THE MAVERICK DOCTOR AND MISS PRIM/ABOUT THAT NIGHT... (9 page)

Wow
.

One thing was for sure, she’d been waiting to say that for a long time.

If Violet could see him now she would see that for the first time in years he was hanging his head in shame. “Give me a break, sis.”

“
Give you a break?
Right now, I’d like to break every bone in your body.”

Ouch. Harsh. And definitely not Violet’s normal response. During the biggest potential outbreak in years, she’d just found her lost brother. She must be stressed up to her eyeballs. The added fact that no one knew he was her brother couldn’t be helping—and she wasn’t finished yet.

“Why haven’t you answered my texts? Why haven’t you answered my phone calls?” He could hear it now. The tiny waver in her voice. Violet never liked anyone to know when she was upset. He could almost picture the glimmer of tears in her eyes.

He sighed. “I’ve been busy, sis. I’ve got some really sick kids here.” He leaned back against the wall, “Plus I’ve got an invasion of DPA faces that I’d hoped never to see again.”

He stopped talking. He didn’t need to say any more. Violet knew exactly how he felt about all this. He’d never actually said the words to her, but his sister knew him better than anyone.

“You can do this, Sawyer.” Her voice was almost a whisper. A cheerleading call for him. After all this time she was still trying to instill confidence and strength into him.

She was the one person in the world who could chew him out one minute, then fight to the death for him a second later.

Family. He’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

“I’m just in the wrong place at the wrong time again, Violet. Story of my life.”

Silence again. She realized the enormity of his words. The price he’d paid the last time had almost destroyed him.

“Are you safe? Did you put yourself at risk before you realized what it was?”

It was natural question—a sisterly question—but it still grated. Especially when he’d been part of the DPA. “I was in the same room as the kids, breathing the same air. I took precautions as soon as I had reason for concern, but they didn’t have the appropriate masks. I had to send the other member of staff away—she’s pregnant.”

He heard Violet’s sharp intake of breath. She knew exactly the impact that must have had on him.

“So, for a couple of hours it was just me treating the kids. You know how it is, Violet. That’s the way it’s got to be. I’ve had my smallpox vaccination. Now I just need to wait.”

“I don’t like this. I don’t like any of this. I’ve waited months to hear from you again—eight measly texts in six years—and now this? All I’ve ever wanted to know is that you were safe, Sawyer, but when I finally hear from you, you’re in the most dangerous place of all. It just doesn’t seem real.”

Sawyer felt himself bristle. He didn’t want to get into this with Violet. He didn’t want to answer a million questions about where he’d been or what he’d been doing. That was a conversation for another day—and maybe not even then.

And even though he could hear the note of desperation in her voice, he just couldn’t go there.

“How’s Callum? Have you heard if he’s okay? I tried to call the hospital earlier, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.”

There was hesitation at the other end. She was obviously trying to decide what to tell him. “He’s had a massive MI. They took him for angioplasty hours ago and apparently it went well.”

There it was again. That tightening feeling around his chest. The way it always came when things were outside his control.

He hated the fact that even though he was a doctor he couldn’t always help the people he loved.

He changed the subject.

“What do you know about Callie Turner? She seems a little out of her depth.”

“You think?” Violet’s answer was snappy, verging on indignant. She was obviously suffering from the same lack of sleep that he was. He was forgetting what time it was. “Callie’s one of the best doctors I’ve worked with. She does everything to the letter. She’s very focused, very ordered. Don’t get in her way, Sawyer, she won’t like it.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” In a way he was surprised. Violet was always honest with him. She would tell him if she had any doubts about Callie. The fact that she hadn’t mentioned even one was interesting. He decided to take a new tack. “What about her scars?”

“What scars? Callie has scars?”

She sounded genuinely surprised. Didn’t the women in the DPA locker room look at each other? Maybe he should call them all on their observation skills.

“Yeah. A big one, snaking right down her leg. She didn’t get it at work, then?”

“How come you’ve seen Callie’s scars? Ah...the protective clothing. I get it. No, I had no idea Callie had a scar. She definitely didn’t get it at work. She’s never had any accidents here. It must be from years ago.”

He leaned against the wall just outside the children’s room again. All of a sudden he was embarrassed. He hadn’t had a proper conversation with his sister in the last few years and he was asking her about other people? He should be ashamed of himself. He took a deep breath, “How are you, Violet? Are you okay?”

“How do you think I am? The biggest potential outbreak in who knows how long and, oh, yeah, my brother’s in the middle of it. The DPA’s in an uproar. Some rooms are deathly silent and in others you can’t even hear yourself think. We’ve got another couple of outbreaks in other places but none like this.” She lowered her voice, as if she was hiding her conversation from someone near her. “What do you think? Do you really think it’s smallpox?”

