Back to You
Remington Medical #1
By Kimberly Kincaid
Releasing February 12th, 2019
Self-Published
His second chance is his only chance
Parker Drake wants exactly one thing—to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. Between his reputation as a rule-breaker and the six years that have passed since his first internship ended in disaster, he knows he’s only getting one shot at a second chance. He’ll do anything to put the past behind him and reach his goal…including work with the gorgeous ex-wife he’s never gotten over losing.
All work and no play make surgeon Charleston Becker a very happy woman. But when she’s tasked with mentoring her ex-husband through his second chance as an intern, her signature calm is put to the test. She’s not interested in re-hashing the heartbreaking circumstances that ended their marriage, and the six years that have passed haven’t made Parker less reckless. The last thing she’s willing to do is trust him—even if she does find him sexier than ever.
But familiarity breeds forgiveness, which then becomes a passion that threatens the careers Parker and Charlie have worked for. Can they turn their second chance into a happy ending? Or is history bound to repeat itself
Parker Drake wants exactly one thing—to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. Between his reputation as a rule-breaker and the six years that have passed since his first internship ended in disaster, he knows he’s only getting one shot at a second chance. He’ll do anything to put the past behind him and reach his goal…including work with the gorgeous ex-wife he’s never gotten over losing.
All work and no play make surgeon Charleston Becker a very happy woman. But when she’s tasked with mentoring her ex-husband through his second chance as an intern, her signature calm is put to the test. She’s not interested in re-hashing the heartbreaking circumstances that ended their marriage, and the six years that have passed haven’t made Parker less reckless. The last thing she’s willing to do is trust him—even if she does find him sexier than ever.
But familiarity breeds forgiveness, which then becomes a passion that threatens the careers Parker and Charlie have worked for. Can they turn their second chance into a happy ending? Or is history bound to repeat itself
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In Back to You (Remington Medical #1) by Kimberly Kincaid, Charleston Becker is back in Remington and working at the hospital; a hospital where she'll be forced to work alongside her ex-husband now that he's finally pursuing his second chance at becoming a doctor and is an intern at said hospital. However, no matter how determined she is to leave the past in the past, it seems there's no way she can, especially when the feelings they once had for each other are still as strong as they ever were. Will Charleston and Parker get their second chance at forever or will they go their separate ways again?
What an utterly enchanting, fast-paced, marvellous read Ms Kincaid has delivered in this first book of her new Remington Medical series where the main characters kept me entertained from start to finish due to their intense back stories and the tough obstacles they face to be together such as if they can forgive each other for what happened in the past; and the dialogue was enthralling and had me loving the growing relationship between this couple and the medical emergencies they have to handle.
The way this story started drew me in immediately and had me reading quickly determined to discover more about the hero and heroine, especially from the moment they come face-to-face for the first time in six years. How will Charleston react when she discovers she'll need to work alongside the hero? Will she be hostile towards Parker or is she finally ready to deal with what happened between them in the past so they can move on and be able to work together without any drama?
With the main characters, they're relatable, likeable and I loved how I could experience everything the hero and heroine are going through emotionally alongside the pair and could visualize this story due to the vivid descriptions of working emergency and their reactions to the situations they face, especially the moment that could land them both in trouble. Moreover, the heroine is resilient, courageous and I liked that she gave Parker a second chance because she needs him just as much as he needs her. I also liked her need for order and how she's a stickler for rules, but realized that there are things worth fighting for and that -- sometimes -- rules are made to be broken. While the hero, he's smart, driven to succeed in his second chance at becoming a doctor and I liked how determined he was to win over the heroine because she's still very important to him.
Overall, Ms. Kincaid has delivered a fantastic and very engaging read in this book where the chemistry between this couple was tangible and convincing; the romance was full of exquisite heat and passion and does justice to their intense chemistry; and the ending had me loving this couple's determination to fight for their relationship because they're meant to be together. However, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up nicely and has me looking forward to more of this brilliant series by such an amazing author. I would recommend Back to You by Kimberly Kincaid, if you enjoy medical romances, workplace romances, the second chance romance trope, the enemy to lovers trope, the forbidden romance trope or books by authors Erin Nicholas, Catherine Bybee, Avery Flynn and Naima Simone.
Of
all the ways Parker Drake had envisioned his first day as an intern, witnessing
a sedan-versus-bike messenger that resulted in an open tib-fib before he’d even
walked through the hospital doors hadn’t been in the top one thousand.
