Page 3 of The Doctor's Promise
“Goodnight, Rafa.”
In the morning,she found a set of keys pushed through her door mail slot with a note: A loaner for as long as you need it. R.
Outside, a brand-new silver Lexus was parked next to the curb.
2
Chapter Two
“Obviously I can’t accept it.” Even as Noemi talked to her sister Leonora on the phone, she was sliding into the driver’s seat. She groaned. “Oh, God, Leo… so comfy.”
Her sister—adopted sister—laughed. “Yeah, you’re a goner. How does it feel to be driving a real car?”
“I’ll have you know Penelope has been a loyal friend to me.”
“You named your piece of junk Volkswagen Penelope?”
Noemi grinned. “And I would name this little beauty… um… Agamemnon.”
Leonora laughed. “You are quite insane, sis. Listen, I know you’ve answered this before, but you did remember to take some vacation the weekend of Dad’s birthday, right? No sudden emergency surgeries? He’s only seventy-five once.”
Her sister’s voice carried a warning: Cancel and incur my wrath. Noemi smiled. “All vacation is approved,” she said in a robotic voice. “Orders have been followed.”
She heard Leonora’s half-amused, half-exasperated sigh. “Good. Then I won’t have to kill you.”
“Talking of people to kill, I have to get to work, so I’ll speak to you later.”
Noemi steeredthe car through the early morning Seattle traffic. Outside, dark clouds packed the sky and the wind was freezing cold and unrelenting. She would call Rafael and thank him when she got to work, but there was no way she could accept this gift, even if it was only a loaner. What a sweet guy. Noemi was still smiling to herself when her phone buzzed again. She pulled the car over when she saw it was a 911.
Dieter was on the phone. “Noe, where are you?”
She told him.
“Good. You need to get over to Tacoma right now. UNOS called. They have a heart for Thomasina Ballentine.”
“You’re kidding?” Her own heart leaped. “Really?”
“Really… and the helicopter is out of service because of the storm. You’re nearest.”
“I’m on my way.”
Oh, thank God, thank God. Rafael, this is the karma you made fun of last night… Smiling, Noemi turned the car around and sped out of the city towards Tacoma.
Two hourslater and she was stepping back into the car, her precious cargo strapped into the seat beside her. The hospital had been surprised when she turned up in her own car, not in an official vehicle, but luckily, Noemi not only had her medical credentials with her, but the cardio attending had given her privileges, all while trying to persuade Noemi to transfer to his program.
“Aw, come on, Noe,” Finn Wilder said as she operated, “What’s keeping you in Seattle? We need you.”
Noemi had laughed his request off, but she knew he meant it. She was one of the rising stars of cardio on the West Coast—and she’d worked damned hard to get there.
“Finn… one day, maybe.”
Finn had been a few years ahead of her, but they’d always had a flirtatious relationship, even in med school. Finn was a cute, dark-blonde boy from Texas with an ‘Aww Dad’ charm about him. Sexy, too, but Noemi was aware that he was a player and had put him squarely in the Friend Zone, although she did occasionally wonder what a fling with Finn would be like. Fun, hot—and uncomplicated, she guessed.
He gave her his cell number as she left the hospital. “Just in case you feel like some fun,” he grinned, utterly confident in his charm. Noemi laughed.
“I’ll think about it, Wilder.”
She was still laughingas she pulled out onto the Interstate. She had to admit, it felt good to be flirted with. It had been a couple of years since she last dated anyone—even longer since she’d actually slept with anyone.
