She brushed away a feeling of unease as she reached the bakery. The smell of baked bread wafted through the air, making her stomach rumble. The Open sign lit up a second later and she contemplated going inside. Various breakfast pastries in the window made her mouth water. None of them had eaten in almost twenty-four hours and she could deliver breakfast muffins to the crew at the station, as well. She was desperate to see Reed. He’d been reluctant to leave her at the hospital that morning, too.

No dogs allowed.

“Sorry, Diva, you’ll have to wait here. I’ll just be a second.” As she wrapped the dog’s leash around a pole, her cell phone rang in her pocket.

The hospital.

Alaska General Hospital. Not the one she’d been expecting a call from.

“Dr. Sheraton speaking,” she answered.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

She winced, her appetite vanishing. Obviously her father had heard about the emergency tracheotomy. She released a deep breath. “The man would have died.”

“He could sue you.”

“The patient and his wife both signed a release form at the hospital, releasing me of any responsibility for any problems that might occur. They started an anti-infection IV the moment we arrived and the other doctors said the incision looked clean when Tom was rolled into surgery this morning.”

“Tom?” His disapproval was evident.

Instant headache. Stress that had taken nearly ten days to dissolve was back in her shoulders and neck as she explained her actions to her father. “The fall through the snow crushed his C2 and C3. The man was suffocating. There was no time or any other choice. Besides, Dr. Smyth and his team are taking good care of him at Wild River Community. He’s in surgery now.”

“You spoke to Dr. Smyth?”

“Yes.”

“And you stayed until the patient went into surgery?”

“Yes.” Was all this a crime?

No, just out of character for her.

Diva tugged the leash as the cross light on the corner a block away turned to Walk.

The dog was desperate to get back to Cassie, and Erika was no longer tempted by the aroma coming from the bakery. Her father’s tone had her stomach turning for a different reason. She unwrapped the leash from the pole and continued walking, listening to her father rant on and on about liability and risk...

She knew all of that. In the moment, she’d had to make the split-second decision about saving the man. She’d made her decision and it had saved his life. “Dad, it’s a different environment up here. You know that. Decisions need to be made quickly.” The space behind her eyes throbbed.

“Not by you. You are on vacation. What are you doing, running around the woods playing forest ranger, anyway?”