Page 37 of Auctioned to Dr. Daddy

I glance at the lights above us, thinking about what Josie had said about the backup generator. “Does the storm scare you?”

Nathan glances up too. He makes a face, like he thinks about lying for a moment before admitting, “Yes, but not because of work. I’ve got Tabby in the daycare, and that worries me. I wish that I could go and sit with her.”

“I understand,” I say. “It’s got to totally freak you out sometimes.”

We move fast, sweeping through the building.

Myocardial contusions are nothing to play around with. They’re normally caused by blunt force trauma to the chest. With this weather, I’m going to make a wild guess and say that it’s a car crash victim, or something similar. It can cause the heart wall to rupture and that leads to blood clots and cardiac arrest.

“Are you worried about the farm?” Nathan asks. We skid into the room for prep. It’s a frenzy of motion; no one but a doctor can ever understand what it’s like to try and hold a conversation during a moment like this. Our hands are about to be in someone’s chest.

“I am,” I admit. “There’s an old mare, Poppy, and I’m worried about her throwing a fit in the stall. She shattered her splint bone last time that she had to be in for a while.”

The fact that he would ask about the horses leaves me warm and happy, and being around him makes a lot of my nervousness fall away. I’m much more confident handling this surgery now, even in the middle of the storm.

One of our nurses comes in. Delilah is curvy and pretty, red hair swept up into a bun and the hint of a tattoo peeking out from under her scrubs. “Did the two of you hear about the pipe?”

The two of us trade looks. Nathan says, “No?”

“The east wing just had a pipe burst on the fifth floor. It’s a gusher. I don’t think that they can figure out how to turn it off,” Delilah explains.

Nathan hisses a curse. “I’ve been saying that we needed to get the repairs on the east wing done sooner.”

Delilah gives him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Nathan shakes his head and then turns on work mode.

His piercing eyes flash with a determination that I can’t help but admire. “Alright, ladies. Grab your gloves. I get the feeling that this is going to be the start of a long, long night.”

Chapter Seventeen

Nathan

Twoback-to-backcardiacsurgeries,both sudden ones, leave me absolutely exhausted. And thoroughly impressed with Demi, too.

My brother had been right.

She’s one of the best cardiac residents that I’ve seen. Her hands are steady and fast, and the blood doesn’t bother her.

Sometimes residents are amazing up on the floor but the moment they get into surgery, their nerves or hatred for having their hands in another person’s chest gets the best of them. That’s clearly not the case for Demi.

She’s come to join me in the doctors’ lounge for coffee and is standing by the window, peeking outside through the glass. Rain comes crashing down in waves.

I make the coffee the way she loves it, passing it over to her.

“I heard from a bird that you weren’t feeling good earlier,” I tell her, moving to stand at her side.

Demi leans up against me, her head tilting to press on my shoulder. “I just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”

“Didn’t you tell me that yesterday, too?”

“I’ve been making bad choices with my meals.”

“You should get yourself checked out when this storm is over,” I tell her. “You don’t want to let something serious go unnoticed. You’re a doctor. You know that things are always best handled when you—”

“Catch them early,” finishes Demi. “I know, I know. But it really is just a series of bad food choices. Still, I’ll have someone look me over when I’m done with this shift.” And then, in a sudden and obvious change of subject, “Look at that!”

The window looks out onto one of the side parking lots which has been totally flooded. The rain comes crashing down in a gale so heavy that it turns everything gray. There’s nothing beyond the rain. Just the steady fall of it.

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