Page 4 of Dr. Alaska
Chapter Two
He’s more interestedin making goo-goo eyes at you than his mortally injured patient.
Whoa. Those were fighting words if Maverick Steen had ever heard them. No way would he shirk his paramedic duties to moon over some onlooker. Also, he never madegoo-goo eyes. Ever. Not anymore.
Enter Bruce, the town troublemaker, pot-stirring again.
Not that Bruce was completely wrong. The bystanderwasinteresting. Even with those ridiculous leather shoes, the young woman came only to his chin. He studied her. Only, she wasn’t exactly young. In her thirties? Hard to tell. Her light brown eyes flashed wide, and little puffs of vapor came from red lips. Snow clung to and melted on the damp bottoms of what were definitelynotwinter pants. Tiny flakes of snow skidded across her bright blue, brand-spanking-new name-brand puffy jacket. He snorted. Those coats might advertise that they could keep people warm so many degrees below zero, but Mav knew better. No way did she have proper layering of any kind. Hell, she was dressed like she was headed to a business meeting.
What business was out here, this far from Fairbanks, near the literal end of the road? Maybe she was lost.
“Are you okay?” he asked as she shivered. For a split second, he wanted to pull her to him, wrap his arms around her, and warm her up.
“Shouldn’t you be attending our patient?” Her mellow voice had a lilt, and he struggled to place the accent.
Then again, she could figure out how to warm herself up.
He rocked back on his heels. “Ourpatient?” He rubbed his chin with a gloved hand.
Huh. He pushed his shoulders back and puffed his chest out. He and Louise made a good EMS team, efficient and skilled.
With a wise nod, he said, “Well, quality careiseveryone’s job.”
The woman rolled her eyes and snorted.
He stared down at her, momentarily speechless. That was one of his best bullshit healthcare team lines.
Never let it be said that Maverick Steen couldn’t recover in the face of adversity. “You’ll get hypothermia if you stay out here much longer.” See? Hard to argue with good, solid logic. “We’re trying to limit the number of patients out here,” he quipped, briefly resting his hand on her upper arm. There was something about the woman that made him want to maintain contact.
With a grunt that managed to sound both sexy and judgmental, she planted her mittened fists on her hips. “Hmmph.”
He dropped his hand to his side. “What—”
“Y’all are going to need to get him some CT scans to check for injuries.”Y’all. Southern, then. Alabama? Having lived in Alaska his entire life, he was no expert in lower forty-eight dialects. Mav had, however, been forced by his mother to watchSteel Magnoliasyears ago, and the woman in front of him kind of sounded like the characters.
Fine, he’d seen the movie twice.
Okay, three times. But only because of the film’s portrayal of a character who had type one diabetes, which held medical interest to him. No other reason to rewatch it, such as a riveting storyline or excellent acting.
Damn it. He hadn’t said anything for several seconds. He needed to ask her a question so she’d talk again. Maybe she would say more about how she came to be at the accident. People got excited when they helped out EMS.
Oftentimes, bystanders thought that working accidents was like one of those medical TV shows. However, her actions showed that this woman had some sort of medical training. Likely a nurse or medical assistant.
He gravely dipped his head. “Don’t worry. We’ll get him over to the hospital and let the doctors to do a full checkup.”
He didn’t miss how she stiffened.
Bruce piped up. “No, we will not!”
Louise hissed, “Do you want me to call your wife? Because I will do it. Aggie’s number is in my contacts.”
“Ah, geez, Louise, you have to hit me where it hurts.”
“She’s right, Bruce,” Mav said. “We’ll never hear the end of it from Aggie if we don’t get you proper care. She’s got rheumatoid arthritis and is already tired. Do you want to stress her out any more?”
Louise glared at Bruce.
Bruce glared over at Mav.
