, but the memories still brought a fresh wave of pain.

  “Police are ready to question the patient whenever you’re finished, Dr. Kim,” Pam said, hiking her head toward the two uniformed officers standing just outside the door.

  “Okay.” Leilani turned back to the patient. “Almost done, Mr. Chambers. Just a few more questions.”

  “Not saying another word,” the man said, his scowl dark. “Told you I know my rights.”

  “Anything I can help with, Dr. Kim?” a new voice said, deep and distracting as hell.

  Leilani turned to see Dr. Holden Ross wedging his way between the cops and into the room as Pam was leaving to call in her orders. Ugh. Just what she didn’t need. The ER’s new locum tenens trauma surgeon barging into her case uninvited. He’d only been here a month, so perhaps he didn’t know any better, but it still irked her. She didn’t do well with people overstepping her boundaries. She’d worked hard to put up those walls over the years, both professionally and personally. Letting people too close only meant a world of hurt and trouble when they left. And in Leilani’s experience, everyone left eventually. Sometimes with no warning at all.
/>   The fact his gorgeous smile filled her stomach with anxious butterflies had nothing to do with it.

  She straightened and smoothed her hand down the front of her white lab coat, giving him a polite smile to cover her annoyance. “No. I’ve got it, thank you, Dr. Ross. Just finishing up.”

  “Got something you can finish up right here, darlin’.” The patient shot her a lewd look and grabbed his crotch.

  How charming. Not.

  Holden’s expression quickly sharpened as he moved to the patient’s bedside, his limp drawing her attention once more. She wondered what had caused it before she could stop herself, though it was none of her business. His metal cane clinked against the bedside rails as he glared down into the drunken man’s face, his stern frown brimming with warning. “Show Dr. Kim some respect. She’s here to save your life.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Dr. Ross,” Leilani said, clearing her throat. “But I’ve got this. I’m sure there are other patients for you to deal with.”

  “Actually, I’m just coming on shift.” He leaned back, his gaze still locked on the patient. “Fill me in on this guy, so I can take over after you leave.”

  Darn. He was right. Her shift was over soon, and she needed to get home and rest. Leilani looked over at her colleague again. Holden looked as fresh and bright as a new penny, while she probably looked as ragged as she felt. Add in the fact she seemed irrationally aware of his presence today—not just as a colleague, but as a man—and her stress levels skyrocketed.

  The last thing she needed right now was an ill-advised attraction to her coworker.

  Distracted, Leilani turned away to futz with her tablet. “What time is it now?”

  “Quarter past six,” Holden said, moving around the bed to stand next to her. He propped a hip against the edge of the counter, using his cane to take the weight off his right leg. “Your shift ended fifteen minutes ago.”

  The low hum of the automatic blood pressure cuff inflating on the patient’s arm filled the silence. Gossip was already flying amongst the staff about how handsome, intriguing Dr. Ross had ended up at Ohana. Everything from a bad breakup to a good recommendation from some powerful donors. There was one rumor, however, that concerned Leilani the most—that he’d come to their facility at the request of the hospital’s chief administrator, Dr. Helen King, and that he was in line for the same directorship she wanted.

  Ugh. She shook off the thoughts. None of that mattered at present. She had a patient to deal with. Plus, it was silly to operate off rumor and conjecture. She was a woman of science; she dealt with facts and figures, concrete ideas. Nothing silly or scary like gossip or emotions. Acting on “what-if’s” and messy feelings could bring a person to their knees if they weren’t careful. Leilani should know.

  Pam poked her head into the room again. “Sorry to interrupt, but Dr. Ross, there’s a new arrival for you. Female with abdominal pain for the last six hours.”

  “Duty calls.” Holden held Leilani’s gaze a moment longer before pushing away from the counter to scan the tablet computer Pam handed him. Leilani found herself unable to stop watching him, darn it. Her curiosity about him was a mystery. Sure, he was charming and would’ve been just her type, with those dark good looks and soulful hazel eyes. Not to mention he was more than competent at his job, according to the residents on staff. Neither of those reasons was good enough to go poking around into things that were better left unexplored though. Besides, Dr. Ross would hopefully be gone once a suitable replacement for his position was found. Leilani’s life was here, in her native Hawaii, and right now her attention was on her career.

  There’d be plenty of time for a personal life later.

  Maybe.

  Shaking off the odd pang of loneliness pinching her chest, she continued to complete her documentation while Holden rattled off his orders for Pam.

  “Okay. Let’s start by running an HCG to make sure the new patient’s not pregnant, since she’s not had a hysterectomy,” Holden said, tapping his tablet screen several more times. “I’ve added a couple of additional tests as well to get things rolling.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Ross.” Pam took the tablet and disappeared around the corner once more, leaving just the two of them and the patient in the trauma bay again.

  Leilani stayed determined to power on through because that’s what she did. She was a survivor, in more ways than one. She swallowed hard and rubbed her neck again. The scars reminded her how life could change in a second. There was no time to waste.

