Amy Ruttan - The Surgeon's Convenient Husband

“I don’t think I’ve ever been here in all the times I’ve visited Anchorage,” Aran said, looking around.

“Your mom never brought you here? It’s an Anchorage institution, apparently.”

“This is not my mom’s type of place. Brown paper tablecloths, crab and beer... Yeah, so not her thing.”

Ruby laughed. “Well, I’m not having any beer tonight. I have a patient to check on when we’re done.”

“Right—this is the patient who was brought in this morning from up near Wainwright?”

“Yes...” Ruby sighed looking at the menu.

“What can I get you folks today?” asked a waiter, coming up then and interrupting their discussion of the patient.

Which was fine. Ruby really didn’t want to talk about her patient at that moment. She was worried about him. He wasn’t doing well.

“I’ll have an order of crab legs and an iced tea.” She handed the menu to the waiter.

“Same,” Aran said and handed his menu back.

“Great! I’ll be back with your drinks in a moment.”

An awkward tension settled between them. She saw Aran was picking at his napkin. What had happened between the two of them? They’d used to be so comfortable around each other. They’d used to be able to work and converse easily.

Of course that had been when they were just friends and not husband and wife. And, really, they hadn’t talked much about anything besides work.

“He’s not doing well. My patient,” Ruby finally said, breaking the tension.

“Oh...?”

“I think an infection has set in. I started a round of rabies shots, obviously, but...”

“Go on,” he urged, interested.

“I’m not going to talk about the nature of a bear attack in a restaurant. It was pretty bad. I’m actually surprised that he made it to Anchorage.”

Aran nodded. “Yeah, it’s best not to talk too much about that when people are eating.”

“He’s in the ICU, but I have a feeling I’m going to have to open him up again and see if an abscess has formed.”

The waiter appeared again just then, with their drinks, and there was a slightly horrified look on his face at hearing the word “abscess.” She tried to stifle a laugh.

“Enjoy,” the waiter said quickly, before leaving.

Ruby chuckled and Aran smiled.

“See what I mean?” she said. “That waiter was grossed out.”

“He did look a bit green around the gills,” Aran said looking over his shoulder. “Remember that time when we had to take those first-year medical students on rounds?”

Ruby groaned. “Oh, don’t remind me. That was so awful.”

“I dragged one young man into the operating room and there was that infected bowel...”

“No, you really need to stop!” Ruby laughed. “That was awful.”

“Well, it helped him decide that surgery was not his cup of tea.”

Ruby nodded. “It did—and he looked just as green as that waiter.”

Aran nodded. “So, who pilots your plane while you’re saving lives?”

“Me. I do.”

“You’re a pilot?” Aran asked, stunned.

“Yes. You seem surprised.”

“I haven’t met many women pilots. Logically, I know they exist. I’ve just never met one.”

“Well, I grew up in a community where for a long time the only access in or out during different parts of the year was via plane.”

Aran cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Up until 2008 the side of Great Slave Lake I lived on could only be accessed in the summer if you drove your car onto a ferry or in the winter when the river froze and you drove your car across it.”

Aran’s eyes widened. “You mean people drive across ice?”

“Have you never heard of an ice road? They have them up here in Alaska.”

“No. I haven’t.”

Ruby chuckled. “You really are a southern boy.”

“So, now you have a bridge?” he asked.

“Yes, there’s a bridge crossing the river now, and those communities aren’t landlocked during certain seasons. See, when there was ice breaking up the ferry couldn’t run, and of course you couldn’t drive across it. And ice road seasons are becoming shorter. Still, there are many other places that rely on bush planes to service their communities. When I was old enough I started to take flying lessons. I wanted to be a pilot. My older brother is a bush pilot.”

“Is he a doctor too?”

“No!” Ruby smiled as she thought of the time her older brother had been fishing and got a splinter. He had passed out when she’d had to remove it. “He turns green much like the waiter.”

Aran laughed softly. “You’re pretty strong-willed. It’s one thing I’ve always liked about you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Do.”

His blue eyes twinkled and she could feel warmth flooding her cheeks. She looked away.

“Why don’t you tell me about your time in the Army? You never did say much about it the few times you emailed.”

His expression hardened and he went back to fiddling with his paper napkin. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“I think we do,” Ruby said. “I’m very selective about my team. You know that I am. I need to know about your time overseas so that I can ease my anxiety about the nepotism your mother seems to have imposed on me. Also, if the Immigration people come... I mean...we’re married . We’ve been married for five years and I should know about what happened to you in those years.”

* * *

Ruby had a point, but it didn’t mean that Aran liked it. The military had been so important to him. His father had been in the military too, but he had been a doctor who worked on base and never served time overseas, like Aran had. It was another reason why his parents had split.

His dad had loved the military life and his mother had not. She’d loved Anchorage. She’d loved the hospital that she’d helped build from the ground up and she wouldn’t leave Alaska for anything. Not even for her child.

Aran understood her love for her career now. Especially since he’d been mustered into the Armed Forces and become a military surgeon. He’d loved serving his country. It had been the most important thing to him.

But now it was gone.

He couldn’t serve.

So, no, he really didn’t want to talk about it—but Ruby was right. They could get into a lot of trouble for what they’d done. A marriage of convenience so that Ruby could stay in the country and work...so that his mother wouldn’t lose Ruby’s contribution to what she’d sacrificed everything for. And that was Seward Memorial.

Aran had done it for Ruby, though. He’d agreed to the marriage because of Ruby and her passion for her work.

“I really can’t talk about where I was. It was a war zone. It is still a war zone.”

Ruby nodded, but persisted. “Tell me more about the IED blast?”

Sweat broke across his brow and he took a sip of his iced tea. He tried to stop the thundering in his ears as his pulse quickened. He closed his eyes and tried to drown out the sounds of the blast.

Pain.

Aran woke up lying in sand. He couldn’t move his leg. He cursed and tried to orient himself to his surroundings. The sun was bright against the sand and the air was filled with smoke and gasoline.

Oh, God.

He looked around to try and find members of his unit, but all he could see was the truck on its side, on fire, and bodies scattered around the dunes.

“Yuck!”

Aran’s eyes snapped open and he saw a look of horror on Ruby’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Pass the sugar.”

Aran slid the sugar shaker toward her and Ruby dumped some sugar in her iced tea.

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You have to ask for sweet tea,” he gently reminded her.