Kitabı oku: «His Surgeon Under The Southern Lights / Reunited In The Snow», sayfa 5

CHAPTER SIX

THE MAGIC OF underwater Antarctica never failed to thrill Zeke, no matter how many times he’d dived here. Gathering samples could wait until he saw how Jordan adjusted to this dark and amazing world. His chest feeling a little tight, he watched her, wondering if it might bother her to be under the ice. She pointed at the hundreds of red and pink starfish strewn across the ocean floor, the sea urchins and coral and brightly colored fish, her eyes looking at him with obvious delight, and the tightness eased.

He reached for her hand, partly because he wanted to hold it, and partly because it calmed the slight tension he couldn’t seem to help feeling as they swam together. He showed her more of the amazing marine life, from beautiful to strange to the algae and small creatures he collected for his work.

It struck him that he hadn’t felt a need to clear his ears, and realized the earplugs must actually be doing what they’d been designed to do. Jordan would be happy to hear that, and he sent her a thumbs-up. She sent one back, though she couldn’t have known why he’d done it, and they smiled at one another through the darkly shimmering water as they explored.

Wandering around like sightseers, enjoying her curiosity and pleasure, weren’t the reasons they were down here, though, and he reluctantly released her hand to leave her on her own, but not far away. He tucked the samples he collected into the bag attached to his waist while trying to keep an eye on her as she swam around.

He smiled at her excited gesturing when several Weddell seals swam close, looking at them curiously. A hole in the ice fairly close by, not large enough for humans but big enough for seals to slide through, was doubtless where they’d entered the water, and he pointed to it. She nodded, her smile obvious even behind the regulator between her teeth.

A buoyant feeling lifted him, and it wasn’t the water, it was Jordan. Had he ever enjoyed seeing someone dive for the first time here as much as he was enjoying her obvious delight? The pleasure of being with her in the magical waters of the Antarctic made him forget how long they’d been down there until he realized his fingers felt cold, and knew hers were probably even colder.

He pointed upward, and she nodded and followed him for the five or so minutes it took to swim back to the dive hole. Getting out of the water and onto the ice was the hardest part of diving, with the weight of all the equipment, and he shoved her rear end from below. Hopefully, she wouldn’t think he was using the situation as an excuse to touch her. Or know how much he wanted to.

Her flippers thrashed a few times before she disappeared, then he followed, heaving himself up to sit on the side of the hole. He shoved his mask up to see her lying prone on her back, her mask shoved off and her regulator loose on the ice, a wide smile on her face even as she sucked in air.

“I’m guessing you liked it?”

“Oh, my God.” She turned that beautiful blue gaze to him. “Liked isn’t even close to the word. That was…unbelievable. So much more amazing than I’d ever dreamed. The colors! I thought it might be too dark to see much sea life but…wow! The creatures! The blue! The light! I’m…speechless.”

“Not quite speechless.” He chuckled, and that buoyant feeling filled his chest again, though he knew that was a little ridiculous. She’d come to Antarctica on her own, to work and dive, and she’d have done it without him. Still, he couldn’t help but feel lucky that he’d been the one to introduce this special world to her.

“You’re making me feel like I need to learn to dive, too,” Bob said.

“You should. It’s…it’s…”

“Unbelievable? Amazing?”

“Yes. And a lot more.”

“Go ahead and lay there for a minute and catch your breath, warm up a little,” Zeke said. “Bob and I will help you with your gear after I get mine off.”

Jordan sat up, and he lifted the heavy tanks from her shoulders as she shrugged them off into his hands. Bob carried them and some of the other gear to the back of the van, and Zeke grabbed a small towel to dry Jordan’s hair and face.

“Helps you warm up faster if you’re dry.” Looking into her eyes, he wiped down all visible skin, then watched her squeeze her hair with the towel. It nearly had him forgetting they were just dive partners, not lovers. He barely stopped himself from leaning in for the kiss he’d wanted all day.

“Thanks for…warming me up. Got to admit, I was starting to feel a little numb.”

He lifted his hand to slowly wipe another trickle of water from her cheek as they stared at one another, both wearing small smiles.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I need to take your vitals after wearing the ear devices. Do you feel like they worked?”

“You know, I do. Pressure pain isn’t something that affects me very often, but I didn’t have to clear my ears at all. I’ll use them every time I dive, and see if it’s any different next time. But go ahead and take my vitals.”

