Page 68 of Doc Defence

“I hate patients like that,” Hel murmured.

“Violent idiots?” Frost questioned.

“Yeah. He’s one of our frequent flyers. Nice as pie until you tell him he’s not getting what he wants. This is the first time he’s turned violent though. Normally, he yells and stomps out the door.” Hel winced and probed her eye with her fingers. “Crap, you’re right. This hurts. Why do you hockey players like fighting so much?”

Frost shrugged. “I have no idea. I always regret it the next day.”

He shifted on the cold, hard floor and grimaced as pain stabbed through his leg.

“Let’s get you up.” She stood up and put her hand out to him.

Frost said, “Hel, I weigh too much for you to get me up. You’ll need to grab some help.”

Hel recruited a couple of big male nurses, and they got Frost up and back to his bed, where he flopped down gratefully.

“Right. Now tell me about what’s been happening.” Hel was immediately all business.

“You got punched in the face. You’re not even going to take a five-minute break?” Frost asked with incredulity.

“Nah. I’m fine,” Hel reassured him.

“You need to put some ice on your eye,” he argued back. “I promise I’ll stay in my bed. Go grab the ice, and you can sit with me while you use it.”

“Fine,” Hel huffed and thrust the curtain open, stomping off.

Frost leaned his head back onto the pillow and closed his eyes while he waited for her. The throbbing in his leg intensified, and his head was pounding along with it.

It was a few minutes before Hel came back, a blue glove full of ice pressed to her eye.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Hel ordered.

Frost told her about feeling unwell and the pains in his leg. When he finished, she was frowning at him.

“I’ll go and check if your bloods are back.” She left his cubicle again.

He didn’t think it was his imagination. It felt colder every time she left.

When she walked back in, she was smiling. “Well, the good news is your blood tests are all normal. I was a bit worried you might have an infection in your leg. With normal tests, it’s super unlikely. What I’m going to do is cut your plaster off and check your wound. If it looks good, I’ll replaster it, and you’ll be able to go home. We do need to keep an eye out for osteomyelitis, so to be safe, we’ll book you an MRI of your leg in four days.”

“Thanks, Hel.” Frost reached out for her hand and squeezed her fingers. He expected her to pull away, but she didn’t. Instead, she flopped down into the chair next to his bed and pressed the ice back to her eye. Her hand was warm in his, and he wished his wasn’t so clammy, but he wasn’t letting go.

“I’m going to hide here for a few minutes. I need a break after the boxing incident, then I’ll go and get the plaster saw.” Her voice sounded exhausted, and he squeezed her hand tighter.

“Sure,” Frost said and closed his eyes.

Despite the chaos of the busy emergency department, he drifted off to sleep, his hand still clasping hers.

CHAPTER 23

HEL

Helsatthere,herfingers entwined with Frost’s and watched him as his breathing slowed and evened out. His hand was clammy where it clutched onto her, but she didn’t let go. She didn’t want to let go.

With ice pressed against her throbbing eye, she wished things were different. She wished she hadn’t met a man who made her heart flutter. No, that wasn’t right. As she looked at his face, she was glad she had met him. But she couldn’t see any future where, even if he did feel the same as her, that things could work out between them.

He had a job in Canada, and that’s where his family lived as well. And she couldn’t realistically go over there. She couldn’t leave her parents and live so far away. Not with Ken gone already and Maggie acting like they didn’t exist.

So that was it, this thing between them. It couldn’t happen.

---