Jill Shalvis - Luke

"So, now you're a publicity nightmare," Matt said in his ear, his voice thick with a smile. "Big surprise there, huh? What did you say this time?"

Luke sighed. "Carmen told you."

"I called earlier. She might have mentioned it."

"Then you know what I said."

"I just wanted to hear you say it. Did you really call the hospital, the board that pays you, the idiocracy of bureaucracy?"

"Maybe." Luke rubbed the aching spot between his eyes. "Look, they let Carmen go along with a bunch of the other hospital workers, all low income, all in housekeeping. Fired them on the spot, claiming money shortages. And yet they're helping to fund this clinic with its alternative 'healing' mumbo jumbo."

"Ah. And your sense of injustice is screaming."

"Everyone's sense of injustice should be screaming, Matt. If they did this at your hospital, you'd be screaming, admit it."

"Hey, here in Texas we don't scream. We pontificate."

"I had to do something."

His brother sobered. "Yeah, I know. And it explains why Carmen is now running your life. You hired her to clean your house on a daily basis, even though you're never home to mess it up, didn't you?"

"Let's talk about you," Luke decided. "You marry your absentminded professor yet?"

"Hey, I only fell in love with Molly a week ago."

"Ah. Cold feet. Can't blame you about that one little bit. Love has never been our thing, has it?"

"I am not having cold feet. And love is my thing now."

"The single women in the world are weeping."

"Nah, they still have you."

Luke sighed. "It's a sad day when I have to say I'm too busy to be there for them."

"That is a sad day," Matt agreed.

"Call me after the honeymoon."

"Oh, no. When we get married, which will be soon, you'll be there."

"Weddings give me the hives."

"Too bad. You're the only family I have, Luke. The only family who ever mattered anyway."

"Yeah." Luke felt the same way, and thinking it made his voice gruff. "I'll come."

"Good. So stay out of hot water, at least until this all passes, okay?"

"It's not going to pass for three months."

"I don't suppose you can keep your mouth shut that entire time."

"Faith would love that."

"Faith? Who's Faith?"

"My boss at the clinic."

"Is she single?" Matt asked with the sudden interest of a bloodhound on the scent.

"I don't know."

"What does she look like?"

"I thought you had your woman."

"I'm thinking of you. So… is she hot?"

"Matt-"

"Hey, I just want you to be as happy as I am. So is she? Hot?"

The image of her came to mind; Faith with her long flowing red hair that never seemed to obey its restraints, her huge, expressive, and usually annoyed, green eyes, and that curvy little bod which filled out her scrubs in a way that made his hands itch. Faith… hot? Oh, yeah. "She's hot under the collar," he said carefully.

"She's hot," Matt decided with a delighted laugh.

"Goodbye, Matt."

"Are you going to ask her out?"

"Goodbye, Matt."

"You are, aren't you?"

"Good-"

"Yeah, yeah. Good luck, Luke."

With a shake of his head and a surprising smile, Luke hung up the phone. Quiet surrounded him, and his smile went nostalgic. God, he really missed having his brother around. They'd had some amazing times growing up in Texas, roaming their grandfather's fields with little to no supervision, finding trouble more often than not, but always finding it together, and suddenly, the thousand miles separating them seemed so huge. Maybe he'd take a vacation when this was over.

Right. A vacation.

He never took time off.

Well, he would, he decided. It'd be his own little reward for getting through the next two and three quarters months of Saturdays.

And one Faith McDowell.

Finishing stripping down, he showered, and was practically asleep by the time he padded naked from the bathroom straight to his bed.

Carmen had made it for him, complete with pillows neatly lined up against the headboard and the heavy comforter he never bothered with, all pulled up nice and smooth. He wasn't used to sliding into a nicely organized bed, as his mornings were usually a race to get ready while trying to remember where he'd left his keys and wallet. He couldn't spare the time to make his bed. Besides, he was just going to mess it up again at night, so he never understood the need to waste those extra few moments in the mornings.

But he had to admit, it felt good. Closing his eyes, he prepared to let sleep claim him, but for some reason, his mind once again ran over the day's events.

Despite being so busy, the clinic had run smoothly, he'd give Faith that. Her patients were carefully tended to and cared for with a personal touch he had to admit had surprised him.

Faith…

When he finally dozed off, she was still on his mind, and he dreamed about her healing him. Doing it with just her fingertips, healing him… when he hadn't known he needed healing.

Faith had her usual Sunday and Monday off, and since the clinic was closed, she considered a bike ride, a movie… even a shopping spree. Instead, she made the mistake of looking in her office. Seeing the stacks of paperwork waiting for her there, she ended up working both days.

On Tuesday, Healing Waters opened to slightly more patients than any time since Dr. Walker's public disdain. Wednesday, the same.

The rest of the week went by without event, other than each day showing an extremely slight increase of business, with references from the hospital and local doctors starting to pile in.

Hope among the staff surged, and Faith felt so great she didn't even crave chocolate.

By Saturday, their schedule was busting at the seams, with a shocking number of people asking to be put with Dr. Walker.

Seemed he really was a savior-theirs.

Suddenly Faith could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the day when they'd be fully operating in the black. When it got there, she'd take her first big sigh of relief since using her retirement funds to open the place. But for now, she had a lot of holding her breath left to do, and a lot of writing with red pencil on the books.

