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“The paramedics are down there.” When Mike pointed the boy nodded. “I’m going to talk to them now.”

Yawning, Stevie pulled away to wiggle onto a chair. He leaned back and closed his eyes as Mike walked toward the emergency entrance. The flashing red lights of ambulances pulling up outside lit up the area in flickering streaks of red.

“Hey, guys,” Mike greeted the paramedics, keeping his voice low. “Did you bring that kid in?” He gestured toward Stevie.

“Yeah, an accident on MLK. The family in a van was hit when a drunk ran a light.”

“What are the kid’s injuries?”

“Didn’t find anything serious. Probably should have that cut on his forehead checked later, but that’s it.”

“Do you have a last name? Any identification? Is there family around?”

“The family members who came in with him are all in the E.R., pretty badly injured. The cops are running the name down and getting in touch with relatives,” the older paramedic said.

“Thanks.”

As he walked back down the corridor, he saw Stevie had fallen asleep. Mike picked him up and carried him to the E.R.

“Orderly,” Dr. Yamaguchi, the on-call orthopedic surgeon, said as Mike entered the department. “Now.”

Mike nodded at Stevie. “Dr. Ram'irez wants me to take care of this kid. His mother’s in the E.R. and we can’t find a family member.”

Dr. Yamaguchi glanced at the kid. “Put him in the emergency bed on the end and check on him when you can, but you have to transport patients.”

“Yes, sir.”

For the next few hours, Mike checked on Stevie whenever he wasn’t pushing gurneys or following the instructions from the medical staff.

Once when Mike entered the cubicle where Stevie had been sleeping, Dr. Ram'irez was trying to examine him. Stevie had pulled away from her and cowered as far away from the doctor as possible.

“Hey, buddy, it’s okay. Remember those great doctors I told you about?” Mike asked. Stevie nodded. “This is one of them.”

“Will you stay?” the kid whispered.

“As long as I can.” Mike took Stevie’s hand.

“Guess you’re here for a while,” Dr. Ram'irez said.

“Guess so.” The prospect would have alarmed Mike a few hours ago but not now. For the first time since he started work, he felt as if he belonged here, as if he had an important role to play and this was part of it.

“Orderly,” came a shout from another exam room. “Transport to X-ray.”

Then again, maybe not.

“Good job, Fuller.” Dr. Ram'irez’s voice echoed through the now-empty hall in front of the curtained cubicles of the E.R.

Her voice wasn’t exactly friendly, but she didn’t sound as if she were ready to chew him out.

“I appreciate the way you pitched in tonight, picking up wherever you were needed.” She pulled off her latex gloves, tossed them in the hazardous-waste bin and said, “Thanks for taking care of the boy until his uncle showed up.”

Then she smiled at him. Not a big smile. Just a slight turning up of her lips. Still, it was a great look compared to her usual serious expression. Now her eyes sparkled a bit and a dimple appeared on her cheek. For an instant, she assumed the appearance of a human being, a real person, not a doctor.

Probably noticing his confused look, she allowed her usual professional expression to slide across her features again. Then she said in a voice a bit softer than her usual this-is-what-you-have-to-do tone, “Fuller, let me buy you a cup of coffee. There’s something I want to discuss with you. Purely professional. Nothing personal.”

He wondered what purely professional meant and why she had given him that smile. Probably didn’t mean a thing to her but it was the first almost-full smile he’d ever seen from her. It was a dazzler.

If he wanted to keep things professional, he shouldn’t join Dr. Ram'irez for coffee. Meeting Dr. Ram'irez outside the E.R. seemed odd to him, but he deserved a little bit of the good stuff—and Dr. Ram'irez was really good stuff.

“Yes, ma’am, um, Doctor…Ram'irez.” He hadn’t babbled like that since he’d asked Maribel Su'arez out when he was a shrimp in the tenth grade. He cleared his throat and said, “I have to restock a room. Meet you in the cafeteria.”

When she left, he checked cabinets in Exam 1, made sure equipment had been replaced in the correct cabinets, and replaced gauze, tape and other supplies that were low. As he worked, he replayed the incident with Dr. Ram'irez and felt like an idiot. Since Cynthia broke up with him, he’d been questioning everything in his life, but there was nothing unusual here. The idea she might put a move on him in the middle of a hospital cafeteria was crazy…but very appealing.

He almost slapped himself for that last thought.

Finished, he stripped off his gloves, washed his hands and splashed water on his face. Then he ran damp fingers through his hair as he attempted to make out his reflection in the paper towel holder.

“Hot date, Fuller?” the tall, balding RN asked him as he came through the curtains. What was his name? Oh, yeah, Sam Mitchelson. “Couldn’t help but hear the invitation from back there.”

“Just a cup of coffee. Like she said, ‘Nothing personal.’” Mike tossed the towel away and moved toward the door.

“That’s more than any of us, including doctors, have been asked to share. You must possess something special to rate that.”

Mike grinned. “Only good looks, high intelligence and great charm.”

“Don’t forget she’s a doctor, Fuller,” he said to Mike’s back. “If you want to keep your job, never disagree with a doctor.”

Mike left the E.R. and headed toward the cafeteria, passing a row of wheelchairs outside X-ray and dodging a crowd getting off the elevator as he walked down the main corridor.

Macho posturing aside, Mike reminded himself again she’d asked him for coffee, only coffee, not a date. As he’d told himself a million times, he had no interest in a relationship and no time, but his response showed he found Dr. Ram'irez very attractive. His reaction to her had him thinking that Cynthia hadn’t completely killed his interest in women.

Just past the hallway to ICU, he turned to open the door to the cafeteria. The usual mix of medical personnel and family members of patients sat at the square tables. Straight ahead by the windows was Dr. Ram'irez with another doctor.