“Should have done it the second you got out of the water, but I was thinking about…other things.” She quickly turned to pull a stethoscope from her bag with an abrupt motion that made him wonder if the “other things” might have been exactly what he’d been thinking about since the second they’d come on this excursion.

She stared straight at his chest as she pressed the stethoscope against it, her brows lowered in concentration. “Your respiratory rate is slightly elevated, as is your heart rate, but that’s to be expected.”

“Yes, I would expect that to be the case.”

Her expression told him she might have guessed from the tone of his voice exactly what he meant, which had nothing to do with diving and everything to do with her standing so close and touching him, but she apparently decided not to comment on it.

“I’ll get your gear, too, Zeke,” Bob said as he ducked back into the tent.

“Thanks. Appreciate it.”

Bob’s arrival forced Zeke to rip his gaze and his mind off Jordan’s body as she peeled the wet suit off her torso and down to her waist. The thin underlayer of clothing slowly being exposed were molded to her gentle curves, and it struck him all over again.

Jordan Flynn’s body was pretty much perfect.

Zeke turned away to gather more equipment, and his equilibrium, as Jordan finished getting her gear off and her regular clothes back on. He huffed out a sigh of relief, even as he wondered why the hell the sight of her wearing what were in essence long johns seemed incredibly tempting and beyond sexy.

The cold air on his face as he ducked out of the tent helped cool his thoughts, and he packed the tanks in the car, with Bob and Jordan showing up a minute later with more gear. With the last of it stowed, Zeke shut the back doors of the van and the three of them got into the vehicle and headed back to the station.

Jordan talked enthusiastically to Bob about the dive, enough that Zeke didn’t feel a need to chime in. The chatter let him pay attention to the route across the ice, or at least as much as he could, considering his hyperawareness of Jordan sitting only a few feet away. He couldn’t seem to keep from glancing over to look at her, even as he told himself not to.

Her smooth skin was pink from the cold. Her dark hair was in wavy disarray, and he wanted to run his fingers through it and mess it up even more. Thoughts of kissing her breathless as he held her face in his hands invaded his brain all over again, and if she’d taken his vital signs again right that minute, she’d have found his heart rate elevated and his respiratory rate high again just from thinking about her. Which was absurd, he knew, but he couldn’t seem to control the insistent desire for her that had taken over all his common sense.

Somehow, those thoughts had to stop, but he had a bad feeling that the only solution was to stop spending time with her. Something he didn’t want to do. Which was a quandary he wasn’t sure how to fix.

Bob’s satellite phone rang in his pocket and Zeke saw in the rearview mirror that the other man was frowning as he listened. Then he looked up at Jordan. “Okay. I’ll tell her. We just left. We’re about an hour away from Fletcher, right, Zeke?”

“About that. What’s wrong?”

“Is someone injured?” Jordan asked.

“Sick. Not sure what’s wrong, but he’s out at one of the temporary field stations. Apparently felt bad the past two days, but now he’s worse. The person with him says there’s no way he’s capable of traveling behind the Ski-Doo.”

“Did they say what his symptoms are?”

“Confusion. Fatigue. Irregular heart rate.” Bob leaned forward. “I guess the guy with him wanted to bring him to Fletcher’s clinic as soon as he heard you were here and had it open, but the man who felt sick was sure he just had a bug. And now he can hardly walk.”

Jordan grabbed her field bag from the storage closet, hoping she hadn’t missed anything she needed. Good thing she’d finished putting it all together before she’d let herself be distracted and interrupted by a certain sexy marine biologist/climatologist.

The whole time they’d been together in the van, in the tent and even in the water that certain something had simmered between them, hot and alive, whether she wanted it to or not. Her brain kept trying to remind her that he was not the kind of man she wanted a relationship with, and that she wasn’t a fling kind of woman, but it seemed the rest of her wasn’t listening too well.

Professionally? It was good for them to spend time together. He’d needed to get diving, and she’d wanted to start the earplug trial, not to mention that diving here had been the most glorious experience of her life.

Was there any way for her to benefit from their professional relationship, diving and exploring Antarctica, without falling deeper under Ezekiel Edwards’s spell?

She had no idea, which felt a little scary. And now, here they were again, with no choice but to be working together, and physically close, on this field expedition. She couldn’t go alone to see the patient, and it made no sense to ask someone else to join her when Zeke was the only other person currently at the station who had any kind of medical experience. He also had significant field experience, driving the snow machines across areas that might easily have crevasses and other hazards. She had to admit that having him take the lead on this trek, instead of someone she didn’t know, made her feel more comfortable, safer, when it came to venturing into the Antarctic wilderness.

