Paging Dr. Breakup (Yukon Valley, Alaska Hospital #2)

Chapter One

D eirdre Steen hurried down the hall, her caffeinated lifeline clutched in a lidded tumbler this chilly Monday morning. She straightened the casual black blazer layered over her sky-blue blouse. As the chief nursing officer for Yukon Valley Hospital, Deirdre didn’t need to hurry.

That said, avoidance was a powerful motivator. She’d seen the on-call schedule. Therefore, she needed to hurry.

Deirdre toyed with the hem of the blazer.

As long as she didn’t go near the ED, everything would be fine.

“Morning, Billy,” she called out to the middle-aged front desk staff member who somehow managed to hear every bit of gossip that came through the doors of Yukon Valley Hospital. The Alaska interior might have reduced connectivity compared with urban areas, but the internal communication both in the town and within the hospital flowed at light speed.

“Good morning, Deirdre,” he replied with a quick smile. “You’re really moving this morning. Off to meet someone?”

Precisely what she wasn’t doing. “Just getting my steps in early.”

The late March sun streamed through the bank of tall windows near the reception area of the hospital. The days might be longer, but the sun wasn’t yet strong enough to melt the piles of snow that had been pushed to the back of the hospital parking lot. With the gravel and asphalt surface visible in several spots, that meant mud season was almost here. Deirdre groaned to herself, already imagining the annual mess the hospital’s environmental services staff would once again tackle.

Like waking up from a cold winter’s sleep, the entire town seemed on the verge of breakup season, the time when the Yukon River was released from its icy prison and began flowing once again. Hell, Yukon Valley had an entire festival dedicated to the river turning from solid to liquid.

A nasty shudder ran through her. After her parents’ bush plane crash onto unstable ice four years ago, Deirdre refused to venture onto the frozen river, even in the safest conditions. Ice fishing on twelve inches of rock-solid ice in the dead of winter a few feet from shore? Nope.

So, the idea of celebrating the Yukon River becoming a relentless force of deadly, crushing ice floes was a definite no thank you .

Passing the doctors’ lounge door, she blinked when a sunbeam blinded her, a split second before she crashed into a solid wall of human being.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed.

Her mouth dropped open in soundless horror as a fresh coffee stain spread over a gray Patagonia vest. Droplets absorbed into seafoam green scrub sleeves. She glanced at the speckled once-white lanyard and followed it down to the employee photo. Oh, no. Of all the people.

Calvin Garrett.

Damn it.

“Whoa there.” Calvin took her upper arm in a steadying grip. Then they both froze. “Deirdre? Is it really you?”

For a solid five seconds, Deirdre’s world tilted as she stared at steel-gray eyes she never expected to see again. Calvin. Her childhood friend. Her husband’s childhood friend. The only person in Yukon Valley who she wanted to avoid, standing right in front of her. Holding her upright.

The quick furrow of his brows and a mischievous smirk took her right back to high school where she, her future husband Elijah, and Calvin had all been thicker than thieves. Those were good times. The time before Calvin left. The time before she married Elijah.

The time long before Elijah had gotten sick.

Calvin’s face had changed over the years, giving him a weathered, harder, but still handsome appearance. Nowadays, his dark, close-cut hair had sparkles of gray at the temples. His secure hold and his lean frame reminded her that some things didn’t change.

Acutely aware of Billy watching with rapt attention from the front desk, his hand mere inches away from the reception desk phone, ready to dial a friend to share this tasty interaction with the entire staff, Deirdre gave a polite laugh. “Hey, it’s great to see you, Calvin.” Crap, that came out way too corporate.

She craned her neck. His six-foot-two height hadn’t changed over the years.

“I heard you’d be helping us this spring while you were in town helping your folks. Glad to hear that your dad is doing better.” She stepped back, and his hands dropped to his sides. “Again, oof . Sorry about your… outfit.”

With a shrug, he mock-whispered, “First of all, did you know the scrubs are free in this place?” Then he grinned, transforming from a man in his late thirties to the cheeky and confident high school senior he used to be. “Second of all, you don’t have to be an administrator for my benefit, Deirdre. It sounds like you’re going to assign an AIDET patient communication module for me to complete on the spot.” He huffed. “What about hi, Cal, how about a hug? ”

Denying the urge to scan for an audience, she kept her gaze on Cal. “Ahem. I have it on good record that you already completed your training modules during onboarding. And I’d give you a hug, but you appear to have coffee all over you.” She sniffed and gestured with the empty tumbler at her outfit. “Um, I have my clean work clothes on.”

“That’s an excuse.” Not exactly a question, but not a statement.

Heat climbed her neck and cheeks. The years-long urge to sink into his embrace caught her completely off guard.

