Page 82 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
Rob entered, escorting a wailing woman. Face tight, he jerked his head toward her. “Thirty-one-year-old female. When she can keep a breath, she’s blowing a .43.”
“Shit,” Cook breathed. Savannah got it. At a .43, the woman shouldn’t even be conscious, let alone walking and screaming.
“Layla.” Mackey pointed. “Exam two.”
“Let’s go.” Layla helped Rob guide the hysterical patient toward the exam room.
“If I lose my job over this, I’ll fucking kill you.” That almost-recognizable male voice again, drawing nearer.
“Man, shut up. You’re giving me a headache.” Emmett propped the door open with his foot, and he and his partner propelled before them a handcuffed man, disheveled and bleeding from a laceration at his brow. Savannah frowned as recognition clicked into place. Jake Stringham, Rob’s former friend, the one who’d made a play for Amy the year before.
Her attention zeroed in on Emmett. Blood spattered his collar, and an ugly cut bisected the corner of his mouth.
“Twenty-seven-year-old male. Complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath.” Heavy sarcasm laced Emmett’s tone. “BAC is .12.”
Cook indicated Emmett’s face with a finger. “What happened to you?”
“Mr. Stringham thought I’d go down with one hit to the face.” Emmett shook his head, disgusted. “As if. And if I had, it’s not like he could outrun Troy Lee or Chris, who was right outside.”
Cook glanced outside. “I’ll help Walker with him. Go help Troy Lee with Harry.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mackey’s brows lifted. “Harry Nix?”
“Yeah.”
“Mills, you can have that one. I’ll take care of Mr. Stringham.”
Somehow, she knew she was getting the shaft on this one. She caught Emmett’s gaze. “Exam four.”
“Meet you there.”
The man he brought in was thirty-four and had a seriously broken nose. He was also seriously intoxicated and half-crying, half-raging. Mucous mixed with the blood flowing from his nose. He resisted Emmett’s hold on his belt. “Ain’t nobody touching my nose. I want to see Tanya. We gotta work this out.”
Savannah snapped on a pair of gloves. She opened her mouth to ask the man’s name, but Emmett forestalled her.
“Harry, sit down and shut up. Nobody wants to hear your shit. You keep taking her back when you know she’ll only do it again. Live with it or leave.” Even with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Emmett exuded authority. Savannah passed him a couple of pieces of gauze and pointed at his lip. “Right now, you’re going to sit there and let Dr. Mills treat you. Give her a hard time, and I’m going to give you a hard time. Remember, youoweme.”
“Aw, Emmett, that was an accident. I was drunk. I wasn’t even aiming for you.” Harry scowled, but he subsided onto the exam table, hands in his lap, like a recalcitrant schoolboy scolded by a teacher. “You holding a grudge?”
“Your accident almost killed me.” Emmett pulled the gauze away from his mouth, glanced at the blood, and grimaced. He rested his shoulders against the wall and pulled his phone from his belt. “Yeah, there’s a smidgen of a grudge.”
This was the guy who’d shot him? Savannah darted a surprised glance at him, but he was focused on entering report information into his phone.
“Don’t know why she does this.” Harry was the picture of dejection. “I’m good to her.”
“It’s not you, Harry.” Emmett tapped with one thumb, the other hand keeping pressure at his mouth. “It’s her.”
“Figured you’d get it because of your mom and dad.”
Emmett’s eyes closed, but the angle of his head kept Harry from seeing. “Yeah. I get it.”
Thanks to medical glue, cleaning and treating Harry’s minor lacerations didn’t take long. The broken nose was a different story, requiring a manual realignment. As she was finishing an aspiration of Harry’s septal hematoma, Walker appeared in the doorway. “Parker is here to transport.”
“We’re almost done.” She packed the nostril and fitted an external splint. Once Walker had escorted him from the room, Savannah cleared her materials away and wiped down the counter. She glanced at Emmett, who’d moved to the chair to finish his report once Harry calmed down. “Jake hit you?”
He indicated his lip. “Son of a bitch sucker punched me with a beer bottle.”
