Chapter Twenty-One #2
Thankfully, he agreed, and since I was a new doctor, we still had some control over how much surgery I did.
I’d jump in if he needed me, and he knew that, but if I could get through the week without being in the operating room, I’d be grateful.
Especially after doing Alan’s surgery last night and then having to scrub in and take the pin out of AJ’s foot this afternoon.
It wasn’t difficult or time-consuming, and I was happy to do it, but I didn’t trust my leg anymore, and that was nerve-racking.
What was more nerve-racking was being held at knife point while questioning if I could protect the woman beside me. The answer had been no.
Don’t go there, I scolded myself. The situation tonight had nothing to do with your disability.
Even Gabe said you did the right thing by not trying to fight the guy.
It could have resulted in something far greater than a concussion.
He was right, but that didn’t make it any easier when she was the one injured.
She’d been through enough in the last few months. All I wanted to do was protect her.
My phone beeped, and I grabbed it so it wouldn’t wake Jaelyn. The text was from Ivy.
Ivy: Is she okay?
Me: She’s sleeping but seems fine. Told me if I woke her up, she’d make sure I was the one who needed a hospital.
Ivy: That’s my girl. *Laughing emoji* We’ll postpone the meeting tomorrow and reschedule for Tuesday.
Me: Maybe wait until morning? She may want input on that decision, and if she finds out I okayed it, it will not go well for me.
Ivy: Fair point. I’ll text her and let her know it’s okay to postpone it a day, but I’ll leave it up to her.
Me: Sounds perfect. Thanks, Ivy.
Ivy: Did he get her purse? Do I need to stop any cards or replace any cash for her?
Me: No. He got the forty bucks I had in my wallet, but I keep most of my cash in a clip in my front pocket. Her injury is my fault. *Sideways face emoji*
Ivy: It wasn’t your fault. It was the fault of the punk who tried to rob you. I wonder if the little meathead knows he’s going to be charged with assault with a deadly weapon once Gabe finds him, and he will find him. This town is small, and those idiots can’t keep their mouths closed.
ME: Tell me how you really feel, Ivy. *Laughing emoji*
Ivy: We don’t tolerate crime in our town, so don’t think this is the norm. I know you came to Bells Pass to escape that.
Me: I assure you that thought never crossed my mind. I know Bells Pass will always be safer than a big city, no matter what. Thanks for checking on Jaelyn. I’d better get some sleep. Down to sixty minutes before I could end up in the hospital.
She replied with the laughing emoji, and I silenced it before plugging it in to charge. If the hospital called, it would still ring through, but at least everything else would be silent.
You came to Bells Pass to escape that.
Had I come to Bells Pass to escape crime?
No, not especially. Was it nice not to have to worry about always being on guard when walking or moving around the hospital?
Yes, it was a great perk, but it wasn’t the reason I’d left Denver by any means.
I’d left looking for more of something. More happiness.
More living. More of the things that mattered.
Glancing at the woman beside me, I knew I’d found them all.
We’d barely known each other for a few months, but it felt like I'd known her for years.
Everyone always said that when you meet the person you’re supposed to be with, it should feel that way.
Maybe, but it had to feel that way for both of us, and I wasn’t convinced that was the case for her.
Sometimes, when she let her guard down, it felt like I’d made some inroads, but once those walls came back up, the only thing that broke through them was my kisses.
Telling her that she had to trust herself before she could trust me was true, but it was also a skill that took time to learn.
I was a patient man, but I didn’t want to wait to be with her.
Turning onto my side, I noticed her left hand resting on her chest. Her fingers were slightly swollen, and the backs of several were scuffed up and red. Carefully, I palpated the swelling to look for any pitting. A relieved breath escaped my lips when the swelling wasn’t too bad.
“They’re fine,” she muttered, her eyes still closed. “Just hit my hand on the sidewalk when I fell.”
“You should have said something. That needs to be addressed.”
“My fingers always swell a little at the end of the day. Nothing is amiss, Dr. Warren.”
I wasn’t convinced, so I climbed out of bed, grabbed my crutches, and retrieved an ice pack. Once back in bed, I removed the Velcro and slid her thumb out of the splint, then wrapped the ice pack around her entire arm.
“It doesn’t hurt at the original injury site?” I asked, and she sighed, shaking her head.
“It doesn’t hurt at all. We were at the community center all day, so I used it a lot, plus I was up half the night last night. Trust me, if it hurt, I’d tell you. I’m too close to being done with this brace to do anything to mess it up.”
“Now that I believe,” I agreed, lying on my belly while propped on my forearms so I could assess her pupils when she opened them. They were reactive, and she didn’t appear too sleepy to wake up, so I took it as a win.
“Thank you for caring,” she whispered with a smile. “And for taking care of me tonight, even if you went a little ape on the EMTs.”
“I didn’t go ape on them,” I said, laughing uncomfortably because I totally had.
“You threatened to cancel both of their licenses, and when Gabe stepped in, you told him you’d get his canceled too if he didn’t stop talking.”
The smile happened even if it shouldn’t have. “Must have been the shock. I don’t remember any of that.”
“Oh, okay, sure,” she said, rolling her head on the pillow a few times, but her lips were quirked in a smile. “Was that Ivy checking on me?”
“Are you clairvoyant too?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Nope, just know my boss. Let me guess, she wanted to postpone the meeting tomorrow.”
“Truly talented at this,” I answered. “Don’t worry, I told her that was a decision for you to make, not me, so she will text you.”
“What is your opinion about it, Dr. Warren?”
“Trust me, I’m a smart enough man not to have one,” I assured her, which earned me a bigger smile. She caressed my cheek and rubbed at the frown lines near my lips.
“You need some sleep, or your patients aren’t going to be very happy with me tomorrow.”
Turning my head, I pressed a kiss into her palm. “I don’t care. All I want to do is lie here and stare at the beautiful woman in my bed until I’m confident that she’s okay. Nothing else matters right now.”
“I’m okay,” she promised, running her fingers through my hair. “I’d probably be better if one extremely dashing doctor wanted to wrap his arms around me while we drift off to sleep together.”
“I don’t see an extremely dashing doctor in the room.
However, this somewhat attractive yet extremely tired doctor would love nothing more.
” I refastened her splint and rested the ice pack on her fingers, then tugged her into me and kissed her temple.
“Thank you,” I whispered, wiggling until her bottom was spooned against my belly in the sweetest of ways.
“For what?” she asked, yawning deeply.
“Trusting yourself,” I answered.
Her only response was a gentle pat on my hand. That was enough.