You’ll just explain your actions. Simple. Straightforward. Easy.

Dr. Smyth gave her a quick hug at the door. “Stay as long as you want.”

She took a deep breath as she entered.

Tom lay in the bed, hooked to the monitors and an IV dripping anti-infection drugs, a large bandage covering his throat. He wouldn’t be able to talk until weeks after his surgery but he was okay. Next to him, a woman in a thick winter coat, with short blond hair, sat with her back to the door, but she turned hearing Erika enter.

“Hi, I’m Erika.”

“Dr. Sheraton,” Tom’s wife said, rushing to hug her, new tears filling her eyes. She squeezed her so hard, it nearly knocked the wind from her lungs. “Thank you for saving his life.”

She nodded, unable to speak. Her gaze landed on the strand of twinkling red-and-green lights in the hospital window and emotions strangled her. Losing a loved one any time of year was hard, but Christmas would have been heartbreaking.

The woman pulled back. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost him. We have kids. It’s Christmas...” Her voice broke. “You are truly an angel,” she said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

“I’m glad I was there,” Erika said, approaching the bed. “This guy really didn’t leave me a whole lot of choice in my actions.” She should clarify her thought process for them, explain how she’d identified the problem so quickly...but right now, verbalizing how she assessed the need for the emergency tracheotomy was difficult. None of that seemed to matter right now. Just that he was alive. “I apologize if any infections...”

Tom silenced her by reaching for her hand and squeezing it. He smiled, only gratitude reflecting in his tired-looking eyes, and she held his hand tight. She didn’t need to say anything. Didn’t need to explain.

She’d done the right thing. Saving his life and being there now.

* * *

“OKAY, WHAT’S GOING on with you and my brother?” Turning in the front seat of Tank’s truck, Cassie gave her a knowing look.

Erika’s heart raced. She had no idea. Dating? Having sex? Friends? More than friends? And of course Reed wasn’t there to add any clarification to her frazzled mind. He’d had to go back to the station to finish the paperwork and debrief the crew. She and Tank had stayed at the hospital with Cassie. Her foot was broken in three places, and the doctor didn’t know how she’d been able to walk at all during the rescue.

Now Erika was sitting on the hot seat alone, fending off questions from her friend. She should have gone with Reed.