Inside, the waiting room held mismatched chairs, a reception desk with no receptionist, and shelves of old magazines.A ceiling fan turned lazily overhead.
A door at the back opened.
Doctor Alistair Blethan appeared in shirtsleeves and a waistcoat, his beard trimmed shorter than Selena remembered, but he was still as wide-shouldered and wild-looking.He took one look at the cloth pressed to her head.
“Agent Raven,” he said.“You’ve looked better.”
“I’ve felt better.”
Connor said, “She took a blow to the head.”
“Aye, I heard over the radio.”Blethan pointed down the hall.“Exam room.”
Selena followed him into a small room with green walls, a metal examination couch, and a cabinet full of supplies.Connor stood near the door while Blethan washed his hands and pulled on gloves.
Selena climbed onto the edge of the couch.“Wait.You’re the coroner, a forensics worker, and a local doctor?”
Blethan took the cloth from her head.“I’m a busy man.”
“That’s one way of putting it.Another is that Harlan County isn’t very busy… Usually...”
“It’s a county with more needs than staff.I apologize for not having been around lately.I seemed to have picked up a nasty respiratory virus, and this damned knee is playing up as well.But I’m feeling better today.Hold still.”
He parted her hair with careful fingers.The sting made her inhale sharply, but his touch was lighter than his manner suggested.
“Small laceration,” Blethan said.“Messy bleeder, but not deep.What hit you?”
“A lamp.”
“Who’d have thought a simple lamp could undo the great FBI, eh?”
Blethan cleaned the wound.Selena watched Connor from the corner of her eye.The sheriff looked as if he had aged overnight.Hat in his hands.Shoulders tight.Guilt sat on him openly now.
Blethan shone a small light into Selena’s eyes.“Follow my finger.”
She did.
“Any vomiting?”
“No.”
“Double vision?”
“No.”
“Do you know where you are?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Sharp tongue intact.Good sign.”
Blethan stepped back.“I see no obvious sign of a serious concussion for now.That doesn’t mean you ignore symptoms.Headache worsening, confusion, nausea, vision trouble, you get checked again.Understood?”
“Yes.”
“I mean it.”
“I said yes.”