“I brought my field kit, too, just to see if there’s something in here we’d need in addition to your supplies,” Zeke said as he strode into the clinic. “The crew attached a stretcher to the sled behind the Ski-Doo, so we have what we need if we have to bring him back.”

She looked up and paused in shrugging on the backpack she’d stuffed full of supplies, unexpectedly riveted by the way he looked, dressed ruggedly for this trip. How could he seem somehow bigger, tougher, even sexier, than when she’d left him only half an hour ago? Apparently, she was becoming more idiotic by the minute when it came to Ezekiel Edwards.

She heaved in a breath. “Ready when you are.”

“You have thick gloves and hat? A balaclava you can cover your mouth with? It’s going to be a long, cold ride.”

“It’s all shoved in my pockets.” Much as she wanted to see more of this amazing, white world, she couldn’t claim to be excited about traveling out in the cold for over an hour. Though she’d better get used to it, since she was going to be working here for months.

“Let’s get going, then. Your chariot awaits.”

She turned away from the magnetic power of his smile. She led the way out of the clinic, conscious of him following close behind, both surprised and impressed, damn it, that he wasn’t immediately telling her which hallways and stairways they needed to go down to get to the hangar. Her usual good sense of direction was finally kicking in, and in a short time they’d arrived to see the snow machines were all ready to go. Obviously, the crew all were aware that time could be critical when they had no idea how sick the patient might be.

She looked up at Zeke after he’d tied their packs to the machines and checked the stretcher ropes. “Can we ride them? Or do we have to do the skiing-behind thing?”

“Skiing behind, I’m sorry to say. Not as much fun for you, I know.” He flashed that knee-weakening smile. “But since you didn’t get to practice the technique, you can just stand behind it while I hit the throttle for you, instead of doing it solo. It’ll be faster, and with less risk of our all-important doctor wiping out the way Pete did.”

“Are you surprised that I’m not going to complain about that?”

“No, because you’re a smart woman.” He handed her the skis. “Put these on, then take the ropes in your hands. I’ve already got them tied tight. After you get going, I’ll catch up and take the lead.”

“Got it.”

“I’ll be keeping an eye out on the landscape, looking for cracks that could mean a crevasse. But like I said before, sometimes they’re covered with blowing snow, and you’re in one before you know it. If that happens, remember what to do?”

“Let the ropes go.”

“Right. We never like to lose a Ski-Doo, but better than a lost life.” His smile was long gone, his dark eyes serious as they met hers.

“Should we separate out the medical gear onto both the machines, so we still have enough to check on the patient in case that should happen?”

“Obviously, you’re a natural for working on the ice, thinking about things like that.” His grim expression lightened. “Losing a machine and equipment doesn’t happen often, but I have my first-aid bag on my machine, in case we need it. Not as much as you have, but enough.”

Zeke Edwards may be a scientist and medic, not a doctor, but his carefully thought-out plans for this trip, as well as their earlier dive, showed he knew exactly what he was doing no matter which career hat he was wearing. She’d learned a fair amount about medical preparedness from her parents’ work in developing nations, but it was clear he had a lot more knowledge about emergency situations outside a controlled environment like a hospital than she did.

“Give me a thumbs-up when you’ve got the ropes in hand and are ready,” he said as he stood to the side of her machine. “And if you ever feel worried about something, or just get tired and want to stop and take a break, give me a thumbs-down and I’ll get it turned off.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be fine. I mean, it’s pulling me so not much exertion on my part, right?”

“We might hit some snow that’s frozen into waves, which will make for a bumpy ride. If we do, that’s pretty damned tiring, so don’t try to be all tough, as I’ve seen you like to be, Dr. Flynn.” His dark gaze met hers, held, before he gently tapped her nose with his gloved finger, moved it down to stroke her cheek, then tugged her balaclava up to cover everything but her eyes. “Taking a short break isn’t a weakness, it means we’ll be ready to do the work we need to do when we get there.”

She nodded and held her breath as he reached for the throttle, hoping she didn’t fall flat on her face, and gave the thumbs-up. The machine roared to a start, then began to move—slowly enough that she felt totally in control, thank heavens, her skis sliding across the crystalline, brilliant white landscape.

