Page 1 of Her Desire (Pulse Medical #3)

GIANNA

D octor Gianna Rossi believed in three things––the magic of a well-timed sticker, the unparalleled power of a silly voice, and that no day truly began until her first cup of coffee.

The first two made her an excellent pediatric surgeon, and the third was the reason she was currently speedwalking to the break room like a woman on a mission.

It was already eleven a.m., and Gianna was running on the fumes from last night’s coffee.

The caffeine boost was long gone, and the only energy she had came from her six-year-old patient, Lucy Adams, who had insisted on showing her every single dinosaur in her collection before her surgery, which, if Gianna was honest, was a lot of dinosaurs.

Lucy wanted to be an archaeologist when she grew up. But after spending a few long days in the hospital, she was thinking of reconsidering.

“Maybe I should be a doctor instead,” she’d declared last night with a very serious look on her little freckled face. “You get to wear the coolest coats, and you know how to fix people… But only if I don’t have to learn math. My brother, Charlie, sucks at math.”

Gianna had laughed and was still chuckling when she thought about that little girl with red curls waking up from her ventricular septal defect repair, groggy but determined to know exactly what pudding she was going to get for supper.

For the most part, Gianna’s job at Oakridge Hospital was a never-ending cycle of pre-dawn rounds, back-to-back surgeries, and an inbox so full of consult requests it could probably qualify for a public health crisis.

But moments like that—watching Lucy Adams blink up at her, eyes heavy with anesthesia, only to whisper, “Do you think they got chocolate pudding?”—made it all worth it.

And then, there was the pediatric wing, which Gianna thought of as her own little circus of tiny patients with big emotions, worried parents trying to stay brave, and an endless supply of colorful bandages that Gianna may or may not have hoarded in the pockets of her coat.

It all made for complete and utter chaos, the kind where no two days were ever the same, and there wasn’t a day where Gianna didn’t laugh or cry or joke or pull a ridiculous face. Every shift brought something new, something unexpected. And Gianna loved it, craved it, even.

Frankly, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way.

But now, the only thing on her sleep-deprived mind was a good cup of strong black coffee and the thought of heading home for a well-deserved nap.

Gianna pushed open the break room, already picturing the first sip of bitter coffee touching her tongue, when she spotted someone standing by the coffee maker, back turned, blonde waves spilling over the collar of her scrubs.

Holly Lucas.

Gianna stopped short, her heart doing that stupid little leap in her chest whenever Holly was around. A ridiculous half stutter that she ignored like her old knee injury from college volleyball that never quite healed.

Because Holly wasn’t just her colleague.

She was her friend. Her favorite person to run into between surgeries.

The reason she laughed so much during lunch breaks.

The reason she couldn’t watch anything with Natalie Portman in it.

And the reason she spent far too much time pretending her feelings—not just platonic feelings, but heart-stopping, goosebumps-inducing kind of feelings—didn’t exist. That they weren’t something to take seriously no matter how strong they felt at times, how her breath caught in her throat whenever Holly stood too close or touched her arm or brought her a muffin from the hospital café most Wednesday mornings.

Gianna had met Holly almost three years ago when the anesthesiologist had transferred. At first, she’d just been another colleague, another face in the blur of hospital walls. But then during a particularly grueling surgery, everything had changed.

It had been one of those nightmare procedures where everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong, and for a moment, Gianna had thought they might actually lose the patient.

But then Holly appeared out of nowhere. “Breathe, Rossi,” she’d said, her hand squeezing Gianna’s shoulder. “We’ve got this.”

And somehow, they did. The kid made it. But Gianna hadn’t felt the relief until later when Holly had stuck around, sitting right next to her on those linoleum floors just outside the OR, shoulders touching, making sure Gianna didn’t spiral.

Ever since then Gianna couldn’t help but recognize something magnetic about Holly, like the way the sun feels on your skin.

When she walked into a room, the air shifted.

People turned their heads to look at her.

Doctor Holly Lucas was a complication Gianna hadn’t planned for.

And over the last year or so, her feelings for the anesthesiologist had grown to the point where she was harboring an actual crush, which felt weird to think about at the age of forty.

