“I got a spare ticket to the policeman’s ball next month,” Officer Pekoe said.
“I hope you find someone who wants to go with you.”
“See?”The taller one nudged his partner.“I told you she wasn’t interested.”
“Come on, doc.Give a man a chance.”
“Sorry.Already booked.”
“But I haven’t even told you when it is.”
“I’m afraid I’ll still be booked whenever it is.”
“Ouch!Burn.”But Officer Pekoe’s grin suggested he wasn’t too upset.
Which was just as well.While she didn’t want to date, she didn’t want to get anybody offside, either.And as the medical staff here in emergency often worked closely with other first responders, she needed to maintain good relationships.
Even if she hadn’t told anyone exactly why she was reluctant to date.
Because she couldn’t.Especially now Kyle was here.
CHAPTER3
How was it possible that Kyle had felt relatively well just five hours ago and now, despite pain meds, felt really sick?He shifted on the bed, waiting for Gerry or someone from the team to appear.Even one of the medical staff would do.The minutes ticked away, and without a phone, without someone to talk to, he was conscious of how glaring the bright white overhead light was, how many beeps filled the air, how his eyes and ears hurt along with his side.Was it his kidneys?He wished someone would come to tell him what was going on.
He closed his eyes, shutting off the painful light burning into his retinas.Would Gen show again?It didn’t seem likely after her coldness earlier.But really, could he blame her after what he’d done?
Footsteps snapped open his eyelids.Then his heart swooped in disappointment as a new white-coat-clad doctor, accompanied by Gerry, approached.
“Hello, Kyle.I’m Dr.Winthrop,” the man said.He looked to be in his late thirties.
Kyle nodded.“What’s the verdict?”He didn’t need preambles or politeness.Just the truth.
“The scans show that you have a laceration of your kidney.”
“What?That sounds bad.”
“It could be worse.You have what’s known as a grade four laceration with a deep extension, so the blood supply has been affected.The scans show there is internal bleeding which means—”
“But how?I haven’t broken any ribs to puncture inside, have I?Someone would’ve told me if that was the case.”
Dr.Winthrop checked his chart.“You don’t have to have a rib fracture to cause this kind of injury.Sometimes it’s just the sheer force of energy transferring that causes a tear in the kidney.And because the kidney has to clean the blood it has high levels of blood supply, so if it’s cut then there are potentially high levels of bleeding.And while normally we might treat this more conservatively, the scan revealed injury to the veins, along with the fact you’re not hemodynamically stable—”
“Unstable blood pressure,” Gerry explained.
“—which means I’m afraid we need to perform surgery.”
“When?”
“As soon as possible.We need to stop the bleeding as soon as an OR opens up.”
“How long until I can play again?”
“The scans suggest a significant degree of damage, but we won’t know until we open you up.But a conservative estimate would put that at a minimum of four to six weeks until you’re feeling better, but no strenuous activities for a lot longer.I think it’s safe to say that if the surgery goes as planned, it’s unlikely you’ll be playing for at least three months.”
“What?”
“These kinds of injuries usually mean no contact sports or strenuous activities for at least that long.”
