Page 7 of Heartbeat Harmony (Hearts in Hawthorne #2)

Chapter

Three

E li ran his fingers through his hair as he explained the situation to his new insurance agent.

“You never admit guilt, Dr. Carson,” the agent said harshly. “Never.”

“But it was clearly my fault. I can send you a diagram if you’d like. I was the one who made the mistake. Thank goodness the other driver doesn’t seem to be hurt. I will encourage her to go inside the hospital once we have things settled and have someone take a look at her.”

He listened as the agent continued to chew him out, thinking that this wasn’t very good customer service.

He had only been with the agency a couple of months, but he wasn’t pleased at this turn of events.

Then again, the insurance—and car—came through his position at Hogan Health.

A company car and accompanying insurance had been provided to him, as well as other benefits.

Eli answered a few more questions and then hung up. The agent had provided the number of a body shop to call, and he did so now, explaining about the accident.

“Need a tow for it, Doc?”

“Yes.”

Although he had been able to drive the car a short distance to clear the intersection, he didn’t think he could make it very far in it.

“The person whom I hit may also need a tow. She’s driving a rental car and is on the phone now about that.”

“I can send another truck if she’s told to take care of it,” the voice on the phone assured him. “You can let the tow truck driver know when he gets there, and he can text me the info. For now, it’ll be about forty-five minutes to an hour before I can get someone there for your car.”

“Thank you. I’ll be waiting.”

Eli hung up and walked toward the woman, who looked to be in her late twenties.

She was very pretty, about five-four, with a beautiful mane of auburn hair.

What had drawn him in were her exquisite turquoise eyes, a blend of blue and green tones that mesmerized him.

They were reminiscent of the librarian whom he had met a few months ago when his interview had taken place at the city’s library.

This woman only wore a soft shade of lipstick, no other makeup. Even in the world of the ER, female nurses always came to work with perfect makeup, even if they did pull their hair back in a ponytail or bun. It was nice to see a woman let her natural beauty shine.

If he weren’t so occupied with other things just now, he would ask her out, but Eli hadn’t been on a date in years. The fact that she drove a rented car meant she wasn’t even from the area, most likely. And why would she agree to have dinner with a stranger who had slammed into her car?

It pleased him that he had even thought of asking her out.

The idea of dating someone, even marrying them, really appealed to him.

Now that he had a job which paid extremely well, along with normal work hours, it would be nice to find someone to spend the rest of his life with.

Just because this woman would probably decline if he asked her to go to dinner with him didn’t mean others back in Hawthorne would do the same.

It had been easier to deal with his loneliness during the years he’d worked in Houston because running the ER was so all-consuming.

Here in Hawthorne, though, even though he was incredibly busy, he was putting down roots.

And roots meant a family to him, something he yearned for.

Eli moved toward the woman, realizing he had yet to ask her what her name was. He stood several feet from her car, though, trying to give her privacy as she spoke on the phone. She nodded to herself a few times and then jotted something down. He could see her conversation was coming to an end.

She glanced up and opened the car’s door, stepping out. Though she probably didn’t realize it, her clothing was still covered in dust from the airbag being deployed. He noticed her eyes were quite red now, and she rubbed one as she coughed.

“Don’t do that,” he cautioned, stepping toward her and taking her chin in his hand, studying her.

“What are you doing ?” she demanded, jerking her head away and stepping back.

“Is your throat irritated?” he asked quickly. “Your eyes are itchy and watery, right?”

When she nodded, Eli took her elbow and began pulling her toward the ER entrance, saying, “The effects of airbag dust vary from person to person. It can cause irritation to mucus membranes and clog your air passage, which can seriously impact your breathing.”

“I blocked the airbag when it erupted,” she told him as they went through the doors of the building. “I didn’t swallow anything.” She glanced down. “I see I’m covered in dust, though. That’s probably why my throat feels sore.”

“We need to flush this away.”

Keeping his hand on her elbow, he hurried toward someone holding a tablet.

