Page 23 of Storm Bound
Shit.Tornado?I didn’t even know the layout of the practice yet, let alone know all the safe locations. What should I even do? Just stay here? Did I find a cellar? Where could I hide?
That was when the door opened again and Charlie hurried in.
“Did you get the…”
“The warning? Yeah. I-I did,” I said. “What do we do?”
I turned my head from side to side, feeling the swelling on my chest and my breath catching. As if it wasn’t enough that I had just moved to the middle of nowhere and left to deal with patients I’d never met, now I had to deal with a tornado on my first day here. Fuck. My. Life.
“Hey, Dr. Adam.” Charlie smiled and came up to me. “Don’t worry. It will all be okay,” he said.
And, of course, to make everything even more challenging, it had to be this hunk of a man I couldn’t have that was here to help me.
I was officially screwed.
Seven
Charlie
Poor Adam looked like a deer in headlights after the weather warning. And who could blame him? He was new to town, his uncle had dropped him in the thick of it, and now he had to deal with a tornado in a completely foreign environment with no time to prepare.
The shock of Adam walking into the office earlier that morning still hadn’t worn off even after the dozens of patients we’d gone through.
Adam was a natural with people. He was serious when he needed to be. Playful when it could fly. Sweet when dealing with children and the elderly. He wasn’t just good at his job as a general practitioner. He was a great people person, and even though no one knew him, most had taken an instant liking to him. I didn’t exactly expect miracles in one day—less than a day even—but I’d be surprised if anyone had a bad word to say about him.
The fact that Dr. Becker had left him to handle everything without a warning and the fact that Adam was still here after a full day’s work, still standing, said a lot more about him than it did for his uncle.
I was never close with the man, although he had been seeing me about my colitis as a teen, but he had never struck me as a man who would do such a thing. Yet, if I took Adam’s hints and the tone of voice when he talked about his uncle, it sounded like that was typical behavior for him.
Adam looked more and more uncomfortable the more I stared at him, so I decided to take charge like I had to and hopefully once we were under cover, he would feel safer.
“Right. We need to lock all doors, and shut all windows,” I said, locking the front door, then I went to the kitchen and locked the back door. Adam got to work checking all the windows, and we returned to the hallway where he stood watching me like a cute puppy in need of instructions and appraisal, and it melted my heart.
Great. That’s exactly what I needed. Him being all cute and needy.
“Done,” he said.
“Great. Now let’s find a room in the middle of the house, preferably, that’s also somewhat secure from outside sources,” I said.
Adam turned to look around him. I reached out for his shoulder and pointed at his office.
“That was a rhetorical question. Your office is ideal,” I said.
“Oh. Yeah, of course,” he said.
I walked off and into the office. Adam hesitated for a moment, but after a couple seconds followed me inside.
“Now, if I’m right, your uncle will probably have a stash of supplies here somewhere.”
I opened the cupboards the furthest from the window and, just as I thought, there was one that had a first aid kit in a small bag, some tinned food, and bottles of water.
“Bingo,” I said.
Adam crouched beside me and looked into the cabinet, his breath hot on my neck and his body so close to mine, I felt like a magnet being pulled toward him.
“So…” he croaked after a few moments of just staring at the provisions and breathing heavily. “Now we wait?”
“Now we wait,” I confirmed.
