Page 96 of Doc Defence

Hel’s hands balled into fists at her side, and it took everything she had not to chase after him. Not to say she would work it out with her job, even when she knew she couldn’t do it.

As she stood there, an arm snaked around her shoulder, and Clara’s voice murmured by her ear.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks for inviting him. You really gave me what I wanted: one perfect date with him.” Hel sniffled even as she spoke.

Clara squeezed her shoulders but didn’t say anything and Hel was very aware it was Clara’s perfect day, her wedding day, and she wasn’t going to ruin it for her friend.

“Thank you.” Hel pulled away from her. “Your day has been stunning. I’m so, so happy for you. Now go and find that husband of yours and start the rest of your lives together.”

“You’re sure?” Clara didn’t move, so Hel pushed her.

“I’m sure. Now go.” Hel managed to keep her voice steady.

“I love you.” Clara kissed her cheek, then pulled away from her, dashing over to Taylor and flinging herself into his arms as she giggled joyfully.

Hel watched for a moment longer before she turned around and walked away.

CHAPTER 33

HEL

“Forfuckssake,”Helswore as she walked out of the emergency department to the ambulance bay.

Barney stood behind his ambulance with the doors held closed as it rocked from side to side.

“Sorry, Hel. He was unconscious when we picked him up. He’s got a gaping hole in his scalp. He’s going to need surgery on it for sure. God knows what other injuries he has as we didn’t have much time to examine him as he woke up with a bang when we gave him naloxone.” Barney leaned harder against the door to keep it closed.

“The police are two minutes out. Can you hold the door until they arrive?” she requested.

Not waiting for an answer, she turned and dashed back into the emergency department, grabbing some ketamine out of the cupboard—whose beauty as a drug was the ability to give an intramuscular shot of it, then wait two minutes for the patient to go to sleep. It wasn’t quite as easy as the movies made out, where people dropped in five seconds, but it usually worked pretty well.

For a moment, Hel’s mind flickered back to when it had been Frost in the back of the ambulance. She tried not to think of him too often, but he was never far away in her mind, despite the fact it was a month since he left.

She had picked up her phone a million times to text him. When something funny happened in her day, she wanted to tell him. When her sister Maggie said something outrageously out of touch for someone who grew up in a poor family, she thought of how much Frost would have laughed.

Every time she had the desire, she switched her phone off to stop herself. He wasn’t coming back, so there was no point in prolonging the agony.

Clara and Taylor’s wedding had been amazing, and she was so grateful her friend invited Frost, as it really had been a perfect day.

The problem was, as she feared would happen, she gave up a piece of her heart to him, and he took it with him when he left.

Hel sighed and drew up the drug into a syringe before she headed back into the fray.

“How’s our angry guest?” Hel called to Barney, who was still leaning against the door of his ambulance.

“Well. He called me a name that begins with a C and ends in a T. Then he told me he was going to do something to my mother that made me want to throw up. And I’m a little afraid he may have urinated on the floor of my ambulance as something that doesn’t smell the best is trickling out of the back door.” Barney glared down at the pool of liquid by his feet.

“Fabulous.” Hel pulled gloves over her hands, grinning at the police when they parked in the ambulance bay next to them.

She was relieved when they climbed out of the car to see they had sent the man mountains to help them. One was nearly the same size as Frost. Dammit, there she went again, thinking of him. She shook her head to clear it and greeted the officers.

“Hi, guys. We’ve got one very unhappy patient in the back. When we open the door, we’re going to need to sedate him to assess his injuries.”

Barney added, “He’s got a significant head injury and is bleeding on the floor of my ambulance.”

Hel rolled her eyes. Barney loved being dramatic.

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