Page 33 of Last Chance Love

Which was true. She was a good-looking woman, but I had a hard time gauging her age. I guessed she was somewhere in her late forties to early fifties, but mostly because of the way she carried herself. It wasn’t anything specific, just a blend of confidence, understanding, and wisdom that spoke of having been kicking around the planet for a bit. It certainly didn’t show in her face, where she had wrinkles around her eyes to show how much they creased, and her black hair was streaked with silver, but hell, I had spotted a few gray hairs last month in my hair, and I was only thirty-three.

She laughed softly, shaking her head. “I’ll take the compliment for what it was. You’re not the type to butter me up because you want extra pain meds. And as a bonus, I’m pretty sure I’m not your type.”

If this was another Reed comment, I was going to lose my mind. “Can’t say I need any meds, so we’re safe. You can have the compliment for free.”

“Ah, so gracious,” she said, touching her hand to her chest. “And I’ll be honest, it wasn’t you I was expecting to come through the door.”

“Uh, I was on the roster for a shift here,” I said, wondering if I’d misread the schedule on the bulletin board.

“I know that,” she said. “I just meant that Reed is normally early for his shift, and now he’s fifteen minutes late.”

I blinked, feeling a little nervous. “Uh, I can go look for him. I know where his cabin is, though he should be coming back from lunch.”

The door buzzed open, and Reed came into the lobby. My heart slammed into my chest at the sight of blood smeared over his shirt. I stepped forward as he motioned for me, and only then did I realize he wasn’t alone. There was another guy. I took a moment to recognize Dylan, a Tier Two who had been under Dane’s mentorship until his graduation to Tier One five months before. There was a nasty gash along his eyebrow and down the side of his face.

“Get his other arm,” Reed told me in a firm and completely in control voice. “Alice, I’ve got a facial laceration here and a possible concussion.”

“Ooh, someone got their bell rung,” Dr. Greenway said with a whistle. “You two get him into room three.”

I didn’t know where room three was, but I did as I was told, hooking an arm around Dylan’s waist and helping him into the room. I followed Reed’s lead, brought him to the exam table, and laid him down.

“Step back if you would,” Reed told me, and I found myself doing just that, getting out of his way and pressing against a wall next to a chair. “Hey, Dylan, you with me now?”

“Uh…yeah?” Dylan managed, blinking his left eye where all the blood was collecting.

“I’m going to need you to keep your left eye closed. Can you do that?”

“What one?”

“Left…no, your other left. There you go, perfect, hold that closed. You don’t want blood in it.”

“Blood?” Dylan asked, fear making his voice sharper and his slur disappear. “Oh shit!”

“Don’t worry, Dr. Greenway and I will get you covered. It doesn’t look bad. But we’re going to need to see how bad it is,” Reed said, seeming to make cleaning supplies magically appear from nowhere. I hadn’t even seen him put on gloves, but he had got to work, cleaning the wound quickly and peering over it as more blood came out.

“Ooh,” I muttered, hoping no one heard me as I caught sight of the gash. Itlookedpretty nasty to me, but Reed looked unfazed until he shot me a dirty look that clearly said, ‘You’re not helping. Shut up.’

So I did.

“So, I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news for you, Dylan, and then I have great news.”

“Uh…bad news?”

“You’re getting staples, and it’s going to suck.”

“Fuck.”

“Good news, you’ll have an awesome scar to win people over by telling them a cool story. Just don’t tell them you lost a fight with an old board. That’s less sexy.”

“And what’s the great news?”

“You’re going to stay in the clinic for the rest of the day and probably the night, so you get a night off,” Reed said, backing up and turning around.

I hadn’t even realized Dr. Greenway had been standing in the doorway, waiting patiently until the attention was on her. “Get yourself cleaned up, Reed, and introduce this one to more than a minor disaster. I think I can handle this.”

“Sure,” Reed said. I could see him hesitate, and I wondered why. It wasn’t like Dr. Greenway was the type to screw something up, especially if it was simple. And it wasn’t like she was the type to try to steal his thunder, either.

“Hey there, Dylan, back so soon after the broken toe?” Dr. Greenway asked as she snapped on gloves.

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