Page 4 of Her Grumpy Doctor

I sat up straight. My mind soared into overdrive. What the hell was happening? “Of course, I’ll be right there.”

An allergic reaction? How?

I prescribed her the same medication she always took.

Did I not input it correctly when I sent it to the pharmacy?

I quickly called the teenage girl who babysat for me on occasion and offered her double to just come sit here while the kids were asleep. Thankfully, she arrived in less than ten minutes, and I was out the door and on the road, my white-knuckle grip squeezing the steering wheel.

If anything happened to Raelynn, I’d never forgive myself.

CHAPTER THREE

Raelynn

My head feltheavy when I tried to lift it off the pillow, and a wave of dizziness hit me sideways. Confusion clouded my brain, and I tried to get a sense of where I was. My eyes scanned the sterile-looking room, the beeping machines, and the loud activity behind the closed door.

A hospital. I was in a hospital. What the fuck happened?

My skin tingled with itchiness. I lifted my head off the pillow, and when I looked down at my arms, they were covered in red welts. More dizziness ensued, and a wave of nausea washed over me. I groaned and lay back down, regretting lifting my head in the first place.

I closed my eyes, but the spins were still there. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I sat up quickly, grabbed the bucket beside my bed, and hurled, my empty stomach managing only to dry heave.

Between rounds of gagging, I didn’t hear the door open or see Dr. Walker inside, but as soon as he was by my bedside, I shrieked. “No, no, please. Please, just go away. I don’t want you seeing me like this.”

He leaned down and gathered my hair with one hand, holding it away from my face. He rubbed my back with the other. “It’s normal not to feel well after what happened. It’ll fade.”

“I don’t even know what happened!” I cried before setting the bucket down and sitting back up in bed. Dr. Walker let go of my hair and took a step backward. He handed me a cloth from a drawer next to the bed. He then poured me a cup of water from the pitcher on the rolling bedside table.

“You had a severe allergic reaction to a medication, also known as anaphylaxis. Thank God the ambulance was nearby when you called emergency services, or else it could’ve gone a lot worse.”

I stared at him in shock. “An allergic reaction? But I took the medication I always do.”

“Did you start the new prescription from the pharmacy?”

“Yes, I grabbed it on my way home from work. Took it before bed, like normal, and then—” I gasped, choking on the words in my throat. “Wait, I remember now. It happened so quickly. I started itching uncontrollably and felt like I couldn’t breathe. But how? How is this possible?”

“Our bodies change over time. New allergies can arise. The doctors here are running tests and reaching out to the pharmacy. We’ll figure it out. You’re in good hands,” Dr. Walker said. He stood at the end of my bed, still looking sexy as all hell in his tight khaki pants, button-down shirt, and white doctor coat. His beard grew out a tiny bit, almost as if the beard had its own five o’clock shadow.

“Your hands?”

He cleared his throat. “Yes. Along with the doctors here.”

I sipped my water and watched him closely. “I don’t know if I should trust you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, aren’t I here because of something you prescribed me?”

Dr. Walker’s eyes darkened, and a smirk played on his lips. “All I did was prescribe the same birth control pill you’ve been taking for years. That’s why we need to investigate what happened.” His dark brown eyes pierced my soul. I forgot about how sick I felt, the dizziness and nausea fading away as we held each other’s gaze.

I opened my mouth to ask him his first name when the door opened and in walked two nurses. “Oh, Dr. Walker, hello, I didn’t realize you were still here. You should head home and get some rest. We’ve got a good team on staff today. How are you feeling, Raelynn?”

My two nurses, Leanne and Paulette, came up beside me and began checking machines, taking vitals, and typing into the laptop on wheels they kept in the room. But all I could focus on was what Leanne said.

Still here? Go home and get some rest? Just how long had he been here?

Dr. Walker stood off to the side, but his eyes never strayed. I wondered if he was going to leave or wait until the nurses disappeared.