Selfless Hero

“You’ve got that right. See you around, Max.”

“Yeah. See you, Rick.”

The instant I was alone again, I almost regretted it. Rick’s brief appearance had at least managed to push Kylie from my mind. But now that I was in solitude once more, I no longer had a distraction.

While her looks were undeniable, her skills had left me stunned as well. It was obvious that she was light-years beyond the other nurses. The way she worked around the GSW, she could have been a doctor. It’s not every day—or ever, in my case—that a nurse catches and calls out a doctor for making a mistake. Something about the way Kylie spoke to me while treating that gunshot patient had made me feel like a scorned child. It was like I was 14-years-old all over again, getting scolded by my algebra teacher in front of the whole class about ‘being too smart to be so careless.’

On the other hand, I didn’t even have legit reason to be upset with Kylie. She had every right to call me out on my mistakes because she was one-hundred percent right. If something had been overlooked with that patient, the blame would have ultimately been on me. Yet, this realization did nothing to alleviate my conflicted feelings about her.

And it was just barely past noon. Dammit.

With a sigh, I drank the last of my coffee and tried to mentally prepare myself for the long hours ahead.

CHAPTER 3

Kylie

In the break room, I drank the last of my water and threw the plastic bottle into the recycle bin just as Megan walked in.

“Long day,” she said.

“Tell me about it.”

“Are you okay?” She tilted her head in concern. “You seem a little annoyed.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m fine.”

She pursed her lips and folded her arms. Megan had known me for a long time, and we had started working as military nurses in Savage, CO within a week from each other. We went through our adjustment phase together, and both of us had been mentored by Dr. Nehru. Hence, she knew me well enough to know when I was bluffing or hiding my frustration.

“You in a hurry, Megan?”

She placed a finger on her plump chin. “Hmm…At home, I have a tall, dark, and handsome stranger waiting for me. But he’s on my DVR, so I guess he can wait.” She smiled. “What’s up?”

Together, we took seats at the table.

“I guess I’m just worried about Dr. Nehru. Do you know where she is? She hasn’t left us, has she?”

A wrinkle appeared in Megan’s brow. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe she’s just taking some time off, you know? It can’t be anything serious, otherwise, I’m sure we would have heard something. She’s a busy woman, and she’s been working at military hospitals for only God knows how long. Just look at what we have to deal with on a daily basis. Can you imagine all that she’s seen in this field by now? She deserves some time off. Hopefully she’s on an island somewhere with a big fruity drink in her hand and some handsome company.”

I laughed, though the word ‘handsome’ immediately sprung thoughts of Dr. Lewis into my mind. I supposed it showed on my face too, considering the way Megan narrowed her eyes at me. I tried to rearrange my expression into something more neutral, but it was pointless. Sometimes I was sure Megan was psychic.

Although Megan and I had started working at nearly the same time, she was at least fifteen years older than me. She often felt like a cross between a big sister and a surrogate mother. She had a few children of her own, so her maternal instincts were strong. I presumed that had to be why she was so good at reading nonverbal cues.

I cleared my throat and tried to keep my voice as nonchalant as possible. “So, do you have any idea if we’ll be stuck working with Dr. Lewis until Nehru gets back? Or was this just for today?”

“Stuck working with him?” she said with a smirk. “I’m not sure the other young nurses around here would describe it that way. They all seem pretty pleased to have him around.” She laughed.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Yeah, well…” my voice trailed off, momentarily not knowing what else to say.

“I do believe he will be filling in for Dr. Nehru for however long she’s on break, or wherever she is. Why do you ask?”

I shrugged my shoulders again. “No reason, really.”

“Oh honey, you are such a terrible liar! That’s why you’ve got to meet my kids. They’ll give you some pointers.”

All I could do was shake my head and laugh.

“Handsome, isn’t he?” Megan said, wiggling her eyebrows.