Her Hometown Hero Read online

  “Yes, I’m right here.”

  In this town everyone knew everybody. He must have run into her at some point. But after high school, Spence had gone straight to college and then medical school, and he’d lost touch with some of the people here in the years he’d been gone. He’d become something of a city boy over the years. He loved living in Seattle, loved the hustle and bustle, and he was quickly becoming a highly regarded trauma surgeon. A good life, with a lot more privacy. Still, he made enough trips back to Sterling that it bothered him not to remember who this was.

  Even as those thoughts played in the back of his brain, Spence remained focused on the injured woman in his arms and the help that would soon arrive. As he watched her pulse and her breathing, he heard the ambulance pull up. Thank heavens. He was soaked through and wanted to get them both out of this monstrous rainstorm.

  He reached the road just as the back doors to the ambulance opened, and he waited for the paramedics to unload the gurney. The patient was soon placed safely on it and carted into the back of the vehicle.

  “Patient was able to move fingers and toes; coming in and out of consciousness. I’m concerned about internal injuries, but I had to move her from the vehicle. Have a full body scan done as soon as you reach the hospital,” Spence told the paramedics.

  “Are you going to follow, Dr. Whitman?”

  He occasionally helped out at the local hospital, so he knew these people. “Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

  Spence got into his car and scrubbed a hand across his face, trying to clear the rain from his vision. He was exhausted after working all day at the hospital, but a new trauma case had him fully alert and ready for round two. He could leave her in the care of the other doctors, but he’d been the one to find her, and he would see it through.

  As he pulled up to the hospital, he watched the paramedics wheel the woman inside. He followed with a confident gait, already in emergency surgeon mode. He was the king of his domain, and he didn’t hesitate as he went through the emergency room doors. It didn’t matter which hospital he was in. They were all different and all the same. And one thing was for sure—this was where he’d always belonged. That had been true from the moment he’d rescued a young boy from drowning in the local lake. That simple act had changed his entire future.

  He’d known from that moment on that he would become a doctor. Maybe he hadn’t admitted it to himself at that point; he’d probably thought he’d never be good enough to wear a stethoscope. But he’d worked harder than everyone else he knew so he could be worthy.

  The journey he’d had to take had been well worth all its trials. He felt that way just as much today as he had ten, even fifteen years ago.

  “Ouch!”

  Sage glared at the nurse sticking a needle into her arm. The woman must work for the KGB.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Banks.”

  I just bet you are, Sage thought savagely. Okay, that was a bit petty, but Sage’s arm was throbbing where the ten-foot-long needle had been plunged.

  She’d been poked and prodded for the past hour and she was done with it. But besides a headache, and now a throbbing arm, she felt fine. It was just a little accident. Why were these people getting so worked up?

  She knew precautions had to be taken, but her scans had all come back in the clear, with no concussion and no broken bones. She was beginning to worry that this wasn’t going to be the ideal place for her to do her residency—not if the staff was secretly a bunch of bloodsucking vampires intent on destroying the human population of Sterling, Montana, one needle poke at a time.

  “I’m fine. I just want to go home,” Sage said for what felt like the tenth time, though she knew the doctor had to sign her out. She was just sore and grumpy and taking it out on the staff. Perfect. She’d feel bad about that tomorrow, too.

  “We’re waiting for your final test results, and then the doctor will be in to speak with you. If there’s anything wrong, this is the best place for you. He’s the only one who can sign the discharge papers,” the nurse repeated.

  “How much longer until he gets here?” This waiting game was getting old.

  “I’m right here.”

  Sage froze as she looked at the man blocking her doorway. No way! There was no possible way the man standing in her doorway was whom she believed it to be. Fate couldn’t be that cruel.

  “Here are the charts, Dr. Whitman.”

  Sage’s stomach heaved when the nurse said Spence’s name as she flitted over to him. Yes, flitted. There was no other word for it. It seemed that Spence Whitman still had the same effect he’d always had on the ladies. Both young and old.

