Page 72 of Dr. Alaska
“Hey, Dee, working late tonight?” Mav waved at his sister, who walked into the department.
She didn’t meet his eyes. “Yep.”
As soon as they transferred Bruce to the hospital bed, he looked at Mav, Louise, and Amberlyn and hollered, “I want the doctor. I don’t feel good.”
Amberlyn’s eyes widened, and she shot out of the room. “Be right back.”
Wait. Wasn’t the nurse supposed to stay with her patient? Mav shook his head at Louise as he quickly transferred the pulse-ox and telemetry leads to the ED machines. Out in the hallway, the buzz of voices rose and fell.
He distinctly heard someone say, “Oh, cookies.” Aggie must have arrived.
A rap of knuckles against metal doorframe preceded a familiar voice. “Knock, knock, Bruce. What’s going on today?”
Lee skidded to a stop a few feet into the room, looked at Mav, and gave him a shy smile.
His heart flopped in his chest. Honest-to-God flopped. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. How are you?”
“Not bad. On shift tonight.”
“Um, I can see that.” She pursed her lips. “You doing okay?”
“Good. Real good.”
Louise coughed the wordawkwardand smirked before turning back to work on Bruce.
Suddenly, Lee reached out. “Bruce, stop! What are you doing? Get back up there.”
As Louise unattached the last EKG lead from Bruce, he high-fived Louise and they traded matching grins.
Mav’s brain had trouble keeping up.
“Took you two long enough. Now sort things out already. I went to a lot of trouble and lost more chest hair with those stupid sticky electrode things. Almost had to get in one of those air-conditioned gowns again,” Bruce said, tromping past and pulling the room curtain behind him. “What took you people so long? Aggie! I’d like my cookie now, dear.”
Louise slipped out as well, sliding the glass trauma bay door closed.
“Wait. What just happened?” Lee tilted her head, brow furrowed.
“It’s not April Fool’s Day,” Mav said once he closed his mouth.
That was when it hit him. They’d been set up by Bruce, Aggie, Louise, Dee, and the Yukon Valley ED night shift.
Chapter Thirty
Lee didn’t movefor a full minute.
She had been meaning to talk with Maverick this week, but work had gotten in the way. Truth be told, she’d avoided him. Calling the locums recruiter earlier today had been difficult enough.
Big decisions took time. Big decisions came with risk.
“Hi,” he said.
“You already said that.”
“Wasn’t sure how else to start again.” He shrugged off his beanie and coat and rested them on the bed. She resisted the urge to smooth his unruly hair.
Lee bit her lip. “How about we park ourselves on the edge of this barely used hospital bed and chat.”
