Buch lesen: «Resisting Her Army Doc Rival»

CHAPTER ONE

CAPTAIN MADISON HUNTER stepped out of the New Zealand Air Force freight plane and onto the tarmac, relieved to be on terra firma at last, flying being her least favourite of the things she had to do. Then the searing heat of the Sinai Peninsula slammed into her, ramping up the discomfort level and making her gasp.

‘Who needs this?’

‘Beats Waiouru in winter any day,’ quipped the communications major striding alongside her. His energy was embarrassing after all those hours crammed between cargo crates, doing nothing more intelligent than playing endless rounds of poker.

‘Guess that’s because you’ve been here before. Right now I’d be happy marching through snow and sleet,’ Madison retorted, thinking longingly of the isolated army base where she’d done her basic training, hell hole of the North Island that it was.

‘At least your boots will be dry.’

‘True.’ Sodden boots were the bane of army exercises back home. They never dried out before the next foray. Looking at the dusty ground in front of her, she finally smiled. ‘This couldn’t be more different. Exciting even.’ If she could ignore the heat.

Heaving the thirty-kilogram pack higher on her back, Madison rolled her shoulders to ease the tightness. Didn’t work. Sweat streamed over her shoulder blades, down her face, between her breasts. Must have been out of my mind when I signed up. ‘Did I miss the clause in my contract saying beware of sun, sand, dirt, and sweat enough to drown a small creature?’

‘Page three,’ quipped Major Crooks.

‘I take it the high temperature is relentless.’ Dry heat shimmered against the white block buildings, while the air was almost cracking. Off-duty soldiers lounged in what little shade they could find.

‘I never got used to it on my last tour.’ He pointed across the dusty parade ground. ‘See that building to the right? It’s the medical unit.’

Madison scoped the basic structure with a faded red cross painted above the door. Less than what she’d worked in on base at home, more than she’d been led to believe she’d find here. Had to be a positive. ‘I might drop in after a shower.’ If she didn’t fall asleep standing under the water. Her body ached with fatigue. There hadn’t been a lot of sleeping going on during the flight. She probably stank like a piece of roadkill about now.

A man stepped through the medical unit’s entrance, and paused. Tall and broad shouldered, his body tapered down to the narrow hips his hands settled on. Looking in their direction, his gaze finally settled on her.

Sam Lowe? As in the guy every girl from high school had fallen in love with Sam Lowe?

Her knees sagged, and not from the load on her back.

Seriously? Someone she knew from home when home had been Christchurch? Now, there was a surprise that lightened her mood a notch. Not that they’d been friends in any way but she’d grab at any familiar face in an alien environment; until she’d settled in, any rate. Unless she’d got it wrong, and that wasn’t Sam.

‘Are you all right?’ Major Crooks asked.

‘Fine. Where’re our barracks, do you know?’

He pointed. ‘Over to the right, behind the mess block are the officers’ quarters.’

‘Thanks, I’ll catch up with you later.’ Right now Madison wanted to check out the man she thought she recognised, but was probably so far off the mark she’d sound stupid uttering his name.

She squinted through the heat. No doubting the vision that reminded her of standing on the side of the rugby field, barracking for their high school team as he led them to yet another win. It was definitely Sam Lowe striding towards her, those long legs eating up the ground like nothing bothered him. It probably didn’t. Those shoulders and the cocky tip of his head backed up what her eyes were seeing, but there was little else she knew about him, she realised.

‘Captain Hunter, Madison.’ The man had the nerve to snap to attention in front of her. And grin. He still does that. Smiled and grinned his way into and out of every situation he faced. An expert, no less, she now recalled. Still arrogant? Well, she wasn’t a spoilt brat any more—if she’d ever been—so possibly he’d changed, too.

‘Sam,’ she replied, at a loss for words. She didn’t trust unexpected surprises. They tended to backfire on her.

He said, ‘Welcome to the Sinai.’

Her voice returned, spilling out more than was necessary. ‘I can’t believe this. We’re both in the army, posted to the same region, on the same base?’ What were the odds? They even had rank in common. Her teeth ground back and forth. Slim to zilch. Showed how wrong she got things these days, despite the harsh lessons she’d endured already. A medical insignia told her more. ‘You’re a doctor, too.’