Being
face to drop-jawed stare with the one woman he’d been certain he’d never lay
eyes on again, and who probably hated him as passionately as he’d once loved
her?
Had
to be a one in a million.
The
man in his arms groaned in pain, snapping time back into motion and Parker back
to reality in less than a heartbeat.
“I
need a little help over here,” Parker called out, and fucking great, Tess was here, too?
“What
happened?” Charlie asked as Tess hollered for a gurney and a C-collar, both of
which arrived astonishingly fast.
Parker
blinked, his brain momentarily too swamped with adrenaline to form a reply. Focus. On something other than how the hell
Charlie is here in front of you instead of far, far away in Nashville. Now
would be good, since you’re holding a guy whose tibia is sticking out of his
skin.
Well,
that did the trick to redirect his thoughts from her, at least temporarily.
Then again, work always did. “Mike Yoshida, got clipped by a Camry while riding
his bike,” Parker said, placing the man on the gurney and diving right in to
the bullet. “Obvious right lower leg deformity, GCS 12. No apparent head or
neck trauma, no LOC.” The guy’s helmet was still firmly in place. Not that it
had done his leg a lick of good, but at least that would be a hell of a lot
easier to repair.
“Hi,
Mr. Yoshida, I’m Dr. Michaelson, and this is Dr. Becker,” Tess said, but only
after she’d shot a micro-frown in Parker’s direction that promised nothing good
once their patient was stable. “We’re going to take care of you, okay?”
“O-okay.” He tried to nod, but Tess placed her hands firmly over the sides of his helmet to keep him still as Charlie grabbed the C-collar.
“O-okay.” He tried to nod, but Tess placed her hands firmly over the sides of his helmet to keep him still as Charlie grabbed the C-collar.
“Dr.
Becker and I are going to put this around your neck. I know it’s not super
comfortable, but we have to err on the side of caution until we can get a
closer look at your spine.”
Charlie,
who was in street clothes, and Tess, who wasn’t, had both gloved up to examine
the man while a nurse guided the gurney past the automatic doors and into a
curtain area.
“You
didn’t think to call a paramedic instead of dragging him in here on your own?”
Charlie asked, her red-gold brows pulled low in disapproval, as Tess continued
her rapid trauma assessment on the patient.
Parker
took a deep breath and reminded himself that he deserved every degree of
chilliness Charlie wanted to offer. “I am a paramedic. Or I was for five years.
Anyway”—he grabbed a pair of nitrile gloves from the dispenser box on the wall
and slid them into place—“the accident happened less than a block away. Calling
an ambo would’ve been stupid.”
Dropping
her voice enough to keep it from the patient while Tess asked him a few more
questions and examined his leg, Charlie said, “He was in an MVA, and you moved
him without a C-collar. That is
stupid.”
Shock
popped Parker right in the solar plexus. “Seeing as how we were in the middle
of a busy city street and the guy had already been hit by a car once, I thought
getting him out of traffic might be prudent.”
“Parker—”
she started, but he shook his head. As much as he wanted to, arguing with her
was a bad idea for several reasons, none of them small. Anyway, he couldn’t
change what he’d already done.
“Yes, I moved him,” Parker said
quietly. “But I did an RTA in the field. He was alert and reactive, with no
signs of a head or neck injury. He was in a lot of pain and had an open
fracture, and I wanted to get him treated as fast as possible. So, I made a
judgment call.”
If her expression was anything to go
by, Charlie remained highly unimpressed. “So he didn’t present with any outward
signs of a spinal injury,” she argued. “That doesn’t mean he’s fine. There
could be any number of things going on that you can’t see.”
“I know that.” Parker had completed
four years of medical school, nearly seven months of his first internship, and
three of his five years at Station Seventeen as a lead paramedic. He was hardly
a dumbass.
“This
tib-fib is pretty straightforward,” Tess said loudly enough to grab both of
their attention. She’d—damn—already cut away the patient’s jeans to reveal a
nasty break, and splinted the injured leg to keep it stable. “Let’s get head
and neck films to see what we’re dealing with otherwise.” She swung her stare
to the dark-haired nurse who had appeared with the gurney and stuck around for
the ride. “And page Dr. Sheridan, along with whoever’s on call for ortho, stat,
please.”