She couldn’t see behind her, but heard his machine start, too, and in a short time he was beside her. His mouth was hidden behind a balaclava, but the smile in his eyes as they met hers was clear, and she couldn’t help but smile, too. What a wild feeling to be pulled along, crossing this spectacular frozen desert that looked like nothing else on Earth.

Zeke’s Ski-Doo moved to the lead, and stayed there for a long time. Jordan had no idea how long, but he’d been right—the machine doing all the work didn’t mean it wasn’t hard, but the beauty of the landscape made it easy to ignore any discomfort. She noticed that he kept looking behind to see if she was there, and knowing he was keeping an eye on her helped her feel confident that they’d get there in one piece.

Eventually, he slowed his speed to match hers and they rode side by side, with him turning to tilt his head at her, a questioning look in his eyes, every ten minutes or so. When she’d respond with a thumbs-up, he’d send her a fist pump, sometimes releasing his handlebars for an enthusiastic double pump that made her chuckle.

By the time they got to the field camp, which she was surprised to see was just two tents set up next to one another, Jordan’s arms were stiff and tired. But the exhilarating ride had been worth every ache, and she was glad they’d made good time to see what was going on with their patient.

Zeke stopped his machine, then ran to stop hers, too. He pulled his balaclava down beneath his chin, revealing a wide smile. He moved in close, his thigh pressing against her leg as he leaned in to grasp her thickly gloved hands with his. “You did absolutely great. Feeling okay?”

“Good. Okay, my arms hurt a little and my legs feel slightly numb, but wow. I loved it! Just incredible.”

“I fell in love with Antarctica the first time I came here, and still love it today. You’re a woman after my own heart.”

Her own heart gave a little jerk, then thumped harder at the expression on his face. Sincere and admiring, and the attraction that kept simmering between them, no matter how she felt about it, hung in the cold air. Something that felt alive and electric and oh-so-warm. Her gaze dropped to his lips, mere inches from hers. Would they feel cold against hers? Or had they stayed warm behind that cloth? Maybe sharing one little kiss with him wouldn’t be a big deal…

“Thank God you’re here!”

They both turned to the voice. A man with a thick beard emerged from one of the tents, a deeply worried expression on his face.

Time to forget about all that zing between her and Zeke that she still wasn’t sure how to deal with, and get to work.

She dismounted the snow machine and held out her hand. “I’m Dr. Jordan Flynn. And this is Dr. Zeke Edwards, who’s a marine biologist but also a field medic.”

“Dave Crabtree. Really appreciate you coming out here.”

“I assume the patient is in one of these tents?”

“Yes. He’s been in a lot of pain, and having trouble moving his arms and legs. Then he got sick to his stomach, but kept saying he was sure it was just a bug that would pass. When he started acting confused earlier today and his legs seemed weaker than ever, I knew he needed to be seen by a doc, but also knew there was no way to get him to Fletcher’s hospital without a stretcher here to pull him on.”

“That’s what we’re here for.” She turned to Zeke. “Let’s get the supply bags, then check him out.”

“I’ll get them. You go on in.”

Yet again, Zeke was proving what a great partner he was in these kinds of situations, fine with being her backup instead of wanting to see the patient at the same time she did to offer his opinions. She followed Dave, ducking into the tent behind him. There was barely enough room for the three of them, and it would be even more crowded once Zeke came in, but that couldn’t be helped.

The patient lay inside a sleeping bag, his eyelids flickering open as she came to kneel next to him.

“I’m Dr. Flynn. What’s your name?”

He didn’t respond for a moment, which was alarming. Finally, he replied, “Jim Reynolds. Thanks…for coming.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“My muscles feel…strange. Hurt. My arms and legs especially. Can hardly move them. Got sick to my stomach a couple times.”

“When did you first start to feel this way?”

“Uh, I think…yesterday morning.”

“Okay. I’m going to take your vital signs.” She looked up at Zeke, who’d just come inside the tent but already had the field bags open and was handing her a stethoscope. “Can you find the oxygen saturation monitor?”

“Right here.” Zeke clipped it to the patient’s fingertip as Jordan listened to his lungs, then had Jim hold a thermometer under his tongue while she felt his pulse.

“Your heart rate is elevated.” She frowned, because it was surprisingly fast. “Can you get me the blood pressure cuff, please?”

Zeke already had it in his hand and held it out to her. “Want me to put it around his arm and get the reading?”

“Yes, thanks. I’m going to check his pulse again.” Maybe she’d gotten it wrong the first time, but no. Still far faster than it should be.

