How to Tame a Wild Fireman by Jennifer Bernard Read Free Book Online Page B

same routine for Dan on the other side.
    “Good to go!” he said over the helmet comm. “Have a good ride, guys. See you on the other side.”
    Patrick took a deep breath and dropped backward, ass first, into emptiness. He felt a moment of weightlessness until the harness jerked against the rope. It held, cradling him securely in the crazed, hot wind swirling around the chopper. Rope whizzed through the Sky Genie as he lowered himself at a controlled pace toward the ground. The rope wavered, swinging in the open air, then settled under his weight. He slid down, gloved hands gripping the rope, his heart racing a mile a minute, toward that tiny, vulnerable building—­a bull’s-­eye in a target of flame.

 
    Chapter Four
    I f Lara blocked out the faraway roar of the fire, the barked orders and tense teasing among the firefighters, not to mention the unrelenting heat and the sweat running down her sides, she could almost imagine she was back in the relative peace of San Diego Hospital.
    For the first time since coming back, she actually felt comfortable.
    When she’d first shown up with Annabella and Romaine and offered to help the medical staff, it had been an entirely different story.
    “No,” Bill Donnell, the head of the Med Unit, told her, barely glancing her way, and clearly lumping her in with the ladies. “We already contacted all the local medical resources in the area. Massage doesn’t count as a medical resource.”
    “The firemen adore our massages,” Annabella protested.
    “Massage away. But no medical treatment.” And he’d brushed past them on his way to a firefighter who’d just been brought in via helicopter with a gash on his leg. Someone had applied a clumsy tourniquet. Donnell used scissors to cut through his filthy pants.
    Stung, Lara followed. “I’m not here to give massages. I have a medical degree from Stanford.”
    “The good Lord spare me from med students.”
    “I’m not a student, I’m finishing up my residency at San Diego Hospital.”
    “I hear they have a topnotch plastic surgery department.”
    “Mine’s in family medicine.”
    “See any kids around here? Didn’t think so.”
    He stalked away from her, but she chased after him again, followed by Annabella and Romaine. “I’ve done some emergency fieldwork too. Family medicine involves all age groups.”
    “Yeah? What was your last case?”
    Lara winced, but couldn’t lie. “I delivered a baby on a city bus.”
    The medic swung around, his hard gaze raking her.
    She stood her ground and barreled on. “Do you have any idea how unsanitary conditions are on a bus? I’ve done ER rotations and treated burns and broken legs.”
    “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
    She shook her head.
    “Fine. Take this one.” He gestured to the gurney where his newest patient lay clutching his thigh. “If he loses a leg it’s on you.”
    Romaine gasped. “Why do you have to be so mean, Mr. Fireman?”
    He spared her a glance of disbelief, then turned his attention back to Lara. After all her time in med school and in the hospital, it would take more than a few harsh words to knock her off-­stride. She welcomed the challenge. Besides, she realized as soon as she bent over the injured firefighter, the poor guy was in no danger of losing his leg. It was a shallow flesh wound, no more. Someone out in the field had panicked and applied a completely unnecessary tourniquet.
    She quickly snapped on some gloves and examined the gash. “We can lose the tourniquet, it’s not helping anything. I’ll clean it, use some steri-­strips to keep the wound closed, and he’s good to go. He may not even need stitches.”
    “I told Mort he was a freaking idiot!” The firefighter sat up, looking better already. “I always bleed like a stuck pig. Can you get this thing off me now?”
    Donnell gave Lara a wary nod. “He’s all yours. If you don’t kill him, we’ll try you out on another. But I gotta warn you, it’s not glamorous