LITMIR.BIZ

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refused to budge.

      Sierra would only fill Trey’s position until they found a replacement who met the criteria, but not for longer than sixty days. Which meant Trey still had fifty-nine to work his magic and convince her to stick around permanently. His philosophy was, Better the devil you know than the one you don’t, and he’d prefer to keep Sierra, who got along well with the staff, rather than bring in a new person who might clash with everyone.

      Roma Miller, the nursing supervisor who’d just received her thirty-year service pin, strode in. “Where was Dr. McAllaster going in such a hurry?”

      He shrugged. “Lunch, I guess.”

      “No kidding? I’ve never seen her walk so fast.”

      Interesting. “She must be hungry,” he offered, although he suspected the reason for her rush had had nothing to do with her appetite and everything to do with regaining her composure after he’d caught her studying him.

      In spite of her cool attitude, in spite of her standoffish ways, Sierra McAllaster obviously wasn’t as resistant to his charm as she pretended.

      Munching on an apple, Sierra strolled along the circular concrete pathway of the hospital’s favorite attraction—the Healing Garden and Labyrinth—which had been created just outside Emergency. Normally, she walked the circular concrete pathway in order to recharge her mental batteries when she had a tough patient, but today her reflections were far more personal and far more immediate.

      Her ridiculous reaction to Trey’s flattering comment still bothered her. Her marriage had taught her to not fall victim to a man’s flattery and until now she hadn’t. Why today was different remained a complete mystery. In her opinion, Trey’s charm was a strike against him.

      He had also earned a second strike because if it weren’t for him, she’d still be reporting to work on the fifth floor, where she belonged. Although, in all fairness, she didn’t know if she should be upset with him or with herself.

      If she’d been in Trey’s position, she would have presented the same case he had, asking that the vacant position be filled with a doctor who was already on staff and who possessed ED experience. As Fate would have it, she was the one with the least seniority—the only one, in fact—who fit the criteria.

      Her options had been limited—either take this assignment or end her contract.

      Leaving hadn’t been a viable option. She’d finally unpacked the last box of household goods this past weekend and the idea of hunting for a new job was too tiring to contemplate.

      On the other hand, she did have a third option. If she’d been honest and explained why she couldn’t work in Emergency, perhaps Dr. Keegan might have chosen someone else. Pride, however, had stopped her. She’d come to Good Shepherd with a clean slate and if she dragged out her history to use like a get-out-of-jail-free card, her past would become an open book. The doubts, the pitying glances and every emotion in between would start, and she refused to deal with that from staff and her colleagues.

      Consequently, she’d decided it might be time to face her fears and put those horrors behind her. Although she didn’t want to work in Emergency, she suddenly had a desire to prove she was able to.

      Fortunately, Dr. Keegan had offered her several consolation prizes. One—and the most important—she was only filling in temporarily. So what if she was back in the area where she’d sworn she’d never work again, treating everything from acid reflux to herpes zoster infections, traumas to diabetic comas? She’d endured far worse and for a far longer period. Sixty days was nothing more than a wrinkle that would iron itself out in due time.

      Two, Dr. Keegan had promised she could return to her hospitalist position on the fifth floor. Knowing how the other internist, William Madison, was already complaining about covering those patients as well as his own in the cardiac ICU, he was also eager for her to shake the E.R. dust off her feet and return to where she belonged.

      Three, the odds of encountering a trauma that involved a close friend or family member were nonexistent. After three months in Pittsburgh, she still hadn’t developed any serious friendships or personal relationships and as long as she was expected to staff the ED, she intended to keep it that way.

      As she strolled around the labyrinth, a growing sense of acceptance and her natural can-do attitude filled her. Her transfer may have thrown her off balance, but she was slowly feeling more in control over her situation. Today’s trauma had only caused her a few moments of anticipatory dread, but after that she’d handled herself well. She’d still have some bad moments, but she’d be able to deal with them. She would deal with them.

      Her next mental project was to get Trey Donovan, including his twinkling eyes and his lazy grin, out of her head. After a single morning in his presence, he’d already shattered her calm, making her wish for those happy-ever-afters she’d stopped imagining were possible.

      She knew better than to respond like a schoolgirl to a man who had enough charisma for three guys, but she’d done it anyway. Maybe her reaction was due to first-day-on-a-new-job stress because she’d been dreading this day for the past week. Maybe it was because she hadn’t slept well last night and her defenses were down.

      Maybe it was because her blood sugar had dropped. She’d chosen to take the late lunch break and that had been delayed because they’d been busy.

      Then again, maybe it was all of the above. Yes, she decided. That was it. She’d been simply tired, stressed and hungry. This afternoon, she’d be more like her old self, able to resist his wicked grins with the logic that they meant nothing.

      “Can I walk with you?”

      Startled out of her private thoughts, Sierra glanced down to see a girl, about ten years old, falling into step beside her on the concrete walkway. The child wore an oversize T-shirt, bright pink leggings and well-scuffed white-and-lavender tennis shoes. Her skin was tanned and her brown hair possessed lighter streaks, which suggested she spent a great deal of time outdoors. Several strands of hair had escaped her ponytail, which wasn’t quite centered in the back of her head.

      Although Sierra wanted to finish her walk through the labyrinth in contemplative quiet, she didn’t want to be rude. Instead, she glanced around the garden, carefully scanning each bench for a potential parent or an otherwise responsible adult. Surprisingly, the garden was vacant and no one else was walking the labyrinth. They were alone.

      “Won’t your parents wonder where you are?” Sierra asked instead.

      “My mom’s dead and when my dad’s out of town I stay with my uncle,” the girl informed her. “He says I have to keep myself busy until he finishes his shift. He has a very important job, you know.”

      “Really?” she replied, amazed by how anyone could expect a child at her age to amuse herself in a hospital for hours on end. Surely a man who had this so-called “very important job” would realize that.

      “He’s a doctor,” the child added meaningfully.

      Sierra wasn’t as impressed as the little girl obviously expected her to be. By virtue of his profession, the man should know better than to let a child run around a busy medical center completely unsupervised.

      Immediately Sierra wondered if any of the physicians she knew had a niece this age, but none came to mind. Even so, something about this child’s features seemed familiar.

      “You’re a doctor, too, aren’t you?” the youngster asked, as if she already knew the answer.

      “Yes, I am. Are you supposed to be outside by yourself?”

      The girl drew herself up, adding an inch or so to her almost five-foot frame. “I’m almost eleven,” she said, clearly affronted by Sierra’s question. “My uncle says I can come out here if it’s not raining.” She raised her hands, palms up. “No rain today.”

      “No. No rain today,” Sierra echoed. “Doesn’t he worry about you wandering all over the hospital while he’s working?”

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