On Wings of Love Read Free

shortly.” Ruth’s melodic voice drifted around him through the headset.
    He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to listen to her words. But his fingers refused to isolate her from his communication.
    “Okay, team. Here’s what we’ve got. A seven-year-old male.”
    Noah’s grip tightened. Don’t listen.
    “He was struck by a car while riding his bike.”
    Sweat broke out underneath Noah’s arms and across hisforehead. A chill seared his nerves, and beside him he sensed Brad shifting in the co-pilot’s seat.
    It’s okay. I’m over it.
    “Medium build, type O blood.”
    Jeremy…
    Maybe I’m not over it.
    Disgust wrapped around all the other emotions struggling to surface. How could the woman sitting behind him be so detached to the situation? That boy lying in a hospital bed was a person, not a turkey to carve up and distribute to the neediest person.
    His first thoughts had been right. Vultures. Every one of them. Worse than vultures. They were lower than the scum he’d washed off his shoes each summer night on his granddad’s farm.
    A disembodied voice from air traffic control crackled in his ears. His attention focused on the preparations needed to land the plane safely even though he’d done it a thousand times before.
    “ETA is twenty minutes, people. Please make sure your seat belts are fastened,” Noah announced, managing to keep all emotion inside him.
    “Thanks, Noah.” Ruth’s voice surrounded him again, lulling him into a false sense of peace.
    As he heard Ruth update the hospital, Noah tilted the nose of the plane down, starting their descent into San Diego. He eased back into his chair and concentrated on relaxing.
    He needed a vacation away from a past that wouldn’t change no matter how many different scenarios played out in his mind.
     
    Once the plane stopped on the tarmac by the waiting ambulance, Noah unclasped his seat belt and looked atthe woman in the seat directly behind him. He couldn’t help himself.
    She represented everything he hated about the medical community. Yet something about her played on his misguided sense of chivalry. Was it a vulnerability he sensed under her professionalism? Or the fear of flying she so gallantly tried to cover?
    He watched her rise from her seat. The gold cross suspended from a thin chain around her neck winked at him. The irony that she wore a cross around her neck mocked him. She had the audacity to worship the God he’d turned his back on years ago. Noah didn’t have time for all that religious mumbo jumbo, anyway. It meant nothing. But to her, it obviously meant something.
    “Here’s the dinner list. We should be back in just over an hour.” Ruth said softly, her feminine voice cocooning Noah into a false sense of comfort. He shook his head to dispel the feeling. It was part of his job to provide her crew with food for the ride home. He noticed her hand tremble when she handed him the paper. Their fingers never touched; yet he could almost feel her warmth.
    “Okay.” Noah willed the underlying current running between them to disappear.
    “Mr. Barton? Are you all right?” Ruth’s eyebrows drew together again, accentuating the tiny crease between them. Her deep green eyes softened as she gazed at him.
    “Fine. And call me Noah,” Noah responded, but he was anything but fine.
    “We need to get going then, Noah. We’ll see you later.” Her charm bracelet jangled when she placed her hand on his arm. Her touch magnified just how alone he’d been these last few years. He stared in her eyes. For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke. Her mouth opened as if to saysomething else. She clamped her lips shut and tilted her head a fraction before a smile emerged. As she stepped away, her light, distracting scent disappeared with her. “Bye.”
    Noah fisted his hands to keep from reaching out to her as he strode to the entrance of the aircraft and watched Ruth descend the stairs.
    “If she interests you that much, why don’t you ask