The Greek Doctor's Proposal (4 page)

T
HE
next morning Jeannine stood in the doorway of Roberto’s ICU room and caught her breath. The two cups of steaming coffee started to burn her hands as she stared at Miklo.

He sat in a recliner with his arms crossed over his abdomen, his feet up on another chair, and he was fast asleep. His chest rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing. More than likely he’d spent most of the night sitting up with Roberto, and her heart went out to him. Dedicated doctors never caught a break. He had to be exhausted after the day they’d had, and then a night sleeping in a chair on top of that. In her own bed, she’d slept like a rock. Here, she wasn’t sure how he could have slept propped up like that.

After setting the cups on the counter, she focused on Roberto. Quickly assessing his condition, she noted his skin was flushed and his heartbeat was too fast for her liking.

Jeannine touched the back of her hand to the side of his neck.

“Is he still hot?” Miklo asked, his voice husky and rough.

Turning, Jeannine saw that Miklo hadn’t moved. “How did you know I was here?”

“Coffee. I can smell it all the way over here.”

Jeannine grinned, then hid her expression. “I figured you could use some of the good stuff this morning.”

“Thanks,” he said, and stretched, then stepped closer to Jeannine, and her heartbeat fluttered just about as fast as Roberto’s. “His temp started climbing a few hours ago. I started an antibiotic that will hopefully cover any bacteria he might have been exposed to.”

“Infection goes hand in hand with any trauma, doesn’t it?” An unfortunate truth. Trauma wounds always came in dirty.

Jeannine bit her lip and pushed Roberto’s damp hair back from his face. His tawny skin seemed pale, and she pulled down his lower eyelid to examine the color of the inside.

She turned to Miklo. “What are his labs like today? He seems pale to me.”

“Good observation. He’s a little low on the blood counts. It’s hard to say how much blood he lost already, and then we’ve diluted it more with the IV fluids. But if he drops any more, he might need a transfusion.” Having a nurse with such insight and ability to think through the medical issues of a patient was certainly an asset to have in any situation. Though there were plenty of experienced nurses in the pediatric ICU already, she was certainly going to be an asset.

Jeannine glanced away from him and picked up a cup of coffee, fiddling with the lid and adjusting it. “Well, I guess I’ll go now.” She shrugged. “I just wanted to check on him. Enjoy the coffee.”

As she walked away, Miklo had a sudden urge to convince her stay. Or go with her. Or…something. Taking a step toward her, he hesitated. “Jeannine?”

She turned to face him, her delicate brows lifted, opening her blue-green eyes wider as she waited for him to speak.

Now what was he supposed to do? Think of something clever to say?
That
was out of the question. He’d run out of clever a long time ago. He cleared his throat and frowned as he struggled to make the right words come out of his mouth. “What are your plans for today? Got anything going?”

“Well, there’s a new exhibit at the Museum of Natural History I was going to check out.” She hesitated for a second. “If you don’t have plans, I wouldn’t mind the company,” she said, then clamped her mouth shut.

“Change your mind already?” he asked, amused at her reaction. At least her reactions were honest, and she didn’t try to hide them.

“No.” Gave him a sideways look that clearly said she was thinking about it. “When you’re around, I just seem to say whatever comes into my mind.”

“That’s okay. I like your spontaneity, and I’d love to come.” He walked to Roberto and spoke a minute to him, then grabbed his labcoat from the back of a chair. “I’ll change and meet you in the lobby in ten minutes.”

Soon after, they were driving away from the parking lot of the hospital toward the Old Town part of Albuquerque, settled in 1706. Though primarily geared to tourism, Old Town boasted a number of great museums and restaurants. “It’s a gorgeous day, isn’t it?” he asked, trying to fill the silence that seemed to have settled between them.

“Yes. I love days like this. Clear blue skies, not too hot, and little humidity. Perfect to me.” She looked up at the sky overhead and as she leaned back against the seat, the scar he had noticed yesterday appeared above her collar.

“Well, if the weather holds, maybe we can have lunch
al fresco
.” He used to spend a lot of time outside hiking or biking, but his life of late hadn’t allowed much time for recreation. It was simpler if he just worked.

