“Another big, deep breath,” he said as he kept a clock on my pulse.
And again, I did as he asked.
“Sit up for a moment for me, Miss Elizabeth.”
I shoved myself upright, only for his arm to wrap beneath mine. He helped with the tug forward, and I was thankful because something in my ribs twinged and reminded me of how much more healing I still had to go. I grunted a bit, wincing as I shifted around.
“One more big, deep breath. As big as you can without it hurting,” Doc said.
So with the stethoscope from the ice age plastered to my back, I did as he asked.
Over, and over, and over again.
He had me lie back down so that he could palpate my bruises. He slid my shirt up so that he could examine my ribs. There was a concentration in his eye that captivated me.
I never had someone take such care with me before.
Outside of Marla, that was.
“Bit of a touch, Miss Elizabeth,” Doc said.
I felt his fingertips gracing my collarbone.
His touch was so warm. So gentle and intentional. It was light and feathery, a great contrast to the dark concentration of those stormy gray eyes of his. Like his soul mission in life was to make sure that there wasn’t anything about my body that he didn’t already know. It was intimate in a way that I’d never experienced. And with him that close up, I realized he had freckles. A lot of them. He was covered in them. His face was splotched in dots that were maybe only two shades darker than the white of his skin.
I couldn’t stop counting them.
“All right, Miss Elizabeth,” he said as he tucked me back into the bed, “let me get a few notes jotted down.”
“Anything I should know, Doc?”
“Just that you’re healing as well as can be expected. I’m pleased.”
“Well, thank God for that.”
He paused and looked over at me, so I smiled and wiggled my fingers at him. I swear. Those lips of his cracked the smallest, barely-there grin before he snickered and shook his head. I watched as he jotted down some notes, his body hunched over at the dresser while he scribbled things down into my medical file.
But when he turned around, the sunset started.
I knew the sunset started because the rays of sun poured through the only window in the room. It was a bay window with curtains that could be drawn to block out the light. However, as the sunset coursed its way through the room, it chiseled itself along his features.
I couldn’t help but stare at him.
I didn’t even realize I sat back up in bed just so I could watch him. Doc had a strong set of features with a sharpjawline and high cheekbones that gave off just enough of an air of enchantment that could have been misconstrued as Greek beauty. While most of the men around us were brutish with broad foreheads and calluses on his hands, he was leaner. Trimmer. Long-legged and long fingered.
I wasn’t sure why I studied his fingers.
Bet they’d feel good.
“Miss Elizabeth?”
I quickly cleared my throat and whipped my eyes up to his face. “Hey, Doc.”
“Cap and Ghost are the men that will be here tonight, outside of myself and Brutus.”
My God, he really is good looking.“Thanks for letting me know.”
“You have eaten dinner, yes?”
