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She hesitated for a split second. Then wanted to kick herself.Get it together.“Of course.”
Once seated at the edge of the bed, his eyes traveled over her face, no doubt taking in every bruise and cut. Despite what he saw, the doctor smiled pleasantly. “So, you’re a friend of Joseph’s?”
“Oh, um, yes,” she stammered. “He and I... uh, well...”
Dr. Buchanan patted her leg. “It’s okay, dear. I don’t need the details.” He chuckled and turned to his medical bag. “Could you roll up your sleeve? I’d like to take your blood pressure.”
She stared at him, incapable of moving.
“It’s all right.” He looped his stethoscope around his neck. “I’ve already seen your arms. We’ll talk about that in a minute. First, I just want to check your blood pressure.”
She pulled up her sleeve. As Dr. Buchanan fit the cuff around her upper arm and began the process, she closed her eyes. It was humiliating that this kind man had seen what Preston had done to her. What she’d allowed him to do to her.
No! You fought back.And if he comes after you, you’re going to fight back again. You’renevergoing back to him.
“One thirty-four over seventy.” He removed the blood pressure cuff. “A little on the high side. Nervous?”
Alex nodded. “You could say that.” She attempted to give him a small smile. And failed. Her hands shook, and she clutched them together.
“Did they find the person that did this to you?”
She nodded again, her gaze fixing on her hands. Her knuckles had turned white. “Joe told me that he... uh, my, um, husband was arrested after all this.”
“Good. Look at me, dear.” His voice was soft, and he waited until she raised her head. “Did you want anything for the pain? I can prescribe some hydrocodone if you’re uncomfortable. Or, if you’d prefer—”
“Oh, no. I can’t take med—” She slammed her mouth shut. Crap.
His eyes narrowed, and his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. If she hadn’t been watching him closely, she would have missed it.
“Does your husband know about the baby?”
Her jaw dropped, then she cringed. “Was I that obvious?”
“A little bit, my dear.” He flashed her a grin that was so much like Joe’s she was surprised she hadn’t recognized the resemblance right away. “The pregnancy could also explain the fainting, but I’m sure the stress of your situation isn’t helping matters. So, does your husband know?”
“Well, he did,” Alex whispered. “Joe said he... that Preston was told I’d miscarried.”
“And if Preston found out that you were still pregnant?”
“I don’t know.” Worry soured her stomach. “I don’t know what he’d do.”
“Alex,” he said gently. “You’ll be safe here. Quinn will make sure of that. So will my Joseph.” He reached into his bag again and pulled out a bottle. “Now, let’s treat those arms.”
As she began to roll her other sleeve up, Dr. Buchanan laid a hand on her shoulder. “If you could take off the sweatshirt and pull up the arms on your T-shirt, that would be better. There look to be some longer cuts on the back of your arm that I’d like to see.” He removed his hand. “You’ll be okay, dear. You’ll be just fine.”
She shrugged out of her sweatshirt, and the T-shirt beneath lifted. At Dr. Buchanan’s sharp inhale, she stilled, knowing what he saw. Old bruises shadowed the new ones making it impossible to differentiate where one ended and another began. She remembered to breathe when he gripped one of her sleeves and helped her finish maneuvering out of the sweatshirt.
“May I check your back as well?” he asked.
After she replied with a brief nod, he leaned her forward, then lifted the back of her T-shirt, lightly poking and prodding at the various bruises and cuts on her back. Once he completed his examination, he lowered her shirt and helped her settle against the pillows. He got to work on her arms, disinfecting each wound with the application of an ointment.
“Apply a thin layer of this once a day on all lacerations and incisions until the stitches come out. It’ll also help with the scarring. Wear loose tops. You want as much air on your wounds as you can get. Also, not too much movement, okay? You don’t want any of the stitches popping.”
“Okay,” she murmured. “I can do that.”
“Good. Now, the wounds on your back are considerably deeper than the ones on your arms, so you’ll especially want to keep an eye on those to make sure there’s no infection. You probably won’t be able to reach them, so you’ll need to have someone help you with the ointment. You can swing into the clinic every day, or I can talk to Quinn and have him help. Does that work?”
It took all her power to not let her mouth fall open. He had to be kidding.
