After sliding on a pair of disposable gloves, Justin lifted the towel to look at the wound. The area from just above the wrist almost to the elbow was bright red. So far there was no blistering and he gently touched the area. The patient hissed out a breath.
“Sorry.” Justin met the other man’s gaze. “Believe it or not, pain is a good sign.”
“Oh?” Beads of perspiration popped out on the other man’s forehead. “Obviously I’m still breathing, but on every other level it just plain sucks.”
“Pain is an indicator that it’s a second-degree burn and only two layers of skin are affected. No pain would mean that it’s third-degree trauma and all layers of skin destroyed. That type of injury can’t heal without surgical intervention and recovery is more than twice as long. Scarring is usually severe.”
“So I’m lucky.” He smiled at his wife, who nodded.
“I’ll need to reevaluate this in a couple of days to make sure, but all signs point to you being very fortunate.”
“If it turns out to be more severe,” Michelle asked, “what’s involved in surgery?”
“I’d need to debride the burn—that means remove the dead skin. Then apply a graft.”
“From Alan’s skin?” she asked.
“That’s right. We take it from the buttocks or inner thigh, somewhere it’s not noticeable. Then it’s applied to the open wound as a covering and held in place by a dressing and a few stitches. All of that is done under general anesthesia because, honestly, it’s a painful procedure. But that’s worst-case scenario. We’re not there yet. And I don’t think surgery will be necessary if the burn is taken care of now.”
“Then I guess pain is good.”
“It’s annoying,” Justin agreed. “But always a good idea to pay attention.”
“In the meantime, what’s the treatment?” Alan asked.
“Skin is the largest organ in the body and the first line of defense when there’s an injury. But infection is a major risk with injuries like this. Many medications are hard to use with burns. Some cause pain. Others are effective only against a narrow range of bacteria.” Justin met his gaze. “So, I’m going to clean it up with Betadine, then apply a coating of silver sulfadiazine cream. It doesn’t initiate pain and should knock down most bacteria. It lets the body devote all energy to healing instead of depleting reserves to fight infection.”
Alan nodded at his wife. “Probably a good thing you bullied me into coming to the clinic.”
“I’d say so.” She looked at Justin. “He kept insisting ice water and lavender were just what the doctor ordered.”
“And she demanded to know if I’d bought a medical degree online,” her husband teased.
Justin laughed. “The internet is full of information, but not all of it is accurate. When in doubt consult a health care professional.”
“We’re lucky to have you in Blackwater Lake, Doc.”
“It’s a great place to live and I’m happy to be a part of this community and Mercy Medical Clinic.” He took a prescription pad from his lab coat pocket and started to write on it. “This is the cream and I want you to put it on twice a day. Keep the affected area covered with nonstick pads and gauze to hold it there. I’ve given you several refills, and if you need more just have the pharmacy call for an authorization.”
Michelle took the paper from him and put it in her purse. “Thank you, Justin.”
“For now, I’ll clean and dress the wound.”
“That’s going to hurt, right, Doc?” Alan glanced at his wife.
Justin nodded sympathetically. “I believe in telling the truth. It will smart, but I’ll be quick.”
Michelle looked at her husband with the same concerned expression that Emma sometimes wore. “I’ll stay if you want.”
“She can’t stand to see someone she loves in pain,” Alan explained. “With our boys there were always stitches, scrapes and even a broken bone once.”
“I felt like the world’s worst mother when Alan held their hand through the treatment.” She sighed. “We both agreed that was probably better than me passing out or getting sick in front of them.”
“You’re an amazing mother,” her husband defended. “And we’re a team. What I did was easy. You kept the rest of the family calm and on a steady course. That was hard.”
Justin could see their family dynamic at work. It’s how they’d gotten through the trauma of their daughter’s abduction. The divorce rate was very high in situations like that, but Emma’s parents beat the odds. She came from strong and resilient roots. He just wished he could make her see that deep character she’d inherited would get her through.
“So, you’re going to be in the waiting room, honey?”
Michelle nodded. “If he passes out, you know where to find me, Justin.”
“I’ll be fine.” Alan leaned over and kissed her quickly. “Don’t worry.”
“Yeah, that’ll happen.” She opened the door and stepped out, then closed it behind her.
“I thought she’d never leave.”
“Excuse me?” Justin stared at him.
“Look, Doc, you get the hard part done, then we’ll talk. There’s something I want to ask you.”
Justin didn’t get the feeling it was about anything serious. In spite of the no-doubt-painful burn he’d suffered, Alan Crawford was excited and had clearly wanted his wife out of the room for some reason.
After retrieving a basin from the cupboard above the sink, Justin handed it to the patient. “Hold your arm over that. I’m going to disinfect the wound.”
“Okay. I’m bracing myself.”
Justin worked quickly to wash the burned area. Then he took the sterile pad and smeared it with silver sulfadiazine cream, placing the compress over the affected area before winding white gauze around the arm to hold the covering in place.
