“By myself?” Jones’s eyes widened.
“I’ll supervise, but yes,” Luke agreed. “You’re ready, and it’s time.”
As he talked the young doctor through the necessary steps to close the patient, he was able to put Bella out of his mind — for a moment, at least. Once the patient was stable and in the ICU, though, his thoughts returned to her.
Luke still wondered who she was — and where she was. Of course, he knew he was being as silly as a lovestruck TV doctor in one of those medical dramas he avoided. He and Bella had only spent one night together, and they probably hadn’t been as perfectly matched as he remembered. His feelings for her were probably nothing more than a sign that he should start trying to make friends and date again, but neither was a particularly appealing prospect.
“Doctor Porter!”
Luke turned towards the voice and saw another ER attending passing with a patient on a gurney.
“Doctor Li?” Luke fell into step beside her. “What are you doing here?”
“My shift started an hour ago.” Doctor Li frowned at him. “What areyoudoing here? You should be off now, shouldn’t you?”
“It’s fine,” Luke said quickly. He had no interest in returning to his empty house. “Can I help?”
“I’ll be with this gentleman for a while,” Li said. “If you want to go check on the residents in the ER, you can. But you know the chief would say you should go home?—”
“I know. It’s fine. I’ll take a nap and have a snack in a bit.”
Luke headed back down to the ER, stinging a little at Li’s suggestion that he needed a break. He would never let tiredness compromise patient care. When he needed a break, he took one, and until then, he would keep working.
In the ER, there were no emergency cases, so he started making the rounds and checking on each patient in turn. A few were ready to be discharged, but one older woman needed stitches on a cut on her forehead.
“Let me help with that,” Luke said, stopping by her bed. “What’s your name?”
“Jennifer Hayes,” the woman replied.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hayes.” Luke pulled a stool over and grabbed a suture kit. He donned a new pair of blue latex gloves and inspected the laceration more closely. “I can get you patched up in no time.”
“Will there be a scar?” Jennifer asked.
“Maybe just a small one, but I’ll take my time and keep it as unnoticeable as possible.” Luke numbed the area and got to work. “What happened, anyway?”
“Oh, I was just getting the Easter decorations off a high shelf.” Jennifer rolled her eyes. “I wanted to surprise my husband — and I guess he’ll be getting a different kind of surprise.” She gestured to her face.
“He’ll just be glad you’re all right,” Luke said, gently beginning the first stitch. The numbing cream worked, because Jennifer didn’t flinch. She just sighed.
“Oh, of course, but we’ve been married for forty-seven years now, and we try so hard to always look our best for each other.This isn’t my best.” Jennifer glanced at Luke, moving only her blue eyes. “Are you married, Doc?”
Luke chuckled. “No, ma’am.”
“A girlfriend, then?”
Immediately, Luke thought of Bella, her long brown hair flowing over her shoulders, her eyes crinkled in laughter, her cheeks glowing. “No, ma’am.” Bella wasn’t his girlfriend. He hadn’t even seen her in almost six months. She might as well have dropped off the face of the earth.
“Well, you should, nice young man like you.”
Luke chuckled again. “I’m hardly young. I’m thirty-six.”
Jennifer waved a manicured hand. “You’re a spring chicken, dear. I’m almost seventy.”
“Well, you don’t look a day over thirty,” Luke said, winking, and she smiled.
“Don’t let life pass you by,” Jennifer continued. “The days I’ve spent with my Richard have been the best days of my life. Even now, I’m excited to see him — though he’ll certainly tease me about this.”
Luke chuckled. “That sounds great, ma’am. You’re almost done here. Just a minute.”