Gianna had tried to laugh it off, to convince herselfit wasn’t real, that she was just lonely, and the feelings were exaggerated. But they weren’t. They were real.

Problem was, Holly Lucas was as straight as an arrow.

This meant that as far as Gianna could tell, her feelings would have to remain just that—her feelings. Never to be acted on.

Besides, she didn’t want to risk their friendship. Did she? Even if it meant swallowing down every feeling. Even if it meant keeping her heart locked away where it couldn’t cause any damage.

Gianna swallowed down the lump in her throat and headed over to the coffee station. “How many cups is that today?” she asked, forcing her voice to sound light and friendly. “You know a caffeine addiction is nothing to be proud of, right?”

Holly turned, pale blue eyes brightening as a grin spread across her lovely face as she locked her gaze onto Gianna. “Now you tell me,” she joked. “I always thought doctors pride themselves on their vices.”

“You’re thinking about physical therapists.”

Holly laughed, her voice like a frickin’ song in the rain. “I don’t think Bette Bridge would agree with you.”

“Touché,” Gianna said, smiling and reaching for a teal ceramic cup with her name on it. She placed it on the table right beside Holly’s Contigo travel mug.

“Just how fresh is the coffee?” she asked, sidling up next to Holly, who was at least a head shorter than her.

Not that you would ever think it when you saw her walk through the door.

She just oozed a kind of confidence that made her look taller than anyone else in the room.

Especially when she was in the hospital—her element.

“Fresh and delicious,” Holly replied, glancing at Gianna out of the corner of her eye, that smile still on her face. “I brewed it myself.”

Gianna watched Holly fill both cups and when she finished, she handed the ceramic one over to Gianna.

Their fingers brushed lightly—or not so lightly, she thought, feeling a little jolt of electricity travel all the way up her arm.

It caught her off guard. Just like every other time Holly stood too close, hugged her too tight, wrapped an arm around her waist or even just leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

The best way to steel herself was to talk. Out loud. About anything other than what she was feeling. “So, how’s your day been? Anything crazy happen in the OR.”

“Just the usual.” Holly leaned back against the counter and Gianna did the same.

There were two navy blue couches pushed up against the far wall of the break room.

Both had thick, comfy cushions. But they also carried a certain reputation .

The kind of history that made both nurses and doctors gossip.

Gianna had learned long ago to avoid them—best not to sit on any couch where an ultraviolet light would pick up something more than just crumbs.

“Had a couple of minor procedures this morning,” Holly went on, staring at her over the rim of her cup. “An appendectomy, a tonsillectomy—nothing too exciting. How about you?”

“Lucy Adams,” Gianna replied, knowing that Holly was well-versed with little Lucy’s case and if it had been up to Gianna, Holly would’ve been the anesthesiologist on the case.

Unfortunately, at the time of surgery, Holly had been busy, and Dr. Gaffrey had been assigned to Lucy. “Missed you in the OR.”

“You just don’t like working with Doctor Gaffrey,” Holly said, flicking her blonde hair back with one hand.

When Holly had first arrived from Seattle, her hair had been a dark blonde, almost honey in color, but the more time she spent on the beach, sometimes with Gianna, sometimes not, the lighter it had gotten.

“I’ve got nothing against him,” Gianna smirked.

“It’s just he does this weird thing with his tongue.

Clicks it at the most inappropriate times.

I swear one day my scalpel is going to slip because of him.

And believe me, I’m not the only one who complains.

I heard Doctor Emily Sharp from ortho kicked him off a procedure the other day for it. ”

Holly laughed, this time right out of her belly, until she had to stop herself to catch her breath. “Man, that’s priceless. I’m going to have to tell Emily she’s my new hero. Maybe you should take a page out of her book.”

“Maybe I should.”

A comfortable silence followed as they both sipped on their coffees.

Gianna was glancing out the window onto the palm tree-lined parking lot.

Her thoughts were on the verge of drifting like a rowboat on an ocean when Holly said, “Got any exciting plans for the weekend? I know you’re only working mornings, which is the first time in weeks, so you better have something good planned. ”