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“Under duress,” I joke… sort of. “And as soon as she’s feeling better, I’m gonna hurt her again.”
“I like it when you’re jealous.” He leads me around the corner of the hospital, but instead of heading to the front, he leads me through a side door, whose guard, I find when we step through, is a uniform Archer must’ve placed there.
The men nod, and the uniform brings his gaze down to me for a quick pass over. As we leave him behind and continue along the hall, Archer’s grip changes from embracing my hand to holding my arm and steering me. By the time we step out of the hall and into a bustling hive that is the emergency room, anyone looking across at us would only see a cop escorting a woman who limps.
The same woman already splashed on the news, bent over Miranda London’s body.
“Doctor Cleary.” Archer reaches out when a woman with midnight-black hair and eyes that match attempts to whiz by. His hand on her coat sleeve brings her to a screeching stop and her gaze to swing wildly around to him.
For just a moment, her expression says something about panic andwho the hell is touching me? But it takes only a second for the confusion to clear and her mouth to quirk into a grin I’ve seen too many times already when it comes to this man.
“Minka Mayet.” He releases my arm and effectively hands me off to the female he clearly has a history with. It’s the story of my life, I’m coming to realize. “Twenty-eight years old.” He looks to me. “Do you want to tell her, or will I?”
“Tell me what?” Cleary passes a folder off to her colleague as they pass and grabs my sleeve to back me up to a vacant bed. “What do I need to know?”
“Hemophilic,” Archer answers when I don’t. “Factor VIII infusions every second day. She came down on her knee pretty hard about forty-five minutes ago. Already limping. I haven’t had a look at it, but my experience is that it’ll be swelling and probably filling with blood behind her kneecap. I’ll leave it to you both to discuss.”
He stares into my eyes for a moment longer as the emergency room bustles. Doctors race around and nurses maintain order. The patients who were already here today, likely overshadowed by the mayhem out front. The beds are all but full, and there isn’t a single doctor or nurse standing around with nothing to do.
Finally, without another word, Archer breaks protocol and drops a lingering kiss on my temple. “Get fixed up and leave your stubborn bullshit at the door.” He looks to Cleary. “She’s not gonna be an easy patient. Push her for answers and insist on treatment.”
Finally, his phone trills and his hand digs into his pocket to retrieve it. Answering after a fast peek at the screen, he brings it to his ear. “Fletch. One second.” He drops his hand and looks to Cleary. “Keep her close.”
Spinning on his heels, Archer pushes the phone back to his ear and darts away while I catch snippets of “I’m on my way,” and “What have you got?”
“He’s a little bossy, huh?” Pulling up a rolling stool, Cleary drops down on it and carefully pushes the fabric of my pants leg up to reveal a nasty purple bruise already wrapped around my knee. The woman hisses under her breath, then she looks up to me and almost looks apologetic. “You’re not going to be difficult for me, are you, Ms. Mayet?”
“DoctorMayet.” I use my title, not to gloat or act superior, but to let her know I know what treatment I need. “Let’s push the extra factor and wrap it up. I don’t need pain meds. Can we be done within the hour?”
Surprised, she chokes out a quick laugh and yanks a tray of instruments closer. “I guess we’ll see how well-behaved you are. Be nice, and I’ll move quickly.” She flashes a wide grin that says she’s in charge and she knows it. “Be a shitty patient, and I’ll order some unnecessary tests to tie up your entire evening.”
She pulls on a pair of latex gloves and gently probes my swollen knee. “So, you and Detective Malone, huh?”
My lips peel back in disgust. “So,youand Detective Malone, huh?”
She scoffs and feels around the back of my knee. “One date. One game of pool down at his brother’s bar. One drink.” Pausing, she looks up and smiles. “And though you didn’t ask, girl code says I should tell you everything.”
My stomach swirls with the black slime of nausea. “I’d rather not know the details.”
“No sex,” she volunteers anyway. “Not even a kiss. We decided before the end of our first game of pool that it wasn’t gonna work for us.”
“Yeah?” I bite down on the pain radiating through my leg and choosenotto kick the woman in such a convenient position. “And how could you know that within the span of a single game of pool?”
“Because while we were playing, another guy set down his quarters and asked to play next.” She glances up at me with dancing eyes. “I married that guy. And though Detective Malone could have been put-out that David walked in and scooped away his date, he chose to send us a wedding gift instead and a handwritten card that mentioned no hard feelings.” Releasing my leg, Doctor Cleary peels off her gloves and pushes up to stand. “Let’s get you up to the third floor for your factor. Arterial line, or—”
“Subcutaneous,” I cut in. “Will you not wrap my knee?”
She takes my hand to pull me up. Already, my joint is locking up and throbbing with pain. “I’m considering taking some of the excess fluid out first. Let’s get some scans done so we can make a more informed decision.” Looping her arm around mine the way Aubree does to Fletcher, Cleary leads me toward the elevator. “Let’s try to walk through it to avoid stiff joints. And while we walk, you can tell me what the charming Detective Malone is up to these days.”
“Charming,” I scoff. “Maybe we’re not talking about the same guy.”