He blew a stream of air out through his lips. “That’s the million-dollar question. I’m sure it’s a pox—and it definitely isn’t chicken pox. But am I sure it’s smallpox?” He shook his head. “I just don’t know, sis. That’s for the lab rats to tell us.”

He heard her laugh at his affectionate name for his friends who worked down in the labs. “By the way, Frank says hello. He also cursed a little. He was just about to start his vacation when your lab samples arrived. He says you owe him and his wife a trip to Hawaii.”

Memories started to come flooding back into Sawyer’s mind. Memories he’d blocked out for a long time. He’d worked with Frank Palmer for six years. They were the same age and had got married around the same time. When Helen had died, he just hadn’t been able to stay in touch. Everything was a permanent reminder.

Frank’s wife Lucy was a petite, gorgeous blonde who had probably had her suitcase packed with a different bikini for every day of their vacation. She would have been
mad
.

Helen and Lucy had been good friends. They’d made plans together and enjoyed each other’s company. Lucy had been heartbroken when Helen had died.

His heart gave a little squeeze. It wasn’t just his sister he hadn’t considered.

He hadn’t considered other people. Other people who had been devastated by Helen’s death. He’d been too busy focusing on his own grief to allow anyone else’s to touch him.

“Tell Frank I’m sorry—no, tell Lucy I’m sorry.” He hesitated for a second then asked, “Frank and Lucy—do they have any kids?”

It had been another of Helen and Lucy’s grand plans, that they would all have kids at the same time. They’d always joked that their imaginary offspring could be prom king and queen together.

He heard Violet take a deep breath and her voice had a new edge to it, a harsher edge. “You’ve been away too long, Sawyer. Frank and Lucy lost their daughter last year to stillbirth. It was an extremely traumatic time—Lucy nearly died and had to have a hysterectomy. They can’t have any more children.”

He felt as if someone had just twisted a knife in his guts. For a few fleeting seconds he’d been jealous. Jealous that Frank still had Lucy. That he still had a future with his wife.

Violet’s words sent chills across his body. It just showed you—you never knew. You never knew the minute when things could come crashing down all around you.

And now he was feeling something else. Disgust with himself. He hadn’t been there to support his friends in their time of need. People who had reached out to him when he’d been at his lowest ebb.

It didn’t matter that he’d walked away and ignored everyone. He could still remember every card, every phone call, every email, every handshake.

Helen would have been livid with him. He could almost hear her reading him the Riot Act.

Touching reality again was making him realize that her death hadn’t affected only him. It had affected everyone around them.

Some of the contact tracers in the team could barely look at him today.

And it wasn’t a reflection on them. It was a reflection on
him
.

They had no idea how he would react to them. How he would react if they brought up the past and expressed their sympathies about Helen—even after all this time

Violet cleared her throat at the end of the line and he snapped back to attention. “I take it you’re still flying under the radar in there? They haven’t made the connection between us?” he asked.

“No. No one knows.” He heard her breathe a sigh of relief. “Or if anybody knows, they’re not saying anything. Evan Hunter’s walking around here like a bear with a sore head. I’ve spent the last few hours trying to avoid him. He didn’t take it well that you’re involved in this.”

Sawyer couldn’t help the smile that automatically spread across his face. “He’ll get over it,” he murmured. He looked at his watch. “Hate to say it, sis, but I need to go. I might have a chance to get my head down for a couple of hours. One of the pediatricians has just arrived to share the responsibility of the kids. We’ve just had to intubate one of them. This might be the only chance I get to sleep in a while.”

“Okay, Sawyer. Stay safe and keep an eye on Callie. She has lots of good qualities. And keep your phone switched on. If I call and you don’t answer...”

“I get it, sis. Keep your head down and stay out of Evan Hunter’s way. He’ll find something else to gripe about soon.”

He stared at the phone as he heard her hang up, puzzled by her parting shot about Callie. It was almost like a little beacon, glowing orange in the dark sea. She knew exactly how to play him. Some things never changed.

CHAPTER SIX

V
IOLET
 
HAD
 
ONLY
 
just replaced the receiver when Evan Hunter came stomping across the room, shouting orders as he went. They might be an hour ahead of Chicago but hadn’t anyone told him it was six o’clock in the morning and most of the staff had been up all night?

“Somebody get that man a coffee,” she grumbled as she slid her chair under the desk and pulled up the screen she’d been reviewing. It was a distribution model of the potential spread of the smallpox virus. They’d started working on this while they had still been trying to determine if the passengers on the plane had been exposed or not.

“Violet!
Violet!
”

Rats. It was almost as if he had an internal radar and could hear her thoughts.

“What?” She turned to face him as he hovered above her, obviously irritated by her lack of instant response. “What’s happened?”

