Page 14 of Protecting his Heart

“Thanks.” Evan gripped his forearm, blood seeping through his fingers.

“Evan!” Marie said, guiding him from the room and into an empty bay. One officer followed with Evan’s phone, which he put on the table. “What happened?”

He told them the details, leaving nothing out. “As we went down, the scalpel must’ve sliced down my arm.” He looked down at it. Owen was going to be pissed.

“I think that’s all we need for the report. We might need you to come down to the station, but we’ll be in contact if we do,” the officer said.

“Thanks.” He left, and Evan asked, “Is Emily okay?”

Marie nodded. “Just a small nick, but she’s being taken up for surgery now. It’s definitely appendicitis.”

“Poor girl. Traumatised before surgery. Not the best thing to happen.”

“They’ll look after her.” Marie worked steadily, closing the long cut with small, precise stitches. “Do you need anything for the pain?”

“Nah, I’m good. No heavy lifting for me for a while. Owen’ll be pissed I can’t spar with him.”

“Nope. You’ll be resting for the next week at least.”

Evan shook his head. “I can still work. I just need someone to help with transferring patients and stuff.”

Marie glared at him. “You know that’s not how this works. Seven days, at the very least.”

Evan sighed. He’d barely made it two hours into his shift. “Shit. I’m going to have to call Owen.”

“Uh-huh,” Marie said, not even attempting to hide her glee. “It’s about time I met him.”

Evan huffed, grabbed his phone and dialled one-handed. That was going to get tedious. He inhaled and put it to his ear.

****

Chapter 5

Owen

“Hey,” Owen said cautiously. “You don’t normally call during your shift. Everything okay?”

“Um, I need you to come and collect me, please,” Evan said. “I’m okay, but there was an incident. I have stitches and can’t drive, and my car is here.”

Owen shot up from the sofa, squeezing the phone to his ear. “Incident? Stitches? What the fuck, Evan?”

Evan sighed. “I’m okay, Owen. Just a little scratch on my arm. I’m fine. I just can’t drive. And Marie is being a witch and won’t let me work.”

“Goddamn right, she won’t. I’ll be there soon. Don’t move.” He hung up, shoved his feet into his shoes, grabbed his keys and raced from the house. Then he stopped. “Fuck!” He pulled up the taxi service he occasionally used and, luckily, one was close by. He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if there wasn’t. Probably ran there.

His heart pounded as he waited. Was Evan hurt more than he was letting on? Stitches sounded bad, but they’d all had them over the years. Evan had, more than once, stitched them when they’d been hurt. But this was Evan. What the hell had happened? Maybe he should’ve called back to find out while he waited for the taxi, but he couldn’t stay still. He paced the path in front of his house until the taxi pulled up. He climbed in andstared out of the window as they worked through the streets towards the hospital.

Owen’s mind went around and around in circles until he felt dizzy with it. His breathing was uncoordinated and rough, and when he finally climbed out of the taxi, he wasn’t sure his legs would hold him up. But he fought through it and entered A&E. His eyes darted around the area, trying to find someone who could help him find Evan.

“Owen!”

His gaze snapped to the right, where Evan stood behind a desk. He stalked towards it. “What are you doing working? You should be resting!”

Evan came from behind the desk and rested a hand on his arm. “I wasn’t working. I was sitting watching Marie work.” He glanced to the side. “Marie, this is Owen. Owen, this is head nurse extraordinaire, Marie.”

Owen took a breath and held out his hand, trying for a smile. “Nice to meet you, Marie. I hear a lot about you.”

“And I you. His words don’t do you justice.” She winked, and Owen froze, swallowing hard.

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