Page 4 of Protecting his Heart

“Yeah, and they’ve called me in this afternoon. Two people are off sick.”

Owen’s shoulder lowered. He’d been both looking forward to and dreading spending the day with Evan, disagreeing about movies and TV shows and generally being an ass to each other and Dominic. Same old, same old.

“Rain check on movie plans, then?” Owen said.

“Definitely.”

Their silences were more profound since Evan had returned from Italy. Whether that was because Evan had changed during that time or if it was because Owen had, but he wasn’t used to it. Whenever they’d spoken on the phone, there had never been these pregnant pauses or uncomfortable silences. Most of the time, Owen was able to cover it up with a question about Italy or a random story about what had happened to him during that time, but recently, it had become more difficult. Despite Evan having been home for around three months, it seemed like he’d never left and that he’d been gone for decades at the same time.

Evan’s shower cut off, and he walked past Owen’s stall to the changing room. “I’ll catch you later.”

“See ya. Be safe.”

Owen looked over his shoulder just as Evan did, and Evan smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Always am.”

He disappeared out of the showers, and Owen focused in front of him. Something had to change, but he had no idea what.

****

Chapter 2

Evan

Evan Montgomery inhaled the coffee in the few seconds it took him to walk from the nurses’ station to the cubicle he needed to enter. He paused for a second outside of the curtain, draining the dregs of caffeine that he hoped would get him through the next few hours. He threw the cup in the nearby bin and pulled the curtain aside.

“Good morning, Mr White. I’m Evan. You’re up with the birds, I see. How are you doing?”

Evan checked the details on the forms he’d picked up and glanced at the monitors, recording what he saw and initialling what he wrote. He smiled at the older man, lying so calmly on the bed.

“I can’t sleep in this place, Evan. Far too much bustling around.”

“Understandable. I hear you had a fall?”

Mr White huffed. “If you could call it that. I missed the bottom step of my stairs, that’s all.”

Evan gave a small smile. “We just need to check you out, Mr White. You have a nasty bruise on your head.”

“I told my wife we should’ve moved that radiator. No reason for it being right at the bottom of the stairs like that. Then, when she passed, I didn’t see the point of getting it done. Maybe I should’ve.”

Evan chuckled. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty, isn’t it?” He fiddled with a few things on the monitors and recorded the numbers before putting the folder back. “Now, Dr Wallis will be here in a few minutes to check you over. Do you have someone coming to pick you up later?”

Mr White nodded, his eyes twitching with the movement, showing he wasn’t quite as well as he proclaimed. “My son should be here soon.”

“Glad to hear it. Get as much rest as you can manage, okay? I’ll see you in a little bit.”

Evan left the cubicle, pulling the curtain closed, and strode for the nurses’ station, leaning closer to Marie. “Mr White’s son should be here soon, he said. Also, he seems to have a headache, though I know he won’t answer if I ask. Would you work your magic with him? Please?” He batted his eyelashes at her.

Marie rolled her eyes and sighed. “I suppose I can drop in.” She grinned. “He’s a lovely man.”

“He truly is. I wish for many more like him instead of the shitty ones we seem to be getting tonight.” He knew better than to wish for no one to be there.

“Cheers to that.”

Evan grabbed the next file and wandered down the room again. One day, he was going to measure just how much he walked during a shift, though it was bound to be miles. His feet were never quite the same after eight hours, even though he’d been doing the job for over ten years. He would’ve thought he’d be used to it by that point.

When the last half an hour of his shift arrived, he leaned against the station and explained where things were to his replacement—his friend, Matteo. And then he was on his way home. Well, Owen’s house. He doubted he would see him because Owen started work at eight in the morning most days, and Evan wouldn’t be home until after that. It wasn’t a bad thingin some ways because it meant he could drop into bed without worrying about small talk.

Which was exactly what he did, and when he woke, it was slowly, his mind drifting up from the depths of sleep to where the scent of coffee and Owen lived. He rolled to his back, yawned and stretched his arms and body to remove the lingering effects of slumber. Glancing at the clock, he huffed a laugh at its six o’clock offering. Three out of his six A&E shifts were night shifts, which he didn’t mind because he had no social life to talk of. Owen and Dominic were understanding enough to work around his hours when they could, and the other times, they just wouldn’t see each other for several days. Not much different from his time in Italy when he barely saw them.

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