Rival Hearts (Phoenix Ridge Medical #3)

1. Riley

1

RILEY

D r. Riley Parker rushed over. “What the hell happened?”

“I–I don’t know,” said Leah. “I left for a few seconds and when I came back, blood was gushing out of his arms.”

Leah was young and had only been at Phoenix Ridge Hospital for a few months. Riley knew the newcomer wasn’t used to how bold she was, but Riley wasn’t going to dial it down when a patient was on the line.

Riley pursed her lips and grabbed the patient’s chart from next to his bed. “You seriously left a patient on suicide watch alone?”

Leah trembled. “He was asleep. I didn’t think?—”

“You’re damn right you didn’t think. But it’s a good thing you paged me,” Riley said, looking at the chart again. “Call Hudson and tell her that this psych patient just became a trauma patient.”

“Yes, doctor.” Leah scurried out of Riley’s way to do as she said.

Riley lifted the rails on the hospital bed, her muscular and tattooed arms rippling as she prepared to move her new patient. She wheeled him to the elevators to take him to the Emergency Room on the first floor.

When she got to the Emergency Room, she took the patient to one of the trauma bays and was preparing to inspect the injury when all of a sudden, there was shouting and the sound of multiple boots hitting the floor.

Riley could hear the distant wail of an ambulance. As soon as she opened the curtain of the trauma bay, she witnessed pure and unadulterated chaos.

A small group of police officers and firefighters were rushing through the Emergency Room, holding a gurney while nurses trailed beside them. Dr. Carroll, one of the Emergency doctors, caught Riley’s eye.

“Doctor Parker!” Dr. Carroll shouted. “We need you out here. It’s a bad case.”

“I’m with a patient,” Riley shouted back; she couldn’t ethically leave her current patient even if another one needed her just as badly.

“Trade me.” Dr. Carroll hurried over.“What’s the case?”

“Psych patient attempted suicide,” Riley said, and Dr. Carroll looked into the bay, at the man with his arms covered in gauze.

“I got it,” Dr. Carroll said. “This is a waste of your talents, and as much as I want to help out there, I don’t think the patient will live if you’re not there.”

“Okay.” Riley flashed Dr. Carroll a small smile before she rushed past the curtains to join the commotion. She followed the gurney to the trauma bay and met them behind the curtains.

“What’s going on?” Riley asked as soon as she entered.

She hadn’t been able to get a good look at the patient while nurses were wheeling her the gurney in—the patient had been surrounded by too many people and moving too fast. However, once Riley entered the patient’s room, she found herself at the foot of the gurney, completely able to see what was wrong. And what she saw horrified her.

The patient was young, likely between ten and twelve years old, and she had something sharp and metal lodged into her chest. Riley noticed that she was conscious. She appeared alert and in pain. Tears streaked down her face.

“What is that?” Riley pointed at the pink metal bar protruding from the girl’s chest.

One of the firefighter paramedics in uniform stepped forward, a tall woman with short dark hair. Riley couldn’t miss the effortless elegance in the way she moved, her body lithe in her navy blue jumpsuit. Her dark brown eyes were fierce as they met Riley’s gaze. “She was in a bike accident. The handlebar was missing the protective rubber and somehow managed to impale her. We cut off the rest of the bike and rushed here. She has a few other injuries, but that is the most prevalent.”

Riley nodded. “Where are her parents?”

“Her foster parents had to stay behind to watch their other kids, but her foster dad said he’d be here soon,” the paramedic said.

Riley’s face hardened in determination as she looked at the girl. A foster kid, huh? Riley knew what that was like. And as much as it sucked to hear that neither of the girl’s foster parents was there to support her, Riley would make sure to support her and get her out of this life-threatening injury thriving.

Riley looked at one of the ER nurses. “Prep an OR,” she said, “and get ready for surgery.”

“Surgery?” the paramedic asked “Don’t we need to stabilize her first?”

“Not with that injury,” Riley said. “The longer we wait, the worse her chances get.”

“But—”

“But what?” Riley was used to being questioned, but who did this paramedic think she was, challenging her? The woman’s dark brown eyes flashed dangerously at Riley and Riley didn’t back down.

“Are you suggesting we pull the handlebar out of her right here?”

