“Hi. Nice to meet you all.”
“Now that that’s done, we can head out to the hanger.” He noticed she still had her backpack slung over a shoulder. “You didn’t put your bag away?”
“No. We barely popped our heads through the doorway of the bathroom before coming in here.”
“Jeez. C’mon, we’ll grab you a locker then head next door.” Rylan had to stop himself from pressing a hand to the small of Mazey’s back. He wouldn’t have the urge to do it if she were a guy. Then again, he wouldn’t be inclined to do it with any other female colleague either. He’d have to be careful to control his impulses around her. Instead of putting a hand on her like he wanted, he swept his arm out. “After you.”
She gave him a quick smile, then led the way into the hall.
“Take whichever empty locker you want,” he said as they entered the bathroom. “I just need to dump my keys in mine.”
Rylan tried not to be pleased by the fact Mazey chose the locker next to his, it wasn’t as though she had much choice, but he couldn’t stop the warm swell of emotion if his life depended on it. He didn’t seem to have any control over his body when it came to her. He couldn’t decide if this was going to be an issue or not yet.
For months he’d been completely uninterested in the opposite sex, and now this tiny slip of a woman had his hormones jumping around like bullets in a firefight. Last week she’d told him she was meeting someone, and he couldn’t be sure if it was a boyfriend or not.
It couldn’t be a husband. She didn’t wear a ring. Then again, who was to say she wasn’t one of those people who didn’t bother with the traditional symbol of marriage. Hell, he’d never worn his on deployment, although he had worn it when stateside and he would wear one as a civilian when the time came. Maybe she just didn’t wear it at work.
“Ready?”
“Huh?” Caught in his thoughts, Rylan turned a questioning look at the woman beside him. “Oh, right. Yes.” He smiled to ease her concern. “Let’s go.”
This time he took the lead. He pointed out the kitchen and storage room as well as the bunk room on their way through the building to the rear door. When he shoved open the door and stepped outside, the mid-afternoon sun almost blinded them.
“Damn, that’s bright,” Mazey muttered, squinting and shielding her eyes with her hand. “I should have grabbed my sunglasses.”
Rylan pulled his from his shirt pocket. “Here. Wear these for now.”
“No.” She waved them away. “I’ll be fine. And I’ll remember to keep mine on me from now on.”
“We run two choppers and a plane out of here. Two three-man crews on every shift, but we can pull others in if needed,” Rylan explained as they walked the short distance between the buildings. “In general, we use the choppers primarily. The plane is for less urgent and long distance patient transport.”
“Okay.”
“So, you worked in an ER?”
“Yeah, down in LA, Anaheim actually. I was there for six years, the last two as head of trauma.”
“You’re used to the adrenaline rush of urgent care then.”
Mazey nodded as they walked through the open hanger door. “Yes. I’m looking forward to having a break between those rushes though.”
“Let me show you where all the equipment and supplies are kept for when we need to replenish the choppers after a call, then we’ll head back outside to look at the one we’ll be flying if we get a call this shift.” They didn’t always get called out. And sometimes they did routine transport that didn’t require any urgency. Now that he thought about it, they had a patient transport booked for later today. It would be a good way to ease Mazey into the routine.
“Do we get many call-outs?” she asked.
“Hard to say. What would you call many? I think I’ve gone on at least one call a week since I’ve been here but not one a shift. Then again, we’ve had a couple of shifts with more than one call.” He shrugged. “Even if we don’t go out, we still run through training drills and check equipment, so you won’t be bored.”
Mazey smiled. “Honestly, I’m looking forward to those boring moments.”
“Really? After years in an ER?”
“Emergency medicine wasn’t my first choice when I went into nursing.”
“No? What was?”
“I wanted to specialize in pediatrics.”
“Why didn’t you?” He’d always known he’d go into the army and fly choppers. It was a no brainer as a civilian too. He couldn’t imagine doing anything other than flying a helicopter for a living.
