Feel the Rush: A Hard Feelings Novel (InterMix) by Kelsie Leverich Read Free Book Online Page A

continued. “Airborne student, his chute didn’t open and his reserve went up at tree level. He has a lot of blood loss. The medics gave him morphine.”
    They were all rushing to the ER doors, and it took Meagan a second to realize it. She was so caught up in the moment that she was unaware her feet were even moving.
    “Zoe, call OR and have them prep room one.”
    Not even a moment later, the ER doors were opening and two medics were pushing a now unconscious soldier into the hospital—and behind them was Reed.
    The medics started talking to Dr. Ryan as they set up the soldier in one of the empty ER rooms. Another doctor and another nurse came to assist Dr. Ryan, and Meagan stepped out of the room to where Reed was pacing the hall.
    “Hey,” she said calmly, placing her hand on the back of his shoulder. The soft touch of her fingers startled him and he spun around to face her.
    “Meagan, hi,” he said, almost surprised. “I didn’t know you worked here.”
    “It’s only my second shift,” she replied, but it was like she was talking to a wall. He wasn’t paying attention to her. Sure, his eyes were looking at her, but it was as if none of the words that she said reached his ears. His head was elsewhere at that moment.
    “Reed. . . ,” she said again when he picked back up his task of wearing down the hall floors.
    “Is he going to be okay?”
    “The doctor is taking him up to surgery as soon as the OR is ready. We’ll take good care of him, I promise.”
    He stopped back in front of her and shoved his hands down into the pockets of his ACU pants as he threw his head back. “Fuck, surgery? I need to call his parents.”
    He lowered his head and his eyes landed directly on Meagan’s, which hadn’t left him since he stopped moving. “Can I see him real quick?”
    “Reed, you know you can’t—”
    “Captain Porter?”
    Reed looked to the side of Meagan as Dr. Ryan spoke from behind her.
    “Yes?”
    “We’re taking Sergeant Brewer to the OR now. We will contact your battalion when he’s out of surgery.”
    “Thank you, sir.”
    Dr. Ryan turned and headed back down the hall. There was nothing that Reed could do other than wait. She was actually surprised that he came with the medics at all. It wasn’t typical for the company commander to ride in an ambulance with an injured soldier—but she had a tugging inkling in the back of her mind that he was anything but typical. He might have lost a handful of brownie points when he didn’t recognize her, but she tossed a couple back. He cared about his solider, he was worried, and the sight of this sexy, strong man going out of his way for his solider earned him a few gold stars in her book.
    “Look, Meg. . . .” Her nickname coming out of his mouth reminded her of Trevor, instantly flipping her switch and pissing her off. It was genuine, sweet almost, which made it worse, because he didn’t even remember her. Her friends called her Meg, the people she were close to called her Meg. Neither one of those things described the man in front of her.
    His expression flinched and Meagan realized that her face was now twisted into a scowl. He was worried. One of his men was about to be taken to surgery. He was putting up a facade, but she knew better—she could see through it. She forced herself to be Nurse Meagan, not the ego-bruised Meagan he took home from a bar eight years ago. Her face softened and she smiled.
    Relief rolled through his shoulders as he cracked a smile. Not a full one, but a relieved one, and of course it had to make her want to do the whole swoon-and-sigh thing. “Would you do me a favor? Would you just keep me updated throughout the surgery? I’ve got to get back, I have my company’s graduation tomorrow to get ready for, but I can be back here in five minutes if you need me. Please?”
    Dammit. She was hoping that she would find out that Reed Porter was some grade-A asshole who would make her want to avoid him at every turn,