a good teacher,” he told her.
“And you’re really hot,” she said to him. “I like the way your voice sounds. Gentle but strong. Are you sure you’re not some sort of jacked angel?”
“He’s not,” Miguel said. “But he gets that a lot.”
Asa shook his head, but he had to admit he was a little flattered. “We’re going to take you to the hospital now.”
“Okay. Stay with me, Mr. Hot Paramedic.”
“I will. I’m not going anywhere.”
The gorgeous man who was sitting by her side as she rode to the hospital had told her that she wasn’t dreaming, but she had a hard time believing it. This had to be a dream. They didn’t make men who looked like him. Big, beefy, chocolate-colored angels with large hands and beautiful smiles. Or if they did, they weren’t walking around like normal people with normal jobs. In fact she was pretty sure she had seen this one on the cover of a fitness magazine. She knew she had seen him before. It was probably the head trauma that made him walk off the pages of a magazine and into her life.
The paramedic was really probably some short, balding middle-aged man with a potbelly, but it didn’t matter because he was so lovely. He made busting her behind in public kind of nice.
“You still with me, Hallie?” he asked in his deep, soothing voice as he touched her hand.
“I am. What’s your name? I’m feeling a little loopy. Did I ask you that already? I’m not sure what I’ve been saying.”
“You didn’t ask. My name is Asa. Do you know where you are going?”
Hallie gasped. “Healer.” Now she knew she must be hallucinating. “I’m with a healer on my way to the hospital.”
He looked truly surprised. “You know the meaning of my name?”
She nodded but it hurt her head and she shut her eyes. “Your name is healer and you have the body of a god. It’s perfect. Truly perfect. Did you pick your career based on your name?”
“No, ma’am,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “I was supposed to be a doctor. I made it all the way through medical school and quit in my intern year.”
“Oh, that must have killed your mother.”
He laughed. “It did. I think she’s still in mourning. But she forgot about me when my twin sister became a painter.”
“A painter. Code for starving artist. What was she supposed to be?”
“A college professor, but she ended up being an interior designer.”
“That’s funny. My dream was to get my doctorate and become a college professor. It’s not for everyone. Is your sister happy?”
“She’s very happy.”
“Oh, I love to hear that. You’re happy too, right? That’s all that matters. That you’re happy. Happiness is the most important thing on the planet.” Hallie wasn’t sure why she couldn’t stop talking or what was making her say the things she was saying, but she couldn’t stop herself. This man was a stranger. He probably thought she was insane and maybe she was, but there was just something about him that made her comfortable.
His name had been well chosen. Just his calm manner soothed her. She should have been scared out of her mind, going to the hospital in a city she still didn’t know well, about missing work, and not having proper sub plans, but none of that mattered to her at the moment.
“I like my job very much.”
“But are you happy, Asa?”
He was quiet for a long as he looked down at her. “We’re here,” he told her. “They are probably going to do some neurological tests and a CAT scan. Give you something for the pain if you need it. You remember where you live, right?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was still the same beautiful man that had been there since she had first opened her eyes. “In a fifth floor walkup in the Village that is smaller than my childhood bedroom.”
“Oh.” He nodded, a strange expression on his face. “Is there anyone for you to call?”
“No. I’m here all by myself. My family is South.”
“What about friends from work? Can you call someone to get you home?”
“I can call a cab.”
He looked hesitant and for the first time since she had hit her head, Hallie started to worry. “Is something wrong? Do you think I won’t be able to get home without help?”
He shook his head. “I’m sure you will. I just don’t like the idea of leaving you here all alone.”
“I have to get used to being alone. I’ll be okay,” she said as the door opened. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked as they rolled her out.
“For being kind to me.”
“I wasn’t. I was just doing my job.”
“You’re very good at it. Thank you for that.”
* * *
“What the hell was that?” Miguel asked him as they drove away fifteen minutes later.
“What?” Asa asked, still distracted by the woman they had just left behind.
“I’m used to women mooning over you. It makes me feel like I look like dog food, but it is what it is. This time I sensed something weird going on between you two. Granted, the lady was out of it from knocking her head, but you were weird, too.”
“I’m not weird. She lives in my building. She’s three doors down from me.”
“And she didn’t recognize you?”
“I haven’t lived there for that long. Just a few months and you know we work crazy hours. I couldn’t place her at first but I knew I knew her from somewhere and it was bugging me.”
“And you think she’s cute.”
“She is cute,” he admitted. She was more than cute. He found himself truly attracted to a patient, which had never happened to him. “A lot of women in New York are cute.”
“I like the way she handled those kids. She said go and they scattered like roaches.”
He nodded, smiling at the memory. “She made me think of my sister. I’m glad she’s married now. Before, she moved all around the world alone. Anything could have happened to her. But Hallie said she was all alone in the city. If she’d landed the wrong way or just hit her head a little harder, it would have been
