Resisting Her Army Doc Rival

‘You’re not always easy to wind up.’ Sam laughed.

A deep-bellied sound that curled her toes, and had her trying to think up things to say just to evoke more laughter. Nothing came to mind. ‘I used to be. Guess I’ve changed.’

The laughter died in his eyes. ‘People do, Maddy.’ Somehow he’d moved right up to her without appearing to shift. And now his hand was on her chin, his thumb softly caressing her jawline, back and forth, oh, so gently. Don’t stop. ‘I think it’s called life.’

He didn’t know the half of it. Couldn’t. Not unless he’d emailed someone back home, and that was unlikely. From what she’d learned these past few days, if Sam wanted to know something he asked outright. Anyway, who would he ask about her? He hadn’t kept in touch with anyone she knew.

‘So I’ve heard,’ she choked around a huge dollop of lust. That, unusually, was the stronger of the emotions roiling through her. Sam’s thumb was magic, eliciting all sorts of sensations to spread out from her chin. She was leaning towards him, against his hand, afraid he’d stop.

Maddy took a big step backwards, disappointment rising as Sam’s hand slid away. If he had her in such a twist from a mere thumb rub, what would...? Don’t go there. You’re never going to find out. Understand? Oh, yeah, she understood all right. One look in the mirror at her abdomen would give her all the brakes she needed and more. Unless she made a blindfold for him. A sharp laugh huffed across her lips, bitter in its taste. Sam really had got to her if she was coming up with such ridiculous ideas. ‘Right, lunch.’ She strode away without looking at him, for fear of melting on the spot.

* * *

‘I want to kiss Maddy.’ Sam could not drag his eyes away from her as she crossed the parade ground, heading for the mess. That butt was doing manoeuvres in her fatigues that had nothing to do with soldiering. Moves that had his hormones in a spin.

‘I’d wait until lights are out,’ Jock drawled from somewhere behind him.

Sam swore. Did I speak aloud? Take that as yes. ‘Shut up, Jock.’

‘Just saying.’ He nodded. ‘You going to tell Maddy what you just told the whole medic unit?’

‘What?’ Sam scanned the room. They were alone.

‘You’re running out of days to make good on your wish.’

‘That’s got to be a plus.’ Kissing Maddy would not be wise. Getting all wound up in knots of need would only make for a very uncomfortable flight back home. Not that there’d be any kissing. She wasn’t going to allow him close enough. Besides, he wouldn’t be able to stop at that. And he had to. No. He had to stop this daydreaming before acting on it. Not after.

Jock rubbed his belly. ‘Let’s go eat, man. We’ve got a fair whack of patients this afternoon and you know how frustrating that’s going to be.’

Wrong word, buddy. I’m frustrated already, and it has nothing to do with patients.

‘What made the boss agree to letting more people in today? It’s not like we haven’t fulfilled our quota for the week.’

The commander stuck to the rules when it came to allowing locals onto the base, even those with serious medical conditions. Something both Sam and Jock disagreed with. Helping those in need was integral with being doctors, but try explaining that to the commander and they’d find themselves doing more patrols than usual. The commander was the guy who’d take the fallout if anything went wrong, though.

‘No idea, and I’m not asking. He’s just as likely to change his mind.’

‘True.’ Sam sure as hell didn’t want those cute little kids missing out on treatment because he’d said something out of order. ‘Wonder how Maddy will cope with the clinic?’

‘You really have to ask that?’

‘No.’ Just making conversation. Of course her name had popped up unbidden. It seemed nothing he did banished her from his mind. She hadn’t crept in. She’d bashed her way into his mind, his dreams, his body. A groan escaped him. ‘Four days to go.’ And counting. Could he get beyond them without following through on the driving need turning him in an ever-decreasing circle? Without dealing to the almost overwhelming need to kiss her?

Only time would answer that one. Four days and counting.

