"You thinking about how much you miss me?” she asked, and he offered her a shrug. “You've got a weird look on your face."
"Sort of." He did miss her, it was true. He'd only been on the island for about six months now, and that time away from his sister--from his only family--had been hard. Being away from New York had been tougher than he'd expected, too. It was just so...different here.
So much slower.
People never seemed like they were in a rush to get anywhere. Nobody yelled when they were cut off on the highway or when someone cut in front of them in line. In fact, it was starting to feel like serenity was pretty much the only state of being here. Which, he supposed, was good. After all, that's why he'd taken this job in the first place.
It was the chance he'd been waiting for. Away from the competitive surgical fellowships and all the hustle and bustle of being a doctor in the city. Away from the demands of east coast life. Away from the needless seriousness of it all.
"I worry about you." Candace's voice broke through his thoughts and he frowned.
"Tell me something I don't know."
"Trey, be serious. I know it was a tough break-up with Mallory, but--"
"I'm not talking about that again. She made her choice. I made mine. It's over."
"But we've never really--"
"Candace, please." The beeper on the table beside him buzzed to life and he glanced over at it curiously before looking at the screen.
'What's that?" she asked.
"I'm on call. Gotta go."
"Okay, but just promise you'll call me later this week," she said as another loud horn blared behind her.
"You got it. Love you."
"Love you back."
He clicked out of the window and tossed on his jacket before hustling out of his little two-bedroom condo. It was a nice place, close to the resort and right on the waterfront. The stuff dreams were made of. And the fact that the resort paid for him to stay there only made it that much better.
Clearing his throat, he waded through the sand to get to the employee gate, then entered his code and headed straight for the first aid area. A nurse was already sitting at the counter, a steaming cup of coffee already waiting for him in front of her.
"Nancy," he greeted her, and she nodded back before scooting his mug toward him. He took it gratefully, then asked, "What's the story?"
"Would you believe it's another of those stupid coal walks?"
"Another one?" Trey sighed. Back when he'd been in New York, he'd seen a lot of crazy accidents--and a lot of crazy things that weren't accidents at all--but at least they'd all had the benefit of being unique. Here on the island, one tourist after another seemed to think it was a good idea to sprint across fire. Like common sense didn’t exist if you were on vacation.
"How bad is it?" He asked and Nancy shook her head. "Not terrible. First degree. Should be fine."
"So...why am I here?"
"Seems the lady had a panic attack while she was on the coals. Thought it'd be good to get a doctor involved."
"Good thinking. Thanks."
Nancy nodded. "That's what I do."
Try picked up his coffee, glanced at the tablet she handed off to him, and let out a long, slow breath.
Another victim of a corporate retreat. He should have known. The resort was constantly booked by one business or another, trying to reward their investment bankers or hedge fund managers for another year of success. Sometimes there were even doctors like himself, on one pharmaceutical conference or another.
He wondered what this one was, then shook his head. It didn't matter.
He already knew they were all the same.
"Okay, Felicia Webb," he read. "Here goes nothing."
Two
Trey walked through the door to the patient's room without glancing up from his tablet.
"Okay, Miss. Webb, let's see here." He scrolled down, checking each of the notes the nurse had made, and said, "So, no history of smoking, healthy family background, no previous history of stress-related illness."
"Right." A refined female voice responded, though it was younger than he'd expected. He glanced at the chart again. 28? What kind of 28-year-old was running across coals at a corporate retreat?
He looked up at her at last, and paused, trying his best to look unconcerned with how incredibly gorgeous the woman in front of him was. It was true that the tightness of her dark red bun made her high cheek bones look almost severe, but that was eased by the gentleness in her hazel eyes.
And her body...
He scanned her quickly, pausing on the bright red soles of her feet and doing his damndest not to stare at her slender calves or the voluptuous curve of her bust in her dark purple dress. Her very short, dark purple dress.
"Well, it seems that your burns are minor and should be just fine within a couple days, though they may smart for a little while."
"Thanks..." She looked him up and down, apparently sizing him up much the same way as he'd done to her, then added, "No offense or anything, but I'm not sure why I need a doctor to tell me that, though. Couldn't the nurse just--"