Page 74 of Montana Manhunt

Soon, a nurse arrived with two stitch kits. “Hi. I’m Josie.”

“Violet.” She pulled a rolling table to her side. “Set one of the stitch kits here. Noah, we’ll take care of you first, then work on Grant.”

“I can wait.”

“You have more serious injuries. Grant can keep watch and respond to an emergency. At the moment, you’d do a face plant.”

He scowled. “I’m not an invalid.”

“Suck it up, Noah.” Grant sent his friend a hard glance. “Arguing with our medic won’t win you any points on the boyfriend scoreboard. Besides, if we delay Violet’s work, we’ll be stuck here longer. Wheeler needs us out of here so he can treat more seriously injured patients.”

Noah sighed and gave a curt nod. “Let’s get this done. I don’t want Rayne having to protect all three of us.”

Rayne smiled. “Hurts the ego, huh?”

Violet turned to Josie. “I need Lidocaine.”

“Dr. Wheeler has already signed off on that. I’ll return in a moment.” Josie rushed from the room.

Before the door closed, Violet noted the increased activity and raised voices of medical personnel. Looked like more of the injured had arrived at the hospital.

When Josie returned, she carried a tray with a vial of Lidocaine, syringes, and alcohol wipes. “Will this work?”

“It’s perfect. Look, I know you and your co-workers are busy. I can take care of the stitches on my own if you’re needed elsewhere.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She’d stitched up her teammates under much worse conditions than these.

Josie looked relieved. “I’ll check on you in a few minutes. If you need anything and can’t find me, just tell the nurse at the desk. She’ll help you.”

“Thanks, Josie.”

After a nod, the nurse left the exam room.

“What do you need me to do?” Rayne asked.

“Scrub up and put on gloves.”

The two women worked quickly. Rayne cleaned each wound and handed Violet the supplies she needed as she injected Lidocaine near each of Noah’s serious wounds. She and Rayne repeated the process for Grant’s injuries.

“How are you?” she asked Noah.

“I feel like a pincushion,” he groused. His eyes twinkled, though.

Violet pinched his thigh. “Feel this?”

“Just pressure.”

Excellent. She tugged on a new pair of gloves and got to work. For the next 30 minutes, she stitched five wounds. By the time she finished, sweat beaded on Noah’s forehead.

Violet changed gloves again and turned to Grant. “Your turn.”

“Do it, Vi. I’m ready to get out of here.”

After checking that he was numb, she said, “I need the second stitch kit, Rayne.”

Her teammate opened the second kit and began handing her supplies.

---