Still, the hope that had begun like a small seed in her chest earlier in the week blossomed, and she couldn't contain her smile as she came downstairs from her little apartment into the staff room.

Shelby, Guy and Catherine-their herbalist-were sitting at a table sharing wheat muffins and arguing over which one of the wildflowers in the vase in the center of the table provided the most calming effect. The muffins were clearly from Shelby-their resident health nut-and the coffee was from Guy, who needed caffeine by the bucketful.

Faith joined them, her stomach going happy, but before she stuffed in her first bite of muffin, Luke opened the back door.

Immediately the dynamics in the room changed from light and easygoing to speculative. Shelby, Guy and Cat all looked at Faith, clearly waiting for her reaction in order to decide upon theirs. So she did what she had to do even though she had no idea how she felt at the sight of him. She smiled brightly. "Well, good morning, Dr. Walker."

Looking at least far more rested than he had last Saturday, he nodded curtly. "Schedule?"

Okay, so he wasn't an easygoing, exchange-banalities kind of guy.

And he probably would rather be doing anything else today.

"Here." Shelby handed him a copy of the day's schedule, then checked her watch. "Oops, gotta run." She nudged Cat and Guy, both of whom made a big spectacle out of leaving Faith alone with Luke.

"Subtle," he said when the door shut behind them.

"Don't tell them, they think they pulled it off." Leaning back against the counter, casually crossing one long leg over the other, looking unreasonably gorgeous and edgy in his dark trousers, and dark shirt sleeves shoved up to the elbows revealing forearms corded with strength, and big, clean hands, he studied her with an inscrutable expression. "So what's up? You going to fire me?"

Startled, she laughed. "Why would I do that?"

He lifted a broad shoulder. "Because last week we clashed over just about everything except breathing."

She looked into his light, light eyes and was startled by the vulnerability there. "We didn't clash on our passion over healing people."

"Imagine that… common ground." His gaze held hers for an immeasurable beat, during which time she couldn't have looked away to save her life. In her quest to resent him last week-resent him and need him at the same time-how had she missed the fire, the passion burning in his eyes?

"Actually," she said, "I didn't expect you to show."

"I promised three months."

"Your hospital promised."

"Same thing. I don't go back on my word."

"Even when it goes against the grain?"

"You're healing here. I'm a healer. It's what I do, it's my life." He shrugged, and with a few words, spoke volumes. "I'm here for the duration."

She'd always, always, been a sucker for a man in love with what he was doing with his life. She wouldn't have guessed that about Dr. Universe, and she wished she didn't know now. She didn't have time in her life for this, this… whatever it was that happened to her insides when he so much as looked at her. "We uh, have patients."

"So it begins again."

She caught the slight quirk of his lips and wasn't as successful in hiding her own rueful smile. "It begins again," she agreed.

"Good day to you, then."

"And you." She followed him into the hallway and toward the patient rooms. And yes, maybe she stared at his very fine butt just before he shrugged into a doctor's coat, but she doubted there was a woman alive who wouldn't have done the exact same thing in her position.

"Emma Connelly," he said, studying the first chart.

"Oh, she's mine." Faith reached for the paperwork. "We have you starting with the walk-ins this morning. Room six first, there's a man waiting for you. He's suffering from allergies and-"

"It says here Emma Connelly is terminal. Ovarian cancer."

"Yes." Faith hugged the chart to her chest at the ache his words invoked. She'd known Emma for four years, watched her battle through the vicious cancer with everything she had. There was little left, and Healing Waters was dedicated to making her last days as comfortable as possible. "The aromatherapy is the only thing that eases her headaches these days. She gave up her meds, they made her so ill she couldn't function. Guy gives her therapeutic massages that keeps her muscles relaxed. The pain is so severe that-"

"There are drugs that could help. Fast acting, new drugs that-" He stopped at the look on her face and let out a disparaging breath. "Right. Shut up, Luke."

"She's tried everything. She's at the end," she said softly, her throat tight from hearing it out loud. "All she wants now is comfort. That's what we're giving her, it's all we have to give."

"Fine."

She thought that was the end of it, so when she turned away and entered the patient room, she was shocked to realize he'd followed. She introduced him to Emma, and the two of them started chatting, easily, readily.

Faith watched as Luke charmed Emma into talking about her medical history, giving him all the information he seemed to want to know, all in a genuinely relaxed conversation.

And Emma was smiling… nothing beat the sight of that. Smiling even as she shook her head over the drug methods of pain reduction that Luke tried talking to her about.

She wanted to stick with what worked for her, what soothed her, in what surely were her last days. And Faith had to give Luke credit, he never expressed disappointment or anger or any emotion at all over his advice not being taken, he simply took it in stride, then headed out to see other patients while Faith continued with Emma.

Later, Faith's shoulder brushed his as they passed each other in the hallway. "So why did you do it?" she asked, unable to let it go.

Against the wall was one of the many mini water fountains in the clinic. Luke moved closer to it, watching the water hit the pretty rocks. "Do what?"

"With Emma. Try to bring conventional medicine into this, after I told you she wasn't interested."

He looked at her for a long moment, clearly trying to weigh his words. She wondered if he was struggling to be politically correct, so that his "punishment" wouldn't be increased.

"Knowledge is power," he finally said simply. "And I had to make sure she understood all the possible techniques, scientific or otherwise."