He nodded. ‘We’ve been expecting you.’

‘As in me personally?’ Of course her name would’ve been on the staff list that’d have come through days ago. But, ‘I doubt you realised who I was,’ she retorted, suddenly on edge in front of that dazzling smile, and needing to shield herself from its dangerous intensity. So? Relax. She knew how to cope with men, had learned the hard way to always be careful and cautious. Just ignore them. Easy-peasy.

‘As in a new medic, fresh from home and not worn down by the day-to-day grind of living in camp.’ He widened his grin. ‘And, yes, as in Madison Hunter, high school prefect and science genius.’

Oh, yeah, it would be too easy to fall into that grin, and forget the pain of being betrayed after trusting a man with her heart once already. Reining in the bewilderment overtaking her faster than a speeding bullet, she stood to attention. ‘So we’ll be working together?’

‘I’ll be out of your hair next week.’

He wasn’t getting anywhere near her hair. But was he admiring it? Yeah, he was. Something like shock diluted that brazen glare he’d been delivering.

Fair cop. She did look very different these days. Her waist-length hair had fallen prey to the hairdresser’s scissors the day after she’d joined the army. Crawling under barbed wire through mud and snow while dressed in full army kit had made the thick locks she’d considered her best feature very unattractive and in need of constant attention. What had Sam been talking about? Apart from hair? ‘So you’re one of the medics I’m replacing.’

‘Afraid so.’ His shoulder moved, oh so nonchalantly.

That grin was now crooked. Instead of loosening the hold it held over her, she was drawn in deeper. It was beguiling and threatening in an I-can’t-afford-to-check-this-out kind of way. Desperate for a distraction—no, Sam already had that role—Madison glanced around the compound. She checked out the perimeter fence and saw women, men and children sitting in a huddle, resignation on their faces.

‘Why are there civilians waiting outside the camp?’

‘They’re hoping to see a doctor or nurse.’

Her heart tightened for the sad-looking bunch of people. They appeared helpless, lost even. It took all her willpower not to drop her pack and race across to ask what she could do for them. That was one of the reasons she’d joined the army after all. ‘I want to help them.’

‘It’s not that easy, Madison.’

‘Why not?’ She flung the words at him. ‘It’s why I became a doctor. Isn’t it the same for you?’

He took her question on the chin. ‘I understand, but out here you’re a soldier first, doctor second.’

‘So you’re saying we ignore those people?’ Her hand flapped through the air in the direction of the perimeter. ‘Seriously?’

‘No, I’m not.’ Sam’s mouth tightened as his gaze stopped on the people she’d noted. ‘We do see some of the locals under a strict system involving body searches and metal detectors before bringing them in.’

‘We don’t hold regular clinics?’ She’d been told she would be attending to outsiders, and had been keen to get amongst them.

‘More than enough,’ he grunted, ‘but so many people require medical attention it’d be a never-ending stream if we allowed it.’ Sam locked his now fierce eyes on her. ‘We do our share. Remember why you’re here, Captain.’

‘But there are children out there.’ She couldn’t help wanting to help each and every person in that crowd waiting quietly as though they had nothing better to do, but especially the children. They were pulling at her heartstrings already. It would be a struggle not being allowed to put her medical skills to good use as she wanted when there were people needing them. That was why she’d trained in the first place, to make life better for others, especially children now that she likely wouldn’t be having any herself.

‘Yes, there are. Cute as buttons some of them, too.’ His face softened briefly.

‘They look so desperate.’

Sam shook himself and growled, ‘Don’t be fooled. They’re not all what they seem.’ He started walking again.

‘They’re not?’ But he didn’t, or chose not to, hear her.

On a sigh she changed the subject. For now. ‘I’ll see you around. I need to find my quarters.’

‘I’ll—’

‘I don’t think so. Major Crooks gave me directions.’ Then she added lamely, just in case Sam didn’t get the point, ‘He’s been here before.’ Having this man escort her through the camp was not happening. She required a few minutes to put her left-field reaction to him into perspective. He might be a sight to behold, and a face from the past, but she had to learn to stand strong and inviolate. Vulnerability might’ve become her norm lately, but it was one of the things she was working hard to overcome. So when her danger sonar said be aware of this man, she was going to push him away.

