Page 43 of Decker

Chapter Nineteen

Savannah didn’t knowhow it was possible but a week after Mark had made his heart-breaking confession, she had to acknowledge that she was head over heels for him. His honesty and the raw grief and love he still felt for his wife and children shone a light on the soul of a man so good he wouldn’t cut himself the slack he deserved to move on. She understood survivor’s guilt, she dealt with it every day with her patients, but ten years was a long time to punish himself for something that wasn’t his fault.

She wondered how much fear of feeling those emotions again and risking it happening again controlled him and her heart ached for him. Something had changed between them that night and the week since had been beautiful. They drove into Eidolon together every day and she worked on her paper while he worked in his office. They ate lunch together, sometimes with the other team members and other times alone, just enjoying the comfortable silence.

In the evenings he’d cook, and she’d sit and talk to him while he did and later, they’d lie on the couch and watch a movie, but they always went to bed together and he made her feel like the most beautiful woman alive. The sex was out of this world. He brought out something in her she’d never known existed with his dominance and power, and she craved his touch.

The words she’d almost said were never mentioned and she understood now why he was reluctant to hear them. He was terrified and that fear wouldn’t disappear with her words of love, it would intensify. Mark was trying to control the narrative and she had to let him, for now at least, and keep the status quo.

Her phone ringing on her desk, or at least the conference room desk, flashed with Percy’s name and she smiled. She was close to finishing her paper and was itching to get back to her patients and into theatre. Surgery was her life, saving lives her passion, and she missed it like a severed limb.

“Hi, Percy.”

“Hello, Savannah. I need you to come into the hospital immediately.”

Savannah sat forward, sensing the urgency in his voice that wasn’t normally there. Her feet were already moving her towards Mark’s office. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Melissa Evans. She was just rushed in after a car accident and she’s in a bad way.”

Savannah instantly switched into doctor mode, her mind shutting out any panic.

“I’m on my way.”

“Hurry. It’s bad, Savannah, and her mother is frantic.”

“Tell her I’ll be there shortly.”

Savannah hung up as she pushed through Mark’s half-open door. His face lit up for a second when he saw her and she never failed to enjoy that look but this wasn’t the time to enjoy his carnal looks, her patient needed her.

Mark stood and came around his desk, taking her hands. “What is it?”

“Percy just called me. One of my young patients was in a car accident and I need to go.”

Mark frowned. “This could be a trap, doc, I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care, Mark.” Savannah stepped back and put her hands on her hips as she glared at him. “This is my job, and Missy is a nineteen-year-old girl just getting her life back. I’ll be damned if I’m going to abandon her because I’m scared for my life. My life isn’t more important than hers is.”

“Okay, calm down. I just meant we need to get security sorted for you. I’d never stop you doing your job, Savannah.” His voice was curt now and she regretted being so salty with him. “Let me call Reid and Alex to come with us.”

He’d put the desk between them as a barrier and she hated that she’d done that to them. “I’m sorry. It’s just I’ve been seeing Missy since she was a young child. She’s finally living her life how she should be, and this happens. I have to fix it.”

“I get that, and you will.”

In under two minutes, Mark had Reid, Alex, and her in a car on the way to the hospital and she was going over every detail she knew about Missy and her conditions and surgeries and how bad it could be as Reid drove.

Her focus was completely on what she might expect when she walked into that exam room as a troubled Percy met them at the door. Mark kept a few steps back giving her privacy, as he knew patient confidentiality was sacred to her.

“How is she, Percy?”

He clasped her elbow and steered her toward the second floor where her office and the theatres were.

“They took her up already. You need to speak to her parents before you go to theatre. I put them in your office.”

Percy knew that she always took the time to check in if she could, and it sounded like she had the few minutes to reassure her mother that she was in good hands. “Thanks, Perc. It isn’t her parents though. Her mum is a single mother.”

He looked flustered but after the few weeks he’d had, it was hardly a surprise.

Mark grabbed her arm before she walked into her office. “Reid and Alex are checking the theatre, and I need to do a quick check of your office before you go inside.”