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“Thank you for coming, Angel,” Roman greeted her.
“Don’t thank me yet, Roman,” she warned. “And will you quit calling me Angel?” The complaint was more habit than anything else now. He, along with everyone else at Omertà, had called her Angel for the past few months. No matter what she did or said, they wouldn’t be swayed. She rolled with it most of the time. But with Roman, she still put up a token fight.
“But it suits you,” he insisted, smiling winningly.
Angela scoffed. “I’m no angel.”
“I beg to differ. You saved my brother. You help strangers every day. You donate your time and expertise. You put up with my crazy family.” Roman used his fingers to tick off his list.
“Because I’m forced to,” she immediately declared.
Roman chuckled and shook his head. “Keep telling yourself that. Just know that when you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
She frowned. “Ready for what?”
“You know what,” Roman all but growled.
Angela clenched her jaw, looking away. She was very afraid she did know what he was talking about. She also knew she would never be ready for him. She would never be able to accept him or the things he did. Not with her history. He was a bad person. She needed a good person—if only to balance herself out. “Where is the poor woman Abel assaulted?” she asked, ignoring his previous statement.
“Abel didn’t touch a hair on her head—other than to toss her over his shoulder and put her in his car,” Roman vowed. “She’s in room number two.”
Angela moved off without further ado, aware of Roman’s presence as he followed closely behind. She didn’t waste her breath telling him to stay outside. She had learned how invested he was in his people. She found Abel looking a little frantic—an unusual thing for him. He was pacing at the foot of the hospital-grade bed, muttering to himself.
“Abel,” she said. He turned to her, and the look of relief on his face did wonderful things for her ego. “Tell me,” she ordered, already moving to check on the unconscious woman.
“She won’t wake up,” Abel said, wringing his hands. “I didn’t hurt her. I swear!”
Angela took a moment to reach over and grab Abel’s hands in her own. “Hey, I believe you. Okay? Take a deep breath and start at the beginning.”
He followed her instructions, giving her hands a squeeze in thanks before dropping them. “I had just dropped off some merchandise at the docks when I heard a scuffle and a woman scream. I ran behind a dumpster and found some bastard trying to mug her.” He gestured to the woman. “I pulled him off and beat him to a pulp—which is about when she started screaming at me instead of him.”
Angela didn’t scold him because he looked so damn sheepish. And also because, technically, he had done a good deed by saving the woman. “Do you know her name? Did she hit her head when she fell?”
“Her license says her name is Claire,” Abel replied. “And she didn’t hit her head. I caught her. When she started screaming like a banshee, I spun around. Some blood from my hands flew off and hit her on the face. She looked horrified. Angel, I’ve never seen anyone go so white before. Her eyes literally rolled to the back of her head and she keeled over. I jumped and grabbed her before she landed on the concrete though.”
“I guess that explains the dried blood on her face,” Angela muttered, taking vitals.
The woman’s blood pressure was low, but not dangerously so, and her heart rate was within normal limits. Angela shone a light into her eyes, noting normal pupillary responses in both. She then pinched the skin on the back of the woman’s hand, counting how long it took for the color to return. She was definitely dehydrated. Placing a pulse oximeter on the woman’s right forefinger, she discovered her blood oxygen levels lower than she’d like. She quickly went about removing the woman’s shoes, and tucking pillows beneath her knees and feet so they would be above her heart. She then moved to the cabinet to find some smelling salts. It wasn’t her preferred method of waking someone up from syncope, but it was effective.
Moving back to the bed, she grabbed a face mask with some oxygen and paused to explain the situation to a hovering Abel and Roman. “Her blood pressure and oxygen levels are low, and she appears to be dehydrated. I’m going to wake her up before I give her some oxygen and the option for some IV fluids. Fainting is typically short in duration. It’s been close to thirty minutes now, so I’m inclined to think something else is causing it.” She looked at Abel drolly. “More than just having blood flung at her.”
“It was an accident,” Abel swiftly defended himself. “How was I supposed to know she’d be so fucking dainty?”
Angela shook her head, but she was smiling. Abel was kind of like a cross between a Labrador and a wolf. He was cute and dopey for the most part, but also dangerous when in his natural environment. It was a combination that she found rather endearing after three solid months of exposure to him. “Most women—and men, for that matter—don’t like witnessing violence. You said you beat her attacker to a pulp. Then you threw that pulp on her face.”
Abel scowled down at her. “It sounds bad when you say it like that.”
“I’m going to wake her up,” Angela said. There was no point belaboring the issue. Abel would never get it. “Would you mind stepping back, please? I’d like her to just see me at first.” Abel dutifully moved back, standing next to the door with a silent Roman.
She got the salts and held them under her patient’s nose. The woman gasped almost immediately, her eyes fluttering open. “Claire, can you hear me? My name is Dr. Angela Hawthorne. You’re safe. Do you understand? You’re safe.”
She always made it a priority to reassure her patients that they were safe whenever they had been in a violent situation. Claire’s eyes proved to be hazel—and very bloodshot. She bolted upright, a look of panic on her face. “Easy now, Claire. You’re safe,” Angela repeated.
“Where am I? What happened?” Claire asked, looking around frantically. Her eyes landed on Abel and she screamed. Loud.
“Shit!” Abel exclaimed.
“Christ, woman, will you keep it down?” Roman shouted with a wince. “Didn’t you hear Angel? You’re safe. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
