Page 14 of The Library on Plum Island
“Thank you, Doctor.” Alex smiled, taking the remote. “How is Oz?”
“I’m not happy with the gash on his head,” Daniella admitted. “But he’s even more stubborn than you are and determined to get back to being a hero.”
“Why do you have to restitch his head?” Alex frowned as her words sunk in.
“He insisted on going to the bathroom unaided and without letting anyone know,” Daniella explained. “On the way back to his bed, he passed out and reopened some of his stitches.” She glanced at her wristwatch. “Once I have his head stitched, he’ll need another CT scan.” She blew out a breath. “I don’t trust our CT scanner at the moment. It’s been more out of order than it has been operational.”
“You need a new one!” Alex’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“We don’t have the budget for it at the moment, so the one we have has to do.” Daniella shook her head.
“I’m ready,” Tanya said, walking into the room and glancing at Daniella. “Oz is ready for you. I’ve put him in exam room seven.”
“Thank you, Nurse Beckett,” Daniella nodded and looked at Alex. “I’ll be in to check on you later.”
Exam room number seven was on the other side of the clinic near the wards. Daniella walked through the reception area. Harriet and Harley had taken up a vigil in the waiting area, their conversation a low murmur in the background as she walked past them.
“How are the patients, Doc?” Harriet asked, genuine concern in her eyes.
It struck Daniella then, the intricate web of relationships that had formed among them, a tapestry of care and concern that extended beyond mere friendship. Her eyes dropped to the paper bags on the seat next to Harley. Hicks was sleeping in the chair next to Harriet with his head in her lap. Even Emily’s crazy, mistrustful dog loved their new friends.
Daniella gave them a quick overview of Emily and Alex’s condition.
“I’m glad they’re both okay,” Harley breathed a sigh of relief.
“Me too,” Harriet agreed.
“As soon as Tanya is finished with his hand, you can go see him, and you can go see Emily now if you like.”
“I think we’ll do that,” Harley said, standing and stretching. “Can we take her a burger?”
“Sure,” Daniella nodded. “Just try and keep Hicks in one place. He shouldn’t really be in the clinic but he doubles as Emily’s support dog.”
“He does?” Harriet’s eyes widened. “That would explain why he was so alert when we were crossing the road.” She glanced at Hicks. “I didn’t know you could train bull terriers to be support dogs.”
“He’s actually highly intelligent,” Daniella told Harriet. “That’s why I have no idea what got into him tonight or why he took off after a bird.”
“Maybe it was an Alex-type bird, and it offended Hicks in some way.” Harriet grinned.
Daniella laughed and shook her head as she wondered for the second time that evening what was between Harriet and Alex. It seemed to go deeper than mere friendship. The two of them had a rapport that Daniella couldn’t quite explain. While they were at each other’s throats all the time, there was also so much love between them. That pang of jealousy stung her nerve endings once again, and Daniella shook it off.
“Don’t let Alex eat anything until his cast is completely set,” Daniella warned. “Excuse me.”
She continued on her way to exam room seven, where she found Oz dozing. Daniella noticed the gauze on his head and that Tanya had already cleaned the excess blood from the surrounding area. While he slept, Daniella walked quietly into the room, readying a syringe of local anesthetic.
“Oz,” Daniella called, waking him up. “Hi. How is the head feeling?”
“I’m much better, Doctor Thornton,” Oz exaggerated. “Just stitch me up, and I’ll be ready to get out of here in the morning.”
“I hate to break this to you, Oz.” Daniella looked at him apologetically. “It is already early morning, and the fact that you passed out while walking means you’re going to be with us for a while.”
“Seriously, Doc, I have to get back to my duties,” Oz told her. “I hate thinking that Shay, Miss Donovan, and Alex were almost hurt, and I wasn’t able to prevent it.”
“Unless you were walking around with a helmet on,” Daniella pointed out. “There would’ve been no way you could’ve seen that ambush coming. You were hit in the head with a rock—not a small rock either—which was thrown at you by a military-trained man.”
“Thank you for trying to make me feel better.” Oz smiled gratefully. “But whichever way you spin it, I failed Shay.”
“I’m not going to argue with you,” Daniella told him. “Because it doesn’t matter what I say, but when you’re feeling better, I’m sure the Blackwells will tell you the same thing I just did.”