“Of course not,” the paramedic said, her voice getting slightly louder and Riley could see the patient flinch slightly as she watched their interaction. “But going straight into an operating room is risky. You should stabilize her and then see what you’re working with before you jump to surgery.”

Riley rolled her eyes and scoffed, “And who the hell are you to tell me what to do? I didn’t know you were a surgeon?”

Riley couldn’t take her eyes off the angry curve of the paramedic’s top lip.

She knew it was a low blow, and she’d always hated people pulling rank against her when she was younger, but she also knew that she was right, and the paramedic was just going to prevent the girl from getting the help that she needed. She needed that woman out of her way so that she could do her job.

Riley watched as the paramedic pursed her lips, and her dark eyes burned with annoyance and hatred—something not unfamiliar to Riley and something that had ceased to bother her over the years.

“Fine,” the paramedic snapped, and walked away.

Riley’s eyes followed the beautiful curve of her ass in her navy blue paramedic jumpsuit. Something about this woman had gotten right under Riley’s skin.

Many of the others who had come to escort the little girl left as well, in order to give Riley the space that she needed to treat the girl and prep her for surgery.

“Have you ever had surgery before?” Riley asked, noticing her looking at her.

The girl shook her head but didn’t say anything.

“Are you scared?” Riley asked even though she knew the logical answer. Anyone would be scared for their first surgery. The girl was stable and conscious with the metal in her chest, but as soon as they moved the metal, anything could happen. Time would tell how much damage had been done. Riley hoped they might be lucky. It was positive the girls vitals seemed to be doing well.

The girl nodded and again, didn’t say anything.

Riley wanted to build rapport, to get to know her at least a little bit before she had to operate, and since they were waiting on an operating room, now was the perfect time.

“What’s your name?” Riley asked.

“Amanda,” the girl said.

“Well, Amanda,” Riley started, “I can promise that I am going to do my absolute best to make sure that everything goes well, and you’ll be able to get back on another bike soon.”

Amanda shook her head. “I think I’m done with riding bikes for the rest of my whole entire life,” she said.

Riley laughed. “That is absolutely fair. I can’t blame you. Maybe you can stick to roller skating.”

“Maybe,” Amanda said, “but I don’t know how.”

“You can learn,” Riley said. “You seem like a smart kid.”

Amanda frowned and shook her head, looking dejected. Riley knew that look. It was the look of someone who’d been told so many negative things about herself that she started to believe them. It broke Riley’s heart, but she knew Amanda still had a chance. After all, Riley had made one for herself.

“How long have you been in the foster system?” Riley asked.

“I don’t know,” Amanda said.

“That long?” Riley asked.

“I guess so,” Amanda said. “My birth mom stopped asking for visitation last year.”

Riley frowned. She never knew her parents, but she could empathize with being abandoned by them. Riley knew a lot of abandonment growing up.

“You know, sometimes I think it’s a good thing that I never knew my parents,” Riley said. “I never had to have that happen.”

“You didn’t know your parents?” Amanda asked.

“Nope,” Riley said. “I was a foster kid, too.”

“Really?” Amanda looked at Riley in awe. Riley smiled. If she’d had a doctor as a kid who knew what she had been through, she would have been amazed, too.

“Yeah,” Riley said, “and personally, no matter what other people say, I think foster kids are like superheroes.”

“What do you mean?” Amanda asked.

Riley struggled with what to say. She wanted to encourage this kid even though she’d probably never see her again, and she wanted her to feel hopeful before she went into surgery. Maybe was nonsense, but Riley truly believed that how a patient felt before undergoing an operation affected their outcome.

“Most people never have to go through what we go through. We put up with a lot and survive it. Most people never have to do that,” Riley said. “Being able to survive it gives us a lot of skills and strength that most people don’t have.” Riley thought back to her tumultuous past and knew that she definitely wouldn’t have been able to do what she did without it.

Amanda looked at Riley with a smile. “I like that.”

Riley smiled back, tempted to ruffle her hair or pat her head, but she didn’t want to cause Amanda any pain. “I hope you’ll remember that you’re a superhero, and like a superhero you’re going to make it through this.”

