From Hawaii to Forever Read online

  He’d loved to cook ever since he was young. His parents had thought it a waste of time—why learn to cook when you could hire someone to do it for you?—but Matt had always been supportive of his hobby.

  For just a moment he thought again that it would be nice to be able to call Matt, to tell him about Kat. He shrugged off the wave of sadness that always came over him whenever his brother came to mind, and tried to focus on the pleasant view of the palm trees just outside his kitchen. It was a beautiful day, as so many Hawaiian days were. They could have breakfast out on the lanai.

  He wondered if Kat would want to talk about last night when she woke up. Try as he might to turn his mind to the crepes he was preparing, he couldn’t get his mind off what she might be thinking...how she might be thinking of him.

  As a paramedic, Jack required a certain amount of daring. He was used to running toward dangerous situations—not away from them He had to take risks every day. But for some reason those risks seemed a hell of a lot easier than talking to Kat about her feelings.

  * * *

  Kat woke up in Jack’s bed, blinking against the morning sun. At first she was dismayed to find herself alone, but then she noticed the noises and smells from the kitchen.

  Surely Jack wasn’t making breakfast?

  She snuggled deeper under the covers, savoring the delicious memory of the night before. Then she frowned. The plan had been for her to arrive at Jack’s place, have some brisk, efficient sex, and then return home.

  But nothing had gone according to plan.

  Instead, everything about last night had been a sensory feast: the taste of the food he’d made for her, the feeling of their bodies intertwined, the tenderness of his gaze matching the softness of his bed.

  She’d never imagined that he would cook her dinner. She’d been expecting a purely physical interaction, as they’d agreed: just sex and nothing more. But Jack had made it feel like a date. And the food had been so delicious it had almost felt as though he was trying to impress her. But why would he care about doing that?

  She shivered underneath the warm comforter, remembering the feeling of Jack’s skin next to hers and his hands exploring the curves of her body. Remembering his attention to her, the sensations he’d created, teasing her until her body sang with pleasure. A girl could get used to that kind of thing.

  She’d meant to leave immediately afterward, but she hadn’t been prepared to feel so utterly replete. She and Jack had lain in bed for some time after that first time, each of them basking in the pleasant glow that had radiated from the other’s body.

  She could have stayed like that forever, but then Jack had heard her stomach rumble. He’d wanted her to stay for dinner, and she hadn’t felt she could leave without eating when he’d gone to so much trouble. And then they’d had ice cream afterward...and he’d kissed some of the ice cream off of her nose...and she’d returned his kiss more ardently than either of them had expected...

  And then they’d returned to his big bed. And if the first time had been an expression of fierce need, the second time had been a slow and tender discovery of each other. Afterward, she’d fallen asleep without a second thought. But she’d never expected that she would wake up in his bed the next morning, listening to the clamor of pots and pans clashing together in the kitchen while he made breakfast for the two of them.

  At least, she assumed it was for the two of them. Jack probably wasn’t going to make something for himself and wave her out of his home.

  Mission accomplished, Kat thought.

  Her goal had been to let loose, and she had accomplished exactly that. All according to plan. Their “no emotions” agreement was working out just fine. Barely two months in Hawaii, and she was starting to get the hang of spontaneous thrills.

  She shivered again, remembering the feeling of Jack’s strong arms enveloping her, his hot skin next to hers. She could hear him humming in the kitchen. Whatever he was cooking in there, it smelled amazing. That clinched it. She was getting up.

  She slipped out of bed, grabbed her phone and stumbled into the kitchen.

  “Crepes okay?” Jack asked when he noticed her standing in the doorway.

  She felt a surge of excitement upon learning that breakfast was indeed for both of them, although she tried to quash it down.

  No emotions, remember? He’s just being polite.

  “I’m getting seriously spoiled with all this French food,” she said.

  For a moment he looked worried. “Do you like French food?” he asked. “I can always make something different if this isn’t what you’re in the mood for.”

  Kat lifted an eyebrow. She hoped it made her look like Marlene Dietrich, but she worried it made her look like a librarian giving a scolding.

  She hurriedly let the eyebrow down, and said, “I’d hoped last night was enough of an indication of exactly what I like.”

  He seemed pleased.

  Her phone whirred and she resisted the urge to check it, pushing it far away from her on the kitchen counter so that she wouldn’t be tempted to look at it again.

  “Do you need to get that?” said Jack.

  “It’s work. But we’ve both got the day off,” she replied. “Whatever it is can wait until later, because I’ve decided that this morning is all about living in the moment. And this moment is all about crepes.”

  She popped a berry into her mouth, enjoying the sensation of sweetness as it burst over her tongue.

  “Well, look at you, all relaxed and devil-may-care,” said Jack, flipping the crepes in the pan. “Who is this woman who’s so carefree all of a sudden?”

  She shrugged and smiled. “I guess I finally found my Zen.”

  He spun more batter into the pan. “How does your Zen feel about crepes?”

