9781631052347OnCallKenyan by M. O. Kenyan

stopped him. He looked at
her closely. Moving toward her, he saw her turn, her arm falling lifelessly off
the bed. She sighed again, and this time AJ realized she was fast asleep.
    His
insides lurched as anger boiled within him. He turned toward Lyle but all he could
see was his lab coat as he made his escape. But AJ wasn’t going to let him get
away with whatever he was doing. He didn’t even want to think about what Lyle
was doing. He chased after Lyle in a murderous pursuit. In just a few strides
his large arm knocked Lyle down to the floor.
    The
fear and panic in Lyle’s eyes fed AJ’s anger and hunger for blood. He picked
him off the floor only to drive him back with a punch.
    “What
were you doing?”
    “Nothing!”
He squealed as he crawled away.
    “I know
what I saw.”
    “And
what was that?” Lyle challenged him. “I was just checking she was all right.”
    “You
were on top of her.” He growled through clenched teeth.
    “Maybe
she just wanted me and you are jealous.”
    “She’s
asleep!” AJ watched Lyle scramble to his feet. He threw a punch and his fist
landed squarely on Lyle’s jaw. He smirked and growled his approval of the sight
of Lyle’s bleeding lip. He put another punch on Lyle’s nose. The sight of blood
drove his ruthless anger, and he wanted to rearrange his pretty face.
    Just as
he was about to launch another assault, AJ felt the weight of three men on him.
He threw them off and stalked his prey. But the sight of the chief of staff
halted him. AJ watched as a victorious smirk twisted Lyle’s mouth. He wasn’t
going to win this time.
    “Sir, I found Dr. Lyle—”
    “Dr.
Ross is jealous about my relationship with Dr. Henry,” Lyle cut in.
    “That
is why I hate in-house romance!” The chief of staff bellowed “I don’t care who
is screwing who!” With more control, he continued, “Dr. Ross, you need to get
home and get some sleep. Those hands are for performing surgeries, not for
beating up people. Soon they are going to be the most expensive hands in this
hospital, so you take care of them. I don’t want to see you here until Monday.
You can pass the message to Dr. Henry. You two did a great job, and you make a
great team.”
    “Yes,
sir.” AJ managed to mumble a reply.
    When
the crowd dispersed there were just him and Lyle. AJ could feel the urge to
kick his ass come over him again. But he couldn’t. Somehow he was going to get
Lyle kicked out of the hospital…he just didn’t know how.
    “If you
tell anyone what you saw, I’ll kick Katherine off my rotation. I’ll make her
seem so useless no one in this hospital is going to touch her. She won’t get a
fellowship and her career will be in the toilet.”
    AJ
didn’t put it past him to kill a patient to get his way. The past two days were
proof enough. He had put two surgeons in back-to-back surgeries, endangering
the life of at least one patient. AJ made a mad rush to the on-call room. He
didn’t bother waking Katherine up. Instead, he gathered her in his arms and
headed for their waiting cab.
    When
they got home, AJ couldn’t master the strength to put Katherine in her own bed.
Instead he changed her out of her scrubs and into one of his T-shirts. He put
on a pair of cotton pants and lay next to her. He pulled her body into his, and
molded his to the curve of hers. With his arms around her he slowly drifted to
sleep.
    “I’ll
never let anyone hurt you,” he swore to her.
     
    * * *
*
     
    Katherine
opened her eyes to a different world. She was happy, and how could she not be.
Her fingers traced the thick vein on AJ’s arms. He had trapped her against him,
holding her tight around her waist while his other arm cradled her head. She
turned in his arms and came face to face with his strong chest. She like
feeling so tiny compared to him. It made her feel protected and somehow, almost
loved.
    She
rested her hand on his chest, and when that wasn’t enough, she kissed him. That
earned her a sigh and a smile. Her