Page 67 of Callum

“Callum!”

Anita’s harsh tone snaps me back into the present, and I spin to face her. “Tell me what you need, Doc.”

—

Just under two hours later, Anita pulls off her mask and gives me a small smile across Malik’s chest.

Stripping off my gloves, I toss them into the hazards bin along with my surgical greens on my way to the hall. Dane is still sitting in the chair outside, his head snapping up when I open the door.

“He’s going to be fine.”

“Thank fuck,” Dane hisses, the tension visibly leaking from his body.

It doesn’t escape my notice that this isn’t a normal amount of concern for your fellow man. Dane is either extremely empathetic or, “How do you know Malik?”

“I d-don’t—”

“Let’s not lie to each other, Dane.” Resting against the wall gives my back a much-needed break, and I nearly sigh in relief. “How do you know Malik?”

“I don’t. Not really,” Dane sighs, tipping his head back until he’s staring directly into the harsh fluorescent lights. “We’ve been on the same patrol the last few weeks.”

His words ring true, but that doesn’t explain this level of concern. “Are you the one who shot him?”

“What?” The horror in Dane’s eyes immediately rules out that possibility. “No. Mister Mac—uh, Doctor, sir, I would never shoot another MAC. I am loyal to the MacAlisters.”

“I believe you, Dane, but sometimes accidents happen.”

“No, sir,” Dane stands, his head shaking hard at the implication. “I did not shoot him. I left my post to find him because he wasn’t answering his check-in. I found him face down in the ditch on the Balkirk side—”

“He was face down in a ditch?” Every hair on my body rises at Dane’s words, alarm bells ringing through my mind. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir. It isn’t something I’ll soon forget,” he softly admits, his eyes trained on the ground near his feet again.

“Dane,” I wait for him to look at me before I continue. “You saved someone important to the MacAlisters. That won’t go unrewarded.” He nods, and I want to add more. I want to tell him that I’ll share what he’s done with Harrison and Grant, but I’m not sure he will appreciate that. I think the person who most needs to hear what he’s done is Malik, but those words need to come from Dane, not me.

“Callum!” The angry shout covers the tinkling sound of the doorbell, and I give Dane an apologetic look.

“I’ll be back. Anita will let you know when you can see him.”

“Thank you, Doctor, sir.”

“Just call me Callum.” I clap him on the shoulder before moving toward the angry shouts out front.

Grant is standing in the middle of Anita’s practice, pure rage simmering under his skin. Maddock is crouched at his feet, cleaning up the supplies I dropped earlier.

“Is the shouting necessary?”

“You fucking asshole!” Maddock immediately stands. His words are angry, but his face is pure relief.

“Uh,” my gaze darts to Grant again, who is still staring at me like he wants to set me on fire. “Is everything okay?”

“You’ve been missing for two hours,” Grant snaps, his fingers twitching at his side.

Fuck, he’s going to shoot me. At least he’s going to do it when I have quick access to medical attention. The last time he shot me, we were in the middle of Bray Forrest, and I nearly lost my right foot.

I still limp first thing in the morning through the winter. The cold air settles into those muscles, and it takes me twice as long to warm them up.

“I haven’t been missing—”

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