Pregnant With The Paramedic's Baby

“Let’s get him into trauma pod three.”

“Right, boss lady.”

She cringed when he called her boss lady.

She hated that.

She knew that Kody wasn’t using it in a derogatory fashion, but in her experience it was usually used that way. And she detested when people called her that. It reminded her of her shattered life in San Diego.

It reminded her of broken promises and heartache and she knew the only reason he was calling her boss lady was because she called him Mr. Davis. Since they’d met four months ago they were always goading each other.

He always had a smile for her. Always called her boss lady.

That’s because he doesn’t know you don’t like it.

And she didn’t tell him because she didn’t want any kind of familiarity with him.

Just a professional relationship.

Are you sure?

There was a part of her that wanted more, just to see what it would be like, but she’d been burned by love before. She wasn’t going to let that happen again. No matter how much she wanted it to.

Focus.

Kody helped her get the patient into the trauma pod and her residents came in.

Dr. Megan Coombs, the senior resident, immediately took over monitoring the patient’s blood pressure. “BP is seventy over fifty.”

“We’re losing him,” Sandra said over the din of residents going about their work. She was glad she didn’t have to coddle her residents. They knew what they were doing. She stepped in and began to work her magic. This was the moment when she really shone—this was the kind of moment that she lived for.

Saving a life.

She wasn’t going to let Luke McIver die. He might have been foolish not wearing a seat belt, but she was going to save his life.

“I need five hundred ccs of saline stat!” she shouted over the din. She needed to raise his blood pressure so that they could stabilize him and she could find out what was going on inside. As another resident was hooking up the saline, she went over her ABCs of the patient and saw his pupils were still reactive and responsive.

Which was good.

They had a chance to save his life.

“BP is stabilizing,” Dr. Coombs said.

“Good.” Sandra stepped back. “Dr. Coombs, you can lead this trauma pod. Take the patient for CT scans. Look for a brain bleed and possible internal injuries. Page me when you have the results.”

Dr. Coombs nodded. “Yes, Dr. Fraser.”

Sandra pulled off her gloves and saw that Kody was still standing in the trauma pod. His blue eyes were fixed on the patient and it was the first time she noticed how stunningly blue his eyes really were.

Her pulse began to race, her blood heating, and she hoped she wasn’t blushing as she gazed deep into those eyes.

Get a grip on yourself, Sandra.

“You’re still here?” she asked.

Kody smiled, a dimple in his cheek. “You never released me, boss lady.”

Sandra rolled her eyes and jammed her yellow trauma gown and gloves into the medical waste bin beside him. “You’re excused.”

She walked out of the trauma pod, hoping that he didn’t follow, but he did.

“Why do you dislike me so much?” he asked.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. “What’re you talking about?”

The smile was gone. “I’m good at my job and I have a good rapport with people, but since you arrived at Rolling Creek, you just don’t seem to like me much.”

She sighed. “I don’t dislike you, Mr. Davis. I just prefer to keep things professional at work.”

Which was true. She was still trying to heal from the last time she’d let people in. It didn’t matter how lonely she was, this was for the best. Her walls were up to protect her heart.

“Ah, so that’s why you don’t really seem to have any friends,” he remarked.

Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “I’m not here to make friends, Mr. Davis. I’m here to save lives.”

The twinkle returned to his eyes. “Aren’t we all? But it doesn’t hurt to put a wee bit of a smile on your face every once in a while. You’re looking kind of pinched lately, boss lady.”

He tried to move past her, but she blocked his path. “Don’t call me that.”

“What?” he asked.

“Boss lady. I don’t... I don’t like it.” And she tried to keep her voice from trembling. Kody didn’t need to know how her ex-husband had called her something similar when she’d been promoted above him, and after she couldn’t get pregnant.

He’d blamed it all on her.

And she’d blamed a lot of her infertility on herself too, but he’d called her boss lady and that brought back too many painful memories. Memories she didn’t want to think about or be reminded about here in Austin.

She’d left San Diego four months ago to get away from all that. It had been two years since her divorce was finalized, but it had taken her that long to realize she really needed a fresh start. Austin was where she was born and put up for adoption, it was where her loving adoptive parents had found her, so she’d decided to come back to her roots for her new start.

This was supposed to be her fresh start and she’d learned from her past mistakes. She wasn’t going to let anyone in.

So she was half expecting Kody to brush off her concerns, as if they were nothing. It was a harmless name, wasn’t it? That was what she’d been told before when she’d told other people she didn’t like it.

“Come on, Sandra. We’re just joking. Can’t you take a joke?”

“I’m sorry,” Kody said softly, and she was surprised.

“What?” she asked, not quite believing him.