Annie Claydon - Healed By The Single Dad Doc

But, somehow, seeing Ethan had calmed her. Maybe because his final words to her last night were that he had to go in order to see his son before he went to sleep. A son meant a partner. And a partner meant that Ethan was unavailable. She could count him as a friend without any fear that she’d be tempted to step over the line.

‘You’ve done this before?’ Ethan seemed to know his way around the police station, walking ahead of the two police officers who were accompanying them.

‘Yes, I used to be on the police surgeon’s call roster. I gave it up a couple of years ago, to spend more time with my son.’

‘And you worked here?’

‘Mostly.’ He looked behind him, smiling at the woman police officer who’d popped her head around the door after Kate had finished her identification. ‘Inspector Graham was so impressed by my abilities that she had me assigned here most of the time.’

‘In your dreams. As a police officer, I have a duty to protect the public, and keeping you from bothering anyone else seemed like the way to go.’

Ethan chuckled. The easy respect between the two was clear. He must be good at his job, and perhaps Kate would get the opportunity to watch and learn a little.

* * *

The man was lying on the platform bed in his cell, a couple of blankets covering him, the custody sergeant standing at his side. Ethan glanced at the name on the custody record and leaned over him.

‘Gary, I’m Dr Conway. I hear you’re not feeling well.’

Gary opened his eyes, shading them from the light with his hand. ‘My head’s splitting.’

Probably a hangover—he stank of alcohol—but it was as well to make sure.

‘You were drinking last night?’

‘Yeah. It’s what got me in here.’

He glanced up at Mags and she nodded. It probably wasn’t entirely the drink that had got Gary locked up for the night, but whatever else he’d done wasn’t Ethan’s business. He preferred to be the cog in the system that didn’t have to make judgements about others.

‘All right. Have you hit your head at all, or fallen?’

‘Dunno. Don’t remember. My leg hurts.’

‘I’ll take a look then. Is that okay?’

‘Knock yourself out, mate.’ Gary closed his eyes again, and warning bells began to ring at the back of Ethan’s head. He would have preferred it if Gary had been screaming for attention, because this lacklustre disinterest in what was happening around him didn’t bode well.

A glance over his shoulder told him that the custody sergeant was ready to step in if Gary started to kick. Kate was out of range, standing quietly in the corner of the cell. Taking the blankets from Gary’s legs, Ethan carefully rolled up the leg of his sweat pants.

Underneath was a haphazardly applied dressing of plaster and a bandage. Ethan cut off the dressings and saw the deep gash on the man’s leg.

‘This is a bite?’

He felt, rather than saw, Kate move closer, looking at the wound carefully. ‘I think that’s from a lizard. Lizard bites sometimes bleed very freely.’

‘This is deep.’ Ethan gently felt the skin around the wound. It was swollen and hot to the touch.

Kate turned her attention to Gary, poking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and kept them open, clearly liking Kate’s smile a little better than he did Ethan’s. Who could blame him?

‘Was it a lizard that bit you?’

‘Great, big ugly thing with sharp teeth.’

‘About this long?’ She held out her hands to indicate something of about three and a half feet in length. ‘Brownish colour with a light belly? Scales?’

‘Yeah, scales. Quick on its feet as well. My mate bought it from somewhere.’ The man closed his eyes again.

‘It could be a monitor lizard. Their bites often don’t hurt much at first, but give it twenty-four hours and they can become infected very quickly. If he’s been drinking he probably didn’t register the pain.’ She turned to Ethan. It was a relief, but no particular surprise, to see that she was calm and collected. Almost welcoming the opportunity to do something which didn’t revolve around last night.

‘It’s certainly infected.’ Ethan took a surgical marker pen from the first-aid kit, drawing around the edge of the hard red lump that surrounded the bite, and noting the time so that any increase in the swelling could be monitored.

‘You think we should call an ambulance?’ Mags anticipated his next request.

‘Yeah, this definitely needs to be looked at. I’ll clean it and dress it to stop the bleeding.’ He looked up as a young man appeared in the doorway, holding a medical bag.

‘Sorry I’m late. If I could take a look at the patient now—’

‘This is Dr Conway,’ Mags broke in. ‘He’s worked with us before.’

‘Oh.’ The young doctor looked flustered and more than a little put out. Ethan stood, holding out his hand.

‘If I can fill you in on the details, maybe you can take things from here.’

* * *

‘His face... If looks could kill.’ Kate smiled up at him as they walked out of the police station.

Ethan shrugged. ‘If he’d got to the patient first, I don’t imagine he could have done any better. I personally thought my diagnosis of a lizard bite was quite inspired. And I made it so quickly!’

The look of smiling outrage that Kate shot at him was exactly what he’d been aiming for. ‘Your diagnosis?’

‘Yeah. It was me that said lizard first, wasn’t it?’

‘I don’t think so. What kind of lizard was it you had in mind again?’

Ethan chuckled. ‘Oh, you know. One of the ones with teeth.’

‘They’re the ones you really don’t want to bite you.’

‘My thoughts exactly. And whoever did say lizard did a very fine job.’

He hadn’t planned on this. Before he’d seen Kate this morning Ethan had managed to convince himself that Mags was right and that the urge to see Kate, which had escalated into need, was just a result of his having witnessed the attack on her last night. But now laughter was buzzing between them and all he wanted to do was put his arm around her. To try and make her forget the things that had made her so hollow-eyed when he’d first set eyes on her this morning. It was confusing.

She looked up and down the high street as if she wasn’t quite sure which way to go. Then she smiled up at him. ‘I’m just looking for the bus stop. The police still have my car. Apparently there are some fingerprints and fibres on it.’

‘Can I give you a lift home?’ Somehow, making the decision to stay rather than go made him feel better. Sam was occupied and with his grandparents. Why shouldn’t he spend some time with Kate?

‘Thanks, but I’m not going home.’

‘Where are you going, then?’

Kate hesitated, as if that wasn’t something she really wanted him to know. Ethan raised his eyebrows in a signal that he wasn’t going to accept silence for an answer.

‘Actually, I’m going to the hospital. My arm really hurts, and I thought I’d go to the minor injuries clinic.’

Ethan rejected the urge to ask her why on earth she hadn’t mentioned this last night. ‘I’ll give you a lift there, then. We can pick up a coffee on the way, if you like.’

‘They gave me some tea.’

‘Me too. I need something to wash the taste away.’ He grinned at her. ‘And coffee from the vending machine at the hospital isn’t going to do it.’

She laughed suddenly. ‘Yes, okay then. Thanks, coffee and a lift would be great.’

* * *

‘I can walk from here. It’s only down the road.’ Ethan had gone to fetch the coffee, and that had given Kate some time to think. It felt safe in his car, but that was only a temporary relief, and she had to get used to functioning on her own.