Amanda nodded and looked up at the ceiling with a new look of determination. Riley smiled to herself, feeling more confident about this surgery than ever. She didn’t know who that paramedic was, but she was used to people questioning her even when she turned out to be right.

Soon after, the nurse that Riley sent to prep the OR came back. A couple of other nurses entered behind her.

“The OR is ready,” the nurse said.

“Good,” Riley said. “Is Doctor Everett available right now?”

“I’m over here,” Dr. Lucinda Everett said with her British accent, walking into the trauma bay. Lucinda was a very talented trauma surgeon and Riley was happy to have her skills on hand.

“You want me to scrub in?”

“Yes please,” Riley said, “and if someone could page cardio, that would be great. I want to get this surgery done as quickly as possible, but we need a decent number of hands.”

“You got it,” one of the nurses said before she walked off.

“Great,” Riley said. “I’m going to wheel her out of here.”

* * *

When the surgery was over, Riley breathed a sigh of relief. Despite a few complications, the surgery was a success and Amanda was wheeled away to a hospital room to recover. Riley had gotten worried when they had to remove the handlebar from Amanda’s chest and she started to crash on the table, but everyone in the room was able to come together and piece the girl back together. Riley couldn’t be prouder of her team.

After she cleaned up, Riley walked into the waiting room, where she saw some police and firefighters, as well as the angry, fiercely attractive paramedic from earlier. Riley felt her gaze drift over the paramedic. She noticed the way her hair was now slicked back more than it had been earlier. She noticed the way her face was strikingly beautiful and the way her big dark almond shaped eyes were full of rage still. She looked like some kind of athletic model.

A very angry athletic model.

Talking to one of the firefighters was a middle-aged man in plain clothes.

“Amanda,” Riley called, and almost immediately, the middle-aged man turned.

Riley walked toward him and held out a hand for him to shake.

“You must be Amanda’s foster father,” Riley said.

“I am,” the man said. “The name’s James.”

“Well, James,” Riley said, “you’ll be happy to know that Amanda is expected to make a full recovery. I can have a nurse take you to her room right now.”

“Yes please,” James said.

Riley gestured to one of the nurses who’d accompanied her, and the two left to find Amanda.

“Thank you, doctor,” one of the police officers said. “We just wanted to make sure that little girl made it through, but now we’ll be leaving.” The other firefighter also left, giving Riley an appreciative nod before walking out.

Then, all that was left in the room was Riley and the angry athletic beautiful paramedic. Riley knew that she should have kept her mouth shut, but she couldn’t help herself. She was tired of being questioned and treated like she wasn’t good enough.

“I told you she would make it,” Riley said.

The paramedic looked at her with a sharp expression on her face, almost as if to say, A re you serious right now?

“It’s a good thing, or you’d be looking like an idiot and a murderer with your negligence,” the paramedic fired back.

Riley looked at her in shock. What on Earth was her problem? she thought. She succeeded in the surgery—surely that was all that mattered. But when she looked into the paramedic’s dark eyes, they were burning with anger.

Riley had had enough. Not only was she being accused of being negligent, but she had also just gotten out of a long surgery. “What the hell is your problem?” Riley asked.

“I don’t like someone skipping steps and putting a little girl’s life at risk just for some glory,” the paramedic said.

Ouch. That one actually hurt. She had been accused of being a fame-chaser when it came to her successes in the medical field, but she hated when people accused her of not caring about her patients.

“Glory?” Riley said with a scoff. “I wanted to save her life, not put her at risk of shock or sepsis. You need to stop acting like you can do my job better than me when I’m the reason that girl is alive and going to make a full recovery.”

The paramedic dropped her jaw before closing it again. “You’re the reason?” the paramedic asked in shock. “You surgeons always think you are such a big deal. Do you seriously think that what my team did to save that girl’s life and bring her to you means nothing?”

Riley furrowed her eyebrows. “What the hell?” she asked. “I never said that.”

The paramedic just shook her head, frustrating Riley even further. Strands of her slicked back hair fell across her lovely face.

“You know what?” the paramedic said. “You can go to hell.” She walked away and Riley couldn’t stop her eyes once again following the beautiful curve of her ass and long lines of her legs in that navy blue jumpsuit.