Page 23 of Doyle

“You. You distracted Sebold. I was already getting away when Stein came in.”

“I don’t care how you got away. Just that you did.”

She winced, one eye closing as he dabbed the wound.

“You’re pretty tough, Tia Pepper. What’s your secret?”

Her eye opened. “I don’t like to lose.”

Interesting.

“And I refuse to be afraid.”

“A little sting,” he said as he added the chlorhexidine to the wound, and she drew in a breath. “Sorry.”

He unpeeled one butterfly bandage, then the other, and closed the wound. Added antibiotic to a gauze pad and pressed it over the injury. Pulled out tape and bit it off.

“You’re pretty good at this doctor thing.”

“Thanks. Two years of medical school.” He put the tape over the gauze.

“Really?”

He moved over to the burn on her arm. “How’s it feeling?”

“Hurts like a bear.”

He smirked. “Let me see if I can find any silver sulfadiazine cream.”

“It’s in the pharmacy, across the hall.”

Leaving her, he headed into the pharmacy.

Oh no.

Glass was scattered across the floor around the narcotics chest, the lower door ripped open.

“Did you find it?” Her voice lifted from the next room.

“Looking. Stay there.” He searched the shelves and found the cream in a box, returned to the exam room.

She’d actually obeyed him, stayed sitting on the table. He examined the burn. “It doesn’t look too deep. I’m just going to put the cream on for now and cover it. We’ll take another look tomorrow.” He used a wooden spatula to apply the cream, then covered it and again taped gauze into place.

“Why’d you quit?”

He looked up at her. “Quit?”

“Medical school.”

“Oh.” He sighed. Shook his head. “It’s a long story. I guess the short of it is that I... I just lost the desire to go.”

She frowned.

“It wasn’t a calling?”

He met her eyes, not sure, and then, for some reason: “I was called to be a missionary. Being a doctor was how I was going to get there.”

“Wow. A missionary, huh?”

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