Page 58 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

“Let’s hope we never have a reason to have to do this again.” He took her hand with his good one and led her to the kitchen. “I could use about a gallon of coffee, unless you want to go back to sleep.” He glanced out the window to see the sun was coming up.

“I tried to go back to sleep, but my mind is going about a hundred miles an hour.” She yawned. “Might take a nap later.”

He pulled her to him and slipped his arm around her back. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he felt the tension in her body ease. They stood there in silence for a few moments, both lost in their own thoughts. The events of the night had taken a toll on both of them, but being together like this gave him comfort. He hoped it was the same for her.

After a while, she lifted her head and looked up at him with a small smile. “Last night was like a nightmare come to life. Thank you for being here.”

“No place else I’d rather be. I have to go to the hospital and see my boss, let her know what happened. I think it would be best to let her see my face instead of just calling in. If I can get an emergency appointment, I also want to see the ophthalmologist.”

She leaned back and looked at his eye. “It looks pretty bad. Does it hurt?”

“I won’t lie. It does.”

“Do you think it’s seriously damaged?”

“I hope not.”

“But you’re not sure? I feel so bad. What if it is and you can’t be a doctor anymore?”

“That’s not going to happen, but even if it did, it would be worth it to know that you and Sam are safe.”

Shock showed on her face. “You can’t mean that. And what about your hand? Is it broken?”

“I absolutely mean it, and my wrist is only sprained. No biggie.”

She huffed a laugh. “No biggie, he says.”

“That’s right. And I’d do it again to keep you both safe.” He kissed her and managed not to wince. He’d forgotten about his cut lip. “How about that coffee?”

“You go sit. I’ll make it.”

“Not going to argue today.” He moved to the island and settled on the barstool. “You have any Advil?” He wasn’t sure which was throbbing more, his wrist or his eye.

“Yes. Be right back.”

While she was gone, he pressed his fingertips to his swollen eye. He hadn’t looked in a mirror, but he could feel that it was puffy. He definitely needed to see the ophthalmologist today. Next, he massaged his wrist. It throbbed painfully, but it wasn’t as serious as his eye. His professional opinion was that it was only a mild sprain. Shouldn’t take more than a week, two at the most, to heal. And he could still doctor with a sprained wrist. It would be more difficult with a damaged, swollen-shut eye. If he had to, he’d pull rank to get an appointment today.

Matti returned, handed him a bottle of Advil, then filled a glass with water. “I hope this helps. Sorry I don’t have anything stronger.”

“This is fine, thanks.” He popped two of the pills into his mouth, then drank some water to swallow them down.

“How does scrambled eggs and toast sound?”

“Not really hungry, but I suppose we should eat something, so that’s fine.” What he’d really like to do was to go back to bed with her, wrap himself around her body, and sleep the day away.

“Wyatt told me I could share this with you, but it’s confidential, so no telling anyone else,” she said as she whisked the eggs she’d cracked into a bowl. “They got the toxicology report back on Sam’s parents, and the drugs that were in their system has fentanyl in them and were the same drugs that killed that man out on the Enchanted Highway.”

“So, the two cases are related.” Who was behind this deadly drug out on the streets? “Can I put my emergency room on notice that we could start seeing more than the usual overdose patients? I can do it without revealing how I know.”

“That’s probably a good idea. Maybe run it by Wyatt first, though.”

“I’ll call him after we eat.” He wasn’t looking forward to meeting with Candy and having to tell her that not only would he be out a week, but that her emergency room might be busier than normal with drug overdoses.

Chapter 25

That afternoon, after the locksmith replaced the broken lock and left, Matti told Sam he needed to get dressed as they had to run some errands.

“I don’t want to,” Sam said as he crossed his little arms across his chest. “I want to stay here. You and Doc can’t leave either.”