Page 46 of Doc Defence

“Hi,” Hel whispered back. The noises of the busy emergency department receded, until it was only the two of them.

“I fell over.” He winced as her fingers ran over the grazes on his knuckles.

“I guessed that. Did you hurt anything?” She tried to stop herself, but her fingers ignored her brain and stayed gently rubbing over the callouses on his palm.

“I hit my shoulder and grazed my knuckles,” he supplied.

“Is your leg okay?” She asked him, forcing her eyes away from his to examine the plaster.

“I don’t think so. I felt a rip as I fell,” he said, then adjusted his leg, wincing.

“Right.” Hel tugged out of his grip, feeling a chill when she released his warm hands. “You’ve got a back slab on, so I’ll cut the bandages, and we can take a look.”

Frost lay back in the bed as she donned gloves and got to work. Hel kept her gaze focused on his shin, not letting her eyes stray further up the leg that was fully exposed due to the flimsy hospital gown he wore.

She examined his fresh surgical wounds carefully before she said, “You’ve ripped a couple of stitches out. I’ll put some local anaesthetic in and redo them. Okay?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, letting her take care of him.

“We should X-ray it first, though. Check all the hardware is still in its place.”

“Sure,” he agreed.

“I’ll go order the X-ray and come back after it’s done. I’ll ask one of the nurses to come and sort out your grazes.”

It was busy in the emergency department, and it was close to the end of her shift by the time the X-ray was ready. Hel sighed with relief when she checked it.

“The plates and screws all look good. I’ll get the stitches done, then rewrap your back slab.” Hel took a couple of deep breaths before she blurted the next bit. “Do you want a ride home?”

Frost immediately nodded. “Thanks, that would be great.” He hesitated for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”

Hel looked at him. “Sure.”

“Why don’t I feel worse? I’ve drunk enough today to sink a battleship.”

Hel grinned. “I took mercy on you. You’ve had two litres of fluid and multiple anti-sickness drugs.”

“Thanks.” His green eyes were slightly clouded, and he was clearly still a bit drunk, but he wasn’t paralytic like he had been a couple of hours ago.

Hel put on her sterile gloves and cleaned his wound with chlorhexidine. Then, she injected him with a local anaesthetic. She efficiently removed the two torn stitches, replaced them, and redressed the wound. She finished by rewrapping his back slab.

Stepping away from the bed, she gave him a small smile and said, “I finish in an hour. I’ll come fetch you then and run you home.”

CHAPTER 17

FROST

FrostwasembarrassedwhenHel strode around the curtain to his cubicle, pushing a wheelchair.

“I can walk,” he grumbled.

Hel raised an eyebrow. “Can you? Or did you get carted in here because you fell down?”

“I was drunk,” Frost defended himself.

“Are you sober now?” she fired back.

Frost thought about it for a moment. “Not entirely.”

---