I stare at my reflection in the spotted mirror, at the fear evident in my eyes.
I will figure this out because I really don’t have a fucking choice.
THREE
NOAH
I slammy office door hard enough to rattle the glass, then immediately regret it. Childish. The last thing I need is to give anyone another reason to question my professionalism, or go running to Viktor as soon as he gets back that I made someone cry again.
Dropping into my chair, I pull up Victor’s contact on my phone, tapping my fingers impatiently as it rings. The clinic’s emptiness amplifies every sound—the hum of fluorescent lights, the distant drip of a faucet someone failed to fully close, my own too-rapid breathing.
“Noah! How’s my favorite trauma specialist enjoying his mountain sabbatical?” Victor’s voice carries a familiar cheerful condescension that makes me want to throw my phone against the wall.
“Cut the crap, Victor. Why is there an intern in my clinic?”
“Ah, you’ve met Dr. Chang. Promising young resident, excellent academic record. Not enough women in the field and all that, so she’s a great find for the program.”
“She’s barely bigger than my hiking pack,” I growl. “And from the way she nearly jumped out of her skin when I walkedin, I’d guess her practical experience with stressful situations is limited.”
“Her application was exceptional. Top of her class, impressive volunteer work abroad and she came well-recommended from her residency director.”
“I don’t care if she performed brain surgery on the International Space Station. I did not agree to babysit.”
Victor’s chuckle grates on my nerves. “You don’t have a choice, Klinkhart. The board made this decision weeks ago. Your participation in the teaching program is a condition of your continued employment.”
My jaw clenches so tight I can hear my teeth creak. “I came here to practice medicine, not teach it.”
“And what about before that?” Victor’s voice loses its lightness. “Three months at Everest base camp, before that some locum tenens thing in Colorado. How long are you even planning to stay here before you find a reason to fly away again, Noah?”
I stare out the window at the mountain looming in the distance, its peak disappearing into clouds. So familiar, even though each time I see it feels like the very first. I feel drawn to it, just as much as I wish I never had to look at it again.
“I’m not the teaching type,” I manage finally.
“You were once. Before…”
My free hand curls into a fist against the glass. “Don’t.”
Victor sighs. “Noah, it’s been over a year. What happened on that mountain?—“
“Was my fault,” I cut him off. “We both know it.”
“The review board cleared you completely. No amount of medical expertise could have?—”
“Rubber stamps don’t bring back the dead.”
A heavy silence falls between us. Finally, Victor speaks again, his tone gentler. “Dr. Chang has to start this week. Train her. Maybe helping someone else will help you too.”
I hang up without responding, tossing the phone onto my desk. Fantastic. Not only am I back in the town I spent my entire youth wanting to escape, but now I’m saddled with a resident who looks like she’d blow away in a strong breeze.
Holly Chang. The name suits her—delicate, precise, nature-inspired. The way she’d stood her ground despite clearly being intimidated was almost impressive. Almost. But wilderness medicine isn’t about classroom smarts or even controlled chaos like urban emergency rooms. It’s about making life-or-death decisions with minimal resources while the environment actively tries to kill you and your patient.
And it doesn’t help that my first glimpse of her sent my alpha instincts into overdrive. Something about her slight frame and those wide, intelligent eyes made me want to gather her onto my lap and feel her purr against my chest like a contented kitten.
The thought is so unprofessional it’s appalling. I scrub my hands over my face, disgusted with myself. I haven’t had that kind of reaction to anyone since...well, since ever. Must be the isolation getting to me.
Which just raises the question of what the hell she thinks she’s doing pursuing a career in wilderness medicine. From the looks of her, Holly Chang is more likely to be blown off a mountain by a gust of wind than survive the hike out for a remote rescue.
Compulsion drives me to double-check her human resources file just to be sure. I blow out air in a rush of relief as the words glare back at me in bold letters.
