Love Inspired Suspense July 2015 #1 Read Free Page B

four to six hours or switch to over-the-counter painkillers. Just don’t double up.”
    â€œAnything else?”
    â€œI would say, ‘Get a different job,’ but I can tell that’s not an option for a man like you.”
    â€œA man like me? What kind would that be?”
    â€œOne who’s strong-willed and sure of himself, a person who never wastes time rehashing the past and thinks he’s invincible.”
    â€œMaybe I really
am
,” Isaac teased.
    The heartrending look in her emerald-green eyes penetrated his defenses despite his strong resolve. It had been a long time since he’d seen that much poignancy and sorrow in a person’s gaze.
    This shy, quiet woman had given his heart a twist without saying a word.
    * * *
    Daniella was in no hurry to return to the hospital’s common areas, where she could be spotted. Yes, her father’s promised vendetta might have vanished with the passage of years but she wasn’t willing to take that chance. As her US marshal handlers had warned, leaving the witness protection program was not optional. Once you were in, you stayed. Period.
    â€œWhich is the whole point,” she murmured. “Having a long and happy life.” It was only at times like tonight, when violence brought her past peril to mind, that she fretted so uncontrollably.
    Hurrying through the halls, she had almost gained sanctuary when she was paged to go back and assist another doctor. The way she saw her predicament, all she had to do was reach that particular private exam room without passing any nosy reporters or photographers who might inadvertently broadcast her picture and cause untold damage by revealing her hidden identity. Under normal circumstances it would not have been difficult to dodge them. Given the presence of the congressman and his entourage, plus the press corps, moving around in the ER could prove tricky.
    Daniella grabbed an extra clipboard, held it beside her cheek to mask her features and hurried toward her new assignment. She was looking ahead so intently she missed noticing a dark-haired figure to her blinded left. She and the muscular man came together with a thump and he grabbed her.
    It was all she could do to keep from screaming.
    â€œHey, settle down,” he said. “It’s me, Isaac. Are you okay?”
    His voice sent tingles racing from the arm he was holding all the way to her toes. Regaining her balance, she helped steady him in return.
    â€œSorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you. I thought you’d already left,” Daniella said.
    â€œI was trying to catch up to you and thank you.”
    â€œYou’re quite welcome. Just doing my job.”
    Before the K-9 cop could reply, she was blinded by an intense flash of light and someone shoved a microphone in her face. “Are you working on the congressman?” a reporter demanded. “Did he really have a heart attack? What’s his prognosis? How soon can we see him?”
    Isaac’s immediate intervention—his arms outstretched and his badge in hand—sent the crowd back a few steps, providing an escape route for Daniella. She held the clipboard between herself and the others and ducked in the exam room door, slamming it behind her.
    Her back pressed against the door. She fought to see through the orbs of color that danced in her vision after the camera flashes.
    â€œOver here, Dunne,” the doctor said. “I want you to prepare Congressman Jeffries for an X-ray of his shoulder and an EKG, just in case his pain is the result of strain on his heart. I’ll send a tech down to take him to radiology. Stay with him until then.”
    â€œYes, Doctor.”
    â€œAnd pull yourself together,” he whispered behind his hand in passing. “The last thing our patients need is to hear you shrieking.”
    â€œWhat? When?”
    â€œJust before you opened the door.”
    â€œI—I didn’t scream. Did I?”
    â€œYou