A Knight for Nurse Hart

“He’s in bad shape, losing blood fast,” the Lifeline physician grimly informed them. “In my opinion, you need to take him directly to the OR.”

“Sounds like a plan. We can finish resuscitating him there,” Dr. Sutton agreed. “Let’s go.”

In her year of working Trauma, she’d only transported a handful of patients directly to the OR. They all squeezed into the trauma elevator around the patient, Greg Hanson. She kept her gaze on the portable monitor, trying to ignore the close confines of the elevator as they rode back down to the trauma OR suite located on the second floor, directly above the ED.

The elevators opened into the main hallway of the OR. The handed the gurney over to the OR staff who were waiting, taking precious moments to don sterile garb before following the patient into the room.

“Caleb, I need a central line in this guy—he needs at least four more units of O neg blood,” Sutton said.

They fell into a trauma resuscitation rhythm, only this time the trauma surgeon had taken the lead instead of Caleb. As Eric Sutton was assessing the extent of the patient’s crushing leg wounds, she and Caleb worked together to get Greg Hanson’s blood pressure up to a reasonable level.

She didn’t know the circumstances about why Greg Hanson’s car had been on the railroad tracks and as she hung four more units of blood on the rapid infusor, she found herself hoping this hadn’t been a suicide attempt.

Being in close proximity to Caleb put all her senses on alert. But when his shoulders brushed against hers, she didn’t flinch. She tried to see that as a sign she was healing.

“Here,” she said, handing him the end of the rapid infuser tubing once he’d gotten the central line placed. “Connect this so I can get the blood started.”

Caleb took the tubing from her hands, his fingers warm against hers. Eric and the OR nurse were prepping the patient’s legs to begin surgery and the anesthesiologist was already putting the patient to sleep, but for a fraction of a second their gazes clung, as if they were all alone in the room.

“Great. All set,” Caleb said, breaking the nearly tangible connection. “Start the blood.”

She turned on the rapid infuser, rechecking the lines to make sure everything was properly connected. She took four more units of blood, confirmed the numbers matched, and then set them aside to be hung as soon as the other four had been transfused into their patient. She could see by the amount of blood already filling the large suction canisters that he was going to need more.

“Draw a full set of labs, Raine,” Caleb told her.

She did as he asked, handing them over to the anesthesia tech, who ran them to the stat lab. She began hanging the new units of blood when the current bags were dry.

“I think we have things under control here,” the anesthesiologist informed them a few minutes later. Taking a peek over the sterile drape, she could see Dr. Sutton was already in the process of repairing a torn femoral artery.

She was loath to leave, feeling as if there was still more they could do. But now that the anesthesiologist had put the patient to sleep, he’d taken over monitoring the rapid infuser, along with the anesthesia tech.

They really weren’t needed here any longer.

Caleb put a hand on her arm, and she glanced up at him. The warmth in his gaze made it seem as if the last four weeks of being apart hadn’t happened. “Come on, we need to get back down to the trauma bay.”

“All right,” she agreed, following him out of the OR suite. Outside the room, they stripped off the sterile garb covering their scrubs.

“Good work, Raine,” Caleb told her, as they headed down to the trauma bay.

“Thanks. You too,” she murmured, sending him a sideways glance. From the first time she’d met Caleb, there had been an undeniable spark between them. An awareness that had only intensified as they’d worked together.

His kisses had made her head spin. There was so much about him that she’d admired. And a few qualities she didn’t.

Working together just now to save Greg Hanson’s life had only reinforced how in sync they were. They made a great team.

Professional team, not a personal one, she reminded herself.

The nauseous feeling returned and she glanced away, feeling hopelessly desperate.

Impossible to go back and change the mistakes and subsequent events of the past, no matter how much she wished she could.

Caleb couldn’t seem to keep his gaze off Raine. The adrenalin rush that came from helping to save a patient’s life seemed to make everything around him stand out in sharp definition. Especially her. Raine’s dark red hair, her pale skin, her bright blue eyes had beckoned to him from the moment they’d met.

She was so beautiful. His fingers itched to stroke her skin. Memories of how sweetly she’d responded to his kisses flooded his mind. Along with a stab of regret. If only he’d have handled things differently, they might have been able to make their relationship work.

His fault. She’d pushed him away, but it was all his fault. Because he’d jumped to conclusions.

Raine had tried to talk to him, but he hadn’t been very receptive. And then Jake had come to apologize. Confessing that he’d had too much to drink and had made a pass at Raine.

So he’d called her back, prepared to apologize, but she’d refused to take his calls.

He wished, more than anything, that she’d talk to him. Allow him to clear things up between them. But instead she’d gone to work in the minor care area, located at the opposite end of the ED from the trauma bay.

He and Raine made a great team on a professional level. He shouldn’t dwell on the fact they couldn’t seem to make the same connection on a personal one.

“Where’s my brother? Greg Hanson?” a frantic voice asked, as they walked past the ED patient waiting area.

Caleb stopped to address the young man. “He’s in surgery. We can let the trauma surgeon, Dr. Eric Sutton, know you’re here waiting for him.”

“Surgery?” The man’s expression turned hopeful. “So he’s going to make it?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s a little too early to say for sure, although I think he has a good fighting chance,” Caleb told him. He glanced at Raine, who gave a nod of encouragement.

“His vital signs were stabilizing when we left,” she added.

“Good, that’s good.” The young man sighed. “Greg’s wife and baby are being examined to make sure they didn’t sustain any injuries. He risked his life to save them. His wife, Lora, panicked when her van got stuck on the railroad tracks. She didn’t want to leave because the baby was in the back seat. He pulled her out of the car first, and then yanked the baby out just as the train hit.”

He heard Raine’s soft gasp. “Dear heavens,” she murmured.

Caleb grimly agreed. The guy was a hero, and he could only hope the poor guy didn’t suffer irreparable damage to his legs as a result of his actions. “Are his wife and baby both here?”

“The baby’s at Children’s Memorial, my wife is over there with their daughter now. Lora’s here, the doctor is seeing her now. As soon as they’re medically cleared, we’ll all be here waiting to hear about Greg’s condition.”

“I’ll let the trauma surgeon know,” Caleb promised.

“Thank you,” the young man said gratefully.

He and Raine returned to the trauma bay. He made the call up to the OR, leaving a message with the OR circulating nurse about Greg’s family. She passed the word on to Eric Sutton, who reassured them he’d come to the waiting room to talk to the family as soon as he was finished.

Satisfied, he hung up the phone. There was a lull in the action. Trauma was either busy or slow, and he found himself looking once again for Raine.

They needed to talk. He just couldn’t let her go without a fight. Maybe it was crazy, but the awareness still shimmering between them made him believe in second chances.

He found her in the staff lounge, sipping a soda. She looked surprised to see him.

“I was surprised to see you earlier today. You never mentioned working at the animal shelter while we were going out,” he said, being careful to sound casual and not accusatory.

She met his gaze briefly, before glancing away. “No, I didn’t. I’ve only been volunteering at the animal shelter for the past month or so.”