Baby on Board (5 page)

walked over to where Bonnie was sleeping and scooped her up in his

arms. On his way back to the door his hand snaked out and went behind

Ivy’s neck. He dragged her to him and he kissed her hard, long and deep.

“I’m not what you think, Ivy. Eventually you’ll see that,” Rafe said,

stepping back again.

She wanted him to leave. She didn’t like the feelings coursing through

her—feelings he had elicited with just one kiss. Ivy watched as he walked

down the street until he opened the door to his house. He looked back and

met her gaze for a minute and she forgot how to breathe until he went

inside and closed the door. She would blame his kissing her on the fact

that he probably had alcohol when he went back to the party or maybe he

was just trying to prove a point. He wanted her for just a friend, nothing

more. It would do her well to remember that and not expect anything. Ivy

refused to be heartbroken again.

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* * * *

Tuesday morning came too early in Ivy’s opinion. She locked her door

and headed to her car, carrying her travel mug of coffee and a chocolate

glazed donut between her teeth. As a reflex, she looked up the street and

saw Rafe setting Bonnie in the running stroller, and of course Donna and

her plastic girls were decked out in a pink sports bra and spandex running

shorts standing beside him. Rafe looked up and met Ivy’s gaze and she

looked away quickly.
Typical
, she thought. She had no doubt that Donna

was looking for husband number three in Rafe. Ivy pushed the thought

aside nonchalantly, telling herself she didn’t care. But then why did it

burn in her belly just thinking about it? She got in her car and in the

process of backing out her driveway, she watched Donna walk back to her

house alone while Rafe turned the stroller to start his run. She didn’t want

to talk to him, so she pulled away from the curb quickly and headed to

work.

Walter Reed was the largest military hospital in the United States. It

housed new patients and long-term facilities for the soldier that needed

extended rehabilitation and prosthesis for lost limbs. There was also a

mental health wing for soldiers who are fractured mentally in the field and

had serious anger management problems. PTSD and traumatic brain

injuries were some of the top cases there. The entire staff was dedicated to

making these soldiers better so they could live a somewhat normal life

with their families after what they had been through, entrenched in FOB

all over the Middle East. Ivy kept an eye on her patients, diligently

looking for signs of mental distress. She didn’t want to lose another one

on her watch, didn’t want to explain to a mother and father that their son

just couldn’t take the thought of being alone any longer. Sometimes when

it got really bad she wished she had taken a job in a normal hospital, but

each day she came home satisfied that she helped her patients through

another day. That was all that mattered when the day ended. She would

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never change her job. She put away her lunch and bag before pinning her

ID to her chest and walking toward the nurses’ station.

“What do we have today, Marie?” Ivy asked the nurse behind the

desk.

“Two new patients in from Germany. One lost his foot to the ankle

from an IED. The other crushed both legs when the Humvee he was in

flipped over. Yes, you guessed it, another IED explosion,” Marie

answered. “I swear they keep sending these boys in healthy and they are

all coming back broken.”

“And we patch them up and make them better,” Ivy said firmly. “Or as

good as we can.”

“That’s all we can do,” Marie sighed. “Sometimes it gets to me. Some

days it’s all I can do not to burst out crying.”

“I feel the same way,” Ivy admitted.

“Oh, also, Officer Yummy is here to see his brother and don’t you

know he asked if you were working today?” Marie grinned.

Ivy rolled her eyes. Marie Watson was thirty five and recently

divorced. She had been married to a thirty-year-old soldier. They’d had a

great relationship as far as Ivy could tell. When Charles came in to see

her, it was like watching two light bulbs light up. Then Charles came back

from his first tour a totally changed person and things came to a head

when Marie found him in their bed with another woman. Her friend was

not about second chances and filed for divorce a week later. It was

confusing and sad what had happened, because they had been all about

each other. Sometimes the relationship they had made Ivy envious. But

now Marie was on the hunt for a new love and she deserved it.

Detective Reese Alvater, a.k.a. Officer Yummy, nicknamed by Marie,

came in every other day to see his brother on their floor. He’d lost his arm

in Afghanistan and was dealing with a brain injury and shell shock. The

combination made him volatile; one minute he was the sweetest kid and

the next they had to restrain him and use sedatives to calm him. Specialist

Jon Alvater had a long road ahead of him. It was just him and his brother

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left in the family and the detective was determined to see his brother

through it all. Marie also thought that the handsome detective had a thing

for Ivy. She couldn’t see it. Though Ivy couldn’t argue that the man was

good looking. He had sexy, sandy brown hair to go with gorgeous blue

eyes, and he was around six foot two and built. She was friendly and

caring toward him and his brother. That was it.

Ivy picked up a chart and flipped through the pages. “I seriously doubt

the man has any interest in me except that I’m the nurse his brother has

seemed to imprint on.”

“That’s still a good thing, Ivy. That boy won’t eat, drink or take his

meds from anyone but you,” Marie said.

“Eventually, the therapists are going to have to break him of that,” Ivy

said. “I can’t be there for him forever and he needs to learn that he can

stand on his own two feet and live. Until then, I’ll do what I can for him.”

Marie patted Ivy’s hand on the counter and handed her another chart.