  “My Zen is very much in favor of delicious breakfast foods. And I’m so glad I get a chance to try more of your cooking. I wanted to last night, but I...we...kind of got caught up in some other things.”

  He smirked. “‘Other things,’ huh?”

  She smiled and said, “You know...like the hibbety-dibbety.”

  “The hibbety-what? I don’t think it’s been called that since the Roaring Twenties. I think my great-grandparents might have used that one.”

  She blushed. “It’s a private joke. A colorful euphemism Selena came up with a few days ago.”

  “You two seem pretty close?”

  “Oh, yes, she’s one of my best friends,” said Kat. “We talk about everything with each other.”

  “Everything, huh?”

  “Oh—well, now that you mention it... Maybe we should talk about how you and I are going to talk about the...”

  “The hibbety-dibbety?”

  She laughed. “Yes, that. What if people at work find out about us?”

  “Well, we should probably take care to make sure that they don’t.”

  For a moment she felt hurt, but then she reminded herself that Jack was just being practical. Their relationship wasn’t really a relationship.

  “Yes, broadcasting this around work would probably complicate things,” she said.

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” he said. “Besides, since we’ve agreed to keep feelings out of it...well, it’s not as though there’s really anything to tell.”

  She lifted the coffee cup he’d given her. “Here’s to not believing in love.”

  “Cheers,” he said, clinking his own coffee cup against hers.

  They were sticking to the plan. Good. Absolutely nothing had changed from the moment she had smelled the crepes from his bedroom to the moment they’d sat down to have breakfast together.

  The Hawaiian sun beamed onto Jack’s lanai just as brightly as ever, but if nothing had changed, why did she suddenly feel so...

  Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone, which was whirring again.

&nbs
p; “I’ve got a ton of messages from work,” she said. “They want me to come in right away.”

  Jack looked at his own phone. “Looks like they want me as well. The hospital’s facing a huge surge in patients, and they want the paramedics helping out in the ER with triage and first-line care.”

  “So much for our day off,” Kat said. “It must be a major emergency if they want us both to come in. Are you ready to see how well we can keep our secret?”

  * * *

  Jack left first and arrived at the hospital several minutes before Kat. The ER was inundated with patients, all of whom were presenting with symptoms of the super-flu.

  He joined a group of doctors and nurses at the reception desk, where Selena was briefing the staff on the situation.

  “This is my worst fear,” she said. “There’s been an outbreak of the super-flu on the westward side of the island, and now people are coming here with flu symptoms.” She paused and nodded at Kat, who had just arrived. “The good news is that thanks to Kat’s great work with the infectious disease team, we were able to develop a vaccine ahead of the outbreak. All hospital staff have been vaccinated by now, which should increase the safety for everyone tremendously.”

  “We’ll need to triage,” said Kat. “Patients with no symptoms go to one wing of the hospital, where we can administer vaccines. Everyone showing symptoms goes to another wing, and from there we can determine level of care.”

  Selena nodded. “I want some of our more experienced paramedics staying in the ER today. Let’s leave the ambulance callouts to the Emergency Medical Technicians. The patients who are going to need the highest levels of care are most likely already here at the hospital.”

  “It’s all hands on deck,” Selena finished. “Grab a patient, grab a chart, and get going.”

  Jack spent the rest of the morning caught up in the flow of ER triage. He administered vaccines to patients without flu symptoms, and sent those with more severe medical needs to the appropriate department.

  He’d been working so hard that he wasn’t even sure how long he’d been at the hospital when a woman pulled at his arm and begged him to take a look at her teenage son.

  It was the first case Jack had seen that morning that caused him serious concern. The boy’s mother said his name was Michael, and reported that he’d had a high fever and vomiting since the day before. Jack leaned in to examine Michael’s cheeks, which were ashen. His face was contorted in pain, and he was holding his hand to his lower abdomen on the right side.

  With a sinking feeling, Jack realized the boy probably had appendicitis. He’d need a doctor to confirm it, but based on the boy’s pallor and the pain that seemed to be coming from the vicinity of his belly button, his guess was that if the appendix hadn’t burst already, it would soon. Even as Jack examined the boy, he could see that his breathing was labored, and he seemed to be moving in and out of consciousness.

  Michael would need surgery, fast... And Jack knew for a fact that it would be at least an hour before any of the hospital’s surgeons would be free.

  Jack waved at Christine, one of the nurses who was also helping with triage. “We need a gurney over here,” he said. To the boy’s mother, he added, “Don’t be afraid. I’m going to come back with one of our doctors, and we’ll do the best we can for him.”

  Jack straightened up. He looked out over the sea of patients that filled the ER and spotted Kat at the far end of the hall.

  “Kat!” he yelled, waving to flag her down. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “What is it?” she said.

  “There’s a kid in the ER with what’s probably appendicitis. Looks like he could be close to peritonitis.”

  “So call for a surgical consult.”

  “I will—but I already know that Ernest is out sick, and Jacquelyn’s already working on a patient with a coronary artery bypass. Omar’s on call, but he’s at a continuing education conference across the island. Bottom line: it’ll be at least an hour before a surgeon can get to this kid, and I’m not sure he can wait that long.”