“Dr. Mitchell, this woman was in an auto accident outside the hospital. I think the sodium azide from the air bag device is causing some serious irritation. Her eyes are itching, and her throat is sore. Her breathing hasn’t slowed and doesn’t seem shallow, but we need to move fast.”

Eli looked to her. “Even a small amount ingested can cause your body to shut down.”

“Sami,” Mitchell said. “Air bag deployed. Help Dr. Carson take care of this young woman.”

The nurse took the woman’s free elbow, and they rushed her to a room.

Quickly, the pair stripped off her shirt and jeans, along with her shoes.

Eli had done this a thousand times when a patient had come into his ER in Houston, always in an impersonal, professional manner. This time seemed different, however.

“Come with me, ma’am,” the nurse said. “We’re going to stick you in a shower and wash all this residue away. Stay here, Dr. Carson. I’ve got this under control.”

Sami took the woman’s phone and set it on the table, leading her away.

Eli paced the small room, afraid he had not only caused an accident but worrying he might have seriously hurt the pretty stranger.

It wasn’t helping any that he couldn’t forget about the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips.

Ten minutes later, they returned. The woman’s hair was wet and dripping. She wore a pair of hospital scrubs. Her face was flushed, but her breathing still seemed normal.

“May I?”

Eli borrowed Sami’s stethoscope and asked the woman to sit on the table. He listened to her heart. Checked her pulse. Borrowed Sami’s flashlight and looked into both eyes and her mouth. In the meantime, Sami took the woman’s blood pressure and checked her oxygen levels.

“All good on my end, Dr. Carson,” Sami said.

“Same here.” He looked at the woman. “It seems you’re going to live. I haven’t killed you after all.”

“I told you that I was all right,” she said, sounding irritated. “What about your tow truck? Didn’t your insurance agent arrange for that?”

“Damn,” he said. “I need to get back outside.”

The woman smiled at Sami as she slipped her phone into her pocket. “I’ll get your scrubs back to you. Thanks for letting me borrow them and not making me wear that dreaded hospital gown.”

“Not a problem. I’m sorry that we needed to dispose of your jeans and shirt. The shirt was really cute on you.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll buy you new ones,” Eli said. “Right now, you and I need to get back outside.”

“I need to see someone about payment. ER visits don’t come cheap.”

“I know people,” he mumbled, glancing to Sami, who nodded in return. “Let’s go.”

He took her elbow again, leading her back outside.

“I can walk on my own,” she declared, pulling from his grasp. “And there’s your tow truck turning in now.”

“Stay here,” Eli ordered, meeting the driver and speaking briefly with him and another man who accompanied him.

As they began hooking his car up, he returned to the woman. “What did you find out regarding your rental?”

“Thankfully, my credit card does have a waiver to cover the situation since I rented the vehicle with it. I called the car rental company, and they said to have it towed to a place here in Decatur. They’ll take it from there.

” She frowned. “I just have to find a way back to DFW, where I rented it, because I need to pick up another car.”

“What about renting another car here in Decatur?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I flew in from Houston and will be in the area until early next week. I need to fly back. If I rented a car here and returned it, I’d still need to find a way back to the airport. I’d rather rent at the airport.”

“Then I’ll take you to DFW to rent one,” he said. “It’s the least I can do.”

She looked at the tow truck, which now had his wrecked car attached to it. “Your car is about to leave the premises. Where are you going to get another one?”

“I’ll rent one here in Decatur and drive you to DFW now. That is, if you feel comfortable getting in the car with me.”

Laughing, she said, “Maybe I should be the one to drive back to the airport.” She paused. “Oh, wait. This guy is from the company I’m supposed to use to have the rental towed.”

Racing to the driver, who had just climbed inside the truck, she waved and spoke to him a moment while Eli admired her backside.

After a brief conversation, she returned to him and said, “They’ll come back for my car. He said to call a rideshare to take us to a rental place. I need to get my suitcase and backpack out of the trunk, though.”