‘I was about to say I’ll see you later in the medical unit, where I can introduce you to everyone.’ He stared at her, annoyance vying with interest in those eyes that appeared to notice far too much, his mouth flat at last.

While her mouth ached with the tight smile she was trying to keep in place. Her eyes had better be fierce, not showing her true concerns about this exchange. Having anyone know her inner turmoil would see her back on that plane, heading home. ‘Yes, Captain.’

His face instantly became inscrutable, every last thought and emotion snapped off with the flick of a switch. Her tense muscles tightened further. She’d gone too far. He didn’t deserve her attitude, but a woman had to look out for herself. Especially in a place she did not understand. In a fit of pique for coming second to her in an exam result Sam had once told her she was a spoilt little rich brat, and right now she was proving him correct. He’d also said she knew nothing about the real world. If only he knew. Back up. She didn’t want him to know about the disaster that flipped her life upside down.

Suddenly she was tired of it all; exhausted from the trip, from the heat, from the short but stupid conversation with Sam. She wanted to get on with him, maybe get to know him a little—without falling into that grin. ‘I look forward to learning the ropes from you.’

‘I’ll see you later.’ Sam’s boots clicked together, then he spun around to stride away, his back ramrod straight, his hands clenched at his sides.

He’s better looking than ever. Shut up. But it was true. The boyishly handsome and beguiling face had become chiselled, mature, and worthy of more than a glance. As was that muscular bod. Her traitorous body was reacting to the thought of what his army fatigues covered. Only because there’d been a sex drought in her life for so long, surely? Not that Sam would be the rain that broke it, even if her body was thinking otherwise.

Heatstroke. Had to be. But she’d been out in the sun less than half an hour. Admitting things about a man she’d met minutes earlier would have more to do with her wobbly state of mind. Things that weren’t conducive to working alongside him. Captain Lowe. Remember that and forget his looks, his muscles, and that open face she’d managed to shut down. But she was female after all and did enjoy being around a good-looking guy. She wasn’t immune to physical attributes that would send any breathing, feeling woman into orbit. Despite the fact that letting down the barriers so that a man could get close would take more guts than she possessed, she could still appreciate perfection when she saw it.

Maddy shook her head abruptly. You came here to do a job, not to fire up your hormones. Experience had taught her that she couldn’t do casual sex; she had to have some connection with a lover. When she’d fallen in love she’d known it had been worth the wait. Until that man, who had become her husband, had pulverised her heart along with her confidence, and she was back to square one. She was unlikely to ever forget Jason’s appalled reaction to her disfigured body. She’d believed in his love. Now she knew not to expect any different from any man, so knew keeping safe was entirely up to herself.

‘Captain? Your room is number three in that block behind the mess hall.’ A soldier appeared in her line of vision, a clipboard in his hand, thankfully blotting out that irritating sight of long legs and tight backside that had her in a spin.

‘Thank you, Private,’ she acknowledged as she turned in the right direction.

One step and Madison froze.

Thick smoke billowed above a hut on the far perimeter.

A chill slithered down her spine, lifted the hairs on her arms. Her heart leapt into her throat. She forgot to breathe. ‘No.’ The word crawled out of her mouth as fear swamped her. ‘No-o.’ Smoke meant fire. No, please, no. She couldn’t deal with that. Not today. Not ever. Not again. Anything else, yes. Move. Run. Someone could be trapped inside the hut. Move. She remained transfixed, staring at that murky column rising into the air, twisting, spiralling out of control.

‘Move, damn it.’ Do something. But her boots were filled with concrete. ‘I can’t.’ Her fingers touched her midriff, not feeling the scars through her uniform, but they were there, as familiar to her touch as her face in a mirror was to her sight.

‘Madison?’ Sam stood in front of her.

She tried to look away from that smoke. She really did. But her eyes had a mind of their own, were fixated with the swirling, growing cloud. As the smoke darkened, horror darkened her soul. Knots cramped her stomach. Bile spewed into her mouth, soured her tongue. Finally her lungs moved, expanded slowly against her chest.

