Page 2 of Saved By the Surly Medic

My teeth grit. "You need to keep your knees and feet engaged so that I'm not scraping all of your weight across your ribs. I don't want to hurt you more than I have to."

Her sweet smile sends a bizarre prickling sensation down my spine. "Rather…b-be dragged than tumble…hit r-rapids."

I spread my legs so I can grip the boulder with my thighs, stabilizing me as I grasp her other arm. Using my full strength, I pull her up, trying my best not to scrape her up too badly.

Suddenly her foot slips, and her entire weight comes down hard on the left side of her ribs. It takes more than a little scrambling, and grabbing her using a very inelegant hold, but eventually I manage to get her out of the river and on her feet in the shallow water.

The second the tension in her body releases, she begins to shiver from head to toe.

I hurry her onto the trail, then wrap my jacket around her narrow shoulders. "Thank you," she sputters. "Th-thought I was d-doomed."

We take a few steps, and she winces.

Pushing the jacket open, I look to check if her side is bleeding. Her eyes grow wide. "I'm a medic," I explain. "Does it feel like anything is broken?"

Her perfect, although still slightly bluish, lips turn up in the most incredible smile I've ever seen.

I've honestly never experienced a smile like this before. My guts might as well have been scrambled in those rapids. Swallowing hard, I try to focus on what she's saying.

"Not broken. Just…squished, I guess."

"May I do a quick check?"

"Sure." She lifts her left arm out of the way. I run my hand along the side of her ribs, right under her breast. Nothing feels out of place, thank goodness. "Can you take a full breath in for me, stretching out your lungs."

When she does so, she pulls a face. "Okay, that's uncomfortable, but I think everything's in working order."

"Good. You'd be cursing a blue streak, if anything was cracked. Are you okay to walk to the trailhead, or do you want me to carry you?"

She tries to speak, then sputters, her teeth chattering from the cold, her head nodding furiously.

"I think your body just answered for you there." Scooping her up gently in my arms, she slings her right arm around my neck. I move slowly at first, waiting until she settles and gets comfortable. Then I pick up the pace, striding quickly toward my truck.

"I'm Brooke, by the way."

Typical. I'm holding a gorgeous woman in my arms, and I don't even think to introduce myself. What the hell is wrong with me? Dammit, this is why I'm single.

"Jonah. Jonah Wolfe."

Even though she's shivering, her smile is sassy. "You must be a bigshot. I've seen your name all over the place around here."

"Yeah, my family has roots in this mountain as deep as the trees'."

"I like the sound of that. It must feel incredible, belonging to a place."

Interesting. I never once thought of it like that.

It's impossible to take my eyes off this woman. I want to study every last inch of her. The light smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks. Her thick auburn hair, tied up in a messy bun. The way her delicate face is so expressive, although she's far too pale right now.

I reach the trailhead, and don't want to set her down. When I arrived, there were four cars in the lot. Now, apart from my truck, there's only one – a battered old, brown station wagon that looks like it should've been replaced twenty years ago.

"I can drive you to the hospital. There isn't one in Old Hemlock Valley, but West Stoneburg is only about a half an hour away."

"Oh, it's fine," she says quickly. "I don't want to be a bother."

Setting Brooke carefully on her feet, I keep a hand on her shoulder, not quite trusting her not to lose her footing. "It's no bother. You're my patient."

Her perfect eyebrow raises on one side. "Patient?"

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