Page 10 of Legacy of Danger
Chapter 4
At the start of Sunday morning rounds, Mariah had her hands full of caffeinated survival and her mind full of test results for the critically ill patients from early yesterday morning. Or was it two nights ago?
Her days and nights ran together. She rubbed her face with her free hand as she trudged down the first floor hallway to the back stairs. At least a few hours' sleep last night and a good shower had helped. With any luck, the coffee would push her over the hump from marginally functional to semi-human. She rolled her neck.
What about her patients? Shelby Taggart, first of all. The orthopedic surgeon had cleaned out the open fracture and placed the external fixation device on her lower leg. Antibiotics were running, and she was afebrile. Normal CT scan.
So why didn't she wake up?
She had also reviewed Eric Patterson's case with the neurosurgeon in Casper. The scan had showed a skull fracture but no brain swelling, bleeding, or CSF leak. After Mariah had updated a calmed-down Garrison and youngest brother, Kerr, they'd made the decision to keep both patients here in Bondurant Valley Hospital.
Actually, no. They hadinsistedon both patients staying here unless there was no other choice. Not the reaction she was used to seeing.
And what about that fight in the ER between Garrison and Vaughn?
She shivered at the memory of Vaughn's hulking frame, his apparent refusal to fight back against his furious brother, and the way he searched her like she had the answer to a question he needed to know.
No. Not exactly an answer to a question. He'd looked at her like he could strip her bare with a mere glance.
Quit it.He was a stressed-out family member in an emotional situation, nothing more. People had all kinds of reactions to such experiences when their loved ones were injured or sick.
Time to look at probabilities. Had some random guy affected her confidence, or was her self-doubt the problem?
In medicine, the saying went: If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. Same with weird feelings. In Mariah's case, the most likely explanation was that she had weird feelings because of her own neuroses, not because of some random guy.
With a sigh, she exited the empty service stairs to reach the back entrance of the patient floor.
Rounding a corner, she came within a sloshed drop of dumping her coffee on Wyatt Brand. She pulled up short as the large, wild-eyed man loomed before her.
The Brand family, like the Taggarts, was well known in town. Wyatt owned the local hardware and supply store. One of the Brand brothers was a principal at the school. Another one was the sheriff. Their mother was also a patient of Mariah's.
And a few weeks ago, yet another Brand brother, Hank, had kidnapped little Zach Taggart and Garrison Taggart's girlfriend, Sara.
Then Hank disappeared. Like, no leads for the investigation, no body parts left behind, no forensic evidence. Vanished.
Which left brother Wyatt to fill the void of bad behavior and even worse attitude. A baton he appeared to have picked up with gusto.
"Dr. Mariah?" That grating voice, combined with the typical leer, was enough by itself to make a gal want to kick him in the nuts. Not to mention, a few weeks ago, when he had accompanied his ailing mother to one of her appointments, Wyatt had made a pass at Mariah.
She carefully folded her arms as she kept her cooling cup of happiness between herself and the guy.
"No" apparently didn't mean "no" in his world, if his ten other advances since were any indication. Points for persistence, but enough was enough. She might have hang-ups from the traumatic experiences in her youth, she may have set the dating bar low due to her past relationship mistakes, and she may not have gone out with anyone in more than a year, but Mariah drew the line at dating co-conspirators in possible felonies.
He scratched at his unshaven chin and stretched to his full, burly height, causing her to crane her head back. Then he leaned forward, invading her personal space. "Have you thought about my offer to take you out for dinner?"
His stale breath of onion-laden hash browns made her eyes water as she backed up. "No, thank you," she sputtered. "What are you doing here? It's seven o'clock on a Sunday morning. I haven't been in to see your mom yet. After I round on her, I'll be sure to update you."
He waved the comment away, like his mother's pneumonia had nothing to do with his presence here in the hospital. Uh oh. Her heart didn't so much flop as gosplat. That last sip of coffee turned to acid in her stomach.
He grinned. "Thought it might be a good time for us to talk."
Nothankyouplease. "About what?" Would it kill any other staff member in this hospital to use the back stairs this morning? She'd pay good money for a distraction right about now.
"Our future together."
Right about now, she'd take a fire alarm or a Code Blue. "Pardon?"
"It's simple. I want you. You want me. What else is there to say?" As his beady eyes raked her from feet to head, she fought the urge to yank the lapels of her white lab coat closed.
