The Reef Roamer (The Roamer Series Book 1) (13 page)

Mark pulled the needle back before it punctured her delicate skin. “Why didn’t you tell someone?”

“I did!” she retorted. “Why didn’t you read my chart?” She was getting darned tired of his vacillating attitude.

Mark pushed away from her and reached for the clipboard that held her stats. Naomi had written “penicillin” across the top of the page in neat block letters but failed to highlight it in red which would bring to his attention there was an allergy. “Anything else I should know about?” His voice was only slightly humbled.

“Like I said, I don’t handle sedatives or painkillers well.”

The Demerol!
“What do you mean by ‘don’t handle well’, Ms. Haller?” Had he screwed up royally in being distracted by their easy banter and those lovely green eyes of hers?

“A little goes a long way with me. I take less than half of a normal dose. The last time I had a sedative, when my husband died, I was in la-la land for three days thanks to some doctor in Marsh Harbor who acted first and asked questions later. Maybe I was better off there, though.” Her voice drifted away. It was getting hard to concentrate. “Why am I so fuzzy all of a sudden, Dr. Steele?”

“Ms. Haller, I’m afraid I already gave you a painkiller. I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware. It was a light dose, though. However, considering your apparent history, you’ll probably sleep for the next twelve to eighteen hours. I’ll arrange to have someone stay with you.”
Maybe even myself,
he added silently, mulling over her comments about her experience in Marsh Harbor.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dr. Steele was normally a patient man with his young assistant. Naomi was bright, enthusiastic, better educated than most of her people, and she knew or was related to nearly everyone on half the islands, which made her an asset. When he burst out of room three in an obvious rage, Naomi was shocked.

“Naomi! Why didn’t you complete Ms. Haller’s chart? She told you she was allergic. I almost gave her a shot of penicillin!” Mark ran his fingers through his dark hair, pacing.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Steele. I guess when she started going on about the arm restraint and being claustrophobic, I got distracted. It won’t happen again,” Naomi explained contritely.

“Claustrophobic?! Oh, Christ!” And he was off again, charging back into room three.

Daniel looked at the doctor’s back. “Is he like that often?”

“No. Normally he’s really pleasant, easygoing. Everyone on the islands likes Dr. Steele; you know that. I’ve messed up a lot worse, and it’s hardly fazed him. There must be something about this Haller woman that upsets him.”

***

Mark entered Jayme’s room at a slow run, thinking he’d have a frantic woman on his hands, trying to get out of the restraint he’d left her in. All he saw was the back of her head, again, and heard that low hum coming from her direction.

He stopped short of bumping into the exam table. “Ms. Haller? Are you alright? Naomi just told me about your claustrophobia. I’d never have left you in restraints if I’d known. I’m sorry.”

“Jayme.”

“What?”

“My name is Jayme. And please get my arm free before I do lose control and start to scream.” Her voice was incredibly calm; there was no way she was on the verge of panic. Then he saw her eyes and the terror hidden beneath the greenness. He moved quickly to free her.

“You have remarkable control. I don’t think I would have lasted under those conditions,” he admitted, trying to lighten the stress building in the air. “Does it have to do with the humming I heard when I came in? Your control, I mean.”

“Yes. It’s a…an Oriental form of meditation.” She almost said a Martial Art.

“Tai Chi or Tae Kwon Do?”

Jayme moved her drug-fogged head to look up at him. He’d surprised her; he was informed. “Actually, it’s both. Being able to slip into a different ‘mind mode’ has saved me on many different occasions.”

“You’ll have to tell me about them sometime. For now, I want you to spend the night here with me.” Her eyes widened. “Well, not with
me
, just here at the clinic. Where I-I can w-watch you,” he stammered, embarrassed, because what he had thought was that he really would like her to spend the night with him, in his arms, in his bed. He flushed at his private thoughts. “There’s a separate room with several beds for patients. Occasionally, I need to keep someone overnight for observation. You can stay there. Naomi will be in shortly to help me get you showered.” Again, Jayme widened her eyes. “In your bathing suit, of course,” he quickly added. “You need to get all the saltwater off of you before I can finish bandaging your arm.” Jayme had to smile at how flustered he seemed to be around her. “Then Naomi will help you change,” he muttered as he walked out the door, realizing he’d forgotten to tell his assistant that Jayme was staying and he’d need her assistance.

