Prescription for Love Read online

  Table of Contents

  Synopsis

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  By Radclyffe

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  Synopsis

  Flannery Rivers is content to let her sister Harper carry on the family dynasty—at the Rivers hospital where they both work and on the home front. Now that Harper is settled and soon to be happily married, Flannery can ease back into her life of casual flirtations and find all the excitement she needs in the ER. She’s even got her next playmate all lined up, or so she thinks.

  Abigail Remy is a city girl who accepts a position at the imperiled country hospital in the hope of finding a stable, safe community for her teenaged trans son. Unfortunately, when she arrives to work, she discovers the current ER chief is less than happy to be replaced by a fresh-out-of-residency newcomer.

  Add unexpected attraction to the incendiary mix of city and country, fire and ice, tradition and change—and the prescription is combustible.

  Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series

  The Midnight Hunt

  RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  “Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write

  “Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt, she mixes high levels of sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multi-character storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online

  “The Midnight Hunt has a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write

  “Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire/werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online

  “Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews

  Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction

  2013 RWA/New England Bean Pot award winner for contemporary romance Crossroads “will draw the reader in and make her heart ache, willing the two main characters to find love and a life together. It’s a story that lingers long after coming to ‘the end.’”—Lambda Literary

  In 2012 RWA/FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary

  Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in many, similar anthologies…well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine

  2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write

  In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online

  Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs

  Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader

  Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer

  Lambda Literary Award finalist Turn Back Time “is filled with wonderful love scenes, which are both tender and hot.”—MegaScene

  Prescription for Love

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Prescription for Love

  © 2015 By Radclyffe. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-571-8

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: November 2015

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Ruth Sternglantz and Stacia Seama
n

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  By Radclyffe

  Romances

  Innocent Hearts

  Promising Hearts

  Love’s Melody Lost

  Love’s Tender Warriors

  Tomorrow’s Promise

  Love’s Masquerade

  shadowland

  Passion’s Bright Fury

  Fated Love

  Turn Back Time

  When Dreams Tremble

  The Lonely Hearts Club

  Night Call

  Secrets in the Stone

  Desire by Starlight

  Crossroads

  Homestead

  Against Doctor’s Orders

  Prescription for Love

  Honor Series

  Above All, Honor

  Honor Bound

  Love & Honor

  Honor Guards

  Honor Reclaimed

  Honor Under Siege

  Word of Honor

  Code of Honor

  Price of Honor

  Justice Series

  A Matter of Trust (prequel)

  Shield of Justice

  In Pursuit of Justice

  Justice in the Shadows

  Justice Served

  Justice For All

  The Provincetown Tales

  Safe Harbor

  Beyond the Breakwater

  Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

  Storms of Change

  Winds of Fortune

  Returning Tides

  Sheltering Dunes

  First Responders Novels

  Trauma Alert

  Firestorm

  Oath of Honor

  Taking Fire

  Short Fiction

  Collected Stories by Radclyffe

  Erotic Interludes: Change of Pace

  Radical Encounters

  Edited by Radclyffe:

  Best Lesbian Romance 2009-2014

  Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds.

  Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments

  Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love

  Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions

  Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games

  Romantic Interludes 1: Discovery

  Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets

  Breathless: Tales of Celebration

  Women of the Dark Streets

  Amore and More: Love Everafter

  Myth & Magic: Queer Fairy Tales

  By L.L. Raand

  Midnight Hunters

  The Midnight Hunt

  Blood Hunt

  Night Hunt

  The Lone Hunt

  The Magic Hunt

  Shadow Hunt

  Acknowledgments

  Like a lot of teenagers (especially those who don’t quite fit for one reason or another), I couldn’t wait to leave home, get to college, and be myself. That road took me a few states away from my small upstate New York village to Philadelphia and a busy career in surgery I enjoyed (mostly). I’ve been back almost ten years this December, thirty miles from where I grew up—living on a farm, no less. Last night I went a few miles down the road to the county fair, the very same one my parents took me to every single summer when I was a kid. The fair is still one of my favorite summer events and I still eat too much awful wonderful fair food. I just finished this book a few weeks ago, and everything I love about living here is in it—the sights, the sounds, the unpredictable weather, the beauty, and quite a few of the people. Nowhere is perfect, and every community has problems, but I wouldn’t want to live or work anywhere else. I do wish sometimes I could have been a doctor at the Rivers back when it was first built in the early 1900s—but for that there’s always fiction. I hope you enjoy the Rivers community as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

  Many thanks go to: senior editor Sandy Lowe for shouldering much of the important daily BSB work so I can stay on deadline, editor Ruth Sternglantz for a keen ear and knowing eye, editor Stacia Seaman for amazing “catches” books after book, Sheri Halal for a super cover, and my first readers Paula, Eva, and Connie for encouragement and inspiration.

  And as always, thanks to Lee for being her. Amo te.

