Mount Mercy

He shook his head.

I struggled to keep my voice casual. “Let me take a look, just in case.”

For the first time, he looked up and his eyes were wide with fear.

The suspicion became a certainty. “Just in case,” I said again.

13

Amy

I HAD TO walk to work because I’d left my car at the hospital the night before, but it meant I could stop at the bakery on the way. I grabbed croissants, Danishes and coffee for the OR staff. I just wished I’d put on a thicker coat: it was much, much colder today and I was shivering by the time I reached work.

Upstairs, Krista pounced on me as soon as I came out of the elevator. “Bless you, Amy.” She grabbed a Danish and a coffee. “Sooo?”

I flushed. “So what?”

“So what happened? Everyone saw you and Corrigan in Krüger’s.”

“Nothing! We were just talking!”

Krista cupped my cheek in one hand, stared intently into my eyes and brushed her thumb across my lips.

“What are you doing?!” I squeaked, trying not to drop the rest of the coffees.

“Nothing. Just talking. This is how people just talk, isn’t it?”

I huffed and knocked her hand away. “Okay, okay! He’s...interested. He says he’s interested.”

“Of course he’s interested! So what happened?”

“Nothing! I went home!” Then, quickly, “Alone!”

“And jilled off.”

“Krista!” I went crimson.

“Oh, like you didn’t.”

I hurried into the OR and started lining up my surgical instruments with exacting precision. When I trusted my voice again, I said, “I’m not getting involved with him.”

“I don’t think anyone gets involved with him. They just get under him. Maybe you should, too.”

“Krista!”

“Look: okay, he’s just about the sex. The man’s about as deep as a puddle. But a night of rolling around with a smokin’ hot Irishman between your thighs—would that be so bad?”

“Yes! I’m not being the next Corrigan conquest.” And I marched out before she could argue. But as I hurried over to intensive care to check on Rebecca, I couldn’t figure out which bothered me more: her encouraging me to sleep with Corrigan or her writing him off as shallow. I was sure there was more to him than people saw.

Rebecca was still very fragile, but well enough that I’d be able to do the second stage of her operation that afternoon. “Then I’ll be all fixed?” she asked.

“Yes. There are a few things we’ll need to keep an eye on, but you should be fine.” I was still a little concerned about her kidney function: if it went south, she’d need a specialist center. But it was looking okay for now.

I called her parents to see what time they’d be arriving. But when I got through, they told me Denver airport was still closed and now some of the roads were being closed, too. They were holed up in a motel just outside Colorado, worried out of their minds. Rebecca’s lip quivered and something surged up inside me, fierce and primal.

“Don’t worry,” I heard myself say into the phone. “I’ll keep her safe.”

And Rebecca blinked back the tears that had been about to spill. I put Rebecca on the phone and sat there watching her talk to her folks, shocked at the feelings that were tightening my chest. Growing up without my mom and with a dad who was so geeky and practical, I’d always thought I’d missed out on developing any sort of maternal instincts. I certainly couldn’t imagine ever being a mom. But for the first time, those instincts were waking up. I really liked this kid. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. It was incredible... and scary.

As I got into the elevator to head up to Surgery, my mind slid back to Corrigan. Of course I couldn’t sleep with him. But...as the doors closed and I zoned out for a moment, I was suddenly back in the fantasy from the night before. His hard body spreading my thighs, his cock driving up into me as he whispered in Irish silver all the things he was going to do to me….

The elevator doors opened...onto the ER. Wait, what? Why had I gone down instead of up? I was sure I’d pressed the button for Surgery.

Almost sure. God, I pressed ER, didn’t I? Subconsciously, I wanted to see him. So strongly that I’d even come down here, to the place that drove me crazy. I shook my head and mashed the button for Surgery. My subconscious could go hang. I wasn’t going to sleep with him so the less I saw of him the—

Corrigan flung aside the curtain of an exam room and stalked across the room.

I took a step back. Everyone took a step back. Corrigan’s face was twisted with rage and every muscle was straining with tension. Each step he took seemed to shake the floor and when an empty gurney got in his way, he shoved it halfway across the room. “YOU!” he thundered, pointing.