Strong hands caught her upper arms, shook her. ‘Captain Hunter, what’s the problem?’

The air stalled in her lungs again. Breathe out slowly; one, two, three. Now in, one, two. ‘There’s a fire.’ She jerked her chin in the right direction as her lungs contracted, forcing hot air through her mouth.

Sam glanced where she’d indicated. ‘That’s not smoke. It’s a dust whirl. Get used to it. We get plenty around here.’ That intense stare returned to her face. What was he seeing? Apart from someone who should be behaving like a soldier? And clearly wasn’t.

‘You’re sure? You haven’t gone to check it out.’

‘I’m sure.’

Her knees sagged, and her shoulders drooped further into his strong grip. Air escaped her lungs again. ‘D-dust I can cope with.’ Phew. She was safe; she didn’t have to rush into roaring flames to rescue Granddad, pull him free of burning timbers. Except she hadn’t managed to save him. A blazing beam had seen to that. The sweat on her back chilled, her damaged skin prickled. Granddad.

Someone was shaking her. Sam. Of course. ‘Madison, look at me.’

I can’t do that. He’d see right inside, would know she was a screw-up. Nothing like the confident girl who used to cope with everything and had always been a success. She certainly didn’t used to do vulnerable. Digging deep, she tried to find that Madison, but she was long gone. Burned in the midst of a fire. ‘I’m all right. I don’t mind dust.’ That scratchy sound coming across her tongue was not her usual voice; instead, it sounded like a cat when its tail was stomped on.

‘You won’t be saying that for long. It never goes away, coats every damned surface, and gets into places you won’t believe.’

But it won’t kill me, or scar my body, or terrify me. Or take someone I love. Or change my life for ever. Shaking in her boots, she continued staring at the thinning cloud as it changed direction to head away from the buildings. A grenade had been lobbed at her within minutes of arriving. This place was not good for her.

Just as well Sam still held her. To hit the ground with thirty kilos on her back would hurt, and write her off as a loser in everyone’s eyes.

Did he know he was rubbing her arms with his thumbs? Couldn’t, or he’d stop immediately. She didn’t want that. Not yet. She needed the contact, the comfort, which showed how messed up she was. She was an officer in the New Zealand army, for pity’s sake. ‘It’s truly only dust?’

‘Yes, Madison, not smoke.’

The unexpected gentleness in his voice nearly undid her. She wasn’t used to that tone from men any more, and it reached inside to tear at her heart, slashed at the barricades she kept wound tight. She tilted forward, drawn by an invisible thread, needing to get closer. Her brain was begging Sam to wrap his arms around her.

Her chin flipped up. Under pressure from her pack she straightened her spine and locked her eyes on his. He’d have her back on that plane heading home quick smart if he knew what she wanted of him. Good idea. That’d get her away from here and everything she suspected was going to test her over the coming weeks and months. Something at the back of her mind was pushing forward. I am not a coward. Not even a little one? No. Not even a tiny one. Messed up? Yes. But she would not add coward to her CV. Twisting her head away from that all-seeing gaze, she locked her eyes on the dust that had ripped her equilibrium apart.

‘Dust can be a nuisance. Dirty and scratchy.’ Slowly, one shallow breath at a time, her lungs relaxed, returned to doing their job properly. There was little resemblance to smoke in that whirl. She’d made an idiot of herself. ‘Thanks for rectifying my mistake,’ she whispered.

‘Any time.’ Sam stepped back, his hands dropping to his hips in his apparent favourite stance, taking that strength and safety with him, leaving her swaying until she found her balance, but like he was ready to catch her if necessary. That she could cope with; the intensity he was watching her with she could not.

Madison slowly looked around, taking time to get her body back under control. She was a soldier, and a doctor. No one need know she lost her cool at the sight of smoke. Or the smell of it. Or the roar of flames. Except Sam had already witnessed her near breakdown. She could only hope he wasn’t going to be like a dog with a bone until he found out what that had been about.

She risked a glance at him, and gasped at the worry filling his steady summer-sky eyes.

‘Are you all right?’ he demanded.

