Her Lieutenant Protector. Lara Lacombe

happy to see her friends had enjoyed Everest’s company. She knew it had been a risk inviting him to breakfast, but fortunately, the meal hadn’t been awkward at all.

      With a final wave at the table, she and Everest set off. He fell into step beside her, as if they had been walking together like this for ages.

      “Thanks for the escort,” she said. It was nice to have his company, if only for a few minutes.

      “My pleasure,” he said. “You know, we didn’t really get a chance to talk at breakfast. At the risk of making a pest out of myself, would you like to meet for lunch?”

      “That would be nice,” Mallory said. “Provided I don’t have any patients at the time.”

      “I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” Everest said. “Hopefully the rest of your cases will be easy compared to last night.”

      “No kidding,” she replied. They arrived at the clinic and stepped inside. The curtains were drawn around three of the gurneys, giving a modicum of privacy to their occupants.

      A nurse approached, holding several charts. She nodded at Everest, then looked at Mallory. “Dr. Watkins, we have three cases of acute GI upset.”

      Mallory’s stomach sank at the news. Everest took a step back. “Sounds like you have your hands full here,” he said. “I’ll get out of your way.”

      “Thanks,” Mallory said. “I’ll page you later.”

      He nodded and turned to leave, and Mallory returned her focus to the nurse. “What are their symptoms?”

      The nurse rattled off the usual symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness, and Mallory nodded grimly. “Any fever?” she asked. The nurse shook her head, confirming her suspicions.

      Mallory sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Sounds like norovirus,” she said, naming a common scourge of cruise ships. The highly contagious virus could sweep through the passengers in a matter of days. It didn’t discriminate between staff and vacationers, so if it got out of hand it could affect the crew’s ability to safely operate the ship. She’d heard of ships that had been forced to cut voyages short because of the overwhelming number of patients on board, and the possibility of the Abigail Adams being affected to such an extent was one of the things that kept her up late at night.

      She performed a quick exam of the patients, to confirm for herself what the nurse had told her. All three passengers reported identical symptoms, which wasn’t surprising since they shared a cabin. There wasn’t anything she could give them to treat the virus, but she prescribed some medication that would make them feel better while the sickness ran its course.

      “And don’t forget the sunscreen,” she said, gesturing to one woman’s sunburned neck.

      “I know,” she replied. “The thing is, I haven’t been in the sun that much. I’ve mostly stayed inside, shopping and watching the shows.”

      Mallory nodded. “I understand. But it doesn’t take long to get burned, especially if you’re not used to being outside.”

      She drew the curtain around the woman’s bed and stepped into her small office, where she reached for the phone. She dialed the bridge and asked to speak to the captain. It took only a second for him to come on the line.

      “What can I do for you, Dr. Watkins?”

      “I’ve got three patients in the clinic presenting with signs of norovirus.”

      The man swore softly, recognizing the seriousness of her words. “Do you need me to start decontamination procedures?”

      “I think that’s best,” she said. “If we move fast enough, we might be able to get on top of this before it becomes a shipwide outbreak.”

      “Roger that,” the captain said. “I’ll alert the crew and get the ball rolling.”

      “Thank you, sir.”

      “Keep me posted,” he said. “Let’s hope you don’t see any more cases.”

      Mallory hung up and reached for her cell phone. She hesitated only a moment before texting Avery and Olivia.

      Possible noro on board. Be careful.

      Technically, she shouldn’t talk about her concerns with any of the passengers. But Avery and Olivia were both doctors, and she knew they wouldn’t panic unnecessarily. She just wanted her friends to stay healthy so they could enjoy their vacation—she knew they didn’t get much time off, and she would feel terrible if they spent the cruise sick in their cabins.

      Oh no, Olivia texted back. Sorry to hear that!

      Yuck, Avery replied. Thanks for heads-up.

      Mallory tucked the phone back into her pocket and logged into her computer to update her records. With a mental sigh, she realized she was probably going to miss lunch with Everest. Now that she had possible cases of norovirus on board the ship, her schedule had gotten a lot more crowded. Maybe he’d let her take a rain check on lunch. If the virus didn’t spread, she’d have time to eat with him later.

      That’s a big if, she thought. But it was important to stay positive. She’d dealt with this illness before; anyone who worked in the cruising industry had experience with it. None of the ships she’d sailed on in the past had suffered from large outbreaks, and she was determined the Abigail Adams wasn’t going to be the first. She would keep this bug at bay, no matter how hard she had to work to do it.

       Chapter 6

      The pager on Danny’s belt buzzed to life. He propped his mop against the wall and glanced down at the display.