Page 42 of Jagger

Jagger had his hands at his sides and I had a feeling he knew I was standing behind him. He turned toward me, taking two long strides until he was in my face. “I’m not trying to pry into your business, Bella, but if you’re who I think you are, we need your help.”

Suddenly, all eyes were on me, eight or nine people staring at me as if they knew exactly what was going on. “I can’t.”

Denise pushed her way through the others. “Are you a doctor? A nurse? An EMT?”

Why was this so damn difficult? I tried to shut it down, but the oath I’d taken to do no harm kept flooding the front of my mind.

“Bella,” Jagger growled.

I closed my eyes. “I’m a doctor. A surgeon. Where are the victims?”

“Thank God! They’re being transported in a couple vans. They should be here in five minutes,” Denise answered.

After taking a deep breath, I allowed the woman I’d been to take over completely. “Listen to me. If you have a conference room, Ineed every six- or eight-foot table you have in the place brought down, chairs pulled away. All the lights on. I need stacks of clean towels and a water source. However many first aid kits you have, I want them brought to the room. As far as any instruments, I may need to borrow some from the kitchen. As long as they’ve been sterilized. Since I don’t know what I’m dealing with, this will be dicey. Can you make sure that’s taken care of?” I glanced at all three brothers.

Shephard nodded. “Of course. I’ll rally some employees and have what you need brought in.”

“Hunter. Will you make certain all the kids find another place to visit Santa? I don’t want the victims brought in front of them.”

“You got it. Zoe. Let’s make a new plan. We’ll go into the Cascade auditorium. It’s much bigger.”

Zoe nodded, immediately springing into action. “Okay, kids. We have snacks and Santa is coming with us.”

I turned to Jagger, needing his help and support more. “I don’t know how this is going to work, but I might need you.”

I’ll be damned if the man wasn’t gritting his teeth like he was going to say no. “Yeah, I’ll do what I can. I might know a thing or two about wounds.”

I bet he did.

As the entire lobby went into a quiet frenzy, I questioned my judgment. Maybe this was the best thing in my life at this point.

A grounding.

A new beginning.

A girl could hope for the best.

CHAPTER 13

Jagger

“She’s something special alright.”

Shephard’s voice also grated on my nerves, but at least the man was right. “Yeah, she is.”

“I thought she was waiting tables.”

“She is. Or maybe she was.”

“But she told you she was a surgeon?”

“Nope. She didn’t want to.” It was late, hours having gone by. While Bella hadn’t been required to perform any surgeries, she’d been working nonstop for hours with a single short break.

“I’ll tell her later, but share with her how grateful we are. Okay?” Shep asked.

“I will.”

“We’ll talk later.”

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