Page 35 of Doctor One Night

As I dial Frankie’s number, the weight of the moment pressing down on me. Carly’s voice is shaky, her usual energy replaced with a vulnerability I’m not used to seeing. She’s always been so strong, so full of life, and seeing her like this—scared, hurt—twists something deep inside me.

The phone rings, and I pray Frankie answers quickly. Carly needs her, and right now, that’s all that matters.

Frankie picks up on the third ring, her voice coming through the line with a mix of surprise and concern. “Hunter? What’s going on?”

“It’s Carly,” I say, my voice steady but urgent. “She’s been in an accident. She’s okay, but she’s asking for you. We’re at the hospital. UAB.”

There’s a brief pause, and I can hear the shift in Frankie’s tone as she processes what I’ve said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can get there,” she replies, her voice firm with determination.

I hang up and turn back to Carly, who’s watching me with wide, tear-filled eyes. “She’s on her way,” I tell her, my voice gentle.

THIRTEEN

Frankie

UAB Hospital

11:41 pm

I rush through the hospital corridors, my heart pounding in my chest. When I finally reach the room where Carly is resting, waiting for tests and scans, I lose it. The moment I see her, lying there with a neck brace on, her face pale and bruised, I can't keep my normally stoic facade up. I’m at her side in an instant, my hand finding hers, holding on as if that alone could keep her safe.

“Carly,” I whisper, my voice trembling with emotion. Her eyes flutter open, and she gives me a weak smile, but it’s enough to break my heart all over again. Seeing her like this—so fragile, so quiet—tears at something deep inside me.

“I’m here,” I tell her, squeezing her hand gently. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She tries to speak, but her voice is barely above a whisper. “Frankie. Thank you for coming. I’m okay.”

I shake my head, my eyes filling with tears. “Of course I came! You don’t have to say that. Just rest, okay? You’re safe now.”

She nods slightly, her eyes closing again, and I can see how much effort it takes for her to even keep them open. I look up, my gaze meeting Hunter’s across the bed. He’s standing there, watching us with a mixture of concern and genuine care.

As the nurses come in to take Carly to imaging, I reluctantly let go of her hand, stepping back to give them space. Hunter and I follow them out, and once Carly is out of sight, I finally turn to him.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice strained with worry. I didn't want to ask him in front of her.

Hunter’s expression is serious, but there’s a gentleness in his eyes that surprises me. “She was hit by a car. It was a hit-and-run. I found her right after it happened, and I did what I could to stabilize her until the paramedics arrived. I couldn’t just leave her there, so I rode with her in the ambulance to make sure she wasn’t alone.”

The seriousness of his words sinks in, and a surge of gratitude fills me. He didn’t have to do any of this—Carly and Hunter aren’t particularly close, and he could have just called for help and moved on. But he didn’t. He stayed. He took it upon himself to make sure she was taken care of.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “Thank you for being there for her, for taking care of her. It means more than you know.”

Hunter shakes his head slightly, as if brushing off the praise. “I did what anyone would do.”

“No,” I insist, taking a step closer. “It wasn’t your responsibility to do all of this. You could have just waited for the paramedics, but you didn’t stop there. You stayed with her, made sure she wasn’t alone. That means something. Thank you, I truly mean it.”

He looks at me for a long moment, his expression softening. “I didn’t want her to be alone. Waking up in a situation like that, not knowing what’s going on, can be super scary. I couldn’t let that happen to her.”

His words hit me deeply, and I find myself blinking back tears. There’s so much more to Hunter than I ever realized, and right now, all I have for this man is gratitude. Gratitude that he was there when Carly needed someone, and gratitude that he called me so I could be here too.

“Thank you,” I say again, my voice barely above a whisper.

He nods, a small smile touching his lips. “You don’t have to thank me, Frankie. I’m just glad she’s going to be okay.”

“We are going to have to stop running into each other like this,” I say, trying to create some levity. I've now slept with this man, am working with him on my life's work, and now he has seen me cry. The trifecta no other man has had the privilege of experiencing with me.

“We do tend to have a knack for that, don't we?”

As we sit there, the comfortable silence between us starts to settle, my mind inevitably drifting back to the meeting we had earlier today. The trial has been consuming my thoughts for weeks now.

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