“That wasn’t too bad, Doc.”
“Good. A tip for changing the dressing. It’s easier on you if the cream goes on the pad first.”
“I’ll pass that information onto my wife.”
“If necessary, try over-the-counter medications for pain. But if that doesn’t help, call me and I can prescribe something to make you comfortable.”
“Will do.”
“Okay,” Justin said. “So, what did you want to ask?”
“I’m having a birthday party for Michelle.” He grinned. “She’s turning fifty-five. I didn’t get my act together when she was fifty and she won’t be expecting this until the next milestone at sixty. So I think I can pull off a surprise with this one.”
“Sounds reasonable.” Justin wasn’t sure why he was sharing this.
“I want you to come.”
“Me?” He slid his hands into his lab coat pockets. “Why?”
“She likes you.” He shrugged. “Go figure.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“Seriously, the invitation is for the whole clinic staff and I’d be grateful if you could extend it to everyone for me. That way, Michelle won’t catch on. It will be tricky enough to have it at the house without her getting suspicious, but I’ll figure out something.”
Justin folded his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll be there. And bring someone. Michelle would call it your plus one, and if you don’t have anyone with you, it’s pretty much a sure thing that she’ll fix you up. So if you know what’s good for you...”
“I don’t really know anyone to ask.” Emma popped into his mind, but that probably wasn’t a good idea.
“I’m sure there are a lot of ladies in Blackwater Lake who would like to change that. But if you want my advice, you should invite that pretty nanny of yours.” He held up his good hand to stop a protest. “I saw you two at dinner in the diner. Seemed like you were getting along fine.�
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They had been, Justin remembered. But that was before he’d taken her to bed. “I don’t know...”
“Call it a job perk for her. She’s with the baby all day and sure seems to love what she does, but I’m sure she’d enjoy an evening out. Michelle sure did when we had four little ones.”
Justin saw the dark look in his patient’s eyes for just a moment and knew what he was thinking. “I know about your daughter being taken. I don’t mean to pry—”
“I know. The thing is, sometimes I need to talk about her.” Alan sighed, his good hand fisted on his thigh. “In our hearts we never moved on from the baby we lost, but for the sake of our sons, we couldn’t stand still.”
“That took a lot of courage.”
The man shook his head. “It was all we could do. The cops told us there was probably no chance that she was still alive, but we think about her every day and hold out hope that she’ll come home. There are stories on the news with happy endings. It happens.”
“That’s true,” Justin said. He could feel this man’s emotional pain and was deeply tempted to tell him the truth. But it wasn’t his truth to tell.
Alan met his gaze. “Closure is something of a cliché, but only people who go through what we did can understand why it’s precious. We’d just like to know what happened to our baby girl.”
Justin simply nodded. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t betray Emma’s confidence.
The other man blew out a long breath, then slid off the exam table. “Michelle and I really like you. I hope you’ll come to the party. Bring Emma and Kyle, too. We think the world of that little guy.”
He is my world, Justin thought. Just as Emma would have been for her parents. This party might be just the thing to put her mind at ease. All he had to do was figure out how to convince her to go.
* * *
“Knock, knock.”
With a very sleepy Kyle in her arms, Emma stood just outside Justin’s office and rapped lightly on the door frame. The baby tried to imitate her and slapped at the molding. He was growing so fast, getting big and heavy. He was all little boy in his footie pajamas and ready for bed.
His father smiled. “Come in. The door is always open.”
“Literally,” she teased. “Seriously, you never close your door. And this little boy can get pretty loud and rambunctious.” She hugged the baby and nuzzled his neck until he laughed.
“It seems like the paperwork never ends. There are charts to update and procedures to study. I like to plan and be prepared before a surgery.”
“Patients like that in a doctor.”
He laughed. “But I always want Kyle to feel he can come in if he wants. For any reason.”
“Even if it’s to take this new walking thing out for a spin?” She set the boy down on his feet and steadied him before letting go. “I told him it was time for bed and he made a break for it. I grabbed him up just outside your door.”
“Were you coming to say good-night, pal?” As the boy rounded the corner of the desk, Justin picked him up and held him close for a moment.
The sight of the strong man holding his child and the love shining in those intense gray eyes never failed to trip up Emma’s heart. Justin Flint was capable of such deep emotion, and any woman fortunate enough to win his affection would be extraordinarily lucky. She knew he wasn’t willing to take a chance now, but maybe someday a woman would come along to chase away enough of the bad memories for him to try again. Emma also knew she wasn’t that woman.
The sex had been amazing and if he were a less principled man it would have happened again. She ached from wanting him, but he was too ethical and honest to promise what he couldn’t give. The morning after had been awkward, but they’d both pretended to ignore what happened and the uneasiness passed. He was friendly, a little reserved, but that was to be expected. Emma was doing her best to follow his lead. He would never know her feelings for him had grown stronger.
