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“Yes?” the nurse asked over the speaker.
“This is Dr. Steffan. Can you please send a tray of dinner and Tylenol to Room 234. Thank you.”
“Of course. Be there soon.” The voice was crisp and no-nonsense.
Melanie. One of his married nurses who didn’t have a crush on him. Small blessings.
He pulled off his stethoscope, put the earpieces in, and pressed it against her heart with his left hand. His right automatically went to her back. He’d touched patients’ backs through the thin hospital gown hundreds of times. Why did he feel so aware of how firm and smooth and womanly curved her back was? He pushed those unprofessional thoughts away.
“Can you take a deep breath in?”
She sucked in a loud breath.
“And out.”
She pushed it all out.
Steffan frowned. “Your heart is racing. We might need to do an—”
“Prince Steffan.” She put her hand on his arm, fixed those big brown eyes of hers on him, and suddenly his heart was racing. “I think my heart is fine. It’d be fifty beats per minute if it wasn’tyoutouching me.”
His eyes widened. He moved his hand from her back, wrapped the stethoscope around his neck, and stepped away from the bed. Looking at the wall, he tried to sound clinical. “Your charts show that everything physically is checking out. Your CT scan didn’t show any damage to the spinal cord, and it also didn’t show any bleeding on the brain or cerebral contusions from your accident. So that’s all good news.” He clutched at his stethoscope. “You should heal up just fine. Usually the amnesia is temporary, and once you have a moment to rest and recuperate, you should remember who you are.”
“Okay,” she squeaked.
“Like I said, my friend Jensen, the chief of our police department, is coming.”
“Chief? He’s aChief?”
“Well,” Steffan admitted, “he’s actuallytheChief. Of the National Police Force.”
“Oh no. Please not Jensen,” she begged, grabbing onto his arm and distracting him from all of his intentions of not being attracted to her. Her dark eyes pleaded with him. “You seem like such a nice guy. Please, please do me a solid and tell Jensen not to come.”
“You have an issue with Jane, hospitals, and Jensen?” He cocked his head to the side, wondering what was going on inside her head. She seemed very with-it. What was she playing at? He didn’t want to say her amnesia wasn’t real, but it didn’t feel real. She felt real. Far, far too real. She also seemed to be hiding something—hiding a whole lot.
“Yes. I don’t know why, but that name fills me with dread.” She flung a hand over her eyes and said dramatically, “Dread filling my poor, cankered, evil soul.”
Steffan smiled. She was acting dramatically and somehow it fit her. Why was her drama so appealing? Usually he got plenty of drama with the emergency room and didn’t go for it in women he was interested in.
He could not be interested in her. Not only was she hurt and his patient, but she seemed to be hiding vital information from him. Maybe even outright lying to him.
A rap came on the door and Melanie pushed it open with her hip, carrying the tray of food with a little cup with Tylenol.
“How’s our beautiful Angelica feeling?” Melanie asked, smiling warmly.
“Fine.” Angelica smiled in return. “Thank you for the food. Now if you’d both like to leave, and make sure Jensen doesnotcome see me, I’ll eat my dinner, take my Tylenol, and sleep the night away.”
Steffan and Melanie exchanged a look. They’d just been dismissed. There was something about Angelica that made her seem like royalty and the rest of them were at her service.
“Well, then.” Melanie set the tray down. “Buzz me if you need anything.”
“Thank you.” Angelica nodded to her. “Good evening, kind nurse.”
Melanie gave him one more glance as she pushed out the door. Steffan turned back to Angelica.
“Thank you. Good evening, kind doctor.”
Her proper farewell made him smile. It didn’t fit her American accent. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her, but most of them might not fit with the doctor and patient relationship he needed to somehow maintain.