“You sound so Continental when you say that,” Jeannine said, and gave a quick laugh. “I’ve never been out of the States, but I want to someday. I have a passport, but I’ve never used it. That’s so lame, isn’t it?”

“Not even on spring break from college?” he asked, truly surprised. Everyone he knew traveled. As a child he’d traveled to Greece three times before he’d been ten years old.

“Nope. Back then I was painfully shy and didn’t know what I really wanted out of life.” She turned toward him, her face serious.

“That’s what college is for, figuring out who you are and what you want.” He shook his head, remembering
his own recklessness as a student. Those days were long gone and frivolity not something that was a part of his life any longer.

“My college experience was a little more conservative than that.”

“So do you know now who you are and what you want out of life?” he asked.

Jeannine thought for a moment. “Sometimes I do and some days I just don’t.”

“You need to go back to college, then,” Miklo said with a laugh.

“Hey!” Jeannine said. “That’s not fair. Some people don’t know what they want to be when they grow up until they’re, like, thirty. I suppose you have it all figured out, then, Dr. Kyriakides?”

Sobering, Miklo negotiated the narrow streets until he found the parking lot by the museum. “I thought I had once but, like you, some days I’m not so sure.” He snorted and turned the engine off. “Maybe I need to go back to college, too.” Without another word he opened the car door, came around and opened her door for her.

“Let’s go see some dinosaurs,” she said, and smiled up at him.

“Good plan,” Miklo said, and walked silently beside her.

They continued without speaking again until they made their way through the first exhibit of dinosaurs. They gazed through the glass at a museum worker who was tediously cleaning a dinosaur fossil by removing the rock it was encased in, one speck of dirt at a time. Long
moments passed as other museum-goers stopped to watch the work being done. The people made comments, and drifted away to other areas of the museum.

“Any lingering issues from yesterday?” he asked as they moved to the next exhibit.

“Well, I’m pretty certain I don’t want to be a surgeon, like you,” she said.

“At least that’s one decision you came to without having to go back to college.”

“See how helpful you are?”

“Seriously, Jeannine. If you have anything you’d like to talk about, I’ll try to help.” He sighed and guilt crashed over him. “I had no idea you’d been through a recent hospitalization. If I had I could have—”

“It’s okay, Miklo.” She touched his arm and the warmth of her hand was gentle on his skin. Instead of comforting her, she offered it to him with a small smile. “I learned a lot yesterday. I’ve come to realize that learning opportunities are not always as easy and pleasant as yesterday was.”

“If I had just known…” But he had been thinking of his patient, not himself, not the staff. The same way he’d been thinking of his patients and not his family the night they had died. God! He was so stupid sometimes, so focused, so…blind.

“Actually, it was a good thing for me to do. I didn’t have time to think about it, and working with Roberto gave me a chance to stretch my wings as a nurse again. I haven’t pushed my boundaries for a long time.”

Miklo gave her a sideways smile, admiring the guts
it had taken for her to walk into that OR yesterday. “You are definitely one of the bravest people I have ever met.” Her courage humbled him, and it was something he obviously needed a large dose of now and then.

“Me? No way. I can’t even get on an airplane without having an anxiety attack. I’m like one of those people you see on the commercials, hyperventilating into a paper bag.”

Miklo laughed and it was good to feel the sensation rumbling through his chest again. “Then I guess going flying with me in my plane this afternoon is out of the question.”

She gave him a look of astonishment. “Absolutely.”

Though fear flashed in her eyes, the slight smile that curved her full lips upward made him think there might be another time for her to fly. “Come on, then, let’s go see the rest of the dinosaurs.” Miklo took her hand in his.

It seemed the most natural thing in the world to have Miklo’s hand clasping hers as they wound their way through the prehistoric exhibits, chatting about nothing in particular. Then they were seated to watch the IMAX film on a two-story screen designed to draw the viewer in and almost become part of the show.

