Saving Grace Read Free Page A

if you’re allergic to anything?” Mary Lynn asked.
    “Just bullets.” Sean stared at Ellie through half-closed eyes. “Are you a doctor?”
    “Yes,” she said, flashing a smile. She finished packing the wound and leaned back on her heels.
    “Dr. Sullivan’s a trauma surgeon,” Russell explained. “If you had to get shot, she’s the one you want operating on you. She’s the best there is.”
    “Okay, he’s stable. You can take him,” Ellie said as she peeled off her gloves and dropped them in the plastic container Mary Lynn opened for her.
    Sean suddenly grabbed her arm, his grip surprisingly strong. “Wait . . .”
    “Yes?”
    “I want to marry Sara. Am I going to see her again?”
    She leaned over him. “Yes, you will,” she said. “But first you’re going into the OR to get that bullet out. Now sleep. It’s all good. The surgeon will take care of you.”
    “Who’s on tonight?” Russell asked.
    “Edmonds and Walmer,” Mary Lynn answered.
    Sean tightened his hold on Ellie’s arm. “I want you.” He didn’t give her time to respond but held tight and forced himself to stay awake as he repeated, “He said you’re the best. I want you to operate.”
    She put her hand on top of his and nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
    She stood and stepped back to get out of the way so that the paramedics could put Sean into the ambulance but was stopped by something solid. It felt as though she’d just backed into a slab of granite. The agent who had told her to go back to her soccer game was blocking her exit with his warm, hard chest. He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her, then let go. When he still didn’t get out of her way, she stood her ground pressed against him.
    “Dr. Sullivan, do you want to ride with us?” Russell called out.
    “No, go ahead. He’s stable now.”
    Russell swung the doors shut, jumped into the driver’s seat, and the ambulance was on its way.
    Ellie turned to the agent who had been kneeling with Sean. “Was anyone else hurt?”
    The granite wall behind her answered. “Not hurt, dead.” He was very matter-of-fact.
    “They weren’t ours,” another agent explained. “They were wanted men.”
    She turned around and came face to shoulders with the most intimidating man she’d ever seen, and that was saying something considering the monster chief of surgery she worked under. This man didn’t look anything like him, though. The agent was tall, dark, and scary, with thick black hair and penetrating, steely gray eyes. His firm square jaw was covered with at least one day’s growth of beard, maybe two. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in at least twenty-four hours, a look she knew all too well.
    Ellie’s heart skipped a beat. The man could scare the quills off a porcupine. But, oh God, was he sexy! Ellie gave herself a mental slap. An intimidating man who was built like a monument and could melt iron with his menacing glare— this was what she was attracted to?
    The agent who had been kneeling stepped forward and put out his hand. “I’m Agent Tom Bradley. Sean Goodman’s my partner.” He introduced her to the agent on his left and then to the man in front of her. “Agent Max Daniels.”
    She nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get to the OR.” She didn’t wait for permission, but turned and ran back to the hospital.
    Thirty minutes later she was dropping the bullet she’d retrieved from Sean’s shoulder into a small metal pan. “Bag it and get it to one of the agents waiting outside. You know the drill.”
    Then the real work of repairing the damage began. Ellie had learned over the years that there was no such thing as a simple bullet wound. Bullets had a way of doing considerable damage before settling, but Agent Goodman was lucky. His bullet hadn’t penetrated any major organs or nerves.
    Once she’d closed, she followed the patient to recovery, wrote orders, and went to talk to the crowd gathered in the surgical