“I’ve
got the films, Dr. Michaelson,” Charlie said, her eyes on Tess’s very pregnant
belly, and Parker’s throat went tight. But then Tess had stepped out of the
curtain area and the nurse had produced two protective aprons, and Charlie was
shooting the X-rays as easily as she’d order a fucking latte.
“Head
and neck are clear,” she called to Tess a few seconds later, who returned to
the curtain area and looked at the images on the portable monitor, nodding her
agreement.
“It’s
just my…leg that hurts.” The man’s labored grunt punctuated the claim, and
Charlie—Christ, how was it possible that she’d gotten even prettier over the
last six years—softened her gaze, leaning in toward him.
“Do
you have any drug allergies, Mr. Yoshida?”
Another
groan. “No.”
Charlie
looked at the nurse. “Start an IV so we can get some pain meds on board while
we wait for those consults. We’re also going to need to do a full set of films
on that leg for ortho.”
“I
can start the IV,” Parker offered, taking a step toward the supply cart beside
the gurney. Anything would be better than just standing here, useless.
Charlie’s
arm shot out, and even through his shirt and hers, the contact sizzled through
him as if they’d touched intimately, skin on skin. “No. You absolutely cannot.”
“I’m
qualified to do it,” he said. He’d started hundreds of lines. Maybe even
thousands. For God’s sake, Charlie had been there when he’d learned how.
“You’re
a paramedic,” Tess said, clearly on Team Charlie, and also clearly unaware that
he’d tendered his resignation at Station Seventeen to return to medical school
and had been placed here at Remington Mem for his internship, take two. “We
have very capable nurses. You brought Mr. Yoshida in, but we’ve got it from
here, Parker. You can go.”
His
pulse slapped faster. “Actually, I—”
The
curtain moved, the metal loops shushing along the track built in to the ceiling
and stopping the rest of Parker’s words in his windpipe.
“Someone
called for a—whoa, yeah. Surgical consult,” said Jonah Sheridan, who had
appeared behind Tess. Parker recognized him, both from running patients in to
the emergency department for the last five years and the semi-rare occasion
that the staff at Remington Mem came to hang out at The Crooked Angel, where
the first responders from Station Seventeen and the cops from the Thirty-Third
precinct tended to gather.
Sheridan
completed a quick but thorough perusal of the patient’s injury. Parker listened
carefully as Tess gave the guy a brief rundown and the nurse started the IV,
then again as Sheridan looked at the patient.
“What’s
your name, sir?”
“Mike,”
the guy groaned, leaning back against the gurney. “Mike Yoshida.”
“Well,
Mr. Yoshida, I hope you like Jell-O, because you’re going to be here for a day
or two. You definitely need surgery to repair that injury to your leg.” He
turned toward the dark-haired nurse, who Parker belatedly recognized from his
first internship six years ago, and damn. How could he have changed so much
while this place had stood stock-still?
“Kelly,
let’s get some antibiotics in that IV along with the pain meds Dr. Becker
ordered, and call surgery to book an OR.” Dr. Sheridan rattled off a few more
directives—specific medications and dosages, plus a rush on the X-rays Charlie
had already ordered—then shifted to look at Parker, blond brows lifted in
question.
“You’re
the paramedic, right?”
Shit.
“Intern. Parker Drake.” Tugging off his still-spotless gloves, he extended his
hand, trying as hard as he possibly could to un-hear the twin gasps of shock
from Tess and Charlie.
“Huh,”
Jonah said. “A new attending and a paramedic intern. The hits just keep on
comin’. Okay, Mr. Yoshida.” He turned back toward the patient while Parker
battled some shock of his own. Charlie was working
here now? As an attending? Surely, he’d misunderstood. “Let’s get you ready for
surgery, shall we?”
“OR
three is open, Dr. Sheridan,” Kelly said, hanging up the wall-mounted phone.
“They’re expecting you.”
“Perfect.
We can do the films upstairs while I scrub in and get Dr. Mallory up to speed.
Let’s go.”
Sheridan
and Kelly wheeled the gurney from the curtain area. Now would normally be the
time for everyone to scatter, with the patient stable and the handoff to a
surgeon made. But since everything about the current situation was far from
normal, Tess killed the four hundred-pound silence with a long, low exhale.
“I’m
sorry. Did you just say you’re…”
“An
intern. Starting today.” He looked at Charlie, whose expression was impossible
to decipher. “Did Dr. Sheridan say you’re…”
“An
attending. Temporarily, at least. I’m covering Tess’s maternity leave for ten
weeks.”
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