‘You got a name, Sam?’ Madison asked as she straightened up and dropped the suture needle into a dish. Her hands immediately went to rub her lower back.
Heat clawed up his cheeks. ‘Ah, no.’
‘Rooster.’ Jock laughed.
Her eyebrows rose endearingly, a query blinking out of those large eyes. ‘Do tell.’
‘Cock of the roost,’ Jock happily explained.
Madison laughed, a pure, tinkling sound that went all the way down to his toes, heating bits of him on the way past.
He loved that laugh. It touched the chill inside him, taunted him, spoke of life and love. Swallow. No. Haul on the brakes. This had to stop. Now.
‘What shall we call Madison?’ Jock asked. ‘You remember anything from your school days?’
As those dark blonde eyebrows rose in surprise, Sam shuddered. I need to get out of here. Now. ‘Maddy,’ Sam replied, careful to avoid anything contentious as he headed for the door. The muscles in his back tensed, his skin prickled. He could feel her eyes boring into the back of his skull.
‘That’s not a nickname.’
He had to stop his getaway and deal with this, otherwise Jock would keep at him. ‘I can’t think of anything else,’ he lied. Inferno would get her more attention than she already had. Besides, he was the one feeling like an inferno, she was merely the match.
Jock asked, ‘What about your family? Did they have a pet name for you?’
She was smiling when she said, ‘Spark. As in bright spark.’ Instantly the smile disappeared, replaced by anguish. ‘But not now.’ Her hand went to her stomach, rubbed lightly, left then right. Did she even know she did that? Did she realise the brown shade of her eyes turned muddy when she was disturbed? And how her forehead creased, bringing those shaped brows closer together?
‘Maddy it is,’ he said quietly, hoping to dispel her distress, hating to see Maddy terrified at unguarded moments. Looking around, he knew he wouldn’t find the cause in this room, that it came from somewhere deep inside her, but he looked anyway. Preferring to think Madison was all right, that nothing bothered her so badly she went still and pale in an instant. Knew he was lying to himself, but what was a guy supposed to do? Go hug her? Whisper sweet nothings in her ear until she laughed? He’d get an elbow in the gut for sure.
Would she survive out here where nothing was guaranteed? Not her safety, her sanity or her privacy.
More than anything, he wished for that. He needed to know she’d be okay, would survive the coming months without another wound to her soul.
But only time would take care of her. Time, her colleagues and her own strength. He’d have to wait long, agonising months to be sure she made it safely back home.
And when she did, he couldn’t be there to welcome her.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘THAT QUEUE ISN’T getting any shorter,’ Madison muttered as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand for the umpteenth time.
‘I wonder why.’ Sam grinned.
‘You think it’s funny?’ The line of soldiers waiting to see a doctor was ridiculous. ‘Don’t they have anything better to do? I mean, they’re very fit. You can’t tell me every one of those men is ailing from something.’ None of the soldiers who’d presented to her had actually been sick or in need of any treatment, so what was going on here?
‘I’d say there’s nothing wrong with most of the men.’ Sam’s grin only widened. ‘But there hasn’t been a new, good-looking female come on the base for months now.’
These guys were lining up in the heat and dust to get a look at her? ‘Get out of here.’
‘No way,’ he answered with a wink, apparently deliberately misinterpreting her. ‘I deserve the break since I’ve been working my butt off dealing with non-existent aches and pains when not one patient...’ he flicked fingers in the air ‘...actually wanted to see me. I don’t have the right curves.’
No, but he had all the muscles any woman could wish for and they appeared to be in excellent working order. Of course, she couldn’t comment on all of them. ‘Right. I’ll fix this.’ She strode through the door. ‘That’s it, guys. Show’s over. Get back to work and start being useful.’ Or whatever they were supposed to do at the end of the day.
A private stepped up. ‘I’ve got a pain in my belly.’
Madison read his name tag. ‘How long have you had this pain, Private Johanson?’
‘It started while we were out on patrol this morning. Thought I’d eaten something off for breakfast and it’d go away after a time, but it hasn’t.’
‘Where exactly in your abdomen is this pain?’
‘All over the place.’ The soldier ran his hand lightly over his belly.
Maddy wondered if she was being stitched up yet again, but something about the guy’s demeanour suggested maybe not. ‘Come in and get up on the bed.’
Relief lessened the stress in his face. ‘Boots off?’
‘No, but pull your shirt up.’ As she gently felt his abdomen he lay dead still, not even breathing. She pressed deeper, feeling for any sign of a distressed appendix.
‘That’s not nice,’ the private groaned. Sweat popped on his brow and upper lip. Impossible to fake that.
Her fingers continued gently probing his abdomen.
He sucked air through clenched teeth.
This man had a genuine complaint. ‘That was worse when I lifted my hand away?’
He nodded.
Another indicator she was on the right track. ‘Where did the pain start?’
With a groan he hovered his hand above his right side near where she’d applied light pressure. ‘About here. Stayed there for hours then spread around.’
She checked his name badge again. ‘Reece, I’m going to take your temperature and then a blood sample.’
‘Thanks, Captain. What’s my problem?’
‘You might have appendicitis.’
‘Great.’ Reece closed his eyes.
Once she had an EDTA blood sample Madison made a smear to stain when it had dried, then ran the blood through a very basic haematology analyser. ‘Slightly elevated WBC,’ she told Sam when he came across to see what she had.
‘Checked the smear for immature neutrophils?’ he asked.
‘Will as soon as the slide’s stained.’ Neutrophils were the white cells that reacted to infections and in this case if the numbers were increased and/or immature the result would back her diagnosis. ‘Twelve percent band forms,’ she told Sam ten minutes later. A textbook result for appendicitis.
‘Our man’s going to Theatre, then.’ He headed for the exit. ‘Back in a moment. Going to get our anaesthetist out of the mess. I’ll assist you.’
Madison shook her head after him. Still checking up on her. It should irk her, but it didn’t. Probably because she was exhausted and would be glad of another pair of eyes on the job. Hard to believe she’d arrived only thirty hours ago. So much had happened she’d believe anyone who told her it’d been a week.
‘Private, I’m going to operate to remove your appendix. The good news is I don’t believe it has perforated.’
‘Glad you’ve got something terrific to tell me, Captain.’
‘Hey, I’m sure it’s scary, Reece, but this is a straightforward operation. You’ll be sitting up drinking tea and eating a sandwich before you know it. Have you heard of keyhole surgery?’
‘Sounds small.’
‘Exactly. You won’t even have a scar to show off.’ Why some men liked to flaunt their wounds was beyond her. Guess a surgical one wasn’t hideous like burns. Most scars didn’t turn people into paranoid nutcases like she’d become. While explaining what she was going to do in basic terms without the ick factor, she undid the laces of Reece’s boots and pulled them off. ‘Might as well get you comfortable. When did y
ou last eat?’
‘At thirteen hundred hours. Didn’t feel much like food so only had a snack bar.’
He hadn’t been in her patrol so must’ve been with Jock. ‘That’s in your favour. Here’s Cassy to help you get ready.’