Chapter 24
“I don’t think it’s broken, but wouldn’t hurt to get an X-ray,” Janie said as she massaged his wrist.
“Not necessary. It’s not broken.” Ryan wanted to take his hand back. He didn’t like being fussed over, but these two were just doing their job, so he let them do their thing. It was a blessing that it was his left hand.
Manny activated an instant cold pack and pressed it against his eye. “You definitely need to have this looked at. It’s swollen completely shut. Eyes are nothing to mess with.”
That was true, and he would see an eye specialist. He was due back to work the day after tomorrow, but if his eye was still shut, he wouldn’t be able to return.
“Hold this,” Manny said.
Ryan lifted his good hand to the cold pack and held it in place.
“What happened here?” Janie asked.
“Someone broke in.” He wasn’t going to discuss the case, so he’d leave it at that.
“Hope you gave as good as you got,” Manny said as he finished wrapping Ryan’s wrist in a compression bandage.
“I tried. We done here?”
Janie nodded. “Yep.”
The two EMTs gathered up their supplies. “I mean it, Doc,” Manny said. “See someone about that eye.”
“I will.” After they left, Ryan sat for a minute debating calling Dr. Schwartz or actually going in to talk to Candy so she could see for herself that it was impossible for him to return to the emergency room.
He should go in, and maybe he could get an emergency appointment with an eye doctor this afternoon, which would allow him to do both things in the same trip.
Wyatt entered the living room. “I assume you’ll live?”
He chuckled. “It was touch and go, but I’m still breathing.”
“That eye looks pretty nasty. You should have it checked out.”
“I plan to. Sorry your suspect got away. I should have tied him up, but I thought he was out for the count.”
“Sure, it would’ve been nice to have him trussed and waiting for us, but don’t sweat it. We’ll catch him eventually.”
“Sooner over later, I hope, so I can stop worrying about Matti and Sam.”
“Trust me, we’re trying.”
“I know. I’m just frustrated with myself more than anything. I had him and let him get away.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Ryan.
You’re a doctor. You’re not trained to think like a cop.
I’m going to have patrol keep an eye on the front and back of the house until that lock is fixed.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll do that and install an alarm system.
Should’ve done that already, but this case hasn’t given me a minute to think. ”
“I’m all for that.”
Wyatt lifted his chin toward Matti’s bedroom. “Go reassure your girl and kid that you’re okay. They’re worried about you.”
He smiled. His girl. He liked that. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”
“They got your fingerprints, right?”
He held up his good hand, showing his black fingertips.
He’d been told it was necessary to eliminate his prints from the crime scene.
He shuddered. Crime scene. In his wildest dreams, he’d never expected to have a starring role in a crime scene.
They hadn’t needed to get Matti’s as hers were already on file, taken when she went to work for the state.
“The CSIs should be out of your hair in a few minutes.”
“Forgot they were still here.” They were in Sam’s bedroom and as quiet as mice.
“They’ll leave a bit of a mess to clean up. Sorry about that.”
“No problem.”
“Later, man.” Wyatt nodded, then left.
Curious about exactly what mess he meant, Ryan headed for Sam’s room. He stopped at the door and surveyed the room. The CSIs were packing up, and Wyatt had spoken truthfully. Black fingerprint dust was everywhere.
“Sorry about the mess,” one of them said. “Best way to clean this up is to vacuum the loose powder, then use an ammonia-based cleaning agent.”
“Got it. Think you got some good prints?”
“We did,” she said. “Let’s hope some of them are the suspect’s and not all yours.”
He tried to remember if the man had touched any of the walls or furniture, but he couldn’t recall anything but rolling around on the floor, fighting for his life. What if he hadn’t woken up? Sam would be gone, maybe even dead. That was unacceptable.
The door to Matti’s bedroom opened, and he smiled at seeing her coming his way. “Sam okay?”
“He’s asleep. Everyone gone?”