  Her patient’s snores filled the air and she shook the man gently awake. “Mr. Chambers? Can you tell me where you are?”

  He squinted his eyes open and scrunched his nose. “Why are you asking me this crap?”

  “Because you could have a concussion.” She glanced over at Holden and gave a resigned sigh. He obviously wasn’t going to leave until she shared the case details with him. Seemed he was as stubborn as she was. Not a good sign. After another resigned sigh, she ran through the details for him. “Single car MVA. Male, twenty-six years old, drove his pickup truck into a tree. Head struck windshield. Denies lack of consciousness. He’s alert and—”

  “Let me go, dammit!” The patient flailed on the bed and clawed at the neck brace. “Get this thing off me!”

  “Combative,” Leilani finished, giving Holden a look before returning her attention to Mr. Chambers. “Sir, tell me where you are, and I’ll get you something for the pain.”

  He rattled off the hospital’s name, then held out his hand. “Where’s my OxyContin?”

  “Acetaminophen on the way,” she countered, typing the order into her tablet and hitting Send.

  “Hell no.” The patient struggled to sit up again. “Opioids. That’s what I want.”

  Holden stepped nearer to the patient’s bedside again, his face pale. “Calm down, sir.”

  “Go to hell!” The patient kicked hard, his foot making hard contact with Holden’s right thigh.

  Holden cursed under his breath and grabbed his leg, “What’s he on?”

  “Not sure yet. Definitely alcohol, but probably drugs too. Waiting on the tox screen results,” Leilani said, scanning her chart notes for an update and finding none yet. “Patient has a hematoma on his forehead and a few lacerations, as you can see. No palpable fractures to the neck or spine, no internal bleeding or injuries upon exam, though I’ve ordered X-rays to confirm. According to the EMTs, his head starred the windshield, so no air bags either. I’d guess the vehicle was too old.”

  “Before 1999, then,” Holden murmured as he rubbed his thigh and winced.

  “Before 1998,” Leilani corrected him. “Air bags were required in 1998.”

  “Sorry to disagree, Dr. Kim, but I researched this during my time in Chicago. Air bags became mandatory in 1999 in the United States.”

  “Then your research was wrong.” Leilani battled a rising tide of annoyance as her grip on her tablet tightened. She of all people should know when air bags became mandatory. The date was seared in her mind for eternity. “It was 1998. Trust me.”

  “Why are we even arguing about this?” he asked, the irritation in his voice matching her own.

  “I’m not arguing. I’m correcting you.”

  “That would be fine if I was mistaken. Which I’m not.”

  “I beg to differ. The date was September 1, 1998, to be exact.”

  She squared her shoulders and held her ground, feeling a strange rush of both energy and attraction. No. Not attraction. She didn’t want to be attracted to this bullheaded man. Period. Still, her heart raced and her stomach fluttered despite her wishes. Must be the exhaustion. Had to be. She turned away, incensed, both at herself and Dr. Ross.

  “The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 went into effect on September 1, 1998.”

  Her words emerged in staccato fashion. Rude? Maybe, but then he
’d been the one to insinuate himself into her case without asking. She did a quick internet search to prove her point, then held the evidence on screen before his face.

  “See? Every truck and car sold in the US had to have air bags for the driver and front seat passenger.”

  Holden scanned the information, then crossed his arms, the movement causing his toned biceps to bunch. Not that she was looking. Nope. He narrowed his gaze and studied her, far too perceptively for her comfort. “And you know all that verbatim why?”

  Because they would’ve saved the lives of my family.

  She swallowed hard and turned away, not about to share the most painful secrets of her past with a virtual stranger, even though some odd little niggle inside of her wanted to.

  Gah! She must be way more tired than she’d originally thought. Sleep. That was what she needed. Sleep and food, because perhaps her blood sugar was low. That could explain her stumbling heart rate. Perhaps could even explain how she seemed hypersensitive to the heat and nearness of him now as they faced off over the span of a few feet. Might also explain her weird sensory hallucinations, like how the scent of his skin—soap and musk—seemed to surround her. Or the way her fingertips itched to touch the shadow of dark stubble just beneath the surface of his taut jaw.

  Ugh. Leilani clenched her fists on the countertop, the weight of his stare still heavy behind her. He was waiting on her reply and didn’t appear to want to leave until he got it. Fine. No way would she tell him the truth, so she went with a half lie instead. “I watch a lot of documentaries.”

  “Hmm.” He sounded thoroughly unconvinced. “I like those shows too, but that’s a lot of random facts to remember for no rea—”

  “Radiology’s ready for your patient, Dr. Kim,” Pam said from the doorway, giving Leilani a much-needed reprieve.

  “Thank you,” Leilani said as two techs wheeled Mr. Chambers out the door.

  Holden still stood there though, watching her closely. “I’ll handle him when he’s done, Dr. Kim. Go home.”

  “I’m fine, Dr. Ross.” Keeping her gaze averted, Leilani headed for the hallway, thankful to escape. “I’ve got plenty of paperwork to catch up on before I leave, so I’ll still be here to wrap up his case.”