The Surgeon's Convenient Husband
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Amy Ruttan
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13
CHAPTER ONE
SLEEP. I NEED SLEEP.
Ruby was exhausted. She’d just flown to a bush camp at the DEW Line and then back again because of an injured tourist who had been mauled by a bear. They had managed to get the tourist out of the bush camp and to Wainwright, but there had been no surgeon there at the time.
So Ruby had done the surgery. She had stabilized the man and then, with a couple members of her team, she’d brought him back down after the surgery. The Air Ambulance wouldn’t have been able to handle it. The man had needed surgery before he could travel. He would have died on the trip in the Medevac.
This was why Ruby loved her job so much. This is what she lived for. Saving lives on the frontier.
Still, she was beat tired, and very thankful for the midnight sun of the summer. Her internal clock was a bit off, and all she wanted to do now was go home and have a rest. She thought it was morning, but she couldn’t be quite certain. And she was pretty sure there was something that she was supposed to do today.
Only she couldn’t remember what.
“Dr. Cloutier. I was just looking for you!”
Ruby groaned inwardly and turned around to see Jessica Atkinson, the hospital director at Seward Memorial, and her voice screeching through the fog of her exhaustion reminded her of what she’d forgotten.
Oh. Right.
It was not that she didn’t like her, but she was just so exhausted, and she’d completely forgotten about today. Today was the day her husband Aran, Jessica’s son, was coming to Anchorage after his honorable discharge.
How could I forget?
She hated herself for forgetting that piece of information. So she plastered on the best, most energetic smile that she could.
She and Aran had been residents together, and when Ruby had had to return to Canada, which had meant giving up all her plans to implement a wilderness trauma team based out of Anchorage, it had been a huge blow. That was when Aran had suggested they get married—so she could stay and finish her work while he enlisted in the Army.
At first Ruby had been against a fake marriage. She hadn’t wanted to endanger her plans or Aran’s career, but Aran had insisted.
So five years ago they’d got married, and a month ago she’d received word that he’d been injured while on a tour of duty and, after a period of recovery in Germany, would be honorably discharged to his home in San Diego.
She hadn’t gone down there because she’d been so busy with her rounds here up north, and she regretted not going. And, judging by the stern look on Jessica’s face now, she should really be regretting her choice. It had been five years since she’d seen Aran. He’d been her friend, or the closest thing she’d had to a friend, and he’d done her a huge favor.
“Jessica, I haven’t seen you in a while. How was your trip to San Diego?” Ruby avoided asking about Aran. She was worried that he was more injured than the initial reports had let on.
“Good, but hot. I much prefer the north.” Jessica hesitated, then said, “I’m hoping you can come to my office. I have to talk to you about something.”
A shudder ran down Ruby’s spine when she saw how uneasy Jessica was. It must be something bad that Jessica wanted to tell her. She had always been pretty good at reading people—it helped when she was dealing with patients, because not everyone told the truth, and helped especially when she was having to deal with people who lived in the bush and didn’t have much trust for people who lived in the city.
Or tourists who got drunk and baited a bear.
And, even though Ruby wanted to tell Jessica no, she couldn’t. Ruby still felt so guilty about not going down to San Diego to see Aran, even though Aran had sent her an email and told her it was okay that she didn’t come. That he didn’t mind and knew her work was important.
She should have ignored that and gone anyway.
“Sure.” Ruby stifled a yawn and fell into step beside Jessica.
“I know you’re tired, Ruby,” Jessica said sympathetically. “I heard that you just got back from Wainwright and brought in a bear attack patient?”
Ruby nodded. “A drunk tourist who thought it would be great to get a close-up selfie with a bear, and a bear who thought, Oh, here’s an easy meal.”
Jessica shook her head and then opened the door to her office. “When will people learn?”
“Never!” Ruby said as she followed Jessica into her office.
“Have a seat.”
Jessica walked around and sat down on the opposite side of the desk and Ruby’s stomach twisted into a knot. The last time she had been in this situation she had learned that her work visa was ending and that she was going to be sent back to Canada.
