TEMPTED BY HER BOSS by Scarlet Wilson Page B

years old. He’d reviewed him with Grace a few hours ago and recommended he be transferred as soon as possible to ICU. The little boy was deathly pale. It was clear he’d started to haemorrhage. Rapid fluid replacement, both blood and clotting factors, would be needed to help him survive.
    ‘Hands off.’ The nurse stopped what she was doing and immediately started running the cryoprecipitate to aid blood clotting through another IV.
    Donovan turned his eyes to the monitor. His hand was routinely squeezing the Ambu bag to push air into his lungs. He identified the heart rhythm immediately. ‘VF. Shock him, Grace.’
    She didn’t hesitate and set the level on the machine. ‘Stand clear.’ He’d no idea how long it had been since Grace had resuscitated someone—let alone if she’d ever resuscitated a child before—but she made it look as if she did this every day. Now she had the additional support she’d needed for his airway, she was the coolest person in the room. He lifted his hands away from the little boy’s face.
    The little boy’s body shuddered and they watched the flickering blue line for a few seconds. The unruly squiggle, ventricular fibrillation, had shown them his heart wasn’t beating properly—just quivering in his chest. There was few seconds of hesitation then the squiggle changed. One little blip, slowly followed by another.
    ‘Give him some adrenaline.’ The child’s heart rate was still too low but at least he had one. In another minute Donovan would have needed to intubate, but now the little boy gave an involuntary cough and his temporary airway was expelled. Donovan turned the oxygen supply up full and pulled a mask over his face, keeping the Ambu bag close by in case he needed it again.
    The slow heartbeat took a few minutes to gradually pick up its rate. Their biggest concern now would be helping this little boy maintain his pulse and blood pressure while they tried to replace his lost blood products.
    Two other nurses appeared at the door. ‘What happened?’ one of them asked.
    Grace gestured to the bed. ‘Tyler arrested.’ She looked up. ‘Did Jacob get transferred?’
    They nodded. One of the nurses moved over towards the bed and started clearing away the used supplies, while the other checked Tyler’s blood pressure. ‘The medevac team did mention something about other doctor and nurses.’ She raised her eyebrows in question at Grace.
    Donovan caught the glance between them. Tyler’s breathing was becoming steadier. ‘Grace?’
    A little colour flushed her cheeks as she checked the rate on the IV delivering blood to Tyler. ‘I might have agreed to a few conditions for the transfer,’ she mumbled.
    Donovan felt his ears prick up and cool wave wash over his skin. ‘And what might they be?’
    He couldn’t even begin to imagine how Grace had managed to arrange the transfers so quickly. He had visions of the DPA budget being blown out of the window, with his name attached to it.
    He straightened up, because she hadn’t answered. ‘Grace, what did you agree to?’
    She was checking Tyler’s heart rate again. Her eyes glanced quickly over at him then skittered away. ‘I might have agreed to put a team into the hospital at Panama City.’
    He sucked in a breath. They already had another team headed here. Three teams? Working on the same outbreak? Well, that would make DPA history.
    ‘You phoned the request in?’
    She licked her lips. ‘Yes.’ She still wasn’t looking at him.
    ‘And they agreed?’ He could see how nervous she was, how edgy.
    And he wasn’t mad at her. He wasn’t. Patient care came first. And if this was the only way to get the kids transferred to the facilities they needed, then so be it.
    He could make the argument in the director’s office later.
    She took a deep breath and finally looked him in the eye. Her words tumbled out. ‘I’m sorry, Donovan. I said you insisted. I said you authorised it. I didn’t know what else to do. They