Lured To The Bear Commune 2: Book 2 of "Kodiak Commune"

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

?Are you all right??

Miranda suddenly realized that she?d been staring at the man, open- mouthed.

The doctor stood in front of her, and from what she could gather, he?d just asked her a question. But, she couldn?t recall any words sinking in to her head.

Heat rose in her face. All she?d ever wanted to do was make a good impression and now he was probably thinking she had a deficit of brain cells.

Miranda shook herself internally and summoned her top student skills. She took a deep breath, straightened her back and smiled brightly.

?Yes, doctor, how may I help you?? she said in an even, calm voice as if he?d just walked up to her and hadn?t already said something ? whatever it was. It was a knee-jerk reaction, her nurse?s training kicking in. Respect the doctor. Feed their enormous egos. Always, always stand by to assist.

His eyes twinkled, and a smile tugged at his lips.

?So I take it, you are okay? Miranda Zane of 5215 Brookhurst Lane??

It wasn?t a question. He knew. She wasn?t sure if that should please her or piss her off. So clinical of him to remember her address as well as her name. It meant nothing. Nothing at all. He probably just had a photographic memory, as many doctors did. It didn?t mean anything else.

?Why don?t you come back with me in the Jeep??

?All right,? she said, or tried to say?but her tongue seemed too thick in her mouth, and the words came out more like, ?Al vi ht.?

Miranda suddenly didn?t feel so good. The world seemed to swim around her. She felt dizzy and knew in an instant that she was suffering from dehydration, and possibly malnutrition from lack of food, or maybe it was the altitude.

The passenger van sped away, and she reached out for something to hold onto.

?Miranda, are you all right?? the doctor asked, taking her arm.

?What?s the altitude here?? she slurred.

The next thing she remembered was how dark brown the rich loamy soil looked as she fell towards it at a sickening pace. Something caught her before she could hit it, and then she passed out.

Her next memory was of waking up to the feel of bouncing over a bumpy road. Was she back on the bus? No, this was much worse than the bus. This vehicle had no shock absorbers, and her hair was flying into her face. She tried to reach for some hair that was sticking to her lips, but there was something holding her arms in place.

She opened her eyes a crack and knew at once that she was in the Jeep. Something around her waist moved, and she let out a yelp of surprise. She was sitting on someone?s lap, and that person had his arms wrapped around her.

Her eyes bulged as she made out the driver of the jeep. It wasn?t the sexy doctor driving the jeep, this time, it was her bus driver Mitchell, which meant she was sitting on the handsome doctor?s lap.

?Let me go,? she said.

?Just relax, we?re almost there.?