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you?”

Darn it. She’d only ducked out for five minutes to speak to Matt. How on earth could he have known that?

There was only way to shut him up. “Ladies’ room.” She gave him a sarcastic smile. That was all the information he would need.

He scowled at her. “I need you to get some background on Matt Sawyer for me. Find out where he’s been for the last six years. Find out how he managed to end up in an E.R. in Chicago.”

She was stunned. It was the last thing she had been expecting. A few hours ago it had been a whole hullaballoo about a graph of the potential spread of smallpox. And, well, yes, she could almost understand it. That was just the kind of thing he wanted to appear instantly before his eyes. Stuff the grunt work. He practically expected people to work at the speed of light. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d told him in no uncertain terms that data needed to be checked and rechecked, assimilated and analyzed beyond any shadow of a doubt.

But this? Asking her to investigate her own brother?

It was totally out of left field. A complete bolt from the blue.

Anyone else might have been intimidated by his stance, leaning over her. But Violet wasn’t. She’d been this close to Evan before. About six months ago after a work night out.

The medic and her boss. Never a good idea.

Too bad she couldn’t shift the inappropriate memories out of her head, which came up at the most inopportune moments.

“Violet? Did you hear me?”

She snapped back to attention. Back to reality. Sawyer and Evan Hunter had never got on. She’d no idea why and she didn’t really care. Just as well she’d never told her boss that Sawyer was her brother.

She stared at him, unfazed by his annoyed face. Violet didn’t do well on lack of sleep. It was the standing family joke that everyone should stay out of her way if she’d had a bad night on call as a resident. Her patience had just flown out of the window.

“Why on earth do you want me to check up on Sawyer? Shouldn’t we be focusing on the real issue—the potential smallpox outbreak? I thought you wanted a complete rundown on the potential spread? That’s what I’ve been working on for the last few hours and I’m not finished yet.”

Evan leaned closer. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do right now. I’m the team leader around here. I decide what happens. Sawyer is irresponsible and reckless. He’s the last person we can trust. And a few hours ago he phoned in the biggest threat to this country’s health in years. Am I suspicious? Absolutely I am! Now...” he pointed at the computer “...find out where he’s been and what he’s been doing. I want to know now!”

He swept into the office next to her, slamming the door behind him as if he could knock it from its hinges.

Violet sagged back down into her seat. She didn’t need to do what he asked. She’d been doing it for the last six years and had found nothing.
Nada.

Apart from a few cursory texts since his wife’s funeral and his departure from the DPA, she knew nothing.

His texts had only ever told her that he was safe. Nothing else. Not where he was or what he was doing.

The hard fact was that if she wanted to know where Sawyer had been she would have to ask him. And right now she had a distribution model to finish.

She stared at the slammed door. Violet was used to prioritizing her own workload.

She set her jaw.

Evan Hunter could wait.

* * *

He watched the walls shake around the door he had just slammed. What on earth was wrong with him?

Evan felt sick. He had potentially one of the most well-publicized outbreaks in the DPA’s history to handle and at the heart of it all was a man he hated. A man he didn’t trust.

And he was taking it out on the people around him—he was taking it out on Violet.

The last thing he should be doing.

The press was all over this. The media room at the DPA was currently packed out, with the phones ringing constantly. He could handle stress. It wasn’t the first time he’d handled a major outbreak.

What he couldn’t handle were his reactions to Violet.

Those were the things he couldn’t control.

He was going to have to do something about it—and fast.

* * *

“Callie, phone.”

Callie looked up from where she was standing, talking to Sawyer. The plans for the containment facility were almost complete. The nurse dangled the phone from her hand. “It’s the lab.”

Callie and Sawyer moved in unison, diving for the phone at the same time.

Their hands clashed and Callie shot him a dirty look and shoved him out of her way. “Callie Turner.”

“It’s Evan.”

She really couldn’t face any niceties. Her brain could only fix on one thing—and from the expression on Sawyer’s face he felt the same way.

“What is it? What has Frank found?” Sawyer flinched next to her at the sound of Frank’s name. What was that all about? Frank had worked at the DPA forever. They must know each other.

She could hear the deep intake of breath at the end of the phone. “Electron microscopy revealed a brick-shaped virus. It’s definitely an orthopox.”

Callie felt her insides twist. She knew better than to say the next words. But she couldn’t help it—it was automatic. “He’s sure?”

Beside her she saw Sawyer drop his head into his hands. He knew exactly what was being said.

“He’s sure.”

She touched his arm and met his pale green eyes, giving him a silent nod. Sawyer let loose a string of expletives. The lab was only confirming what they’d all suspected. It was the first step in trying to classify the disease. It just made it all seem a little too real.