‘Yes.’ The thudding in her chest had spread to take up residence in her skull—beat, beat, beat. She needed to get indoors, away from dust clouds—and compelling eyes that had already seen too much. ‘I’ve never seen dust like that, and naturally...’ Would he fall for this? ‘Naturally I thought there was a fire. I won’t make that mistake again.’

‘You’d better not. It would be a hindrance on patrol. You could endanger others.’ His worry didn’t diminish, suggesting he was concerned she wouldn’t be competent enough to do her job as a soldier.

‘I think you’ll find I know what I’m doing.’ But reality was sinking in fast. This was nothing like practising back home, however seriously the officers had taken every manoeuvre in which they partook. If she did freak out at the sight of smoke again she might not get away with it. But as long as the camp commander didn’t see fit to lock her up in a padded cell she’d be all right.

‘You’d better.’ His worry might be abating but he was still studying her with the intensity of a microbiologist looking down a microscope.

Which rattled her nearly as much as the dust had. Her vulnerability was rearing up again, pushing out from the corner she worked hard at keeping it tucked into. Sam—or anyone on base—must not find her lacking. Neither could he learn how insecure she could be.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ he asked in a less autocratic tone.

‘How long have you served on the Peninsula?’ Suddenly her time here stretched before her, filled with uncertainties. Would she be strong enough to lead troops outside the camp? There’d be no respect from them if she turned into a blithering idiot because of dust. Or smoke.

‘Twelve months, give or take a day.’

She’d do less. Thank goodness for something. ‘Have you enjoyed your tour here?’ Anything to avoid the chasm she was looking into right now.

His nod was sharp. ‘This has been one of the better ones.’

‘So there’ve been others.’ Others that hadn’t been as comfortable, the edgy tone of his voice suggested.

‘Yes.’

‘Guess I’ve a lot to learn.’

‘Definitely, but we all have to deal with things we’re not at ease with when we first arrive. You’ll be fine.’ The grin was back, a little forced, but she’d accept it as it made her relax a teeny bit more. For now the danger of falling into that compelling look was far less risky than exposing the vulnerability that haunted her. This was Sam Lowe, a man she could relate to because they came from the same city, had been to the same school, and right now someone familiar was like balm on feverish skin.

Bet he’s a fantastic doctor. And a good soldier. He’d always done well at everything he did. Yes, she remembered that much about him. The pounding behind her eyes intensified. There was too much to deal with right now. ‘I need to settle into my room.’ She needed to look forward and not back, something she couldn’t manage while in Sam’s presence.

‘I’ll see you later in the medical centre.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll be there as soon as possible.’ And get started on her new job, even if she only got to meet her colleagues and learn the layout of the unit.

Sam turned away, spun back as though trying to catch her out. The intensity in his gaze had not backed off. Whatever he was looking for, she doubted he found it because finally he shrugged, said almost kindly, ‘Welcome to the Peninsula, Maddy.’ This time he strode away without a backward glance.

He remembered her friends called her Maddy? Or was it a natural abbreviation of Madison? That was more likely. He wouldn’t remember much about her. Why should he? They hadn’t mixed in the same crowd or been in the same classes. But... A sigh escaped her lips. The way her name sounded in his gravelly voice was something to hold onto. It warmed her when she was already hot, flattened the goose bumps that dust had raised, gave her hope. Hope for what? No idea, but it was so rare she’d hold onto it anyway.

The pack still weighed her down, pulling so her spine curved backwards, but it was the head stuff that kept her rooted to the spot. That and the man whose long legs were eating up the parade ground as he put distance between them. She felt as though she had too many balls in the air and wasn’t about to catch any of them.

Trudging towards her barracks, she tried to drag up memories of Sam. He’d been head boy in their last year, captain of his sports teams, a natural leader if the devotion from others wasn’t a figment of her imagination. Officer material for sure. Which said he’d want to be in charge here in the medical unit. Probably was anyway, given he’d been here for a year.

Too much to think about right now. Exhaustion gnawed at her. Her body ached and her head was full of wool. The heat pelted her from every direction. She was in way over her depth and had no idea how to get out. But she would find a way: after a shower and a full night’s sleep in a bed, and after time to reflect on how she could move forward without blotting her copybook.

Now, there was a first.

Could be quite exciting really.