THREE

      Maddie motored down the hall, checking email on her phone. She didn’t want to be cornered by female staff members for an update on Dr. Perfect Spencer, nor did she want to perpetuate the story that he’d fired off the warning shot to save Maddie. That bit of untruth had been spreading like the flu ever since they’d arrived at the hospital, but Chief Walsh asked Maddie not to discuss details of the case. So rather than correct the chatterboxes and tell them she had saved Dr. Dreamboat, Maddie had to play the helpless waif.

      Anyone who knew Maddie knew she was a determined woman who did not need protecting. But it was too easy for people to assume Dr. Spencer had been the protector since he was the confident and commanding type.

      He didn’t seem very commanding just now. Fear dulled his normally bright blue eyes. His lost expression, combined with his messed-up hair and bruise on the side of his forehead, made him seem almost...fragile.

      Kind of like Maddie after she’d been abandoned. Again.

      She shook off the thought. Even a capable man like Dr. Spencer would be rattled after being assaulted by a lunatic in the mountains. Yet Dr. Spencer had been so worried about Gwen that he had managed to ignore his head injury long enough to successfully intubate her.

      “Amazing,” she whispered to herself. Even if she didn’t particularly care for the doc’s overconfidence and bravado, she could definitely appreciate his skills. She hoped those skills wouldn’t be affected by his head injury.

      She stepped outside into the misty rain and paced the hospital’s front walkway. Pulling her rain jacket closed in front, she struggled to forget the image of the doctor’s expression as he’d gripped her hand resting on his shoulder. As a paramedic, she recognized the expression—fear mixed with vulnerability—because she’d seen it on her patients’ faces.

      Yet this was different. It was vulnerability, sure, but an edge of confusion dulled his eyes. She’d seen that look on Aunt Margaret’s face when Uncle Jack had suddenly died of a heart attack years ago. The same look had pinched Dr. Spencer’s forehead when he’d awakened from his nightmare calling out a name: Bobby. Maddie suspected Dr. Spencer had lost someone close to him and that emotional wound had yet to heal.

      Aunt Margaret said the only thing that kept her going after her husband’s death was the support and love of family. Maddie glanced back at the hospital. Dr. Spencer had no family, at least none in Echo Mountain. Instead, he was surrounded by a hospital full of admirers, people who propped him up on a pedestal and adored him. They completely bought into the Dr. Charming act he performed every time he showed up for work.

      Would they be able to see past their admiration and realize how scared he was? Would he let them see past his normally affable demeanor into the devastation brewing beneath the surface? Probably not, but Maddie had already been there, heard his cry for Bobby and saw the terrified look in his eyes.

      She imagined that was how she looked when Dad had left, then Mom, and then Waylan.

      Her cousin Bree pulled up in her SUV. Perfect timing. Maddie needed to snap out of her pensive mood.

      Maddie started to reach for the SUV door, then let her hand drop to her side.

      Bree rolled down the passenger side window. “Hey, what’s up?”

      “I’m not sure.”

      “Are you getting in?”

      Something told her to go back inside and check on the doctor, even if he was snappy and asked her to leave again. Being there could help him feel safe, and she owed him that for what he did for Cassie. That’s all, there was nothing more to it.

      “I’m sorry, but I think I’d better stay,” Maddie said.

      “Are you sure? I mean, you’re here so much as it is,” Bree said.

      “Yeah, I need to check on somebody.”

      “You’ve really got to stop getting emotionally connected to your patients, sweetie. Boundaries, remember?”

      “You’re right, but this one...” Maddie sighed. “It’s Dr. Spencer. I won’t be able to sleep unless I know he’s okay.”

      “I heard some guy attacked him. But wait, you don’t even like Spence.”

      “I know, but he helped Nate save Cassie last year and, well, he seems kind of broken.”

      “Maddie,” her cousin said.

      “What?”

      “When are you gonna stop trying to fix people?”

      “It’s my job, remember?” Maddie teased.

      “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

      “This is different.”

      “He’s got an entire hospital of people to take care of him.”

      “They don’t know what’s really going on. Please don’t be upset with me. I’ll catch a ride with Rocky when he gets off his extra shift. I just—” She glanced at the hospital, and then back at her cousin. “You always say to follow your instincts.”

      “It’s true.”

      “Sorry I dragged you out here.”

      “No need to apologize. Had to pick up something for Mom anyway.”

      “Give her my love.”

      “Will do.” Bree winked and pulled away.

      Maddie felt a smile curl the corner of her lips. She had the best family in the world, even if her parents weren’t included on that list.

      Maddie reentered the hospital and headed for imaging where they’d taken Dr. Spencer. For some reason she wanted to be there when he finished.

      As she stepped into the elevator her phone vibrated and she glanced at a text from Rocky, fellow paramedic and rumored love interest. She was still a bit stunned about that assumption.

      You okay? Heard rumors, Rocky wrote.

      A-OK. No worries, she responded.

      Heard the doc shot some guy.

      “Really?” she muttered. Oh, how she wanted to share the truth with her friend, but she would not ignore a direct order from Chief Walsh. He must have his reasons for asking her to remain mute on the subject.

      Grapevine’s been busy, she responded.

      The elevator doors opened to the lower level and she glanced up.

      Into a pitch-black hallway.

      No lights, no emergency lights, nothing. Yet no alarms had gone off and everything was business as usual upstairs.