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She nodded. “I'm sorry we couldn't do more.”
He raised his gaze to hers, and her heart fluttered stupidly in her chest when she noticed he'd recognized her as well. His mouth quirked in half-hearted smile. “Not your fault, Dr. Davis. He had the best doctor in the state as far as I'm concerned.”
She felt her cheeks grow warm and inwardly cursed her fair skin. The cop had made her blush two months ago too, teasing her as she'd stitched his wound. He was tall, well over six feet, and wore his chocolate brown hair short. She remembered his body was pure solid muscle. She'd been more aware of him than had been proper when taking care of a patient.
Opening and closing her hand again, she fought to maintain her professionalism. “I hope your wound is all healed.”
“Sure.” His smile disappeared. “I only wish these two kids had tried to settle their dispute with a knife instead of a gun. Then this kid might have had a chance.”
“I know.” She understood what he was saying. Once she would have argued that violence was violence regardless of the weapon of choice. But the crime rate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had been climbing over the past few years and so had the use of guns. As a result, they treated more and more victims of gunshot wounds, many of them fatal.
Like this poor boy.
“Thanks again, Dr. Davis.” Alec flashed a crooked smile.
Call me Jillian. She almost said the words out loud but managed to bite them back. She gave a brief nod instead. “You’re welcome.”
Alec turned away, stripping off his bloody gloves and taking a moment to wash his hands in the sink before heading for the door. Jillian watched him walk away, hoping she wouldn't have a reason to see him as a patient in the emergency department anytime soon.
Cops like Alec put their lives on the line every day to protect the innocent. To protect the public. To protect people like her.
She couldn't imagine a more thankless job.
Or a more dangerous one.
Yet from the little she'd seen of Alec between this visit and the previous one where he'd been cut with a knife, he seemed to thrive on his role, throwing his whole heart and soul into his career. Not many cops would have held pressure on a bleeding chest wound like he had.
Jillian shrugged off her troubled thoughts. Tucking her hands into the pockets of her lab coat, she spun on her heel to head back to the main area of the emergency department. No reason to worry about Alec—she had enough problems of her own.
Like how long would she have to wait to hear the results of her MRI?
And did she even want to hear the results?
Her gut instinct shouted no, even though she knew it was better to find out the truth now so she could figure out the potential impact to her career. Her stomach clenched in fear. She knew firsthand, after caring for her mother, just how badly this could affect her future. Although likely not for years yet.
Small comfort.
“Dr Davis?”
Surprised, she glanced over her shoulder. A deep frown furrowed Alec's forehead as he strode back toward her.
Yes?” She pivoted and waited for him to reach her.
“Do you have a minute?” His serious intense green eyes held hers.
Her heart thudded in her chest. She should say no because, heaven knew, the area was full of patients who might need her attention. But she found herself nodding her consent. “Of course. Is something wrong?”
“You could say that. I pulled these out of the kid’s pants pocket.” Alec 's mouth thinned in a grim line as he held the item up for her to see.
“Percocets?” She frowned when she saw the four individually wrapped packages of narcotics. “Was he recently hospitalized?”
Alec cocked his head questioningly. “I don’t know. If he was, do medications come individually wrapped like this when you fill a prescription?”
“No.” The implication of what he was saying hit her with the force of a ton of bricks. “You're saying these were stolen. Like from a hospital or a clinic.”
“Yes.” His gaze didn't waver from hers. “Would you know if anyone around here or anywhere else recently reported missing narcotics?”
Jillian opened her mouth and then closed it again without saying anything. Because the answer was yes. Less than a week ago, twelve percocet tablets, just like the kind Alec held in his hand, had been discovered missing from the locked narcotic drawer right here in the Trinity Medical Center's emergency department.