As much as she loved her home in the Northwest Territories, the government there didn’t have the money or the manpower to fund Ruby’s big aspirations to bring more medical care to the north. Her hope was to one day go back and have the territorial and federal government see what she had done in Alaska. She was getting closer now, but five years ago she hadn’t been ready.
Ruby was having an extreme sense of déjà-vu and she didn’t like it too much. “Jessica, you’re making me a little nervous,” she admitted.
“It’s nothing bad. Well, I don’t think it’s bad...” Jessica trailed off.
“But I’ll think it’s bad?”
“You might not be happy about it. I know how particular you are about your team.”
That wasn’t a good start.
Ruby was particular about her team. Working in extreme weather under difficult circumstances and in difficult terrain took a very special kind of person and Ruby was picky about that.
She stiffened her spine and crossed her arms, bracing herself for the worst. “Okay...”
“As you must know, Aran has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces after he suffered a leg injury.”
It was a dig at her and Ruby knew that. She deserved it. “Yes. I do know.”
“Aran is your husband,” Jessica reminded her gently.
“I know, Jessica, and I’m sorry I didn’t go down to see him. My work... I had a lot of rounds to finish and...”
Jessica raised her hand. “I get it. I respect it. And Aran understands too. It’s just...this whole fake marriage thing...”
“Has Aran found someone else?”
Ruby knew it was possible. Aran was handsome and charming. If she was a different person she might have fallen for him. Every time he walked into a room she could see the dreamy expressions cross women’s faces.
She was pretty sure she’d had the same wide-eyed look a few times when she’d used to see him, but she’d kept him at a distance. They’d been work friends—nothing more.
And, since she’d been the only female resident he hadn’t slept with during their residency, she had often been paired up with him.
She’d thought his proposal for a fake marriage before he’d left a bad idea, but he’d convinced her it would be fine...
“You’re insane.” Ruby shook her head and tried to walk away from him.
Aran jogged up beside her and flashed her that bright smile that always melted so many hearts. Including hers, sometimes, but she’d never let him know that.
“So you’ve told me before,” he said. “I’m not wrong about this, though.”
Ruby stopped and crossed her arms. “A marriage of convenience? That’s something that’s only done in the movies or romantic fiction. In real life it’s fraud!”
“It’s not fraud.”
Aran took her hands in his and she tried to control the tremble of excitement he caused in her by his touch.
“We’re friends.”
“Work friends.”
He sighed. “We like each other, at least.”
“I’ll give you that.” She smiled. “What do you get out of doing me this huge favor right before you ship out?”
“I’m doing this for you. I believe in you and you’ll owe me one.”
“Okay. As long as you’re sure.”
“Positive. Will you marry me, Ruby Cloutier?”
Ruby shook the thoughts away. She had been attracted to him, but she didn’t want any kind of relationship. Her “marriage” to Aran had stopped a lot of friends from trying to set her up. Which had been great. Still, if Aran found someone else she couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t give him what he wanted.
Can’t you?
“Does he want a divorce? If that’s what this is about it’s no problem. Honestly, I’ve thought about getting it done and over with, but I’ve been so busy...”
Jessica shook her head “It’s not that—and anyway you still don’t have a Green Card. Immigration will want to interview the both of you now that Aran has been honorably discharged.”
“Then what is this about?” Ruby asked, hoping she didn’t come off sounding too testy. But she was exhausted and just wanted to get to the point.
“Aran is coming here to work and I want him on your trauma team.”
Ruby blinked a couple of times. She wasn’t certain that she heard Jessica clearly. “What?”
“He has military training and he’s a perfect fit.”
Only he wasn’t. Aran was a fine surgeon, and military training was an asset, but she remembered how much he hated the north. How he’d complained bitterly during the winter and through the darkness. He wasn’t suited to living up here. He’d told her so enough times.
Maybe he’s changed.
