Page 6 of Daddy's Little Patient

“You’re an ass,” Alex said but couldn’t help laughing.

Rafael finally calmed down enough to talk and wiped his eyes. “I better go. Call if you need us.”

“I will.”

Rafael turned at the doorway. “Hey, Alex. How about a bottle of my scotch? Would that help?”

Alex kept from grinning or looking excited and shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess. It’s a start.”

“Okay. I’ll bring it over tomorrow when I bring Mara.”

“All right. Good night.”

Alex waited until he heard their car leave before showing his happiness. The friends were always after a bottle of Rafael’s scotch or Darian’s bourbon. He’d never had anything as good as either, or he craved a nice glass after a shitty day at the hospital. Neither man would tell anyone where they got their supply because they used it for favors or payments to the group. Bastards.

Alex pulled a chair over to the bed and sat facing her. It would be a long night because he couldn’t sleep until he knew she was recovering. The loss of sleep didn’t matter. He was used to that as a doctor, but it was different this time for some reason.

“Dr. Pratt.”

He turned his head to see Ms. Barker in the doorway.

“Thank you for all your help.”

She smiled. “Oh, that was nothing. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No. But thank you. You can head on home.”

She nodded. “I have your dinner in the oven and made some chicken noodle soup. There are a few small bowls of it in the frig, so all you have to do is heat it up.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Um, do you need me here tomorrow?”

He remembered that she wanted tomorrow off. “No, take as much time as you need.”

“Oh, my sister is having an operation, and her husband and daughters are caring for her, so she won’t need me around. I would like to be there for her procedure.”

“I hope everything goes okay tomorrow.”

“I’m sure it will. If you need me to come back, just call.”

“I will. Have a good night.”

“You too, Dr. Pratt.”

Alex listened as her car left before he got up and went through the first floor, checking and locking windows and doors before he turned on his security system.

He wanted to shower before settling into the bedroom for the night. He hoped he was doing the right thing by keeping her at his house because he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her.

She woke up a few times, and he gave her more pain medicine when he could. Her wound looked better, and there was little to no drainage. After the last shot he gave her for the pain, he waited for it to kick in before pulling the drain and giving her a few more stitches.

Alex jerked awake when he heard Sally start to move around and was instantly by her side. He smoothed the hair away from her face as she blinked her eyes. His shoulders relaxed because although she didn’t look well, she looked much better than the previous day, and her fever was down. Just the fact that she was on the road to recovery was enough for him to be able to relax a bit.

Chapter Four

The next time she woke, she was in a bed with the bright sun coming in through the window. She looked around and knew she’d never been there before. But then, she hadn’t been anywhere besides her house for a long time.

She remembered that she’d hurt herself and was in horrible pain. At one point, she thought she would die, but she didn’t think Heaven looked like this.

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