Page 6 of Doctor Charmer

Dr. Morgan turns to face me with a brilliant smile I won’t easily forget, a silent thank you expression on his face. I can’t imagine the stress he must face daily and feel honored I provide a moment of joy to him and his dedicated team.

“Now, where were we?” He wipes the tears from the corner of his eyes and steps in front of me, that penlight back in his hand.

“You were giving me that whole Count Dracula vibe—look into my eyes.”

“Don’t you mean my gorgeous eyes?”

“Do you mean mine or yours?” I push his button to see how he’ll react.

“You already know how I feel about yours.” Bullseye. He holds my head steady, the light pen pointed at the top of my head. Thelight flashes across one pupil before he waves it away and does the same on the other side. “Looks good.”

“Aww, how sweet? You are good for the ego.”

He takes a step back, but not before I catch the smirk on his face. He turns toward the nurse. “Can you check on the condition of the driver?”

“Griffin. Griffin Smart.” I shout the name out loud, taking with it all the air in the room. Saying his name is like getting kicked in the stomach. Guilt floods over me, and I lower my head. I’m sitting here safe, unhurt, flirting with a handsome doctor, and my team could be… I stop myself from falling into the rabbit hole.

I watch the nurse scamper away, and Dr. Morgan’s voice shifts to the technician. “And can you see how the rest of the team is doing?” The echo of the metal of the curtain being pulled back-and-forth signals that we are alone, and the weight of everything that happened hits me.

The truck barreling toward us. Me screaming instructions to the girls, in the back of my mind wondering if it might be the last command I ever give them.

I sense him before I feel him. A shift in the air, a comforting warmth that wraps around me before he speaks. “This could have been so much worse. It looks to be just a head laceration. You should consider yourself lucky.”

His finger on my chin lifts it until I’m staring up at him. The look on his face is a mirror to my soul. Gone is the humor, the lightness—it’s now filled with a reverence of gratitude.

“Not the word I would use…” He holds my gaze with a calmness, as if he’d stay like this for as long as I needed it. And I do. “… until just now.”

He whispers, “Me too.”

I have no clue how to process his words. Three different meanings fade away as I am distracted by his intense glare, thosecalm, blue-gray eyes now swirling as if my words have kicked over a hornet’s nest. His gaze rises to the top of my head, and he tips forward two inches, and I close my eyes with thoughts of him kissing my head wound. It would be unprofessional, extremely forward of him, and is exactly what I want right now.

“Like I said,” he says, and I snap open my eyes. He’s shifted away from me, his movement a moment ago just him inspecting my wound. “You’re in good hands.” He rips the gloves from his hands and tosses them in the bin in the corner of the room.

He’s standing three feet away, but it feels like three hundred. For days, I’ve been surrounded by people. First, my family was over for the early Christmas celebration. Then a chatty group of co-eds that refuse to let a moment of quiet penetrate their world. I haven’t experienced such tranquility in days; the silence is almost deafening. I should embrace it, but all I feel is loneliness. All I hear are Dr. Morgan’s words:It could have been worse.

I hear the gasp escape my mouth, an unrecognizable sound that takes a second for me to realize its origin. Strong arms wrap around my shoulders, his hands gentle, careful to avoid my sutures.

“It’s just us. It’s okay. Let it all out,” he whispers. “Nobody needs to see you like this but me.”

His words are perfection. Just what I need to push aside the embarrassment and shame of being that woman. His words allow me to drop the facade I always hold up for the world of the strong coach in control.

“It’s just me and you. Reggie and Ivy. Let it out.”

And I do. I press half a cheek into his chest and let the tears roll. I follow doctor’s orders. This may be the only moment I will have to do this. After this, I have to focus on the kids and Griffin. They’ll be looking for me to be strong. To put the pieces back together. To be the solid wall I’ve always been.

But that will have to wait. For right now, I’m just Ivy. And he’s just Reggie.

Chapter Five

Reggie

Whipping the curtain closed behind me, I take a deep breath. The cacophony of the emergency room fades as my mind lingers on Ivy. One moment, she was teasing me with flirtatious humor, and the next, she was breaking down in my arms. And all I wanted to do was sit with her. Comfort her. Stay with her.

A loud gurney rolls inches in front of me, and my gaze follows the chaos. “Grab the elevator,” an attendant shout, pointing ahead as he pushes a patient in distress on their way to the operating room. Per habit, my gaze finds Nurse Reynolds, the true quarterback of the ER, handing out assignments and making sure everyone is where they are needed.

She points to Ivy’s curtain over my shoulder with awhat does she neednod. “Give her fifteen, privacy.” It’s shorthand I don’t need to explain to her; we’ve been through these battles a hundred times.

She nods and juts her chin down the hall. “Dr. Carmichael is in exam room eight.” A different shorthand returned, one thattook me some time to acknowledge. Whenever Angie is in the ER, I always find myself headed in her direction. In the past, it was due to an overwhelming infatuation I had with her, one I tried burying in the arms of other women for the longest time. It’s ancient history now. We’ve moved past it; she’s found her happily after elsewhere, and I’ve learned to value her friendship even more. Yet, Nurse Reynolds reminds me with her comment I will still find my way to her.

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