Ruby bit her lip. “I vet my team very closely. We all have to work together seamlessly. Aran didn’t seem interested in what my team does when I first talked about it. He supported it, yes, but didn’t ever seem keen on being a part of it.”
It was a nice way of saying she’d thought Aran wouldn’t be able to hack it.
Jessica folded her hands across the desk. “It’s the only way I can get him to come home. He will be on your team. You have a spot...”
“No offense, Jessica, but I was going to interview someone else for that position.”
“Ruby, you can do this favor for me. I’ve been able to facilitate your stay in this country, and I’m the one who fights with the rest of the board about keeping your vital services. Like you, I think it’s important that your venture expands and that you’re able to teach your services across the north. Too many people die needlessly because there is no access to healthcare or mental healthcare.”
Ruby’s mind drifted for a second. Jessica was right. Too many people died because they couldn’t get help right away. Just like her father. Her father who had taught her everything about the north...
“Momma, what’s wrong?” Ruby asked, peering through the doorway from the kitchen to the front hall.
She could see her mother leaning against the door, her hand covering her face, her shoulders shaking. Beyond her stood two RCMP officers, their faces crestfallen.
“Momma?” Ruby asked again.
Lieutenant Alexander looked at her. He was her older brother’s best friend and his eyes were full of tears. He would tell her the truth. Ruby was a big girl of twelve.
“Ruby, it’s your papa. There was an accident at the mine...”
Ruby took a deep breath and tried to shake the memory away.
This was why she was doing what she was doing, but she was selective about who was on her team and who wasn’t. Part of her didn’t want to take on Aran because she knew how he hated the north, but another part of her realized he was a man with military training.
Although the leg injury worried her...
Sometimes her work took them out into the wilderness, and they had to hike from where they could land the plane. And then there were natural disasters. If he couldn’t keep up, then what would happen?
“Okay,” Ruby said cautiously. “But he knows that this is my team, right? He knows that I’m in charge? The Aran I remember from our resident days was very headstrong.”
Jessica nodded and smiled. Ruby could see the relief on her face.
“Yes, he knows that.”
“When does he arrive?”
“He’ll be here in five minutes. I know you’re tired...”
“It’s fine,” Ruby said, though really it wasn’t. She needed to sleep. She’d been up too long, But she had to stay and talk to her husband of five years.
That thought made her chuckle to herself.
She was really tired.
There was a knock, and then the door opened and Ruby turned in her chair, expecting to see the same man from all those years ago.
Instead it was a very different man from the one she’d last seen five years ago who walked through the door.
It was shocking what war could do to change a person. The jovial, confident and arrogant man she had known was gone.
Aran was thinner, and instead of the short, buzzed and clean military hair he’d had on their wedding day his dark brown hair was longer, and there were a few grays mixed in there. A scar ran down the side of his face—faint, but still somewhat fresh. The cleft in his chin was hidden by a short-cropped beard and his bearing was not so ramrod-straight as it had once been. He seemed to bear his weight on his left and favored the right leg.
It threw off warning bells. If he couldn’t physically handle working on her team he’d be useless to her. Still, Aran was handsome as ever—like on the first day she’d met him. In spite of herself, her heart skipped a beat...
“Dr. Cloutier, you will work with Dr. Atkinson on post-operatives.”
Ruby groaned and looked through the throng of residents. Figured that she would get the new guy. The son of the president of the board of directors. She’d heard he was cocky and privileged.
And then she saw him.
He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. And when those blue eyes settled on her, her pulse kicked up a notch. She had to control herself. She wasn’t going to fall for his charms.
“Hi, Dr. Cloutier. I’m Dr. Atkinson.” He held out his hand.
She crossed her arms and looked him up and down, but she said nothing. Just grabbed the charts she’d been assigned and walked past him. She didn’t have time for any of the kind of games he had to play.
“Okay, then. You’re a bit of a hard nut to crack,” he said, keeping up with her pace.
