Page 2 of Her Three Rangers
He nodded and looked back at the other guys, then jerked his head toward the door. “You heard the lady. Give her some room to work.”
To my surprise, they filed out without so much as a grumble, but not before each man looked first at Rambo and then at me.
The message was clear.
Don’t mess this up.
“Okay,” I said, once we were alone. “You can help me move Rambo back to the operating room. We’ll roll this exam table right back to it. I can X-ray him from there and then I’ll probably need to perform surgery right away.”
“And you’ll let me stay by his side for all of that?” Green Eyes sounded incredulous, and for good reason. There was no way I could let him stay for surgery, no matter how badly I might have felt for him.
“No, but I’ll give you about ten minutes alone with him between X-rays and surgery.” I paused, then gave him what I hoped would come across as a sympathetic look. “Rambo is a fighter. He’s fighting right now. I see it in his eyes, and I can see it in his spirit. He hasn’t given up yet, and I’m not about to, either… but if you’re a praying man, now would be the time.”
He gave me a grim nod and looked down at his dog. “You’re gonna make it, buddy. The doc won’t let us down. I promise.”
My heart broke a little as he kissed Rambo on the top of the head and then looked at me with determination in his eyes.
“Don’t make me a liar, Dr. Black,” he said. “This dog is everything to me.”
I didn’t answer as I unlocked the wheels on the table to roll it back to the X-ray machine.
What could I say that hadn’t already been said?
I would do my very best to keep his promise. I couldn’t even think about the alternative.
Later…
I slumped down into my office chair and put my head in my hands, grimacing at the strong smell of sanitizer that still clung to my skin. I’d barely had a chance to close my eyes and try to center my thoughts before I heard a faint knock on the door.
Jenny didn’t wait for me to answer. She knew the routine.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice just above a whisper as she shot me a sympathetic look. “I know you probably need a few minutes, but…”
“They’re waiting for me,” I said, sighing. “I know.”
She nodded. “The main one—I think I heard one of the guys call him Ty—has been coming up to the desk to ask if I’ve heard anything just about every five minutes.” Her brows knitted together. “I wish I could have told him I was just as anxious as he was, but all I could do was ask him to stay patient.”
Ty.
I pictured the man with the striking green eyes again. Ty. For some reason, I wouldn’t have guessed that to be his name. Ty sounded like an accountant or a real estate agent to me—and the brooding, tattooed, muscular man waiting in the other room was definitely neithe
r of those things.
Still, the more I thought about it, the more it suited him.
Ty.
Ty with the green eyes.
“He doesn’t strike me as the patient type,” I mused, smoothing back my hair and patting the messy bun that had been much tighter just a few hours ago. “But I can’t say I blame him. It’s his dog. His life.”
Jenny nodded again, but she didn’t need to say anything else. I was already standing and walking around my desk to join her at the door.
“If you need a few more minutes, I can—”
“No,” I said, cutting her off with a weary smile. “I’m good. I don’t want to keep Ty waiting.”
“Or the rest of them…” she said, under her breath.