He accompanied her across the street and lifted the suitcase from the vehicle, while she slung the backpack over her shoulder.

“Are you sure you want to take me all the way to the airport?” she asked. “That’s really going out of your way.”

“It’s the least I can do,” he replied. “My screwup. I need to make things right with you.”

“Then I’ll spring for the ride,” she said, pulling her cell from her pocket and requesting a car.

“Less than three minutes,” she informed him.

They stood in awkward silence now, two people who had shared an experience, yet ones who knew nothing about the other.

The driver arrived, and she hurried to him, speaking a moment and then waving Eli over.

He rolled her suitcase to the car, and the driver popped the trunk so Eli could place the luggage inside.

When they arrived at the car rental company, she said, “You can rent what you need. I asked our driver if he’d be willing to take me all the way to DFW, and he’s got the time. I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have.”

Disappointment flooded him. Eli had hoped to get to know her a bit on the drive down to Dallas.

Now, he doubted he would ever see her and those amazing turquoise eyes again.

It made sense, though. She didn’t know anything about him.

She would feel safer with the driver in the front seat than a stranger who had carelessly crashed into her car.

“If you’re sure,” he said, leaving the door open, hoping she would change her mind.

“I am. Thank you for having me go into ER. I could have gotten really sick if I hadn’t cleaned the dust off me. My brother is getting married on Saturday, and I would have hated to miss his wedding.”

“Well, good luck to you. And your brother,” he said, masking the hurt he felt at being cut loose so quickly.

Eli exited the car and entered the car agency without a backward glance.

The insurance agent had said his policy would allow him to rent a car for up to two weeks.

If the repairs to his own car weren’t through by then, he could apply for an extension.

He liked the Genesis SUV Hogan Health had provided for him, so he rented a Nissan Rogue SUV.

The one car he had owned for a few short months had been a four-door sedan, and he preferred sitting higher up and seeing more of the road behind the wheel of an SUV.

The return trip to Hawthorne only took half an hour.

The entire time, Eli couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t gotten the woman’s name.

If she had found another car to rent. And why she had been at the hospital.

If she were in town for a wedding, it made no sense for her to be at the hospital.

Maybe she was killing two birds with one stone and had some relative who had been recently hospitalized.

As long as she was in town, she was able to stop by and offer a little sympathy.

He returned to the office, telling Nancy, his executive assistant, she could leave for the day.

Eli then typed up a few notes regarding his visit to Hogan Health Decatur Hospital.

He had seen a few things he would like to incorporate here in Hawthorne, as well as a couple of items he wished to avoid.

He wanted Triple H—Hogan Health Hawthorne—to run as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

Eli left the office at half-past six, stopping to have dinner at the diner. Dizzy joined him, talking his ear off as usual, but Eli didn’t mind. He liked the old man’s stories, and he had learned a lot about the town during his visits to the diner.

The next morning, he met with the construction manager. They went to view the operating theaters. When he returned to his office, Nancy said, “Your nine o’clock interview is waiting in the conference room, Dr. Carson. I’ve placed her folder on the table for you.”

He didn’t need it. Eli already knew everything about Autumn Ferris that he needed to know.

Her employment history was steady, with her only having worked at one hospital in the eight years since she graduated from nursing school.

The nurse’s supervisor had raved about Autumn, saying she was an excellent nurse and charge nurse, one of the best she had ever worked with, and how sorry they were to be losing her.

The supervisor didn’t mention why her employee was leaving, and Eli knew not to ask.

Perhaps it might come up in today’s interview.

As he approached the conference room, he decided he would ask a handful of questions and then offer Autumn Ferris the job on the spot.

She was more than qualified. Eli needed positions filled quickly, and if Autumn accepted the job offer he had in mind, she could help ease his burden and interview potential nurses for the staff he was building.

Opening the door, he breezed into the room—and stopped dead in his tracks.

Autumn Ferris sat at the conference table, wearing light makeup and a navy suit.

And she was the woman he had crashed into yesterday.