  It also seemed that she hadn’t been dreaming when she woke up after the accident. Here was the man—in the very sexy flesh.

  She immediately remembered when she was sixteen and she’d worked up the courage to ask him out on a date. She’d thrown herself at him, just one of many young women who had been in love with him.

  After she had professed her undying love to him, he had simply kissed her on the cheek, told her she would one day be a heartbreaker, and then walked away, devastating her. Sure, she’d been too young for him to do anything more, but from that moment on, she’d avoided him. Embarrassment had eaten her alive.

  “How are you feeling, Ms. Banks?”

  The professional tone, the standard, distant smile that said he was interested in her only as a patient . . . the cluelessness in his eyes. Sage’s humiliation was complete. The boy she’d been in love with since she was ten years old had zero idea who she was. That was how unimportant she’d ever been to him. Not that it should have come as a shock. But still, though she was now old enough to know better, and wise enough not to care, she had to admit—to herself only, of course—that it did hurt. In the mood she was in now, she didn’t even try to be nice, sending Spence a look that could frost the caverns of the South Pole.

  His false smile vanished, and he contemplated her briefly with baffled surprise. Sage was sure he wasn’t used to anything but a simpering twit when he walked into a female patient’s room. Well, her days of simpering were long gone.

  She’d really hoped she wouldn’t be crossing paths with Spence when she’d accepted her residency. The last she’d heard, he was some hotshot doctor in Seattle. It was just her luck that he happened to be in town, most likely visiting his family, at the same time she was rolling home.

  “I’d be feeling much better if everyone would quit poking and prodding me and would just let me go home.”

  “Has her family been notified?” Spence asked the nurse, obviously not finding it very appealing to speak directly to Sage.

  Only someone with an extremely small brain could have missed her obvious hostility. So he had some intelligence going for him if he could read her disdain. Since he was her treating physician, she was relieved to know he knew something, unlike everyone else around the place.

  But wait. Why was he treating her? He shouldn’t be working here. He worked in Seattle. Maybe they were permitting him to treat her since he’d been the first person on the scene. She really, really hoped that was the case.

  The alternative would mean . . . No. If she refused to even think the thought, then there would be no possible way it could be true. She wouldn’t ask, either. As all her other options had gone down the drain the minute she’d accepted the offer to be in this program, she had to stay at this hospital and she didn’t want to work with Spence Whitman, her childhood crush.

  When the man himself turned and gave her a megawatt smile that, despite her anger, had her knees shaking just a bit beneath her warm blanket, she strengthened her resolve. Locking her knees into place, she sent another glare his way—this one not cold, but guaranteed to melt steel—and felt a smidgen of satisfaction as his movie-star smile faltered again and he stood there looking unsure what to do next.

  “Yes, Dr. Whitman. Her grandmother has been called.”

  “I’ll go ahead and release you, Ms. Banks, but I need you to get p
lenty of rest over the next few days. Make an appointment with your general practitioner as soon as possible.”

  He spoke while scribbling on his pad, clearly avoiding her eyes. Of course, she could look away from him, too. But she was trying to prove something to herself—that he didn’t affect her.

  “I’ll send a prescription to the pharmacy in case the pain is too much in a few hours.” With that, he walked from the room.

  “Good riddance,” she muttered, causing the nurse to turn and look at her as if she’d sprouted three heads. “Oh come on, he’s not that great,” Sage snapped, and the woman turned and left, probably chasing down Spence to tell him their patient clearly had brain damage.

  “Sage!”

  Sage turned to find her grandmother in the doorway, sporting red cheeks and tears in her eyes. “Hi, Grandma . . .”

  “Oh, sweetheart, I’ve been so worried.” Bethel rushed to the bed and sank down in the chair next to it, grasping Sage’s hand.

  “I’m fine, Grandma. It was only a little accident. They were just being thorough, that’s all.”

