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He looked up at me, blue eyes flashing as if he was about to light into me about her condition. “It doesn’t look like you’re in much better shape, ma’am,” he said disdainfully.
I pressed my gloved hand to my mouth and drew back yellow latex smeared with blood. Well, that certainly explained the stinging in my lip. I turned to Caleb, who was glaring at the doctor. Maybe he didn’t appreciate his tone with me?
“It’s not that bad,” Abe assured me.
Groaning, I peeled off the contaminated gloves and reached toward the box of proper medical gloves in the doctor’s bag. “May I?”
The doctor gave a curt nod. “Ned Mabry.”
“Anna Moder,” I told him, the name rolling off my tongue on autopilot, then I rattled off a succinct description of Trixie’s condition. “Patient engaged in a fistfight that ended with a blow to the back of her head when she hit the floor. Patient has a severe allergy to shellfish and had contact with residue from a crab salad sandwich. Before hitting her head, she developed respiratory difficulty and early-stage swelling of the lips and tongue. I auto-injected a point-three-milligram dose of epinephrine that the patient carried with her in her purse. Swelling has reduced. Patient is responding as expected.”
“Thank you, Nurse Moder.” Dr. Mabry nodded, checking Trixie’s vitals.
“It’s Doctor Moder,” I snapped, irritated that, like a lot of male doctors, Mabry had assumed that a woman with medical knowledge ranked below him. I ignored the way Caleb’s eyebrows winged up. Stupid pride.
“Pardon me,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of doctors who engage in fistfights at stripper bars.”
“They’re exotic dancers,” I corrected, becoming more and more irritated with this guy. “And it’s none of your business what I’m doing here.”
“Well, you’ve provided appropriate treatment,” he said. “I’ll take her to the clinic for overnight observation, but she should make a full recovery. I’m open until ten if you want to follow up with her.”
I nodded. Trixie was loaded onto a gurney and wheeled away to the clinic. The crowd, which had seen more than its fair share of entertainment that evening, dispersed. I sat heavily on the pool table, swiping at my busted lip with antiseptic. Caleb was at my side in a flash, taking over dabbing duties and then leading me to Abe’s office to make full use of his first-aid kit. “You OK?”
“I saw Million Dollar Baby. No matter what I say, do not pull the plug, OK?” I told him.
“Maybe we should go to the clinic and let the doctor check you,” he suggested anxiously.
I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”
“I guess you would know. You really are a doctor, huh?” he asked.
“That’s what the fancy piece of paper I bought on the Internet says.”
“Well, even under the circumstances, it was neat to get to see you work. You usually don’t speak with that kind of authority and confidence.” I opened my mouth to protest, but Caleb added, “It was a good thing. I felt like I was seeing the real Tina. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of her.”
He grinned and kissed my bruised lip, making me wince. “My face hurts.”
“Here.” He pressed a gentle kiss to the tip of my nose.
“Oh, my God, she has you so whipped,” Abe groaned from the doorway. He wrinkled his face in disgust. “What did I tell you about being all cutesy?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps I can’t remember because of the stripping Amazon who pummeled my head!” I shot back, glaring at both of them. “A warning about her being Godzilla in a bikini would have been nice.”
“Well, to express our apologies—and our appreciation for not letting our friend die from the food at my bar—here you go.” Abe pressed an envelope into my hand. “The fellas wanted me to give you this.”
I opened it, amazed at the green profusion of singles that sprang forth from its confines. “What the—?”
“Well, my guys took bets on the fight. You won on fourteen-to-one odds. That’s a pretty decent cut of the proceeds.”
“Fourteen to one? That’s kind of hurtful,” I said, staring down at the envelope of crumpled bills. “I tell you what, why don’t you give my share to Trixie?” I said, pressing the money back into his hand. “Tell her it’s to help with her medical bills. It’s my fault for exposing her to the crab anyway.”
“You’re good people, Tina.” Abe nodded and produced a bloody raw steak from behind his back. Before I could protest, he slapped it against my bruised eye.
I yelped. “There’s no medical proof that this works.”
Caleb snorted. “Steak is Abe’s answer to most problems. You know, I keep trying to keep you out of situations where people are swinging at you. And you keep jumping right back into them. I give up. Jump away. Maybe if you’re actively trying to get hurt, you’ll stay safe, like reverse psychology.”
“I really didn’t mean for it to happen this time. But it was oddly therapeutic. Getting hit and getting back up,” I said. “It’s like facing my biggest phobia.”
