‘Let me be the judge of that. You’re in my surgery now.’
‘Okay, doctor.’
Ethan smiled. He wasn’t going to allow her to go until he was sure that she was physically all right, and it seemed that Kate was finally coming to accept that.
* * *
‘There’s no fracture, which is always good.’ Kate had craned over his shoulder while he reviewed the X-rays, and Ethan had been momentarily blinded by her scent. Now that she was back in her seat he could think more clearly. He paused for a moment to admire the fine structure of her bones, and then forced his mind back to the matter at hand.
‘You have some bruising there. He grabbed your arm?’ Ethan avoided the very obvious fact that the bruising was in the shape of a handprint.
‘Yes.’ Kate twisted her other hand around, trying to demonstrate, but her thumb was on the opposite side from the handprint. Slowly, shyly, she held her arm out towards him.
Ethan felt something block his throat. Gently, he laid his fingers on her arm over the bruises. ‘Like this?’
‘Yes. Just like that.’
Her gaze met his. An unspoken message that somehow tenderness might wipe away the violence. His hand, placed in the exact spot her attacker’s had been, might somehow heal her.
‘Well there’s some trauma, and it’ll be painful for a while, but with rest it should improve in the next week or so. The bruising will fade eventually.’ If he could have erased the bruises now, Ethan would have given almost anything to do so.
She nodded. Ethan wondered whether kissing it better would make any difference, the way he did with Sam’s bumps and scrapes, and decided that was way out of his medical remit.
‘Use ice packs to relieve the swelling. And I’m going to give you a sling.’
‘But my work...’ Alarm registered in her eyes.
‘Maybe you should take some time off work. Just a few days, to get over the shock.’
She shook her head, pulling her arm away from his fingers and cradling it in her lap. ‘I don’t want to take time off work. I want things back to normal as soon as possible.’
‘Are you sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard?’
‘Yes, I’m sure. This is what I want.’
There was no disagreeing with her. And, even if he could, perhaps Kate was right about this and he was wrong. But he could at least attend to her medical needs.
‘In that case, I’m going to insist you wear the sling for a week. You need to keep that arm rested to allow it to heal.’
Kate nodded. ‘All right. I can get one of the veterinary nurses to help me at work.’
This was a victory of sorts. Ethan hid his smile, scribbling a note on his pad to send down to the dispensary. ‘I’m going to prescribe some painkillers as well. Just enough for a few days. If you have significant pain after that, you should go and see your own doctor.’
‘Thanks. I think I’ll be wanting those.’
There was one more thing he had to ask. He didn’t even want to think about it, but maybe it would be better coming from him.
‘Have the police seen your injuries?’ Ethan kept his eyes fixed on the pad in front of him, as if he were checking what he’d written and this was just an aside.
‘No.’
When he glanced up at her, her cheeks were bright red. Ethan knew that the officer she’d seen would have asked about injuries, and Kate had probably repeated the mantra that she was okay. She’d probably turned down the offer of victim support as well.
‘You know, don’t you, that they’ve caught the man?’ She nodded. ‘And that they’ll be wanting as much evidence against him as they can gather. It’s up to you, of course.’
It was, technically, up to Kate. But Ethan had no doubt that there would be an attempt at persuasion. Maybe it was better coming from him.
‘They’ll want photographs, won’t they? To show in court. They did that the last time.’