“Blood pressure is low,” Zeke said, his eyes meeting hers, and she nodded.

“Let me see the thermometer now, Jim,” she said, sliding it from beneath his tongue. Significantly febrile, and she held it up to show Zeke, then the results of the oxygen saturation, which was also elevated.

Their eyes met again. The combination of symptoms and test results weren’t close to giving her a clinical diagnosis. She definitely needed to ask more questions to see if his answers would provide more clues.

“Tell me about your last few days here, Jim. You came by snow machine?”

“Yeah. Got here pretty early. Spent the afternoon climbing up to get some ice core samples until it got dark about ten.”

“That was a damn tiring day,” Dave added. “We both felt wiped out. Then the next day we took the machines to a high glacier farther out, and did some more climbing and core collection.”

“So, a lot of exertion in a pretty short period of time. How long have you been in Antarctica?”

“Got here early this week.”

“Probably on the same boat we did,” Zeke murmured.

Sounded likely. She looked up at Zeke and nodded before turning back to the patient. “Tell me about your stomach pain. Are your bowels working? Does your urine seem normal?”

“Yeah.” Jim’s brows lowered as he seemed to think. “Actually, urine is really dark. Figured I’m a little dehydrated. Thought that might be why my stomach was hurting, too, but when I started throwing up, I realized it must be a bug. Been drinking water to get better hydrated and flush out whatever was making me sick.”

“Have you been drinking alcohol, as well? More than normal?”

“Well, yeah. I have.” His lips twisted. “Been hitting the bourbon to help me sleep. My back’s been hurting like hell, and keeping me awake, and it’s not easy to sleep in these tents, anyway.”

“I see. I think I know what’s probably going on, Jim.” She looked up at Zeke again, a feeling of triumph filling her chest as the likely diagnosis now seemed clear. “Rhabdomyolysis. Extreme exertion compared to what he’s used to doing at home. Dehydration. Excess alcohol contributing.”

“Rhabdo?” Zeke raised his brows, then smiled and gave her a nodding salute. “That’s one quick diagnosis, Doctor, but I bet you’re absolutely right. I never would have figured that out.”

“You might have, with more questions and testing.”

“Nope. My field skills are good when it comes to injuries, heart attack and stroke—but rhabdo? That’s out of my wheelhouse. Congratulations.”

The warmth and admiration in his words put a little glow in her chest, which was ridiculous. As though she deserved credit for coming up with a diagnosis most any other doctor would have been able to figure out. But coming from Zeke, it seemed to mean something more than a simple compliment.

“So, now what?” Dave asked.

“We insert an IV line in to push fluids. Give him some analgesics to help with his pain, then get him to the hospital at Fletcher Station to continue with the fluids and keep him under observation for a couple days.”

“Can’t I just stay here with the IV in for a day or so?”

“Rhabdo is no joke, Jim. It’s not something you can just let ride its course. Liver or kidney damage can occur if you’re not carefully monitored.”

“Here’s the IV,” Zeke said. “I’ll get the bag of fluids ready to go.”

Jordan shoved up Jim’s sleeve, cleaned the skin and got the IV placed in his arm. Zeke attached the bag of fluid, placed the analgesic pills on Jim’s tongue and tipped a water bottle into his mouth to help him swallow, then stood.

“Glad you figured out the rhabdo, and we have what we need to push fluids. But we do have a problem,” Zeke said.

She looked up at him, surprised at how serious he looked. “What’s that?”

“No way can we get him back to Fletcher tonight.”

“What? Why not?”

“Sun sets tonight at ten p.m. and it’s now nine. It’s not safe to drive the Ski-Doos when it’s dark, or even in very low light, because you can’t keep an eye out for cracks. We’ll have to stay here for the night, and take him back in the morning.”

Jordan realized her mouth was hanging open as she stared at him, and forced it shut, her heart beating in her throat. “You mean, the four of us cram into these two tents?”

“No Antarctic explorer goes anywhere without a tent and sleeping bags, in case a storm moves in. Or it gets dark. Or some other emergency arises, like this, where we had to come right away even though it was getting late when we left.”

“A tent? As in one?” Her voice came out in a little gasp.

“One tent. A tight squeeze for two people, I admit. But I’m sure you knew life could get tough sometimes working at the south pole.” He stood and his grim expression showed he wasn’t any happier about the situation than she was. “I guess this is one of those times, and we’ll just have to deal with it.”