“Go to your room,” Tor says. “I will follow with Doc.”
I don’t wait around. Instead, I make my way there. Esmeralda starts to wake when I lie her down.
She whimpers in pain which has my anger rising.
“I will examine the patient now, if you will both leave,” the doctor says from behind me.
I turn my head to glare at him. There is no way that I’m going to leave Esmeralda alone with anyone, no matter who they are. The Desperados can get to anyone by threats and bribery, so I don’t trust the doctor, no matter how long we have known him for.
“No!”
At my bark of anger, I see the surprise on the doctor’s face.
Tor places his hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “It’s his woman. He stays.” The doctor nods reluctantly before he steps forward to lean down over Esmeralda, who is looking up at him with huge, frightened eyes.
“He’s a doctor. Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. I will make sure of it.”
I see the doctor stiffening at my comment, but I don’t give a shit. He needs to know that if he hurts my woman, he is dead. I hear the door closing, which tells me that Tor has left. Now it’s just the three of us, which by the doctor’s worried glance to the door, has him unsettled.
“I’m Dr. Fredricks, and I will try to be as gentle as possible,” he says in a soothing voice. “Now, why don’t you tell me where you have been hurt?”
“Umm,” Esmeralda glances at me before she looks at the doctor again and replies, “My arm hurts.” She winces as she tries to lift her arm, which has me grunting in anger. I hate seeing her in pain. To know that I was so close, but I wasn’t able to help her before she got hurt, kills me inside.
“Don’t move,” I order, worried that she might hurt herself more.
“Let me see.” The doctor starts to examine her arm. I can tell that he is being careful not to hurt her, which is what saves him, because when tears fill Esmeralda’s eyes, I’m ready to tear him apart. “You are going to need x-rays, but I am fairly certain that your wrist is broken.”
Esmeralda squeezes her eyes shut at his revelation before taking in a deep breath and opening her eyes again. “I’m not going to the hospital,” she whispers, her eyes turning to me.
I can tell that she is worried that by going to the hospital, it will give the fuckers that are looking for her an opportunity to snatch her away. And she could be right. They would try, but they would also die if they did.
“Can you set her arm here?” I ask, not wanting to move her again. I would rather her be in as little pain as possible.
“No. I’m afraid we will need to get her in for an x-ray, as I can’t tell how bad it is like this,” he says as he raises his hand to her face, feeling the bruised cheek. “How did this happen?” he asks with a suspicious look at me, which has me stiffening in fury. Does he think that I did this?
“I was assaulted, but Dag helped me.” Esmeralda’s quick defence of me has my anger cooling slightly. It’s good to know that even though she’s in pain, she still will defend me.
“That’s good. So how would you like to go to the hospital? Shall I call for an ambulance?”
“Fuck no. I will take her.”
At my statement, the doctor turns towards me with a frown on his face.
Before he can contradict me, I scowl and take a step towards him. “Thank you for coming, Doctor, we will meet you at the hospital.” I incline my head towards the door, letting him know, in no uncertain means, that I want him gone.
“She needs to get it looked at immediately. You do understand that the longer you leave it the worse it is.”
What the fuck does he think I’m going to do? “Leave!”
He realizes that he has gone too far, and immediately lifts his bag from where he placed it on the ground and turns, making his way out of the room.
“Thank you.” Esmeralda’s quiet words have me turning fully towards her. Her face is showing the strain she is under.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to you before you got hurt.” I will never forget the feeling of hopelessness that filled me when I heard her scream, and I didn’t know where she was.
She is shaking her head on the pillow as she looks at me. “You didn’t know where I was. How could you possibly apologise? This was not your fault.” She sighs, then closes her eyes in obvious pain and exhaustion.
“Nevertheless, now we need to get you to the hospital so they can set that arm,” I say as I go to pick her up against me again.