This time, it landed you on the floor.” There was no arguing with Spence when he used that tone.
“I’m so through with this Podunk town and this crappy teaching hospital,” Brian snapped as he glared at each of them and then stomped from the room.
Spence turned and looked at Mo with a brow raised.
Mo held her hands up in mock defense. “Hey, I was only trying to show the kid the ropes. It’s not my fault if he doesn’t listen.”
“Well then. It looks like you’re going to have a new nurse to train tomorrow, Mo,” Spence said as he turned and walked from the room.
“I knew the first night that boy wouldn’t last,” Mo said to Sage as they followed Spence and the other nurses from the room.
Sage thought that John Duncan must be scratching his head, thinking he’d been admitted into a psychiatric hospital instead of his usual place. Yes, it was crazy, but tonight had been pure entertainment.
“I’m sure glad I haven’t gotten on your bad side, Mo,” Sage said.
“Ah, girlie, you’re too pure to get on anyone’s bad side,” Mo replied with her cackle.
“I don’t know. Spence sure as heck gets irritated with me often enough.”
“That’s because you’re a hot woman,” Mo said as she moved toward the exit. “I’m taking a smoke break. Unless the entire town of Sterling shows up, I don’t want to be interrupted.”
With that, Mo left Sage, and the emergency department went back to its calm setting. At least Sage couldn’t say that her job was boring. There always seemed to be something new happening.
Standing outside with the snow drifting down while she tilted her face up to the dark skies, Sage laughed in delight. This was something she’d certainly missed while living in the hot sun of California. Yes, it made driving a true pain, but who cared when you got to feel the delicate flakes of snow fall on your tongue and melt in your mouth.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
Sage jumped at the sound of Spence’s voice and turned to find him beside her. “I’m not playing,” she insisted. “It was just really slow, so I thought I’d come out for a breath of fresh air.”
“Take all the time you want to stand out here and play . . . er . . . get some air. You’re right, it is a slow night.”
“Yes. I normally love to keep busy, but after the last couple of shifts, this is perfect. I just hope the newly fallen snow doesn’t cause a mountain of accidents.”
“Most of the people here are smart enough to not go out unless they have the proper vehicle,” he said, then looked pointedly toward the parking lot. “You won’t be driving yours home. The roads won’t get plowed until morning.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll just drive really slowly. Besides, I’m out of here in an hour. The roads will be cushioned without being icy,” she said as she spun in a circle, causing the flakes falling all around her to swirl in her human tornado.
“As I said, you won’t be driving home. I looked at that car of yours. It’s not fit for the roads of Montana.”
“Look, Dr. Whitman, just because I don’t have some fancy-schmancy truck doesn’t mean I’m a menace to the highways. I’ll take it slow.” She hated that he felt he had the right to come out here during her moment of peace and say whatever pleased him.
Do this! Do that! Move it, Dr. Banks. In the ER she couldn’t complain about Spence’s orders, but when it came to what and when she drove, he didn’t have a leg to stand on. And since he had such fine legs, that was a shame.
“We can argue more about it in an hour,” he said peremptorily.
She looked at him while he stuck out his tongue to catch a snowflake. Despite his last words, for him, the subject was finished. He’d had his say, and in his opinion the conversation was over and done with.
Sage scooped up a large mass of snow and began forming a ball. She was nearly finished when he noticed what she was doing, and he took a cautious step backward.
“Now, Dr. Banks, I would just put that down slowly if I were you.”
“I’m not you, Spence. Why so formal all of a sudden?”
“Retaliation will be swift and furious,” he warned her with a gleam in his eyes that she should have tuned in to.