Jeannine lost herself in the sights and sounds of the undersea adventure, but lost herself more in the feel of Miklo’s arm warm and comforting around her shoulders. The longer the film progressed, the more she relaxed into him, his arm tucking her against his side. The hesitation in her lifted, and she rested her head
against him. In the dark he couldn’t see her scars or feel their rough texture. The dark setting gave her a certain amount of freedom that she never would have otherwise found.

With a sigh, he rested his chin on the top of her head. Jeannine closed her eyes and listened to the beating of her heart. Somehow, she had never heard it beat the way it did now, filling up every void in her body. Each breath she took filled her with hesitant joy and Miklo’s spicy scent.

Then he pressed a chaste kiss to her temple, and the moment froze as one she would never, ever forget.

No man had ever made her feel this way. Whatever it was in Miklo that she found attractive seemed to have settled deep within her, and wasn’t going to go away. The thought aroused and frightened her at the same time.

He turned slightly toward her and the warmth of his hand cupping her cheek caught her off guard. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt the intensity of his gaze as he guided her face up to his. Desire that she hadn’t allowed herself to feel unfolded inside her, one delicious petal at a time. Could something that felt so delicious be wrong? She was about to find out.

Unable to deny the thoughts, the feelings, and the need hurtling to the surface, she gave in. The memory of his kiss from last evening raced through her and with it the desire for more. Raising her face, she leaned toward him, searching for that connection, that fulfillment it seemed that only Miklo could offer.

She wasn’t disappointed. With his mouth a hair’s
breadth from hers, he breathed in, seeming to inhale her scent, her fragrance, her essence into himself. A tremor shot through him that rebounded in her as he lowered his head and took her mouth with his.

The shock of electricity created by his warm mouth lit fires deep within her. A moan that had been trapped within her rumbled free, and she clung to Miklo, needing the taste of his tongue, the heat of his mouth, and the desire of his body to make her once again feel like a woman. The last man to touch her had made her feel worthless. Miklo made her feel delicate as he held her against him.

He didn’t know why he did it. Was it the story she had told about her injury, the details she’d left untold, or was it the nuance of attraction he’d felt for her from the start? Whatever it was, he didn’t want to think about resisting it.

As her soft lips parted beneath his, he knew he wanted to hold her, fold her against him, and not let her go for a very long time. She tasted both sweet and salty, like the popcorn they had sampled earlier. Her hand on his neck made his heart race and he delved deeper into her mouth, exploring, tasting the heady rush that sprang into him.

A scream ripped through the theatre, and they sprang apart. “What the…?” he said as another scream rang out, this time for help.

“Something’s wrong.” Jeannine stood and tried not to lose her balance in the narrow walkway between the rows of seats. “Stop the film!” She waved her hands at the attendant, who didn’t immediately respond. “Stop the film!”

“Help! My husband’s having a heart attack!” a woman cried.

The lights blazed on. Miklo and Jeannine weren’t the only ones on their feet. “Who’s calling for help?” he shouted.

“Over here,” the attendant yelled, and waved her hands at them. “Over here!”

Miklo climbed straight up over the rows of seats to reach the ill man, and Jeannine raced around the row and back again.

As soon as he saw the man, he knew they were in serious trouble. He looked at Jeannine and saw his own assessment in her eyes.

“Call 911,” they said in unison. The attendant raced off.

Miklo knelt beside the elderly man who perspired profusely, his hand clutched to his shoulder and his eyes were wide with panic. Reaching for the man’s pulse in his neck, Miklo clenched his teeth. “He’s probably in V-fib.”

“Do you have any medical equipment?” Jeannine asked the manager, who had hurried in.

“Yes, but it’s only for trained personnel.”

“We’re trained personnel. Get it in here,” she said, and turned to Miklo. “Do you have your medical bag in your car?”

“Yes, but what I have is limited,” Miklo said, his voice quiet and calm, instilling the same in her. “If they have a defibrillator we’re going to have to shock him. He’s not responding to carotid massage.”

“Cough. Cough really hard,” Jeannine instructed as the man’s eyes drooped. “Stay with us. Now cough hard!” She shook his arm, trying to keep his attention focused.

The man made a weak attempt to do as she instructed, but he could no longer respond.

“He’s going out,” Jeannine said, and caught his head as he lost consciousness.