Page 21 of Dr. Grump's Surprise Baby

“You want me to come with you?”

“I could use an extra set of hands. But I don’t have time to talk you into it. Come or stay.” He hurried out of the break room and down the hall to meet the ambulance.

As he ran, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.

She was following him.

This wouldn’t be like the previous calls the interns had observed. He hoped she knew that. He was going to need her to be hands-on with this case, given that it was late at night and fewer people were here.

And she was ready for that.

He was ready to trust her with that

He was putting her to the test and he knew it, but he also felt confident that she wouldn’t disappoint him.

And at least in an emergency case, she wouldn’t have any opportunities to go rogue and spend time with the patient talking about their hopes and dreams, or whatever it was she did with them when she snuck off to socialize with Dominic’s patients. At least this time he would be able to count on her following orders.

At least, he hoped so.

CHAPTER 9

EMILY

“Male, mid-thirties,” the paramedic said as the gurney was wheeled into the ER. “We’re looking at broken ribs and internal bleeding.”

“What happened?” Dr. Berger asked as he began his preliminary examination.

“Car crash. Witnesses say he was driving erratically.”

“Intoxicated?”

“Looks that way.”

“We’ll get blood work on him later. Dr. Swinton, I need you here.”

Emily hurried forward.

“Hold his head,” Dr. Berger said. “We don’t know yet if we’re dealing with any spinal injuries.”

Emily nodded and braced the patient’s head between her hands.

“Was he conscious when you arrived on the scene?” Dr. Berger asked the paramedic.

“No,” the man said.

“The other driver?”

“No other driver. He hit a tree, not another vehicle.”

“Okay. That’s good. Let’s get him prepped for surgery.”

“Surgery?” Emily asked, startled.

“If he’s bleeding internally, we need to get in there and stop it, Dr. Swinton.”

“No, I know…” Emily swallowed. “I wouldn’t have thought you would do the surgery,” she said. “You’re not on shift right now.”

“We really don’t have time to debate this. I’m the most experienced physician in the hospital right now, so I’ll be handling the procedure.”

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