* * *

‘They don’t cry when I touch their broken arms or infected sores.’ Madison was in shock. She’d seen children as young as two this afternoon and their stoic little faces had cut into her heart, making her want to wrap them up and take them home.

‘It has you wondering what else they’ve endured, doesn’t it?’ Sam held up an X-ray taken of a six-year-old boy’s arm Madison had handed him. ‘Both the ulna and radius are broken. Looks like blunt force trauma to me.’

‘His mother said he fell off the roof of their dwelling.’

‘His mother? Or the interpreter?’ Sam shrugged. ‘Remember, what’s most important is getting those bones set and on their way to mending. It’s all we can do.’

‘You’re right.’ But she didn’t have to like it. ‘You want a hand putting a cast on?’

‘Come and work your charm while I try not to hurt the poor little blighter.’ Sam nodded. ‘We’ll give him something for the pain first. Can’t stand to inflict any more than he’s already dealing with.’

Straightening those bones before applying a cast was going to be awful for the lad. And for them. ‘I think he’s underweight for his age, but I’m not sure what’s normal here.’

‘He very well could be. Any fever, cough, breathlessness?’

‘Not that I’ve noticed.’ And she would’ve. She’d done all the obs, and more. The boy had barely stirred as she’d poked and prodded as gently as possible. The only sign he was in distress was his big black eyes getting larger.

‘Let’s get this over so the wee guy can go home with his mum.’

‘How did they get here?’ She hadn’t seen any vehicles outside the camp since she’d arrived.

‘They walked.’ Sam held up his hand in a stop sign. ‘Don’t even say it. We are not allowed to give them a lift back to town, but sometimes it so happens a truck needs to go for some supplies just as people are trudging away from seeing us.’

‘Cool.’ Madison picked up the equipment to make a cast and followed Sam over to their patient, who lay curled up beside his mum. ‘We have to give Khalid an injection,’ she told the interpreter.

When the boy heard that from the interpreter he pushed harder against his mother but didn’t utter a sound. ‘I’ll try not to hurt you,’ Madison said in as soothin

g a voice as she could manage. Rubbing Khalid’s arm with her palm, she felt him tense, so continued to rub until he slowly relaxed. When she finally slid the needle into his muscle he didn’t blink, but who knew if that was because he hadn’t felt the prick or not.

Sam opened the top drawer of a cabinet by the bed. ‘Here you go, young man. A lollipop for being so brave.’

The small mouth slowly expanded into a smile as Khalid snatched his treasure from Sam’s fingers. His mother said something and the boy nodded at Sam.

‘I’m picking that’s thank you in Khalid-speak.’ Sam grinned briefly before working quickly to align the radius at the break.

‘Right, now for the messy bit.’ Madison spread a plastic cover over the bed and began to apply the cast. She wanted to work fast so Khalid would soon be out of his misery, but she also didn’t want to make the cast too tight or too loose, so he’d have to come back for a second attempt. ‘I can’t remember the last time I did one of these.’

‘Back to basics, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, and you know what? I’m enjoying it.’ Sometimes it was easy to forget the simple stuff, hand it over to a nurse and move on to the next surgery.

Sam said, ‘I’ve been watching you. You’ve enjoyed helping these people.’

‘I have.’

‘Don’t get too involved, Maddy. They’re not why we’re here. You’ve got to remember that. If you don’t you could find yourself in a dangerous position one day. Not everyone is as they seem out here.’

Go and spoil the moment, why don’t you? Even if you are right.

For a moment there she’d forgotten the military side of being here, had become lost in the medical world that was her first love. Swallowing the flare of annoyance his words had caused, she acquiesced. ‘You warned me of that the day I arrived.’

‘Think of Porky and his foot. That’s why we’re here. Not to get blown up but to defend the innocent. As an aside, we do what we can for the locals if time and safety permit.’ Serious Sam was as mesmerising as the other versions. Then his face softened and he totally had her attention. ‘I don’t ever want to hear that you’ve been injured while here, Maddy.’