She rolled her eyes and handed him a pile of charts. “Here are your cases.”
“Thanks,” he muttered, and then stood in front of her. “Look, I think the key to a good medical partnership is to at least be friends. We can be civil to each other, can’t we?”
Ruby felt guilty for being so cold to him. She was so used to pushing people away. “I suppose... I’m sorry.”
He smiled brightly at her. “There—that’s better.”
She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “Just do your job and do it well, then we won’t have a problem.”
“Aran, glad you could finally make it.”
Jessica got up and went to embrace her son. He hugged her back, but Ruby could tell that it was grudgingly. In fact, it looked as if her touch caused him pain.
Jessica moved away. “Have a seat, Aran. I was just talking to Ruby about you joining her trauma team.”
Ruby watched as he limped to the chair beside her and took a seat. He winced slightly as he sat, but didn’t look at her. He was obviously annoyed she hadn’t gone down to San Diego, despite what he’d told her. Still, it was the discomfort he was in that worried her. Military man or not, if he was this stiff, in this much pain, he couldn’t be on her trauma team. He wouldn’t be able to keep up.
“I’m sorry, Jessica,” Ruby said.
“For what?” Jessica asked, surprised.
“Aran, you’re an excellent surgeon, and your military training would be an asset, but clearly you’re not healed enough to be on my team.”
She glanced over at Aran and saw he was finally looking at her. His expression was that of a broken man who had seen too much violence. She felt bad, she truly did, but he had to be able to handle tough situations. Extreme weather...rough conditions... And she wasn’t certain that he could. She hated hurting him like this, but he just wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“I can move fine, Ruby. I was just on a very long flight from San Diego to Juneau, then a flight to Anchorage and a cab ride here. Once I start moving I’ll be able to perform my duties adequately,” Aran said stiffly.
“Ruby, the board of directors wants Aran on your team. It would be in your best interests—”
“I’m sorry, Jessica.” Ruby stood up. “He needs to be in better physical condition. I’m sorry.”
Ruby couldn’t look at Aran as she left the office. And she didn’t get very far before she felt a hand slip around her arm and turn her around. It was Aran and she was surprised.
“Is this fast enough for you?” he asked.
She could see the anger in his eyes. She shook out of his grasp. “So I misjudged your physical endurance...”
“Yes, I’m stiff. Yes, I’m still recovering from my injury. But I can keep up with the work on the trauma team. I can help your team if you just give me a chance.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and his expression softened. “Besides, you owe me this. You owe me a favor, remember?”
Aran held his breath as he looked down into the dark black eyes of his wife and now potentially his boss. When he’d been injured and honorably discharged, he’d been surprised when his mother had showed up in San Diego. She’d never left Alaska—not even when her marriage to his father had been at stake. His mother loved the north.
He’d been glad she’d come, but he’d been disappointed that Ruby hadn’t shown. Even though he’d told her she didn’t need to come, he’d thought they were friends as well as fake spouses.
He’d always cared for Ruby. Always had a soft spot for her, always desired her. But she’d never been interested. So he’d befriended her. The only woman he’d ever befriended who hadn’t turned into a short-lived romance.
Ruby was different from other women he knew. She always had a wall up. So when she hadn’t shown up he’d hidden his disappointment. Ruby reminded him of his mother. Always bound to the north and her work. That kind of woman was a kind that he didn’t want to get attached to. Yet, he had married Ruby anyway.
He was crazy.
So he hadn’t expected his mother to come down to San Diego. And he definitely hadn’t expected his mother to offer him a job.
When his mother had offered him a chance to work on an elite trauma team—like working on the front line, but without enemy fire—he’d felt a faint glimmer of hope again. It had crushed him completely when he’d been injured and unable to go back to the front line, and working in a military hospital was something he didn’t want to do. He liked to be out in the field, saving lives.
Of course when he’d heard that the leader of this team of trauma surgeons, paramedics and nurses was none other than his fake wife, he’d almost thought about backing down. He knew Ruby wouldn’t like it.
