Page 68 of Sinful in Scrubs

“So this one’s not mine?” Marcus asked.

“No, Dr. Walker, you can go clean up, and I will find out who’s next on the list for you.”

I let my finger trail down my page of patients, reviewing my notes as to whom to prioritize next. There was a scribble at the bottom in someone else’s handwriting. “FYI, Walker has been here since ten.”

I looked at my watch and blinked a couple of times. It was just past midnight. It took a moment before I realized it meant ten a.m., not p.m.

I followed Marcus into the hallway.

“Why are you here, Emma?” he asked me again.

“James Collins thought the hospital could use my help prioritizing patients since we had incoming from so many different accidents.”

“Why aren’t you scrubbed up for surgery?”

I answered him honestly. “Because right now, we have more surgeons on the floor than we have locations for them to work.”

“Does this mean you’re back at Manhattan Memorial?”

I shrugged. “I’m at least on call for tonight.”

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

“Right now, I’m motivated by a lot of adrenaline and caffeine.”

I put my thumb over the note and flashed my clipboard at him. “I have a note here that says you’ve been here almost fourteen hours.”

“I had a good break in the middle of it before I was called back in. I actually made it home for dinner before they called me.”

I nodded. It was good that he had a moment of rejuvenation. But this was intense work. “Are you good to keep going?”

“Do you need me?” His voice was low and rumbled straight through my veins.

My insides clenched and trembled. The way he said that—I knew he meant in the professional capacity, but I couldn’t help thinking, was he asking if I personally needed him? The answer to that was definitely yes.

“Yes,” I said. “We can still use your help if you’re in shape to help us out.”

A small smile pulled at his lips. “I used to be a combat surgeon. I can keep going.”

“So you’ve mentioned,” I tried to tease, but the mood wasn’t right, and the words didn’t feel like the right thing to say. “I mean, yes, I know, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t tired or getting overwhelmed. If you say you’re good to keep going, we could use you in trauma room three. I’m afraid it’s going to be a surgical situation without a full surgical suite.”

He gave me a sharp nod. “I can handle it.”

I turned to head back to the nurses’ station and find out if we had any more incoming patients.

“Emma,” Marcus said.

I turned and our eyes met. Neither of us spoke for a long moment. We just held each other’s gaze. And it was as if time stood still for us. My insides swirled with nerves, and I was aware that each of us was trying to tell the other something important. Something that we each thought should be able to be said without words.

Surrounded by the pain of humanity, I felt a surge of warmth and pleasure. I loved this man, and I needed him to know it, even if this was not the time or the place. My declaration of love would not have been professional, to say the very least. I desperately hoped he could see it in my eyes.

Finally, he broke eye contact first with a quick dip of his head before raising his eyes back to mine. “I’m really glad you came back. New York wasn’t the same without you here.”

“I’m glad I came back too.” Time sped back up and whirled around us, catching us back up into the maelstrom of urgency that tonight was.

He turned and strode toward trauma room three, and I spun on my heels to run to the nurses’ station to get a status update.

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