  To Lee, for making life a surprise

  Chapter One

  Abby studied Blake’s brooding profile and feared she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. A week ago they’d been living in New York City, and now she’d uprooted them from friends and community and transplanted them to a rural town in upstate New York. She might as well have teleported them to another planet. “I’ve got to get to the hospital. Are you going to be all right here alone today?”

  Blake turned from the window, his blue eyes stormy. “Sure.”

  She’d gotten used to monosyllabic responses, ever since she’d told him about the new job and what that meant. She hadn’t expected him to take well to the news, and to be fair, their conversations had dwindled to quick exchanges about schedules and appointments ever since Blake’s fourteenth birthday. He’d been having a tough time at school the past year, but that didn’t mean he was eager to leave his classmates and the excitement of Manhattan. She’d hoped this new place would be safer for him, but maybe physical safety wasn’t the only thing that mattered. And she’d be late if she didn’t hurry, but she couldn’t just leave him looking so lost. Maybe he was fifteen and hugs were history, but he needed to know he was not alone. “What are you going to do today?”

  “I guess walk around, check the place out.” He smiled, more a grimace than anything else. “That ought to take me an hour or so.”

  “The movers will be here with the rest of the boxes and the big pieces this afternoon. You can get your room set up.”

  “We’re going to get cable, right?”

  “I sincerely hope so,” Abby breathed. “We’re not exactly in a third-world country.”

  “Are you certain?” Blake looked out the window again and Abby pictured their backyard, a sweeping expanse of green, more a meadow than a lawn, that meandered down to a clear-water creek. The creek twisted through stands of oak and evergreens and separated their property from a cornfield, at least she thought it was corn. Right now all she could see were rows and rows of five-inch-high green stalks. She imagined in the summer they’d be surrounded by whatever was growing out there, like shipwrecked sailors marooned on a desert island. Still, she’d been happy they’d been able to get anything on such short notice, and the renovated old schoolhouse had a quirky charm she liked.

  “We’ll get used to it,” she said, fervently hoping that was true.

  “Sure,” Blake repeated with a lift of his shoulder.

  “I’ll call you. Keep your phone with you.” Abby kissed his cheek. His face was so smooth, almost baby soft still, but that would change soon too. Abby firmly reminded herself they’d cross those bridges when the time came. All children changed, and she could handle it. She’d survived when he’d cut his hair without telling her. Now she was used to the short sides and long floppy top with the dark strands always falling into his eyes. He was a beautiful boy. Her boy. “There’s money in the cookie jar if you need it.”

  “Sure.” Blake didn’t look over as she walked out the door, but just as the screen closed behind her, she heard his soft “Thanks, Mom.”

  Good enough for starters.

  Abby started down the short gravel drive, past the picket fence in need of a coat of paint that marked their front yard, and headed into town. The two-lane through the village was divided by a fading yellow line and bordered on both sides by three- and four-story buildings with ornate cornices, tall narrow windows, and deep porches fronting the stores. One out of three of those storefronts was shuttered and empty. Ten minutes later, she turned in between two stone pillars, one bearing a brass plaque reading Argyle Community Hospital, and drove up a winding road between groves of apple trees. She slowed as an ivy-covered red brick building with a white colonnaded entrance and two symmetrical wings extendi
ng out in a lazy U came into view on the hillside above the village. A rolling grassy lawn studded with shrubs and flower beds edged the circular drive in front. A pretty place with tall, gracious windows and an air of peace and tranquility. Not the feelings she usually associated with a hospital, but then this was nothing like NYU Medical Center—or any hospital she’d ever trained at.

  Following the signs to the visitors’ lot, she drove around the front oval and parked. The lot was mostly empty at seven in the morning. She pulled on the navy blazer she’d stowed in the passenger seat, grabbed her briefcase, and walked the short distance to the main entrance. The expansive lobby with its high-domed ceiling, dark walnut paneling, and rows of oil paintings of solemn-faced men looked as if it hadn’t changed in two hundred years. It probably hadn’t.

  No one manned the reception desk at the moment, but a discreet sign saying ER pointed to a doorway set into an alcove. She walked through and was immediately ensconced in the familiar sights and sounds of a busy hospital. The hallway was lit with overhead fluorescents and the walls were painted the familiar institutional beige, although surprisingly adorned with carved wainscoting and, here and there, an honest-to-God oil painting. The speckled gray-tiled floors were worn in two parallel rows from decades of stretchers and wheelchairs traveling down them.

  She nodded to transport attendants pushing patients in wheelchairs and gurneys toward the service elevators on their way to the operating room or patient floors or radiology. She followed the noise, the conversation level rising as she approached the ER waiting room where a few patients waited in the rows of plastic chairs, the sight the same the world over. Entering the ER proper through the double doors announcing Hospital Personnel Only in big red letters, she approached the nurses’ station just inside. A dark-haired woman about her age in navy blue scrubs sat at the counter organizing charts. She looked up and smiled. Her name tag read Susan O’Connell, RN.