When Megan met his tense gaze, she jerked back and momentarily faltered by dropping the piece of gauze in her hand. She quickly deposited the soiled one in the trash and then got another one. “So this Mia chick, she’s run off with some drummer, huh?” she asked, clearly trying to change the subject and lighten the mood in the room.

“Not just any drummer. A famous one at that.”

“Really? What band?”

Pesh’s cocked his head as he tried remembering. “Something train.”

Megan gasped. “Not Runaway Train?”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s it.”

Clapping her hand to her chest, Megan’s eyes widened. “You know someone who knows AJ Resendiz?”

Pesh laughed. “I suppose I do if you consider that’s Mia’s fiancé.”

“That is so wild. I love that band.”

“I’ll see if I can get you an autograph.”

With a squeal, Megan said, “Really? That would be amazing.”

“Anything for the woman who is willing to risk her life for me.”

Megan laughed. “It was nothing.”

“What about your hand?”

“I’m not going to lie. It hurts. I kinda forgot what punching someone felt like.”

Pesh couldn’t help his brows from rising in surprise. “Have you done a lot of fighting?”

She grinned. “Not exactly MMA material, am I?” When he merely shook his head, she replied, “I may have thrown a few punches in my early college partying days when a guy overstepped his bounds.”

With a smile, Pesh said, “Good for you.”

“Yeah, my dad was really big on teaching me self-defense moves. You know, with him being ex-military.”

Pesh couldn’t help liking Megan’s strength and spunk. He hadn’t known a lot of women like her. In his world, women were bred to be demure and obedient. Even though Jade wasn’t Indian, she would’ve never dreamed of throwing a punch to defend him against Dev. But Megan, she was so refreshing with her ability to stand up for herself and others—to voice her mind whether it was good or bad.

“You would have made your father very proud today.”

“Thank you. I’m sure later on today when my knuckles are bruising, he’ll want to know why.”

“I’m very sorry.” He took her hand in his before bringing it to his lips. “Here’s a kiss to make any bruises go away.”

She gave him a teasing smile. “Is that the best medicine you can do, Dr. Nadeen?”

His mind went wild with illicit images of all the “medicine” and “healing” he could give her. A chaste kiss to alleviate her pain was all he could really offer. His pager went off before he could reply. “I better go.” He hopped off the table and started for the door. As his hand hovered over the doorknob, there were so many things he wanted to say to her. But finally, he just said, “Thanks again for taking care of me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And you should probably ice your hand during your break tonight.”

“Yes sir,” she replied, with a mock salute.

He shook his head at her with a smile before heading out the door.

Chapter Twelve

Days melted into weeks as Megan immersed herself in her clinicals. Every day she found a new challenge to conquer. She hadn’t imagined how hard it would be, or how exhausted she would be most nights when she crawled into bed. But it was a thrilling exhaustion because she was doing what she felt like she was called to do.

Each day, she spent more and more time with Pesh. She loved working beside him on cases. He had the best bedside manner of all the residents and interns. Patients, both young and old, adored him. And the more she was with him, the more Megan began to adore him as well.

She had just left an examining room where he had charmed a little boy into finally letting them run the tests they needed when Kristi beckoned her from down the hall. After hustling to join Kristi, Megan was quickly ushered inside one of the trauma rooms. Immediately, her entire body switched gears as she prepared herself for what she might face.

“Female, thirty, car accident,” the paramedic began before rattling off her vitals and other information. After Megan had absorbed the information, she turned to the patient. “Hi, I’m Megan. I’m going to get your IV started.”

The woman gave Megan a weak smile. “I’m Mary.”

“I guess it would be wrong to say it’s nice to meet you, huh?” Megan said, trying to talk as normally as she could to put the patient at ease.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Mary replied.

When Megan reached for Mary’s arm to find a place for the needle, Mary winced. “Ouch.”

As Megan surveyed the forearm, she shook her head. “Looks like you’ve got a break there.”

“My arm is broken?” Mary asked in a panic.

“We won’t know until we get you into X-ray. I’m going to try this vein here in your wrist.” The needle slipped easily into the vein, and Megan started the IV.

Pesh appeared in the doorway then. He smiled at Mary on the gurney. “Hello, Mary, I’m Dr. Nadeen. I understand you had a little accident today?”

She nodded. “This car came out of nowhere and hit me head on.”

“I’m so sorry. Why don’t we start by you telling me where it hurts?”

“My chest,” she said, with a grimace.

Pesh pulled back the hospital gown. “Were you wearing your seat belt?”

“Yes, I always do.”

“From the dust in your hair, can I assume the airbag deployed?”

“Yeah, it did.”

“Is this where it hurts?” he asked, running his fingers down an angry red whelp. It started at her neck and crossed over her chest. Some of it was hidden by the many leads coming from the heart monitor.

“Yeah.”

“It looks like the seat belt and the airbag did a number on you.”

Mary winced. “I thought they were supposed to help you, not hurt you.”

Pesh smiled. “Trust me. You’re much better off with a little burn than if you hadn’t been wearing it.” After eyeing the monitors Mary was hooked up to, he turned to Megan. “Blood pressure is low. Let’s administer some blood products to raise it.”

Megan nodded. After checking Mary’s chart for her blood type, she grabbed a bag of blood from the coolers. Trading places with Pesh, she started another IV in the crook of Mary’s right elbow.