Page 7 of Rival Hearts

“Technically though, I’m not just a firefighter,” Jett said. “I’m a firefighter paramedic.”

Brody groaned and laughed. “We get it,” he said. “You’re cool and definitely better than me.”

“I’m just saying, it’s better than being a financial advisor,” Jett teased.

“Tell me that when you’re saving for retirement.” Brody stuck his tongue out at his little sister and everyone laughed.

“So.” Becky broke up the conversation and turned to Jett. “How are things with you? I haven’t been able to talk to you much at work lately. Been so busy with other things, but I heard you helped save an eleven-year-old girl from an unusual bike accident?”

Jett smiled—but a picture of that abrasive new trauma surgeon- Dr. Riley Parker- flashed into her mind. The surgeon was slightly shorter than her with piercing green eyes and a messy ponytail, lots of masculine energy, and well, undeniably hot, but also an arrogant pain in the ass. She frowned slightly at the memory, but then went back to smiling.

“Yeah,” she said. “She left the hospital the other day, but she’s expected to make a full recovery.”

“What happened?” Jett’s mom asked.

“She fell while riding her bike down a hill and somehow, the bike twisted and the handlebar managed to pierce through her chest,” Jett said.

Her mom covered her mouth in shock. “Oh my God,” she said. “That’s horrible.”

“Yeah,” Jett said, knowing that her mom gets upset about things like that. “But don’t worry. She’s good, and I have her foster family’s number so that I can check up on her often.”

“That’s good,” her mom said.

“Yeah,” Jett agreed, but she couldn’t get the image of Dr. Riley Parker and those fierce green eyes out of her head. She was so aggravating and had she been wrong, Jett would be telling her mom a different story.

Jett tried to push it out of her head, but occasionally, throughout the lunch, Dr. Parker’s face would pop right back up in her mind as if to taunt her. She was so aggravating, not listening to anything Jett had to say, and putting a small child through a risky operation.

But a small part of Jett also felt bad. The surgeon had been right. And Jett did tell her to go to hell.

After lunch, Jett and Becky volunteered to do the dishes, and Jett couldn’t help but think Aunt Becky wanted to talk to her, especially considering as soon as Jett offered to do the dishes, Becky said that she would help her.

When they got into the kitchen, Becky put the plates she was carrying into the sink and turned the water on before she turned to Jett.

“So,” Becky said, squinting at Jett, “what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Jett asked, playing dumb.

Becky gave Jett her infamous look, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes so that it looked like she was staring into her soul.

“You kept zoning off during lunch,” Becky said, “and it all started when we were talking about that girl who wrecked her bike, so what the hell is going on? Is there something I need to know about?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Jett said, and she sighed. “It’s just that one of the doctors that day kind of pissed me off.”

“What do you mean?” Becky asked.

“A surgeon named Dr. Parker just really pissed me off,” Jett said. “She didn’t even stabilize the patient or get a good look at her before she was wheeling the little girl to an operating room. And when I tried to talk sense into her, she just completely blew me off.”

Becky nodded and gave Jett a little hum, allowing her to continue.

“And she’s lucky that the girl survived, but she could have died,” Jett said. “And she was just rude to me the entire time, pulling rank and all of that nonsense.”

“But the girl did live,” Becky said.

“Yeah,” Jett said, “but if the doctor was wrong about what she needed in her three-second glance, she wouldn’t have. She was too reckless. I’ve met surgeons like her before, all she wants to do is to cut into people and receive recognition, and if a patient dies, it’s no big deal.”

“I think you’re being too harsh.” Becky frowned. “And you’re letting other experiences cloud your judgement when you don’t know that doctor. I don’t know her very well, but I can say that Phoenix Ridge Hospital has one of the best trauma departments around, and Dr. Parker has been responsible for saving many lives that people didn’t think would live.”

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