It was time to get down to business. “How long before he can be more specific?”

“He’s still running the PCR. You know how this is—we could have something for you in twenty-four hours or it could take up to seven days. Direct fluorescent antigen testing has ruled out varicella. Tell Sawyer he was right—it’s definitely not chicken pox.” She heard Evan sigh. Those words must have been painful for him. “Your next stage is the move to the containment type C facility. Are you ready for that?”

Callie looked at the whiteboard on the wall next to her. Every detail was clearly displayed. Her team was good. “The power company’s just been in touch to let us know the power has been reconnected. We’re just waiting to hear back from the chief of police about closing the highway and getting the police escort. Once that’s in order we’ll be ready to move.”

“Keep me posted. I’ll be in touch if we have any more news.”

Callie stood in a daze for a few seconds, the phone dangling from her hand. She was trying to assimilate the information she’d just been given. A warm hand closed over hers and replaced the receiver.

They didn’t speak. For once it seemed that their minds were working in unison.

Callie looked around at her bustling colleagues. Someone was going to have to tell them. Someone was going to have to confirm that this was a real and credible threat. It wasn’t just a suspicion any more. They’d moved a stage beyond that now.

And it was her job.

Her job to ensure the safety of her team under these confirmed conditions.

Her job to keep the staff informed.

Her job to be responsible for the patients who were—most likely—infected with smallpox.

Her job to help prevent the spread of the disease.

It was almost overwhelming. Could she really do all this?

* * *

Sawyer was watching her. He could see the tiny flare of panic in her eyes. And as much as this was the worst possible news, he knew it was time to step up.

They were close together, low enough for their voices not to be heard.

“What exactly did Evan say?”

“It’s definitely an orthopox.” The anxiety in her voice was palpable. But a little smile appeared on her face. “And Evan said to tell you that you were right—it’s definitely not chicken pox. They’ve ruled it out.”

He pulled back a little. “Evan Hunter said that?”

She nodded. “I think he was more or less pushed into a corner on that one.” Her eyes swept the room, trepidation returning to them. “I need to tell the team. We have to move to the containment facility.”

If only she could see what he did. At times she had a little-girl look about her, as if she was about to be swept away by a tidal wave. As if the situation and events were totally out of her control. But these were tiny, fleeting glimmers that disappeared in an instant.

Then she would tilt her chin and act exactly the way she should. Just like she was doing now.

She was pushing aside her own fears and focusing on the details of the job. Just like a good doctor should.

They were close together again. Hiding away from the rest of the world. Her eyes were much bluer this close up. Last time they’d been like this had been in a darkened room and he hadn’t really had a chance to appreciate her finer features.

She was lucky. No lines marring her complexion, only some dark circles under her eyes. Her gaze met his and her brow wrinkled. “Can I do this, Matt?”

* * *

Matt. Hardly anyone called him that. Just the way she said the word took him by surprise. He was so used to being called by his surname that it actually made him stop for a moment. He reached out and took her hand. She didn’t flinch, didn’t pull away. She just inched a little closer.

He saw the glimmer of fear register in her eyes. Her tongue peeked out and ran along her dry lips, moistening them and leaving them glistening.

He was fixated. He couldn’t look away.

He bent down, his lips brushing the side of her cheek. “Of course you can do this, Callie. This is what you trained for.”

If he turned his head just slightly his lips would be on hers. It was the most inappropriate, most inopportune moment. But Sawyer didn’t care.

For the first time in a long time he was finally starting to feel again.

And everything else just paled in comparison.

He was getting another waft of that raspberry shampoo.

But then she moved, lowering her face beneath his and resting her hands on his shoulders. There was something else in her expression. It was almost as if she was taking a minute—as if she wanted to tell him something. And it was clear she had no idea about the thoughts currently circulating in his head.

He tried to focus. To take his gaze off her pink lips. She was close enough that he could smell the mints she’d been eating.

They couldn’t stay like this. Any minute now someone in the E.R. would notice they were closer than normal.

He had to get some perspective before he did something he might regret.

He jerked back. “How long until we find out the diagnosis?”

If she noticed him pulling away she didn’t react. “Evan wasn’t sure. Anything from between another twenty-four hours up to seven days. But at the moment we still need to tell everyone the quarantine will last for seventeen days.”

“Seven days is a long time to wait for a diagnosis.”

She nodded and turned away from him. Focusing on work, getting back to the job. Staring up at the whiteboard. “I guess we’d better start vaccinating again. Everyone going to the type C unit needs to be vaccinated beforehand.”

She was right. She was being professional. Her mind was focused on the job. Just where his should be.

He nodded and said the words he was supposed to. “Let’s get to work.”

How on earth was he going to manage in an enclosed space with her for the next seventeen days?