  “I don’t think we should take you home. What if something terrible is wrong and we don’t find out until it’s too late?”

  “I promise you that I’m virtually unscathed despite all the drama. And nothing could possibly make me feel better than some of your special hot chocolate and a full night’s rest.” Sage was desperate to get out of this bed and out of this hospital. She’d be here plenty beginning next week, when her residency began. At least due to this experience she’d be more understanding when her patients began feeling restless. Maybe all medical staff should have to be patients before treating anyone.

  “Of course, darling, if you really think you’re safe to leave, then I’ll take good care of you. Eileen, Maggie, and I can take shifts so you aren’t alone for a single minute.”

  Still, Bethel didn’t look reassured. Sage would have to try really hard not to wince as she was leaving. The thought of her grandma, Maggie, and Eileen hovering over her nonstop was enough to send her blood pressure shooting through the roof. Hardly the best way to get some rest.

  The aches were starting to set in and she suspected that she’d have a rough few days of it. But it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been sore before. She’d just have to grit her teeth and bear it.

  “Could you go ask the nurse about my clothes while I use the bathroom?”

  “Certainly, sweetie. I’ll be right back.”

  Bethel left the room and Sage climbed slowly from the bed. To her surprise, she had to stand there gripping the bar on the side. Her head had begun spinning, and the resulting nausea forced her to take several deep breaths to avoid passing out. When the nausea went away and she took her first steps, pain sliced down her spine. Nope. The next few days weren’t going to be fun. At least her residency didn’t start for a week.

  That would give her plenty of time to study up on her specialty, emergency medicine, while she was recuperating. She was actually looking forward to it. When it came to books, Sage was a pro. She had an incredible memory, which in medical school, at least, was an advantage. In love, not so much.

  But there was no time to dwell on romance, or in her case, lack of romance. She’d signed up for years of school and continuing education when she’d decided to be a doctor. She didn’t regret that decision. It was just that seeing her old crush after all these years was messing with her head.

  No. It couldn’t be that. Her head must still be foggy from the wreck. Yes, that was it, she assured herself. Her grandmother returned promptly and handed her the clothes, then gave her privacy as she put them on very, very slowly.

  Home, hot chocolate, and bed. That was all she needed. Sure it was, her mind said mockingly, but Sage quickly shut off that traitorous thought and then sat and waited for her grandmother’s return. In a few days she’d be right as rain . . .

  “I can’t believe you’ve been in town for two days already and you haven’t called me. I thought I was your best friend.”

  The ridiculously beautiful Grace Sinclair glared at Sage from the doorway of the small bedroom at her grandmother’s house.

  Rest just wasn’t going to happen, not with what felt like everyone she’d ever met since moving here at the age of four showing up and wishing her well. If one more person held her hand and told her how sorry they were, she’d give them a reason to be sorry. All right, she could admit how petty and unappreciative that sounded, and she was thankful that she’d never said such a thing aloud.

  “It’s so great to see you, Grace. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year,” Sage said, guilt consuming her that she’d let so much time go by without even a phone call to her dearest friend. “I guess the only excuse I can come up with is the last year of medical school was grueling and I barely found time to breathe, much less speak to anyone outside of the classroom.”

  “I don’t care about any of that. I’ve just missed you like crazy, darling. I can’t believe, number one, that you were moving back home and didn’t bother telling me, and then, number two, that you get in a near-fatal car crash and still don’t feel I’m worth a phone call.” Grace’s long fingers sat stiffly on her shapely hips, and her dark brown eyes shot fire.

  “I was planning on calling you soon, but last I heard, you were still in New York,” Sage said, hoping she looked apologetic enough to appease her friend.

  “I moved home a couple of months ago,” Grace told her, her shoulders slumping as she entered the room and plopped down on the mattress, just as she’d always done when they were girls.