“You always do, sweetie. That’s why this place would be lost without

you. Anyway, he hasn’t had his morning meds yet and his brother is in

with him now. Perfect time for you to go make sure he eats and takes his

pills.”

“I’ll do the rounds for the other patients after I finish with him,” Ivy

said. “Time to make the big bucks.”

Marie’s laugh trailed behind her as she went down the hall to the last

room on the left. Ivy knocked on the door and poked her head inside and

teased. “Is it safe to come in? Everyone decent?”

“Nurse St. Clair, you’re here.” Jon beamed a smile to her from his

bed. Ivy felt her heart break all over again. This boy was once a vivacious

twenty-two-year-old kid with his whole life ahead of him and sometimes

he reverted back to a childlike state. Today, at least, he was calm and

happy and that was a good thing.

“Hey, Jon. Did you sleep well last night?” Ivy asked with a smile.

“Uh-huh. No bad dreams or anything,” Jon said. He held up a box.

“Look what Reese brought me. An iPad. I can use it with one hand.”

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“Well, that looks awesome. I don’t have one yet, so you tell me if you

like it and I might just have to get one,” Ivy said with a smile.

“I don’t know why I have to use one hand. Where did my other hand

go?” Jon asked quizzically. “And why am I always hurting?”

His brother, Detective Alvater, looked at Ivy with sadness in his big

blue eyes. It was one of those days when Jon forgot that he was a soldier.

The therapist said it was his way of coping, but each time they had to

remind him of who he was, it was like flipping a switch; he’d go from

calm to agitated.

“Jon, you were a soldier and you got hurt in Afghanistan four weeks

ago,” Ivy explained gently. “But we’re here to take care of you, okay?”

He nodded with a smile. “Sure. Can I play with my iPad now?”

“In a few minutes. I need to check you over and you need to eat

breakfast and take your medicine for me,” Ivy said with a smile.

Jon nodded and his brother pushed the hospital table with his breakfast

tray on it over the bed so he could eat. While he did, she checked his

vitals and looked at his arm for any signs of infection. When Jon was first

flown in from Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany, the wound was

jagged. The surgeons at Walter Reed fixed it up so he could be fitted for a

prosthesis when he was in a better frame of mind. They had to heal him

mentally first before the long task of rehabilitation could begin.

Ivy finished her exam and made notes in the charts, then she smiled at

Jon. “Time for your medication, sir.”

Jon grinned at her and took the small paper cup. “I like when you call

me that.”

He swallowed the pills with a sip of water and finished his breakfast.

She was pleased to see he ate it all and pulled a Snickers candy bar from

the pocket of her uniform.

“A special treat for later, okay?” she said and put it on the table.

“All right!” Jon said. “You rock, Ivy.”

“So you keep telling me,” she said with humor in her voice. “I’ll let

you guys get back to your visit.”

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“Hey, Jon, why don’t you try out that iPad. I need to speak to Ivy for a

minute,” his brother said.

The injured soldier nodded and started using his fingers to play on the

touch screen while his brother followed her to the door. They both stepped

outside and she faced him.

“What can I do for you, Detective?” she asked with a smile.

“I’ve been coming here for months. Don’t you think you should call

me Reese?” he teased.

“Okay. Reese it is,” Ivy said.

Reese grinned. “See, that wasn’t so bad. Okay, here goes. Are you

seeing anyone? Any toes I might be stepping on if I ask you out?”

Ivy thought of Rafe but pushed him out of her mind quickly. He had

his type and she wasn’t it apparently. She looked up at the tall, very sexy

man who was asking her out and felt a thrill. Why not? Why shouldn’t she

take the plunge and see where it led.

“No, I’m single,” Ivy affirmed.

“How about me, you and some dinner and a little dancing?” Reese

asked. “Tonight, maybe? I know this little club that had the greatest

calamari and a hardwood dance floor.”

“Are you trying to tell me you’re smooth on your feet?” Ivy teased.

He winked at her. “Come to dinner and find out what else is smooth

about me.”

Ivy laughed. “Why, Detective Alvater, I do believe you’re being a

flirt.”

“I am. Is it working?” Reese asked.

“Yes, I think it is,” Ivy smiled shyly at him. “I get off at five, maybe

six, because I like to check in on Jon before I go.”

“How about I pick you up at eight?” Reese suggested.

She nodded and scribbled her address on a note pad she kept in her

pocket. She handed it to him. “That sounds perfect. This is my address

and I’ll see you then.”

“Ivy,” he called her name as she was walking away.

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“Thanks for what you’re doing for Jon, and I can’t wait to see you

tonight,” Reese said.

A slow smile spread across her face. She was actually looking forward

to it herself. “Me too.”

Back up at the desk, she handed Marie the chart and the nurse gave

her a raised eyebrow and nothing more.

“Fine. He asked me out, okay?”

Marie chortled with glee. “I need to go to Vegas and use my ESP

powers.”

“You’re a nut,” Ivy said as she picked up another chart.

“But I’m a nut with ESP,” Marie called behind her as she walked

away.

Ivy grinned and sashayed down the hall. She had a date with a really nice

guy—the first in a long time. But why was the kiss that she and Rafe

shared still at the forefront of her mind? He wanted to prove a point that

night and that was it. She would go out and have fun with Reese. He

obviously saw something in her besides plain Jane.

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