Once back in the outer office, Dr. Steele noticed Daniel for the first time. He knew Daniel was one of the finest dive masters in the islands and was surprised to see him there.

“Daniel, hello. What can I do for you?”

“Hi, Doc. How is Jayme doing?” Daniel stood and approached the reception desk.

“She’s with you?” Mark quizzed, a surge of jealousy rearing up when he remembered seeing them together the other night and then realized Jayme had said she was diving when she got hooked. “Was she on one of your charters when this happened?”

“Yeah. We were at Horseshoe Wall and some idiot dropped a line on us in spite of the dive flags. If I find out who…” He let the threat hang. “She okay, Doc? She’s a special person and an exceptional diver. I feel really bad about this.”

Dr. Steele took this all in. “There was no deeply severe or lasting damage, though she won’t be doing anything for a while, much less diving. She required forty stitches in her arm. She really was lucky. I’ll send my bill to the dive shop.”

Daniel grinned. “No problem, Doc,” he said, knowing there would never be a bill sent.

“You might as well go back home, Daniel. She’s having a minor reaction to the painkiller, so I’m going to keep her overnight for observation,” Mark said. “Naomi, come with me please. Ms. Haller will be staying overnight. She’s going to need help showering all the salt off before I can dress her wound. I’ll help you.” When Naomi raised her eyebrows ever so slightly at him, he added, “She’s in her bathing suit! For Pete’s sake! What is it with these women? I
am
a doctor, you know,” Mark finished, half to himself, walking ahead of her. Naomi had to stifle a smile as she looked back and gave Daniel a parting wink.

***

Jayme had never before felt so out of control as she did right then. Here she was, on a remote island, in a strange country, physically maimed from a fish lure wielded by some idiot, mentally lame from an unsolicited sedative, waiting for someone to help her bathe, and preparing to spend the night under the same roof with a man she was frightened of. Frightened, because she found him so blasted attractive. Every time he talked to her, she had to concentrate to keep from watching the way his lips moved, wondering how they would feel on hers. When she looked into his smoky gray eyes, she felt herself falling into them. This man could be trouble with a capital T. Jayme’s mind began to drift again. It was getting harder and harder to keep a steady train of thought. The sedative was taking a stronger hold on her consciousness. They would have to hurry if they wanted any co-operation out of her at all. With that thought, the door opened.

Getting Jayme out of her dive skins was the easy part, but it sure wasn’t easy on Dr. Steele’s imagination and wandering thoughts. She was all muscle and softness, a very alluring combination. Mark was glad he wore loose clothing to work in. Jayme was starting to get groggy, and once, while Naomi was soaping her hair, Jayme leaned against the shower wall and slid down into a seated position. Naomi had to call for Mark to help get her back up to get rinsed off. When they were finished, the doctor and his assistant were as wet as Jayme.

“Help her into this and then we’ll get her into a bed.” Mark handed Naomi a thin hospital gown and then stepped around the curtain that separated the shower area from the beds in his tiny ward. A few moments later, Naomi pushed the curtain aside to let Mark back in. Jayme was barely able to stand and was ready to slide again as Mark swept her up in his arms. Her head rested easily against his shoulder, and a jolt went through his body with the contact.

My god, what is she doing to me?

He laid her gently on the hospital bed. Her drying hair fanned out on the pillow like a halo around her head, and he had to stifle a groan at the desire the vision created in his body.

“Hand me the BP cup, please, and then set up a Lidocaine drip. I don’t think I’ll need the drip, but I want to be ready just in case.” The doctor worked silently, taking the near-comatose Jayme’s blood pressure. Ninety over fifty, he jotted down on her chart. Low, though not low enough to be alarmed about. He scanned over the stats on the chart. He moved deftly to bandage the wound on her left arm, protecting the pink stitches. Her tanned skin felt silken under his fingers, and Mark found himself mindlessly stroking her arm just to feel her.

He checked her blood pressure again and listened to her heart rate, which was steady and strong. Long after Naomi left, he was still sitting by Jayme’s side, watching her sleep.

She is so beautiful,
he thought. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead. Her skin was cool and soft, so soft. He trailed his fingertips down her cheek, feeling her supple skin under his sensitive hands.

