Noah parked in the doctor’s lot, thanks to his pass. He had privileges at several L.A. hospitals, including Cedars-Sinai, thank God.
He ran into the entrance and quickly made his way to the Emergency Department.
“Noah.”
He turned to see Dr. Rich Bays, an associate he knew quite well, coming toward him.
“You here for a patient?”
“Yeah,” Noah said. “Callie Matthews. Are you treating her?”
Rich nodded. “I am. She’s in room seven.”
“How is she?”
“I’ll fill you in as we go to her room.” Rich motioned for him to walk with him. “She has a deep facial laceration that extends from her temple down to her mandible and a fractured right clavicle. The CT scan should be back anytime and I’ll be in to let her know what it says. From what I’m told of the car accident, she’s very lucky things aren’t worse.”
Deep facial laceration. As a plastic surgeon, he’d seen some severe cases, but he didn’t even want to think how serious Callie’s case was because whatever was wrong, he would fix it.
“Is she being admitted for observation?” Noah asked.
Rich nodded. “For the night. Even if the scan comes back clear, she was unconscious when she was brought in.” Dr. Bays stopped outside the glass sliding door. “And when she goes home, she’ll probably need help.”
Noah nodded. “I’ll make sure she’s cared for.”
No doubt Callie would brush off the help, but he wasn’t letting her go through this alone. Either she’d stay with him or he could stay at her apartment.
Another thought slammed through him. How would this affect the role she’d just landed? Didn’t filming start soon?
God, he hadn’t wanted her to get the part, but he sure as hell hadn’t wanted her injured or scarred. Did she even know the severity of her wound? The broken bone would heal, but the injury to her face…
A deep laceration could take a year to heal, depending on the tissue that was damaged. Possible surgeries filled his mind. No matter how many she needed, he would be the one seeing to all of her medical care.
He needed to assess her injuries before he jumped to any conclusions. She might not be as bad as he was imagining…or she could be worse. That sickening knot in his stomach clenched so tightly he thought he’d be sick.
Noah knew one thing for certain, though. No other plastic surgeon was going to be putting his surgical hands on Callie. He’d do the job and make sure it was done right. Perfection in the O.R. was his life and he’d settle for no less with Callie.
“She’s in here.” Rich nodded toward the closed door. “I’m going to check to see if that scan is back yet. I’ll be back as soon as I learn anything.”
“Thanks, Rich.”
Noah steeled himself for what he’d see on the other side of the door and privacy curtain. He told himself that as a doctor he’d seen it all, but the thought of Callie wrapped and damaged scared him on a level he didn’t think still existed after he’d faced the hell he’d gone through in the past two years.
He wasn’t going to lie, wasn’t even going to try to deny the fear that coursed through him and nearly had a choke hold on him.
Too many times he’d seen Malinda at her worst. But he’d never seen Callie as anything but bright, smiling and joyful.
He knew he needed to be strong for Callie so he took a deep breath, eased open the door and stepped in. When he pulled aside the thick curtain, his knees nearly buckled. Her whole face, save for her eyes and mouth, was wrapped in white gauze, her hair puffed out in a matted mess around it. Her arm was in a sling to protect her broken collarbone. She looked so frail, so lifeless lying there.
He had to mentally distance himself from this or he’d never be strong enough to help her. Damn it, he had to be a friend first, not a doctor, not a boss and certainly not a wannabe lover.
As he eased closer to the bed, her eyes shifted to lock onto his.
“Hell of a way to get out of the photo shoot,” he said, trying to lighten the moment.
“God, Noah,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I was on my way to the shoot and a truck came out of nowhere…. I don’t remember anything between seeing a semi and waking up here.”
She started to weep and Noah’s heart constricted. Other than the happy tears in his office, he’d never seen her cry, had never seen anything from her but smiles and happiness—which was why he’d considered her the color yellow. Cheerful and sweet.