He didn’t know much about her, because she never let anyone in, but he admired her tenacity—which was why he’d proposed to her. He’d wanted her to make her dream become a reality and he’d valued their work friendship.
It hadn’t hurt, either, that Aran had always thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on, and for one brief moment in that time just after they were married—just before he shipped out—he’d wished that he could get to know her better. Wished he had more time to bring down those walls of hers.
He had been hoping that their years apart would have changed the attraction he felt for her. Only they hadn’t. She was just as beautiful and feisty as ever. With those dark eyes that seemed to pierce right through his soul, her pink full lips, and the black hair that was really a rich dark brown and shot through with hues of auburn.
But she was unobtainable to him, and he knew that a relationship with a woman so connected to her work and to the north would never work out for him.
Now he was really wishing he had said no to the offer of working up here in Anchorage. He should head back to San Diego.
You made your bed. Now lie in it.
Ruby shook out of his grasp. “Fine. I will give you a chance. But if you can’t keep up then I’m sorry but I can’t use you on my team.”
Aran nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Are you going to keep up with physiotherapy?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m about to head there now, and then on to Human Resources.”
“I’ll walk with you and explain a bit about what I’m doing.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Ruby walked slowly. He appreciated that she was trying to be nice, but it was actually harder on his leg than walking quickly.
“We can speed it up, you know.”
“What?” she asked.
“It’s actually better for stretching out the muscles if we move a bit faster.”
“Sorry.” A blush tinged her warm tawny-colored cheeks.
“It’s okay. I’ve been adamant about getting back into fighting form. I didn’t want to lounge away in a hospital bed for long.”
She nodded. “Do you mind if I ask exactly how it happened? I was told it was an IED, but nothing else. They didn’t give me any more details.”
Yes, I do mind.
Only he didn’t say that out loud. He hated talking about it—but he didn’t have to talk about everything that had happened the night he was injured. He just had to talk about his leg wound. She didn’t need to know the rest and he wouldn’t tell her. That was his business and he wasn’t going to let it interfere with his work here. He was going to make damn sure of that.
“No, I don’t mind. I was transporting some wounded soldiers to a field hospital and there was an IED explosion.”
Cold sweat broke across his brow and he hoped she wouldn’t notice. He had thought he was over the initial trauma of talking about it, after he’d recounted what had happened countless times to his superiors and his counsellors during his recovery, but telling Ruby changed the game, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
He hoped that she wouldn’t pry further. He really didn’t want to talk about it, and just thinking about the incident was making him a bit dizzy.
“I’m sorry,” Ruby said, and didn’t ask anything further. “Well, keep up with the physiotherapy.”
Aran nodded curtly. “I will.”
“I don’t know what your mother has told you about the team I’ve put together...” She trailed off.
“I remember your ideas for it from back when you were first talking about it.”
The blush crept into her cheeks again. “You do?” she asked in amazement.
“I thought it was a good idea—which is why I offered to marry you so you could stay here. I still think it’s a good idea. You’ve done a great job.”
“Thanks,” she said.
He nodded curtly and looked away. He couldn’t let himself get sucked into her life. She was off-limits. Every relationship was off-limits. He didn’t have it in him to pursue one. Not until he got his life back on track.
“Look, I know that it’s physically taxing. You’ve said as much. But I won’t hold you back. I have a lot of expertise working in some of the roughest conditions and working with minimal resources to save lives. I would like to continue that work. It’s my passion.”
A smile tugged on the corner of her lips and made his pulse race. He liked it when she smiled. Since he’d met her all those years ago he hadn’t seen her smile genuinely once. Her smiles on their wedding day had been forced and for show.
This smile—it was genuine. It was as if she understood him.
“It’s mine as well.” She cleared her throat and looked away, the smile disappearing. She stopped, pointing at a door that led to another hall. “Physiotherapy is down the hall. Third door on the left.”
Aran nodded. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” She turned to leave.
“Ruby, maybe...” He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
