very often in his line of work.
Slowly, she moved her hands along Pete’s arm, elbow and up to his shoulder, and when the man gasped and uttered a sharp cry, her eyes lifted to meet Zeke’s.
“Dislocation, probably, don’t you think?” Zeke said.
Just looking at it, she’d suspected the same thing, but her physical exam pretty much confirmed it, and she nodded. “Most likely. Which isn’t fun, but better than a break. I’ll get the portable X-ray to be sure. Is your arm numb or tingling, Pete? Can you move it?”
“Can hardly move it. And yeah, numb, and it hurts. A lot.”
“How much pain, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst?”
“I think an eight. Or nine.” Pete grimaced.
“Okay. Be right back.” She rolled the X-ray machine over to take the pictures, with Zeke coming up behind her to study the computer screen over her shoulder. He seemed big and unnerving, the scent of him in her nose and the sound of his soft breathing in her ear. Disgusted with herself, she shook off thinking about how close he was, the hyperawareness of him that seemed to happen every time he was near. She called on her training to study the images and think about her patient and nothing else.
“Definitely a dislocation, with just slight damage to your glenohumeral ligament. That’s the ball and socket between your scapula and humerus—your shoulder bone and the top of your arm. See?” She pointed to the X-ray. “I’m going to do a reduction to pop it back into place again.”
“Will that fix it?” Pete asked.
“It’ll be tender for a while, and you’ll need to wear a sling to protect it and help the ligaments heal. And yes, it’ll fix it but you’ll have to be careful not to injure it again. I’m going to give you a muscle relaxant, and an analgesic for the pain, so the reduction won’t hurt too badly.”
“How about I find those drugs for you?” Zeke asked.
“That would be great. Except they’re still in a jumble in the box. I had them perfectly organized until that crazy earthquake while crossing the Drake Passage tossed them around, along with me. So you’ll have to look for them.”
Zeke’s brown eyes met hers. The twinkle and warmth in them showed he was remembering everything about that night, too, and all of it made her belly feel a little funny as she smiled back.
“There was an earthquake? While we were on the ship?” Pete asked, his eyes wide.
“No, no.” Jordan’s face felt a little warm, realizing she was dangerously close to flirting with Zeke, which she absolutely did not want to do. Especially since she enjoyed it too much. “Just a joke between me and Dr. Edwards.”
“Dr. Flynn seems to be accident-prone like you, Pete. Hopefully, not when she’s reducing your shoulder, though.”
“He’s joking about that, too, Pete.” She frowned at Zeke. Kidding around patients was good to a point, to help them relax, but not if the kidding made them worry that she didn’t know what she was doing.
Thankfully, Pete didn’t look horrified, chuckling instead. Jordan asked him for his personal information and filled out paperwork on the station’s hospital computer. She continued making notes regarding her diagnosis, X-ray results and treatment plan, while Zeke brought the medications and water so Pete could take the pills, and was glad he’d come with her to help.
With the meds now having had enough time to take effect, she stood next to the patient and firmly grasped his arm and shoulder, preparing to do the necessary reduction to put it back in place. “Ready? This is going to hurt some.”
Zeke reached to hold Pete’s hand. “Hang on to me and squeeze. It’ll help you get through it.”
Pete nodded and pressed his lips together, and Jordan could tell he was gripping Zeke’s hand so tightly it had to be uncomfortable. She concentrated on manipulating Pete’s arm to reconnect it into his shoulder socket. After a long moment of maneuvering it around, she heard the satisfying thunk and felt it lock back into place. “There! That wasn’t too bad, was it?” She stepped back to smile at her patient.
He huffed out a long breath. “Not gonna lie—it hurt. But it feels a lot better now.”
“Good. Now I need to get you a sling, so sit still until we get your arm immobilized. I’ll—”
“I grabbed one when I was back in the storage closet,” Zeke interrupted, holding it up. “I’ll put it on him.”
He didn’t even wait for her to respond, efficiently getting Pete’s arm and shoulder set up in the sling. She opened her mouth to comment on the way it should be done, then closed it. Obviously, he knew exactly what to do. Obviously also liked being in charge, even when he wasn’t. But she wasn’t about to complain, because it had definitely been better for Pete, and for her, to have Zeke there with them, helping get the procedure done as efficiently as possible.
With nothing to do at that moment, she found herself distracted by Zeke’s dark lashes fanning his cheeks as he concentrated on fastening the sling. At the focus in his brown eyes, interrupted with flashes of humor as he’d say something to Pete that made him laugh.
The man was too charming for his own good—or for hers—and eye candy, to boot. She didn’t want any distractions from her work or her diving device trial, and wasn’t about to get tempted by a guy who was not at all what she wanted for her future. Seductive brown eyes and a teasing, sexy smile didn’t change that reality.
“Pete, I want you to come back the day after tomorrow so we can talk about how you’re doing. Here’s more of that pain reliever, with my instructions.” She scribbled on a notepad, then handed it to him with the medication. “And sorry, but no snowmobile training, or anything else physical that uses your arm or shoulder, for at least two weeks. I suggest you rest for a while before you try to get back to work today.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
After another nod to Jordan and a shake of Zeke’s hand, Pete was gone, leaving Jordan alone with Zeke. Their eyes met again, and the sizzle between them was disturbingly obvious. To cover her awareness of it, and of him, she turned to strip the blue paper from the exam table and tossed it in the trash. Before she moved to put away the equipment, she paused and gave him a deliberately impassive look, hoping to squelch the electric zing she could swear she physically felt crackling in the air around them.
“You…you have an excellent bedside manner,” she managed to say, hoping to break the mesmerizing connection. “I’m impressed that you didn’t even flinch when he squeezed your hand so tight I thought he might cut off your circulation.”
“I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries in the field over the years. Offering a hand to someone in pain is the least I can do.”
“I assume you’ll be going back to the snowmobile practice?” she said.
“Nah. It’ll be almost over by now, and there are other people to help the newbies if they need it.”
He just stood there looking at her, his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels a little, and her silly heart sped up all over again at something in his expression she couldn’t quite define, leaving her feeling breathless.
