“I’m so glad,” Sierra said. “Can you keep us updated? We have to go on another call.”
“Will do. I’ll text you when I have news.”
“You look happy,” she said to Connor as they walked out of the hospital to where the helicopter waited.
“I am. It’s nice when something goes right. Especially when it could’ve just as easily gone the other way. Let’s hope the next one goes well too.”
*
Connor was tryingto decide whether to go cross-country skiing or snowshoeing on his and Sierra’s next date when his phone rang. Caller ID flashed the name Ryan. Ryan Hunter. They’d met and become friends in Afghanistan where Ryan had been a field surgeon and Connor a combat medic. They’d kept in touch sporadically since then. As always, Ryan reminded him of Casey and thinking of Casey came with mixed emotions. She’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could just as easily have been him. He’d been lucky. She hadn’t. She’d been all but gone when Connor brought her in. Ryan couldn’t save her. No one could have.
Of course he regretted her death. But he couldn’t forget the death blow she’d dealt to their relationship the day before she died.
After they both left the military, Ryan had gone into private practice as a trauma surgeon while Connor became a flight paramedic. Afghanistan had taken it out of both of them. He hadn’t talked to his friend in a while and wondered if he had a reason to call or just wanted to shoot the shit.
He shook off his depressing thoughts. “Hey, Ryan. How’s it going?”
“Not so great. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Work getting you down?” Ryan was a trauma surgeon at a large hospital in Denver and Connor knew he hadn’t been too happy with how things were going there recently.
“Not for long. I gave them my two-week notice.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised. Last I heard you weren’t too happy. Where are you going? I’m assuming you have a job lined up.” Ryan never stayed in one place long. Afghanistan, and what had happened there, had messed with his head. Ryan never stuck with a place; Connor never stuck with a woman. At least, not until he met Sierra.
“No. I’m looking around. Do you think Marietta needs another trauma surgeon?”
“I haven’t heard that we do but I can check. Even if we don’t there are several hospitals around here who might need one.”
Talking to Ryan made him think even more about Casey. Casey and Connor had been involved. Connor had been in love with her and while he knew she’d cared about him he was pretty sure she wasn’t in love with him. He didn’t find out why until the day before she died. She’d told him she was in love with Ryan, although he wasn’t in love with her. Connor had been poleaxed. And pissed. He didn’t like being a guy she was with only because she couldn’t have the one she wanted.
Either Ryan hadn’t loved her, or he’d backed off because he knew how Connor felt about her. But Casey, who was also a combat medic, had died. And neither Ryan nor Connor had been the same since.
He and Ryan had never really talked about it. About their service and what they’d seen. About Casey’s death and what it had meant to them. They sure as hell never talked about the fact that Casey had wanted Ryan. Either Ryan never knew how she felt, or he knew and refused to do anything about it. Connor thought it was the former. She hadn’t had much time to tell him before she died. When Casey died, and neither Connor nor Ryan had been able to save her, her death had messed up Ryan as badly as it had Connor. While Ryan might not have loved Casey, the three of them had been friends.
“Just FYI, Marietta’s a small town. Everyone wants to know or thinks they know everyone else’s business.”
“You grew up there, right?”
“I did. When I left, I figured I was gone for good. But after Afghanistan it started looking awfully good.”
“I grew up in a small town in Texas, remember? Don’t worry, I know what they’re like.”
“Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll call you when I find out if there’s anything available at our hospital. Meanwhile you might try some of the other hospitals in the area.”
“Sounds good.”
They talked a few more minutes and hung up after promising to get together if and when Ryan moved. He tried to put Casey out of his mind but sometimes he wondered if he was making a major mistake falling for a woman who might not be over her ex-husband. His experience with Casey didn’t make him anxious for a repeat performance.
