Page 64 of River Ride

“I can’t sit down. I’m covered in blood.”

The nurse hopped up and came around the desk to verify the blood situation. She made a face when she caught a glimpse of the exposed part of Tammy’s ripped leg. “Follow me, Tammy. You can wait in an exam room.”

Tammy limped along behind the nurse at snail speed. When they got to the room, the nurse closed the door and helped Tammy onto the examination table.

“We have to get those jeans off and they’re stuck in the blood. It’s going to hurt.”

“Yeah, it will,” said Tammy, “but they have to come off.” The nurse helped her, and it was slow going getting the sticky denim over the gaping wound, but they removed the jeans.

A huge hole had been savagely ripped in the right thigh area of Tammy’s leg. Cleo had sunk her fangs in with purpose when Tammy threatened to touch Eldon.

“Oh, my, this is a terrible bite. You must have lost an inordinate amount of blood. Let me get the doctor for you.”

“Thanks.” Tammy laid back on the table and closed her eyes.

When she woke up, the doctor was working on her leg, and she hadn’t even seen him come into the room.

He smiled down at her. “You’re awake. What’s your name?”

“Tammy.”

“Well, Miss Tammy, that’s about the worst dog bite I have ever seen. What kind of dog was it?”

“Huge black one. Don’t know what kind but I heard Eldon call her Cleo.”

“A female dog. Did it belong to a neighbor?”

“No. My boyfriend.”

“Huh. You should get a new boyfriend.”

“You may be right.”

The doctor finished sewing Tammy up and then the nurse bandaged up her leg. The bandage was large and thick with gauze. Felt good against her sore leg.

“You won’t be able to get your jeans on over the bandage, Tammy,” said the nurse. “Do you have anything else you can wear?”

“No.” She thought about it for a minute. “Maybe. My dirty uniform pants are in the bottom of the bag in my truck. They aren’t tight. I can wear them.”

“If you give me the truck keys, I can get them for you.” The nurse smiled. “The waiting room is full of patients, and you can’t walk out there half-naked.”

Tammy dug in her purse and handed the keys to the nurse. It’s the big rig cab out there. You’ll have to climb up on the sidestep.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Tammy was a bit surprised when the nurse came back so quickly with the uniform pants and helped her get them on. “They’re dirty, but they’ll do until I get to my hotel.”

“You’re a police officer?”

“Yes, deputy sheriff.”

The nurse gave Tammy a little vial of pain pills and made her take two with a glass of water before helping her to the front desk.

Tammy leaned on the desk and paid the bill with one of Darryl’s credit cards. “Thank you so much for helping me.”

“Take care of that leg, Tammy. You’re going to need more gauze and tape and antiseptic cream to keep it clean while you heal.”

Tammy nodded. “I’ll go to a drugstore right away.”

---