“Except for the officers outside Wyatt’s leaving to stand guard.”
She stopped next to him and peered into the room. “What a mess.”
“Yup.” He told her the instructions he’d been given for cleaning the room.
“I don’t want Sam to see this.”
“Me either.” They got busy. Well, mostly Matti got busy as he could only use one hand. It took about an hour, but when they were done, you couldn’t tell there had been a fight in the room.
“Let’s hope we never have a reason to have to do this again.” He took her hand with his good one and led her to the kitchen. “I could use about a gallon of coffee, unless you want to go back to sleep.” He glanced out the window to see the sun was coming up.
“I tried to go back to sleep, but my mind is going about a hundred miles an hour.” She yawned. “Might take a nap later.”
He pulled her to him and slipped his arm around her back.
She rested her head on his shoulder, and he felt the tension in her body ease.
They stood there in silence for a few moments, both lost in their own thoughts.
The events of the night had taken a toll on both of them, but being together like this gave him comfort. He hoped it was the same for her.
After a while, she lifted her head and looked up at him with a small smile. “Last night was like a nightmare come to life. Thank you for being here.”
“No place else I’d rather be. I have to go to the hospital and see my boss, let her know what happened. I think it would be best to let her see my face instead of just calling in. If I can get an emergency appointment, I also want to see the ophthalmologist.”
She leaned back and looked at his eye. “It looks pretty bad. Does it hurt?”
“I won’t lie. It does.”
“Do you think it’s seriously damaged?”
“I hope not.”
“But you’re not sure? I feel so bad. What if it is and you can’t be a doctor anymore?”
“That’s not going to happen, but even if it did, it would be worth it to know that you and Sam are safe.”
Shock showed on her face. “You can’t mean that. And what about your hand? Is it broken?”
“I absolutely mean it, and my wrist is only sprained. No biggie.”
She huffed a laugh. “No biggie, he says.”
“That’s right. And I’d do it again to keep you both safe.” He kissed her and managed not to wince. He’d forgotten about his cut lip. “How about that coffee?”
“You go sit. I’ll make it.”
“Not going to argue today.” He moved to the island and settled on the barstool. “You have any Advil?” He wasn’t sure which was throbbing more, his wrist or his eye.
“Yes. Be right back.”
While she was gone, he pressed his fingertips to his swollen eye.
He hadn’t looked in a mirror, but he could feel that it was puffy.
He definitely needed to see the ophthalmologist today.
Next, he massaged his wrist. It throbbed painfully, but it wasn’t as serious as his eye.
His professional opinion was that it was only a mild sprain.
Shouldn’t take more than a week, two at the most, to heal.
And he could still doctor with a sprained wrist. It would be more difficult with a damaged, swollen-shut eye.
If he had to, he’d pull rank to get an appointment today.
Matti returned, handed him a bottle of Advil, then filled a glass with water. “I hope this helps. Sorry I don’t have anything stronger.”
“This is fine, thanks.” He popped two of the pills into his mouth, then drank some water to swallow them down.
“How does scrambled eggs and toast sound?”
“Not really hungry, but I suppose we should eat something, so that’s fine.” What he’d really like to do was to go back to bed with her, wrap himself around her body, and sleep the day away.
“Wyatt told me I could share this with you, but it’s confidential, so no telling anyone else,” she said as she whisked the eggs she’d cracked into a bowl.
“They got the toxicology report back on Sam’s parents, and the drugs that were in their system has fentanyl in them and were the same drugs that killed that man out on the Enchanted Highway. ”
“So, the two cases are related.” Who was behind this deadly drug out on the streets? “Can I put my emergency room on notice that we could start seeing more than the usual overdose patients? I can do it without revealing how I know.”
“That’s probably a good idea. Maybe run it by Wyatt first, though.”
“I’ll call him after we eat.” He wasn’t looking forward to meeting with Candy and having to tell her that not only would he be out a week, but that her emergency room might be busier than normal with drug overdoses.