Page 3 of Daddy's Little Patient

He was startled when the woman opened her eyes and begged not to go to the hospital. Alex knew there was a lot of information he needed to get from her, but he knew he wouldn’t get any answers anytime soon.

“All right. Settle down. My name is Alex, and I need to get you to my house as quickly as possible.”

The woman, Sally, mumbled some things he didn’t understand.

“This is going to hurt,” he said and picked her up. She started crying, and he felt like he was kicking a puppy. “I know, honey.”

“Alex, do you want me to come with you?” Mara asked.

He would automatically say no, but he would need her there for at least several hours.

“Yes, honey.” He got the woman into the back seat of his car. “Hurry and get in with her.”

Mara ran around the car, jumped into the back seat, and lifted the woman’s head onto her lap. Alex didn’t wait any longer. He drove the car to his house as fast as he could. On the way, he called Rafael and told him about the situation.

“I’ll come as soon as I can,” Rafael said.

“Good, I might need you, and don’t tell anyone.”

“Why?” Rafael asked.

“I’m not sure yet, but the girl’s in trouble with something big enough to make her act the way she is.”

“I got it. I’ll see you soon.”

Within ten minutes, far faster than normal, Alex drove into his driveway and parked in the carport closest to the house.

He opened Mara’s door. “Come on, Mara.” The woman scrambled out, and then he could lean in, pull the girl out, and lift her against his chest.

“We’ll get you taken care of, honey.”

Alex heard the sounds from the kitchen. “Ms. Barker, I need you,” he yelled out.

The woman ran down the hall as fast as she could.

“Oh, my…”

Alex got Sally into the bedroom.

“Get the bed pad and another sheet.”

The woman raced out and was back within a minute.

“Go ahead, lay it out, and put the sheet over it.”

Mara helped, and then he set the woman down.

“Oh, Lord. What happened?” Ms. Barker asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I need towels, a bowl of hot water, and my bag, and there will be other things, so stick around.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Mara, help me get her undressed.”

They had her naked between the two, and he was examining her. He went over her whole body and thankfully only found the injury on her side. He wanted to concentrate on her injury because he was really worried about it.

The cook ran in, sloshing the water over the brim of the big bowl, but he didn’t care.

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