Her Hometown Hero(3)

Even as those thoughts played in the back of his brain, Spence remained  focused on the injured woman in his arms and the help that would soon  arrive. As he watched her pulse and her breathing, he heard the  ambulance pull up. Thank heavens. He was soaked through and wanted to  get them both out of this monstrous rainstorm.

He reached the road just as the back doors to the ambulance opened, and  he waited for the paramedics to unload the gurney. The patient was soon  placed safely on it and carted into the back of the vehicle.

"Patient was able to move fingers and toes; coming in and out of  consciousness. I'm concerned about internal injuries, but I had to move  her from the vehicle. Have a full body scan done as soon as you reach  the hospital," Spence told the paramedics.                       
       
           



       

"Are you going to follow, Dr. Whitman?"

He occasionally helped out at the local hospital, so he knew these people. "Yeah, I'll see you there."

Spence got into his car and scrubbed a hand across his face, trying to  clear the rain from his vision. He was exhausted after working all day  at the hospital, but a new trauma case had him fully alert and ready for  round two. He could leave her in the care of the other doctors, but  he'd been the one to find her, and he would see it through.

As he pulled up to the hospital, he watched the paramedics wheel the  woman inside. He followed with a confident gait, already in emergency  surgeon mode. He was the king of his domain, and he didn't hesitate as  he went through the emergency room doors. It didn't matter which  hospital he was in. They were all different and all the same. And one  thing was for sure-this was where he'd always belonged. That had been  true from the moment he'd rescued a young boy from drowning in the local  lake. That simple act had changed his entire future.

He'd known from that moment on that he would become a doctor. Maybe he  hadn't admitted it to himself at that point; he'd probably thought he'd  never be good enough to wear a stethoscope. But he'd worked harder than  everyone else he knew so he could be worthy.

The journey he'd had to take had been well worth all its trials. He felt  that way just as much today as he had ten, even fifteen years ago.





"Ouch!"

Sage glared at the nurse sticking a needle into her arm. The woman must work for the KGB.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Banks."

I just bet you are, Sage thought savagely. Okay, that was a bit petty,  but Sage's arm was throbbing where the ten-foot-long needle had been  plunged.

She'd been poked and prodded for the past hour and she was done with it.  But besides a headache, and now a throbbing arm, she felt fine. It was  just a little accident. Why were these people getting so worked up?

She knew precautions had to be taken, but her scans had all come back in  the clear, with no concussion and no broken bones. She was beginning to  worry that this wasn't going to be the ideal place for her to do her  residency-not if the staff was secretly a bunch of bloodsucking vampires  intent on destroying the human population of Sterling, Montana, one  needle poke at a time.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home," Sage said for what felt like the  tenth time, though she knew the doctor had to sign her out. She was just  sore and grumpy and taking it out on the staff. Perfect. She'd feel bad  about that tomorrow, too.

"We're waiting for your final test results, and then the doctor will be  in to speak with you. If there's anything wrong, this is the best place  for you. He's the only one who can sign the discharge papers," the nurse  repeated.

"How much longer until he gets here?" This waiting game was getting old.

"I'm right here."

Sage froze as she looked at the man blocking her doorway. No way! There  was no possible way the man standing in her doorway was whom she  believed it to be. Fate couldn't be that cruel.

"Here are the charts, Dr. Whitman."

Sage's stomach heaved when the nurse said Spence's name as she flitted  over to him. Yes, flitted. There was no other word for it. It seemed  that Spence Whitman still had the same effect he'd always had on the  ladies. Both young and old.

It also seemed that she hadn't been dreaming when she woke up after the accident. Here was the man-in the very sexy flesh.

She immediately remembered when she was sixteen and she'd worked up the  courage to ask him out on a date. She'd thrown herself at him, just one  of many young women who had been in love with him.

After she had professed her undying love to him, he had simply kissed  her on the cheek, told her she would one day be a heartbreaker, and then  walked away, devastating her. Sure, she'd been too young for him to do  anything more, but from that moment on, she'd avoided him. Embarrassment  had eaten her alive.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Banks?"

The professional tone, the standard, distant smile that said he was  interested in her only as a patient . . . the cluelessness in his eyes.  Sage's humiliation was complete. The boy she'd been in love with since  she was ten years old had zero idea who she was. That was how  unimportant she'd ever been to him. Not that it should have come as a  shock. But still, though she was now old enough to know better, and wise  enough not to care, she had to admit-to herself only, of course-that it  did hurt. In the mood she was in now, she didn't even try to be nice,  sending Spence a look that could frost the caverns of the South Pole.                       
       
           



       

His false smile vanished, and he contemplated her briefly with baffled  surprise. Sage was sure he wasn't used to anything but a simpering twit  when he walked into a female patient's room. Well, her days of simpering  were long gone.

She'd really hoped she wouldn't be crossing paths with Spence when she'd  accepted her residency. The last she'd heard, he was some hotshot  doctor in Seattle. It was just her luck that he happened to be in town,  most likely visiting his family, at the same time she was rolling home.

"I'd be feeling much better if everyone would quit poking and prodding me and would just let me go home."

"Has her family been notified?" Spence asked the nurse, obviously not finding it very appealing to speak directly to Sage.

Only someone with an extremely small brain could have missed her obvious  hostility. So he had some intelligence going for him if he could read  her disdain. Since he was her treating physician, she was relieved to  know he knew something, unlike everyone else around the place.

But wait. Why was he treating her? He shouldn't be working here. He  worked in Seattle. Maybe they were permitting him to treat her since  he'd been the first person on the scene. She really, really hoped that  was the case.

The alternative would mean . . . No. If she refused to even think the  thought, then there would be no possible way it could be true. She  wouldn't ask, either. As all her other options had gone down the drain  the minute she'd accepted the offer to be in this program, she had to  stay at this hospital and she didn't want to work with Spence Whitman,  her childhood crush.

When the man himself turned and gave her a megawatt smile that, despite  her anger, had her knees shaking just a bit beneath her warm blanket,  she strengthened her resolve. Locking her knees into place, she sent  another glare his way-this one not cold, but guaranteed to melt  steel-and felt a smidgen of satisfaction as his movie-star smile  faltered again and he stood there looking unsure what to do next.

"Yes, Dr. Whitman. Her grandmother has been called."

"I'll go ahead and release you, Ms. Banks, but I need you to get plenty  of rest over the next few days. Make an appointment with your general  practitioner as soon as possible."

He spoke while scribbling on his pad, clearly avoiding her eyes. Of  course, she could look away from him, too. But she was trying to prove  something to herself-that he didn't affect her.

"I'll send a prescription to the pharmacy in case the pain is too much in a few hours." With that, he walked from the room.

"Good riddance," she muttered, causing the nurse to turn and look at her  as if she'd sprouted three heads. "Oh come on, he's not that great,"  Sage snapped, and the woman turned and left, probably chasing down  Spence to tell him their patient clearly had brain damage.

"Sage!"

Sage turned to find her grandmother in the doorway, sporting red cheeks and tears in her eyes. "Hi, Grandma . . ."

"Oh, sweetheart, I've been so worried." Bethel rushed to the bed and sank down in the chair next to it, grasping Sage's hand.

"I'm fine, Grandma. It was only a little accident. They were just being thorough, that's all."

"I don't think we should take you home. What if something terrible is wrong and we don't find out until it's too late?"