The man with a noticeable limp, who wasn’t quite six feet tall, but had huge biceps, tree trunks for thighs, and a plethora of goth tattoos covering his arms and neck, introduced himself simply as Doc. April doubted he was an actual doctor, but he smiled at Violet, and spoke to her in a surprisingly kind and gentle tone. Something Ned never did, and one of the many reasons April hated him.
After making Violet smile with a knock-knock joke, Doc unfolded a blue piece of plastic, shook it open like a sheet, and stretched it out in front of Violet, close enough to her face that she wouldn’t be able to see her ankle, but far enough away that she could still easily breathe. “I need two of you to hold this just like that,” Doc said in a matter-of-fact tone.
April and Tanner each reached for an end, and stood where Doc motioned for them to stand. “You don’t have to look,” he told them. “Just don’t react if you do.”
Tanner nodded and April turned to offer Violet an encouraging smile.
“Alright,” Doc said, and looked up at Violet over the blue plastic sheet. “Do you know how to count to one hundred?”
Violet nodded eagerly. “I can even count to a thousand.”
“Whoa,” Doc chuckled. “I don’t think I'll need that long.”
April had informed him on what had to be done before he even got near Violet. He’d assured her that he could do the procedure with minimal pain in just a few minutes.
“All right, Violet,” Doc said, swabbing the area with alcohol pads. “You’re going to feel a pinch and then a burn.” She winced when he inserted the needle, then gritted her teeth and squeezed April’s hand as he injected the solution. “All done,” Doc said. “How was that?”
Violet sighed, fighting back the tears pooling in her eyes. “Not too bad. What happens now?”
“Well, that depends.” Doc palpated the spot he’d just numbed. “Do you feel that?”
“What?” Violet asked.
Doc smiled. “Nevermind. You’re doing great. This is where you start to count for me.” He was already pushing the scalpel against her skin making a small incision.
Not wanting to watch, April looked away and her gaze met Tanner’s. His blue eyes swam with determination and a hint of the lingering anger he’d felt on Violet’s behalf. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed. She sensed there was a lot he wanted to say, but there were too many ears in the room.
She turned her attention to Violet, who was carefully, but yet somewhat proudly, counting to one hundred just as Doc had asked her to.
After Violet’s third time of starting over because she’d messed up, Doc smiled and gave her a wink. “You’re doing great. I’m actually impressed,” he said as he tossed a small bloody piece of plastic into a little stainless-steel bowl, then reached for the suture kit. He worked fast, stitching Violet up and covering the wound with some Steri-Strips and a large Band-Aid. “All right, I’m done. Just keep that clean and dry for the next two days, and the little pieces of tape will fall off on their own.” Doc pulled the blue plastic over Violet’s lap, taking with it all the bloody gauzeand any tools he used. He scrunched it up into a tight ball and tucked it under his arm.
“But I only got to eighty-seven,” Violet complained.
April smiled. “We’ll practice more counting later,” she told Violet before turning to face Doc. “Thank you so much. You’re very good at what you do.” April reached for the little bowl with the plastic tracking device in it, but Doc stopped her. “Let us take care of it,” he offered, giving one last nod to the room before grabbing the bowl and leaving.
“Thank you so much for helping us, and please thank Doc again for what he did,” April said to Nico as he turned to leave. She wasn’t sure who he was or why Tanner didn’t like this guy, or if Doc was even a real doctor, but these two men had gone above and beyond to help Violet. She wouldn’t forget that.
Nico gave her a nod, briefly meeting her gaze. His stormy eyes momentarily revealed a depth of secrets and pain that he locked down so fast, April wasn’t sure if she’d just imagined it. “Take care of each other,” Nico said, casting his gaze to the floor as he made his way to the door.
“I still don’t know what you think you’re getting in return for all this,” Tanner said to Nico.
Nico shrugged, any tenderness in his expression vanished and replaced by the unforgiving hardness she’d felt from him since he first walked into the room. “Like I said, I don’t hurt kids, and I don’t like people who do. But if you’re feeling as generous as I am, maybe you could put in a good word for me with the Feds. Otherwise, I’ll have to start my own little investigation, and no one is going to like the kind of justice I dish out.”
It wasn’t so much what Nico said, but how he said it that made April shudder. Whoever this man was, he was far from friendly or kind, but he’d shown kindness when he didn’t have to, so April didn’t want to judge him. She did want to leave thispolice station though, and get Violet as far away from Ned as possible.
Tanner walked over to the door and opened it, a silent demand for Nico to leave. “Have a nice day, Nico.”
“Whatever you say, Detective. Whatever you say.” Nico smirked in Tanner’s direction, gave April a chin lift, then left. Once again, the room fell into silence, and April felt herself taking a deep breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
“He won’t find me now, right?” Violet asked with hope in her eyes.
“No, Sweetie. He won’t find you. But we should go.” April turned to Tanner, worried that everything that just happened would scare him off. They wouldn’t be able to go running together anymore, and she honestly had no idea when she’d even see him again. “Will I see you again?” The question felt silly, and needy, given everything she and Violet were facing, but the words slipped out before she could think better of it.
Tanner took April’s hand in his, the warmth of his fingers enveloping hers as his blue eyes locked with hers, swimming with tenderness and desire. “You’re going to be seeing so much of me, you’ll grow tired of my face. But I’m going to memorize every freckle on yours because I won’t take one second of being with you for granted.”
His words fell like shooting stars into her dark sky. Bursts of light filling a void that hadn’t seen a ray of hope in so long. “There’s so much I -”
A knock sounded at the door. Tanner held up his hand to everyone in the room indicating that he’d handle whoever it was, and opened it.