Hey, this might be a rural facility in the middle of nowhere, but Yukon Valley Hospital is still a place of business. As an administrator, she needed to maintain decorum and lead by example.

The smile on Calvin’s face fell. Her palms sweated. Decorum be damned. Deirdre was also very human. Calvin was an old friend. Covering the delay, she said, “You threw me for a minute. Here you go.” She opened her arms wide, pushing past a zip of fear, and something else undefinable that made her arms shake.

“Well, that’s better,” he said, drawing her in for a warm, firm hug. They embraced for a few seconds longer than colleagues should.

Giving a friendly pat on his back, more to make herself let go, she said, “Great seeing you, Calvin.”

“You already said that.” He took a step back, arms falling to his sides once more. His quick, wry smile disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful, more intense expression.

Deirdre stammered beneath the evaluation, “So, how are you getting settled in?”

His gaze narrowed as he shifted to professionalism. Good. He gave a quick nod. “This is my first shift since coming back to town. Figure it’s like riding a bicycle, except in emergency medicine, sometimes the bicycle is on fire and sometimes you’re riding four bicycles at once. Which are all on fire.”

“And sometime all of the bicycles have flat tires and brakes not working!” Deirdre laughed out loud, surprising herself with how light those few seconds felt. “ Phew , you described every single day of my job. We never know what life throws at us, am I right?”

Concern creased the weathered lines of his face. She could imagine him using this exact compassionate expression when breaking bad news or discussing complex medical decisions.

He tugged at the fleece vest pocket. “You know I’m really sorry about everything that happened with Elijah. And then with your folks. All of that had to have been a lot to handle.”

It was a lot to handle without her longtime friend Calvin present. A lump ached in her throat. Her assessment was unfair. Her brother, Maverick, had supported her. They had supported each other. Besides, Calvin had visited Elijah in hospice before he had passed, and he had sent flowers after her parents’ death.

She blinked several times and locked her jaw until her teeth ached. Whatever it took to maintain control in a public and professional space, Deirdre would do it. “You’re right. I really miss them.”

“Me too. I sometimes imagine paddling with Elijah, running rapids and coming up with plans to fix everything wrong in the world.” His Adams apple bobbed a few times and then he cleared his throat. “So, lots of memories.” He smiled. “Would you be opposed to catching up with an old friend over dinner sometime?”

The tight knot in her throat eased. Warmth flowed through Deirdre’s limbs, chased by a flicker of fear. Dinner with Calvin. Their history. Her buried feelings.

Even though she stood on solid ground, his invitation triggered a sensation like stepping onto a frozen river with zero confidence that the crackling ice would hold her weight.

Stop it. They were old friends. Besides, maybe it would be good for her to talk about Elijah. Share memories and laugh or cry at stories. Expressing emotions was a tall order. If avoiding feelings had become a habit, then maintaining emotional distance from everyone and everything was her lifestyle. But this was Calvin.

Deirdre felt her head bobbing. “Sure, I wouldn’t mind grabbing a bite to eat. We can reminisce about old times. I know you’re busy with Bruce and Aggie these days, so if you want, email or text me some times that work for you.”

He pinned her with another sharp glance, then one corner of his mouth rose. “Sounds like you’re putting me off. Have your people call my people, and they’ll send a meeting invite? Should I coordinate with your administrative assistant?”

Busted. Holding up a hand, she stammered, “It’s not like that.” Actually, it was. “I just know that my busy schedule and your busy schedule may not easily line up. But yes, we will find time.” Or find excuses not to have time.

Busy. Understatement of the year. Deirdre did her part to keep the hospital running by cobbling staff together. She pitched in on shifts as a last resort, begged staff for help, and kept advertising the unfilled positions. In addition, she helped her brother Mav run their family’s lodge business. Within the past month or so, the recent discovery of potential minerals on their property meant that she also wanted to figure out how to monetize that find. Or rather, prevent others from monetizing it first.

The most pressing issue? Deirdre needed to survive the Breakup Festival next month.

Calvin glanced at her face before looking toward Billy, who was doing his level best to appear busy doing nothing, despite leaning toward them with his head cocked.

Then Calvin lightly brushed his fingertips over her forearm. “It’s great to see you, and it will be great to catch up.” He tugged at his vest and shrugged. “Sounds like I should go change before the first patient thinks I’m a sloppy mess.”

“Yikes. Well, at least you smell like coffee. There are many other stains you can get in the hospital that would be so much worse.”

His warm, baritone laugh that Deirdre hadn’t heard in so many years dredged up a deep sense of conflict.

Later.

Now wasn’t the time to be dealing with feelings. Not at work. She had a unit manager meeting to lead in ten minutes and apparently a dinner to schedule with Calvin.