Cheyenne leaned back in the armchair and wrapped her arms around her knees.
“Well, I won’t take up too much of your time.” Dr. Andrews scanned the monitor beside the hospital bed, then tapped the tablet in his hand and stuck the thing in the huge pocket of his white coat. “Just wanted to make a quick stop and see how you’re doing. Pain levels. Appetite. The whole deal.”
Ember gave the man a patient smile. “Pretty much the same as when you came by this morning.”
“Good. Glad to hear it. And having a friend stop by is always a plus.” It seemed like he eyed Cheyenne again for a little longer than a polite acknowledgment. There was no way he didn’t recognize her after the handful of conversations they’d had about Ember before she woke up. And she had one of those hard-to-forget faces, plus the piercings and the Goth-chick getup. “Okay. Well, I’m gonna go over your chart before I head home for the night. Make sure everything looks good, and then we can talk again tomorrow about where things are headed moving forward.”
“Yeah.” Ember wrinkled her nose. “That’ll be a pretty short talk. I’m not gonna be able to—”
“Say anything right now,” Cheyenne finished for her. She shot Ember a critical look, then shook her head. “Are you? ‘Cause you’re just sitting back and focusing on getting better right now. Remember?”
Ember snorted. “Okay. You win.”
“I’m guessing I missed something,” the doctor interjected with a crooked smile. “Which is fine. I barged in on your visit. Any other questions for me, though, before I head out?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
The man nodded at both of them, then turned slowly toward the hall again, pausing briefly like he wanted to say something else.
“Actually, I have a question for you. If you don’t mind.” Cheyenne plastered on what she thought an innocent smile was supposed to look like when Dr. Andrews turned back toward her and tilted his head.
“I don’t mind at all. And I’ll try to answer.”
Cheyenne gestured at her arm. “I got in an accident yesterday. My shoulder’s not doing very well, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got something stuck in there. Would you mind taking a look?”
Dr. Andrews blinked and unnecessarily adjusted his glasses. “That’s something you should go to your provider for. Hospital policy frowns on seeing patients without checking them in.”
Ember’s hospital room fell silent, and Cheyenne bit her lip. “I know. And I get that. I just… I don’t trust doctors. You were pretty cool about me hanging around when Ember was still… After her surgery and everything.”
The doctor eyed her shoulder, but she’d turned toward him in the chair just enough that he couldn’t get a good view of it from where he stood. “You get shot too?”
Ember barked a laugh and clapped both hands over her mouth.
Cheyenne smirked at her friend. “Nope. I promise there isn’t any kind of local police procedure for handling what I got myself into. Look, it’s either you checking out the damage for me, or I’ll just end up going back home and digging around in these holes again myself.”
“Again?” The man’s eyes widened, and sighed. “I know I don’t have to tell you why that’s not a good idea.”
“Yeah, well, those are my options right now. I don’t think I’m gonna be healing the right way anytime soon until I get whatever it is out of my shoulder.”
“I really shouldn’t.”
“I’ll pay you.” Cheyenne shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with that. Just with the paper trail and the waiting and all the questions, you know?”
“Well.” Dr. Andrews dipped his head. “I appreciate your willingness, but I don’t think—”
“Hippocratic Oath, though, right?” Ember stared at her doctor as both he and Cheyenne looked at her like they’d forgotten she was there. “Do no harm. I’m pretty sure that includes turning someone away after they threaten to hurt themselves.”
It was all the drow halfling could do not to laugh at that. “Yeah, and trust me, I already know how much it hurts to try finding whatever’s in my shoulder by myself. Not a very good angle, either.”
The doctor just closed his eyes and sighed again.
“But if you really can’t just take a look,” Cheyenne added, “could you at least get me a pair of surgical tweezers? Maybe a scalpel? I’ll buy those too, no problem. ‘Cause I’m definitely gonna need something better than anything I could find at CVS—”
“Okay, stop.” Dr. Andrews lifted a hand, his eyes still closed. “At-home surgery with convenience-store supplies is gonna give me nightmares.”
Cheyenne and Ember grinned at each other. The halfling jerked a thumb toward the doctor and muttered, “That’s professional dedication right there.”
“And I’ll vouch for him. He’s really very good.”
Dr. Andrews let out a bitter chuckle and shook a finger at the halfling—not enough to look completely pissed about the situation but aggravated beneath the amusement. “If I take a look, you have to promise me you won’t go poking around in there again. And if it doesn’t get better, you’ll go see a doctor the right way and get them to look at it. Deal?”
“Absolutely. Thank you.”
“Okay.” The man shot her a sideways glance, then shook his head and headed toward the door. “Give me about ten minutes to raid the surgical supplies. And no one else hears a word of this, understand?”
“Crystal-clear.” Cheyenne nodded.
“Like it never happened.” Ember mimed zipping up her lips.
Dr. Andrews studied them both with a smirk. “Yeah. Just know I’m doing this for Ms. Gaderow. She’s gonna need a friend like you for support when she gets outta here, which you won’t be able to give if you nick a vein or that shoulder goes septic. Don’t let that happen.”
Cheyenne just nodded, and the doctor slipped out of the room, shaking his head.
“Did you actually try digging a tracking device out of your own shoulder?” Ember’s raised eyebrow and crooked smile hovered somewhere between admiration and condescension.
“Come on, Em. You
