Page 24 of Silver Fox's Intern Dilemma

"Wow, that's a lot of flashing lights," Sophia said, noticing the same thing I had. Traffic was already heavy, even on the highway, and we'd seen three cop cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance since we got into the car at my place ten minutes ago. It wasn't abnormal for something like this to happen when there was a bad accident, but being a surgeon, I was always on alert.

"Yeah, I hope it's not bad. It's on the east side of the city, though, so we should be good." Neither one of us were on call for this weekend either, which meant even if it was something that was emergent, we wouldn’t be called in.

The light turned green and I pulled away, watching two more sets of flashing lights flash through the intersection in myrearview mirror. It made me sigh with discouragement because I knew that big of a response meant whatever hospital they took crash victims to would have their hands full.

"Hey," Sophia soothed, rubbing my bicep, "let's just enjoy dinner. Okay?" Her soft features drew me in. There was no way for me to stay worried or distracted for long when she was around.

"You're right." I turned on Fifth Street toward the restaurant and turned my hand over. She laced her fingers through mine, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that she smiled.

"I can't wait for the sleepover," she said, and my dick tingled.

"Me either," I said in a very suggestive tone. I wagged my eyebrows and pictured her naked and draped across my bed. More and more, I was enjoying fucking her brains out and then talking for hours afterward.

"I mean with Leah." She swatted my arm and chuckled. "I haven't done anything fun like this in decades. I was too old after I turned twelve, or at least my parents said so. I was forced into music lessons and dance, tutoring, sports… Anything but imaginative fun. I am really looking forward to just building a fort, eating popcorn, watching a princess movie, and painting my nails."

When I glanced at her, I noticed how happy and content she seemed, though her eyes betrayed a bit of fatigue. It had been a rough week for us with surgeries back-to-back most days. I hoped her energy level stayed elevated long enough to deal with a feisty seven-year-old.

"You really like hanging out with Leah, don't you?" I couldn’t keep staring at her, so I had to rely on her words and the tone of her voice to communicate, but I knew she'd never lie.

"I think I love that little girl to pieces, Jack." Sophia rested her head on my shoulder across the center console and my heart warmed. "I mean it when I say how sweet she is. I love spendingtime with her. It makes me realize how much I will love being a mother someday."

The sweet sigh at the end of her statement made me smile, but my body felt tense too. It was one of the things we had to discuss, because there was no point in continuing a relationship, no matter how well we clicked emotionally, if our life goals weren't matched up. I wasn’t sure about having more kids so late in life. And being ten years younger than me, I knew she had her whole life ahead of her.

I opened my mouth to respond, hoping maybe to break the ice on that topic in general, when my phone rang through my speakers. I pressed the hands-free button on my steering wheel and glanced at the screen. It was Twin Peaks.

"Shit," I hissed under my breath before saying, "Hello, Jack Thornton here."

"Jack, uh… Dr. Thornton, it's Rita at Twin Peaks. We need you to come in. There was a building collapse across town. They're at max capacity already with dozens more people injured. Some of these folks need a surgeon, buddy." Rita sounded flustered and busy, and I glanced at Sophia and noted the disappointment on her face. She frowned but nodded, and I knew I had to respond.

"What's the ETA on the buses? How many? What am I looking at?" I turned at the next intersection, heading back toward the highway. My black suit and Sophia's cute blue dress would be completely out of place under scrubs, but we had no choice. And I needed her help.

"We have at least five buses coming on diversion, with who knows how many more. Right now we're looking at a tension pneumothorax and a perforated colon. We suspect a ruptured spleen on that one." Rita rattled off the list of injuries highest in priority but continued for thirty more seconds with a rundown of less life-threatening injuries, including a broken leg that neededset and a partially severed limb, which could have a tourniquet while we fixed up our near-death patients.

I had to pull my hand away from Sophia's and focus on the road. My mind switched gears from distracted lover to skilled surgeon easily, and Sophia seemed to take the hint. She started removing her earrings and the hairpins out of her fancy up-do, and I watched her tie her hair up in a knot.

"I'll be there in twelve minutes flat. Have an OR prepped for the TPX right away. If that bus is there in twenty minutes, I want that OR ready in nineteen. Got it?" My mind raced with possibilities and I was already rehearsing the incisions and insertion of the chest tube in my head.

"Got it. See you soon." Rita hung up, and I was immediately apologetic.

"I'm so sorry, Soph. I know how much you were looking forward to this." I drove like a bat straight out of hell and didn't care if I got blueberries and cherries behind me. They'd have to take it up with the hospital and the dying patients. Besides, the focus was probably on the building collapse across town. I knew it was bad when we'd seen so many first responder vehicles. I just didn't think it would come to this.

"Just drive, Jack. People need our help." Sophia's shift from my lover to my intern was just as immediate as mine, and I felt strangely calmed by that.

As we drove, she started walking through the steps of the surgeries we had to do audibly and I knew she was on the ball. They'd have called in the other surgeons by now, the on-call doctor and even Dr. Briggs. For an emergency this large, every available medically trained person would be on duty, like it or not.

We squealed into the parking lot a full ninety seconds sooner than I planned and I slammed the car into park while I said, "Stay in the car. Wait two minutes, then walk in after me. Theycan't see us arrive together all dressed up like this. Go straight to trauma one and scrub in." I opened the door then turned back and leaned across the center console and kissed her briefly. "And lock up the car, bring me my keys. And get your Crocs. It could be a long night."

Even in the rush to get to my patient, I was thinking about her comfort. Those spiked patent-leather heels would kill her feet after a while.

Darting toward the hospital, I took my phone out of my pocket and called Dana. If things were as bad as they seemed, it meant I wouldn't be getting Leah tonight, after all. That would definitely piss my ex-wife off, but it couldn't be avoided. It rang several times before anyone picked up and I was already in the heart of the emergency department when they finally did.

"My God, Jack, don't tell me you're going to fucking cancel on me again." Dana sounded furious, but I didn't know what to tell her. When I signed up for this job, I knew it meant being prepared at a minute's notice to help, and here I was. You'd have thought being a first responder would give me more honor, not this bullshit.

"Dana, there was a building collapse. I'm going in to the hospital." I didn’t have to explain, or at least, I shouldn't have had to explain. This was my job and people depended on me.

"I have plans, Jack. You can’t just dump Leah on me last-minute. What kind of father are you?"

The selfishness of that statement infuriated me, but I was a trained professional and I had to keep my calm. I couldn't let her rile me up any more than I could let Sophia get me worked up sexually. People's lives were at stake.

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