  They’d already begun walking back toward the boy. Two nurses had already wheeled a gurney toward Michael and were easing him onto it while his mother stood by, looking worried.

  “He’s fading fast,” said Christine quietly. “We should bag him now, because we’ll need to intubate the second we get him into the OR.”

  Jack could see that Christine was right—Michael’s breathing was so shallow as to be almost nonexistent. She had already positioned a bag-valve mask over the boy’s nose and mouth. The self-inflating bag attached to the mask could be compressed to deliver oxygen to Michael’s lungs until he was put on a ventilator and prepped for surgery, which needed to happen soon. Jack nodded and used both hands to apply slow, steady compressions to the bag.

  “I already put in the surgical call, but it’s going to be a while,” Christine said. “We’re going to need to make some quick decisions.”

  Kat’s lips were a thin line. “I did a year on surgical service before I switched to internal medicine,” she said.

  “So you’ve done appendectomies before?” said Jack.

  “I have, but it’s been years,” Kat replied.

  “You might be the kid’s best shot,” added Jack. “Think you can do this?”

  * * *

  Kat paused.

  She looked at Jack and Christine.

  It was her call.

  A year ago she might have refused. Not because she couldn’t do the procedure, but because regardless of her training it wasn’t her place, as an internal medicine doctor, to do surgery. But now she looked at her team and realized she had their full support.

  Christine was awaiting her decision; Jack seemed confident in her.

  If they could be confident, then so could she. She’d worked long enough at Oahu General by now to know that its team could handle anything.

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s get him into the OR. Worst-case scenario: we keep him alive until a surgeon gets here.” She yelled across the ER floor to the reception desk: “Kimo! Call Tom from Anesthesiology and tell him we’re prepping a patient in OR Two. And stick your head into OR One and make sure Jacquelyn knows what we’re doing, in case she closes early.”

  They wheeled the gurney down the hall to the OR, with Jack continuing to apply compressions to the bag-valve mask, keeping pace with the team. Michael’s mother ran after. “Can I come in during the surgery?” she asked.

  “Not during the surgery, but you can wait right outside,” Jack said. “And I’ll be out right away to let you know how things are going.”

  “Please,” she said, “stay with him. I’ll feel better if I know someone’s in there looking out for him.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jack said. “Your son’s in good hands.”

  Kat knew how Michael’s mother felt, though. Jack had a way with patients that made his presence inherently reassuring. She’d felt it herself. In a crisis situation, he emanated a steady calm. She’d seen patients draw from it, no matter how much distress they were in, and she’d felt herself draw from it, too. As Kat and her team scrubbed in, while the patient was prepped for surgery, Tom, the anesthesiologist, poked his head into the scrub room.

  “Just wanted to let you know that his fever spiked even higher just before we put him under,” he said. “My guess is the appendix ruptured.”

  “Then it’s a good thing we’re almost ready to go in,” she said.

  With the patient intubated, there was no longer any reason for Jack to stay, but Kat stopped him before he left to return to the ER.

  “Wait,” she said. “His mother asked you to stay with him.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said, nodding toward the surgical nurses. “You’re in good hands, too.” But Kat thought he must have seen the fear in her eyes above her surgical mask, because after a moment’s hesitation, he
said, “But I’ll stay to observe, if you think it’s a good idea.”

  Kat hadn’t had much chance to see the surgical nurses at Oahu General in action, but it was clear that they were experienced and knew each other well. They bantered with an ease Kat didn’t feel as she began her first incision.

  Her hand didn’t shake, but she felt nervous. It had been several years since she’d done this procedure. Still, there was no question that the boy would die without immediate intervention. As Kat continued with the procedure her confidence grew. It took less than a minute for her to locate the appendix. As soon as she had it isolated from the other organs, she asked the nurse to place the Babcock clamps at its base.

  Kat eased her scalpel along the appendix, removing it from tip to base. A cheer went up among Jack and the nurses as the appendix was removed, and Kat smiled. This atmosphere was so informal compared to what she was used to—and yet a cheer and a moment to enjoy a successful surgery seemed so appropriate to her now.

  She began to close, making careful stitches on the patient’s abdomen.

  “Nice work,” said a voice behind her. She looked over in surprise, to see Omar watching her with an appraising eye.

  “Omar?” she said. “When did you get here?”

  He must have driven at breakneck speed to get to the hospital from his conference.

  “You were about halfway through the procedure when I got in. But you were doing so well I thought I’d just let you continue. No reason to interrupt a great job. Maybe we should get you on the surgical rotation?”

  “No, thanks,” she said. “Consider me a one-time pinch-hitter.”

  “Well, you did a great job,” Omar said. “That patient is lucky you were here today. We all are.”

  Kat looked across the patient at Jack. She didn’t know if she would have been able to do the appendectomy without him, but she was certain the procedure had been made much easier thanks to his quiet confidence pulling her through it.