Page 2 of Cherished By the Fearless Mountain Man

The nurse at the front desk jumps to her feet, her eyes widening for a second before her training kicks in.

“Exam room three!”she barks, grabbing a pair of gloves.“Doc Willis!We’ve got a bleeder!”

Two staff members rush to meet us, one of them wheeling over a gurney.

“I can walk,” I mutter, teeth clenched, but the next step nearly buckles my knee.

“Nope, you’re done walking,” the nurse says firmly.“Sit.Now.”

I drop onto the gurney with a grunt, gripping the sides as they wheel me down a hall that smells like antiseptic and pine cleaner.A tall, graying doctor meets us outside the exam room, snapping on gloves.

“I’m Doctor Willis.Tell me what happened,” he says.

“Chainsaw kicked back,” I grit out.

“That’ll do it.”

The doctor and nurses work fast.They cut my jeans away, clean the wound, and flush it with something that feels like fire.I swear loud enough to shake the windows, but neither the doctor nor the nurses flinches.

“Muscle damage, but you missed the artery,” he says, inspecting the gash.“You’ll live, though your ego might not.”

After twenty-some stitches, a fresh bandage, and a tetanus shot, I’m sitting upright with my leg propped on a foam block.I feel wrung out and more than ready to go home.

“Now, this is the kind of wound that needs daily attention,” Doctor Willis says.“We’ll send a home nurse to check it each morning and change the dressing.”

I shake my head immediately.“No.I’m good.”

“You’re not good,” the nurse says, arms crossed.“You’re stubborn and lucky, and if you screw this up, we’ll be sawing your leg off next week.But of course, if that’s what you want, then sure, refuse the home nurse.”

Archer raises an eyebrow.“Come on, man.Think of it as a hot nurse showing up to take care of you.”

I shoot him a glare.“What about you and Callie?Siblings are supposed to help each other out.”

Archer shrugs.“We would if we could, but we don’t know what the hell we’re doing.This isn’t like pulling a splinter or slapping on a band-aid.You need someone who knows how to keep that thing clean so it doesn’t get infected.”

The nurse nods, clearly pleased with my brother’s reasoning.“Exactly.You need someone who studied and trained for situations like these.”

I sigh.The last thing I want is some old, nosy nurse walking around my cabin like I’m one bad day away from a retirement home.Fussing over me, telling me to elevate my leg, drink more water, maybe lecture me about the state of my fridge, which I know isn’t good, but I’m a grown man.I can take care of myself.Then again, I’m not stupid.This thing could turn bad fast if I mess around and don’t get the appropriate care.I don’t want to lose my leg.

I grit my teeth.“Fine.Send the damn nurse to my house.”

The doctor nods approvingly as he scribbles something on the chart.“We’ll schedule you for two weeks, but depending on how the wound heals, we can extend it.”

“Great,” I mutter.“Can’t wait.”

Chapter Two

Willa

“Take it easy, Mrs.Reed,” I call out as I latch the front gate of my patient’s house.“No more rearranging the furniture, all right?”

The older woman waves me off with a roll of the eyes.“Oh, please.I’ve been moving furniture longer than you’ve been alive.”

“Still, let’s give your sprained wrist the rest it needs, okay?”

She smiles and shrugs before heading back inside.I laugh.Mrs.Reed is a stubborn lady, that’s for sure.She’s super friendly, though.It's hard to be stern with her.

I sling my nursing backpack over my shoulder and head to my little hatchback parked on the street in front of her house.

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