Justin was talking quietly to the toddler, who was doing his level best to get at the computer, paperwork and other office paraphernalia that were too tempting to a little boy.
He looked at her. “I’m not sure whether or not to be proud that he doesn’t give up.”
“Repeat this ten times. Determination is a good quality in an adult.”
“Meaning, not so much in a one-year-old.”
“You got it. Also keep in mind that this stage doesn’t last forever. He’ll learn what’s okay and what’s not.”
Kyle almost got his little hands on the stapler, and Justin stood up so everything was out of reach. “And that’s something not okay. I shudder to think what staples would do if he swallowed them.”
“It’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said.
No one could take better care of him than her, Emma realized. That wasn’t ego talking. It wasn’t about the job. It was love, pure and simple.
When Kyle couldn’t get to what he was after, he let out a loud wail and began to rub his eyes. Then he leaned toward her and tried to wriggle out of his father’s arms. Good luck with that, she thought. The man had that devastating combination of strength and tenderness that would have women throwing their panties at him if he were a rock star.
Kyle cried again and she moved closer to take him, trying to ignore the sparking sensation when her hands brushed Justin’s.
“Okay, kiddo. I know you’re tired. Time to go night-night.” The toddler’s nose was running and she fished a tissue from her jeans pocket to wipe it. Then she turned so Kyle could see his father. “Tell Daddy good-night.”
Because she was facing away from him, Justin couldn’t see the yearning she knew would be in her eyes. But she could feel the warmth from his body when he moved in behind her and kissed his son’s forehead.
“Sleep tight, pal.”
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she would swear he was breathing just a little unsteadily and his voice was this side of smoky. Whether or not that impression was fueled by imagination, her body responded and liquid heat poured through her. When Kyle was in his crib, she could stay upstairs. All things considered, she was better off with a flight of stairs between them.
When father and son had said their good-nights, she started for the door, grateful to get some distance.
“Emma?”
She half turned toward him. “Yes?”
“When Kyle is settled for the night, would you mind coming back down? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
“Of course.”
He looked serious and she wondered if this was where he gave notice that the situation wasn’t working for him. Her stomach dropped at the thought of leaving Kyle. And Justin. She wasn’t sure which one of them she would miss more and knew they were a package deal.
She walked up the stairs and Kyle seemed to get heavier in her arms as he relaxed into sleep. Normally she rocked him in the glider for a few minutes, but he was practically out now. Pressing her lips to his forehead, she decided he didn’t feel too warm, but the runny nose and cranky disposition were out of character for him. She hoped he wasn’t getting sick.
Emma put him on his back in the crib and covered him with a light blanket. “Good night, little man. Sleep well.”
She turned on the night-light, picked up the baby monitor and tiptoed from the nursery and down the stairs. Prepared to meet Justin in his office, she was surprised to see him sitting in the family room. She wasn’t sure what to make of that, figuring he’d wanted to discuss her continued employment, and the office was best for that kind of conversation.
She walked over to the sofa and set the monitor on the coffee table without sitting down. “So what did you want to talk about?”
“I saw Alan Crawford today at the clinic.”
Several things raced throug
h her mind. Did Alan know something about her? Or was he at Mercy Medical Clinic because of a health issue? It surprised her that she felt anxious about a man she barely knew.
“Is he all right?” she finally asked.
Justin nodded. “An accident at the diner. He’ll be fine.”
She wanted to fire questions at him, the way she’d done with her mother’s doctor after the breast cancer recurred. But she didn’t have the same relationship with her biological father. And how messed up was that?
“I know I can’t ask you for details on his condition because of privacy issues. That would put you in an awkward position.”
Justin nodded. “But you could ask him yourself.”
“I can’t do that.” She shook her head. “No way can I march up to the counter at the diner and say, ‘So you saw the doctor. Care to share?’”
“You don’t have to go to the diner,” he said mysteriously.
“What do you mean?”
“Alan is having a surprise fifty-fifth birthday party for his wife.”
It was noteworthy that he didn’t say the get-together was for her mother. Emma appreciated his sensitivity. “That’s really sweet of him, but I’m not sure what that has to do with me.”
“I was invited and he suggested you come along.”
“Why?” Did this mean he wasn’t terminating her employment? Suddenly, sitting down seemed like an awesome idea, so she did. She was at a right angle to him on the full-size sofa.
“He said you probably needed a night out and remembered that Michelle appreciated it when they had four small kids.”
“Four? But there are three... Oh,” she said when his meaning sank in.
“Yeah.” He rested his elbows on his knees.
“Why did he ask you?”
“Actually, he invited the whole staff at the clinic. To put a finer point on it, he asked me to invite the staff because he couldn’t figure out how to do it without spilling the secret to his wife. I got the feeling he’s pretty much inviting most of Blackwater Lake. He said the diner is closing down for the evening so their staff can attend, but the gathering will be at their home.”
Finding Family...and Forever? Page 12