“That would just confuse him when I’m gone, and then his alley would seem cold and hard, and that’s hardly fair.”
He squeezed her gently, his eyes serious now. “See? Sweet.”
“If you knew me better, you’d know how funny that is.” But her smile faded quickly when she realized he’d tipped his head back against the wood bench behind him. He was pale, too pale, and his mouth was a hard grim line.
Definitely still in pain and possibly fighting to stay conscious. Given what he’d done for her tonight, she knew she’d do just about anything for him in return, so she opened her mouth to give him a truth, to confess what she’d really do with her last moment on earth. But in that very moment, the gondola came to life with a little jerk and . . . started moving again.
“Oh my God!” She looked around with shock and relief, having really thought her number might be up. “We’re going to make it!”
When Levi didn’t answer, she tightened her grip on him. “Levi.”
But he was out cold.
Chapter 4
Sunrise in Tahoe was magical. Jane knew of no other way to describe it. One minute the sky was like black velvet dotted with diamonds, and the next, a kaleidoscope of colors. No matter the season, when the sun peeked over the Sierra Nevada and showed off her beauty in all its glory, the view was so stunning it could almost make her forget she’d already had a shitty day.
Almost.
Because she was currently inside the ER, unable to see anything other than the curtain surrounding her cot.
Five minutes after Levi had passed out on her, their gondola had returned to base, where they’d immediately been taken to the hospital.
The ER had been overloaded. She’d sat with Levi in the cubicle until his wounds had been cleaned and stitched up and he’d been wheeled off to Imaging, which had been hours ago. She’d since been checked over, and at the moment sat in a cubicle on her own, worrying about Levi.
Dr. Mateo Moreno slipped in past the curtain. He was one of her very favorite ER doctors, and not just because he treated nurses with respect and kindness instead of the usual assholery they got from most doctors, but also because he lived next door to Charlotte’s house, where Jane rented a room, and he was a friend.
Or at least as much of a friend as Jane allowed herself.
“If you needed a nap after your shift at North Diamond, you could’ve just said so,” he wisecracked as he pulled up a stool. “You okay?”
She snorted in amusement. “Isn’t that your job to know?”
His own amusement faded as he met her gaze. “I’m betting your experience was terrifying.”
One hundred percent, but it was a personal rule not to do vulnerable. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“How did I know you’d say that?” He began to peck on the computer at her bedside. “You call the boss yet?”
This was a joke reference to Charlotte. Thirty-nine-year-old Dr. Charlotte Dixon was five feet of pure heart and soul encased in hard steel with a southern accent. Nothing and no one got by her, and God help you if you ended up in a skirmish with her, whether that be at work or at the local bar’s pool table or at her weekly poker night, because the woman was fiercely competitive. And yet she loved with everything she had. If you were lucky enough to be in her close circle, she couldn’t help herself, she’d be this gentle but demanding presence in your life as she coaxed/bossed the best out of you, whether you wanted to be your best or not. “I’m waiting until I’m cleared,” Jane said. “So I can show her in person that I’m fine. Otherwise she’ll freak.”
He laughed softly in agreement. “She just got off her shift. I don’t know if she’s still in the building, but if you don’t leave her a message before you go, you know she’ll find out and freak anyway.”
“Not if you hurry up and get me out of here. With a little luck, she’s still in the staff room gabbing with everyone like she does, and I can go pick up her favorite breakfast and coffee for a distraction and beat her home.”
“Just when we all think you don’t care at all . . .” he teased.
“Ha-ha, you’re a laugh a minute. You missed your calling—being a comedian would’ve saved you all that college debt.”
“I like this paycheck better.”
She knew it was about far more than his paycheck. The guy cared about people almost as much as Charlotte did. “You about done yet?”
“Almost.” He went back to his pecking, making her sigh in frustration. “Almost” in doctor-speak could be anything from five minutes to never.
“So . . .” she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster, “how’s the guy they brought in with me?”
“Hmm?”
“The guy who was on the gondola with me. Head injury. Is he okay?”
He hesitated, which was odd for Mateo, who was a straight shooter. Then he slid her a look. “Professional interest?”
“Of course,” she said, because personal interest would yield her nothing thanks to privacy laws.
Mateo looked at her for a long beat, then shook his head. “Damn, woman. You and that poker face. But you know the drill. If you want info on a patient, you’re going to have to see if he’ll allow visitors and talk to him yourself.”
She sighed. “Or you could just give me a hint.”
“I’ll say this. You and Levi both got damn lucky.”
“You know his name.”
“Yeah. I know his name.”
“You worked on him in the ER?”
“I did. And also . . . we go way back.” And then he went back to typing, shoulders a little atypically tight.
Seemed everyone had their secrets.
As for her and Levi getting lucky, she wasn’t sure luck had anything to do with it. Levi had thrown himself across the gondola to protect her body with his. If he hadn’t, he’d be fine. And she’d be . . . not fine. “I’ll take lucky any day of the week,” she said softly.
Mateo’s eyes softened. “Same. And since you’re not going to ask on the details about yourself, I’ll just tell you. Your wrist is sprained and the contusions on your jaw and cheek, while probably painful, are nothing to worry about.”
“So you’re releasing me to go home and take a nap for real.”
“Yes.” Mateo pushed the keyboard away and turned back to her. “How you going to get there?”
“I don’t know yet.” The old Subaru she drove, which was Charlotte’s spare car that she always lent to Jane when she was in town, was still in North Diamond’s parking lot. Problem was, she’d lost her keys at some point between the gondola and the hospital.
“I’ll take you home,” Mateo said. “I was off thirty minutes ago. I stuck around to spring you free.”
She smiled at him. “You’re the best, Dr. Hottie Patottie.”
He face-palmed. “You promised you’d make all the nurses stop calling me that.”
One of the five urgent care clinics she rotated through, Sierra North, was attached to the hospital. There was some staff crossover, and she knew a lot of the same nurses he did. “Oh, I got them to stop.” She hopped off the cot. “That was just for me. I enjoy watching you squirm.”