Karen Kirst - Intensive Care Crisis

She uncovered a secret someone will kill for...

But he’s determined she’ll survive

Reporting missing narcotics lands nurse Audrey Harris and her patients in the crosshairs of a ruthless thief. But when marine sergeant Julian Tan is one of the patients in danger, the criminals unwittingly provide her with a strong—and handsome—protector. On the run, Julian and Audrey must stop a crime boss...or become the next to fall.

KAREN KIRSTwas born and raised in east Tennessee near the Great Smoky Mountains. She’s a lifelong lover of books, but it wasn’t until after college that she had the grand idea to write one herself. Now she divides her time between being a wife, homeschooling mom and romance writer. Her favorite pastimes are reading, visiting tearooms and watching romantic comedies.

Also By Karen Kirst

Explosive Reunion

Intensive Care Crisis

Smoky Mountain Matches

The Reluctant Outlaw

The Bridal Swap

The Gift of Family

“Smoky Mountain Christmas”

His Mountain Miss

The Husband Hunt

Married by Christmas

From Boss to Bridegroom

The Bachelor’s Homecoming

Reclaiming His Past

The Sheriff’s Christmas Twins

Wed by Necessity

The Engagement Charade

A Lawman for Christmas

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Intensive Care Crisis

Karen Kirst

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09694-2

INTENSIVE CARE CRISIS

© 2019 Karen Vyskocil

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Text to speech

The hair on Audrey’s arms stood to attention.

“Hello?”

Something hard and unyielding came up and over her head and pressed against her throat, cutting off her air supply. Silencing her. The scrubs slipped from her fingers. Reaching up, she gripped the stick. Can’t breathe.

She couldn’t dislodge it. He was immovable, her captor, his arms and chest forming a vise around her.

Dots danced in her vision. She struggled. Writhed. Kicked. Her lungs stretched to the bursting point.

Audrey reached up to claw at his face. If she could gouge his eyes—

He increased the pressure, consciousness ebbed.

Suddenly, shouts pierced the black cloud. The arms around her went slack.

Audrey swayed and fell to her knees. A scuffle ensued between her attacker and would-be rescuer. In the murky light, she recognized the stark white dressing on the second man’s arm.

He shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be engaging a murderer in his condition, most likely the same man who tried to kill him mere days ago.

“Julian,” Audrey gasped.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing to read this second book about US Marine Corps heroes. There’s a saying among authors that some books seem to write themselves. This happened to be one of them. From the beginning, Julian and Audrey proved to be fun, interesting characters to explore. I liked the idea of passing acquaintances whose paths might not ever cross, if not for extraordinary circumstances. I hope you enjoyed their story. Next up is Captain Brady Johnson.

Find more about my books at www.karenkirst.com. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter, @karenkirst. You can also email me at karenkirst@live.com.

Blessings,

Karen Kirst

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

—Genesis 50:20

To my dear friend Rebecca Sardella. Your support and enthusiasm for my stories have been a great source of encouragement. Thank you.

Acknowledgments

A huge thank-you to Edelyn Bishop, RN, MSN, MBA. Your medical knowledge and input during this process were invaluable.

Thank you to my niece, Jessica Felker, RN, BSN. You were a great source of information, especially during the planning of this story.

Any mistakes were my own.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

Someone was harming her patients.

Audrey Harris was determined not to let anything happen to the force-recon marine currently in her care. Not only was Sergeant Julian Tan her neighbor, but he was also in her father’s unit. Fortunately, the recovery room where she worked had only three patients this morning, and they weren’t scheduled to receive more until after lunch.