  “What? Why? I thought you loved it there. Whenever we talked, you said New York was a place people came to and never left, and that’s where you were determined to stay.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too, but you know, life just happens, whether we want it to or not,” Grace said with a sadness in her eyes that Sage couldn’t recall seeing before.

  “It looks like we should have talked a long time ago.” Sage reached out and took her hand—Grace seemed to be the one who really needed comfort.

  “Yes, we should have—not because my life went to hell, but because we’re best friends and we should never forget it. I love you, Sage, more than any other person in the world, and I’ve missed you so much.” Grace pushed her long, dark hair behind her ear.

  “I’ve really missed you, too. Does this mean that we’re actually living in the same place again for the first time in eight years? We’re going to get to see each other for longer than three days?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what it means. I know this is probably the last place in the United States that you wanted to do your residency, but I’m so glad you’re here,” Grace said, then pushed Sage farther over to make space for herself on the bed.

  Sage hardly noticed the aching in her body. It was just so nice to be with her best friend again. What idiots they’d been to let so much time pass!

  “I didn’t want to come back, but now that I know you’re here, Grace, I’m feeling a lot better about the decision. Okay, enough moaning and groaning. Tell me everything you’ve been up to. If I recall, the last time we talked, you were dating some hot Italian guy, and you already had your future children’s names picked out.”

  “Ah yes, Vincenzo,” she said a little dreamily. “That boy was incredible, and I mean with a capital I,” she added with a giggle.

  “Why do I hear a but coming in?”

  “But . . .” Grace said with a wicked smile. “He was only incredible in one area, if you catch my drift.” She gasped to see Sage’s cheeks turn scarlet. “Oh my gosh, Sage. Are you seriously still a virgin?”

  Was it written on her forehead? She didn’t want to admit it to her gorgeous, successful, charming best friend. Guys fell all over themselves simply to be in Grace’s presence. It wasn’t like that with her. They’d run into her, literally, before they even knew she was standing there. It was mortifying.

  “That’s it! I’m taking you to Vegas, dressing yo
u in my shortest, tightest outfit, and we’re going clubbing. You’ll star in a regular orgy before the night is over!”

  Was she kidding? Frighteningly enough, Sage wasn’t sure.

  “Yes, I’m kidding, Sage. You can put away the deer-in-headlights eyes now. Seriously, have you looked in a mirror lately? You’re an utter knockout with those green eyes, flaming red hair, and curves that could cause a pileup. Why don’t you exploit your natural assets a little more? Some of us have to work a lot harder to look as beautiful as you.”

  “You have got to be kidding me, Grace. You’ve always been the most stunning woman in the room. How in the world can you say that? Now I really have to know what in the heck went on in New York.”

  Her own insecurity was forgotten as she looked at Grace with new eyes. Who was this woman? What had happened to her best friend? And more important, would Sage have to hunt down the Italian lover and spike his cocktail with arsenic? Wait! She was a doctor. She could dig up methods less easily traceable, and make it look like a natural death.

  “I promise at some point to tell you all about New York . . . I do—I swear,” Grace added when Sage looked at her doubtfully. “But right now, only happy thoughts are allowed. Please tell me you aren’t still guarding the V card.”

  Yep, that was the Grace she knew, not pulling any punches, coming right to the point. “There hasn’t been anyone worth giving it to, Grace.”

  “Oh, honey, at some point, you just have to get it over with. If you have these high expectations, and I know you do, you could be lonely forever. Sometimes it’s okay to have a little fun. As long as you don’t act like Heidi Benson and give it to the whole world.”

  “You know how busy medical school can be.”

  “Those are just excuses, doll. We can all make excuses until the cows come home, but you do realize that it’s perfectly okay to let loose and enjoy yourself once in a while, don’t you?”

  “I know it’s okay to have fun. I just happen to think that learning medicine is a lot of fun.” When Grace looked like she’d just swallowed and chewed an entire lemon, Sage repeated herself more emphatically. “It is fun.”