Her eyes fluttered open at his touch. Emerald pools, slightly out of focus. Her hand reached up and stroked his face, much in the same way he had done to her. Jayme smiled sleepily and dropped off once again, unaware of what she had done.

Mark let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. For that moment, he was so overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu he felt dizzy. Then it hit him.
I’ve lost sleep over those emerald eyes before. I couldn’t get her out of my thoughts then, and now she’s back.
Could this really be the same girl? Could this be the faceless one he’d been dreaming of? The one who’d been haunting his nights? Haunting his paintings?

Mark went into the hallway and through a door marked
‘private’
. Although most of his patients thought the door led to his office, a few knew it led to his on-site residence. He stepped inside and flipped a light switch, flooding the darkened room with a false brightness. Heading for the little-used closet in the spare bedroom, he left a trail of blazing lights. He tore frantically at the numerous items that had found their way into the deep space. At last he found what he was searching for.

He sat back, staring at the dozen half-finished canvases that now cluttered the room. He had begun the paintings five years ago, after he’d met a green-eyed beauty in the clinic in Marsh Harbor. Her husband had been killed in a shark attack while scuba diving. Mark had signed the death certificate. The woman’s eyes had captivated him like none other had before or since. He had tried over and over again to paint her, so he could have her with him always, but he could see the eyes only, never the face. As he sat looking at the unfinished paintings now, he knew that woman five years ago had indeed been Jayme. Lovely, sleeping Jayme. Mark picked up a canvas, his easel and a box of oils.

Heading back to the clinic’s ward, Mark felt obsessed. He worked all night by her bedside. While a tropical storm raged outside, an emotional one raged inside of the doctor. Jayme barely stirred during the thunder and lightning. He mixed colors, getting just the right hues to match her hair, her skin, her lips. How he wanted to taste those lips! His need for her was rising. He pushed the thoughts down and concentrated on the painting in front of him, never sleeping.

***

By morning, Mark had finished capturing Jayme’s elusive face around the all-too-familiar eyes. He quietly put his artist tools back into the spare room of his attached living quarters. When Naomi arrived at 10:00am, Jayme was starting to stir.

Jayme’s eyes fluttered open, not for the first time that morning, but the second. Earlier, the time on the wall clock eluded her; she had awakened to see Mark packing a small box, the smell of linseed oil in the air. Confused, her eyes had fluttered shut before Mark had noticed, and she drifted away again, only this time into a pleasant drowsy state. When she awoke for the second time, Jayme was fully alert.

“Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Mark said cheerfully with a smile that reached all the way to his tired eyes. “How are you feeling?”

Fingering the white gauze bandage, she said, “Other than an ache in my arm, which I believe to be expected considering the circumstances, I feel fine. You, on the other hand, look like hell.”
Not really
, she thought.
You look devastatingly handsome!
“Didn’t you get any sleep at all? You couldn’t have been that worried about me.”

“Well, you really had me going for a while when your blood pressure dropped to 85/60 and your pulse dipped to 50. Since you told Naomi your readings were normally on the low side, I tried not to be too concerned. Although, you’re right; watching you breathe did not leave me much time to sleep.”

“Oh, what a guilt trip you’ve got me on now!” Jayme teased. The long deep sleep had done wonders for her spirit. “How can I ever make it up to you?” She smiled brightly at his feigned weariness.

Mark grinned broadly. “For starters, you can let me buy you dinner and then—” At that moment, Naomi came rushing in.

“Dr. Steele! Jack just brought Lana in! She’s in labor; contractions are less than a minute apart!” Naomi didn’t wait for Mark to reply, for as she turned he was already on his feet on his way out the door.

***

By the sounds of the activity going on in the room next to the ward, Jayme could tell that the good doctor would be occupied for a while bringing a new life into the world. She slipped out of bed, clutching the flimsy gown around her. So much for high fashion. Or modesty. Looking around, she discovered a plastic box under her bed containing her bathing suit and dive skins. Jayme slid her long legs into the dive skins and pulled it up snugly around her waist. She pulled the gown off over her head, careful not to bump her aching arm, and managed to get her right arm into the sleeve, then zipped up the front, tucking the tattered left sleeve down the front.

Hmm
, she thought.
An off the shoulder dive suit. Might become a new trend.