“Alcohol?” he asked.
“God no. But maybe something hot and sweet.”
“Hot cocoa?”
“That would be fabulous.” She kept her wrist held up against her chest as she walked around his living room.
“Why don’t you sit down before you fall down,” he suggested as he waved his hand at one of the two recliners and the couch.
“You like the creature comforts, don’t you? Is your TV large enough?”
Ezio ignored her and headed for the kitchen. He flipped the switch on his coffee maker, then he found the king-sized can of cocoa he had on hand for when his sister Lucia and her girls came to visit. He nuked a mug of water and stirred in some cocoa. He looked at it.
“Aw, what the hell.” He shoved in two more tablespoons of the powder like Lucia always did, figuring that Samantha could probably use the extra oomph tonight.
When he got to the living room, she was not sitting down; instead, she was snooping. He couldn’t hold it against her since he’d done the same thing at her house.
“I like your library,” she smiled as her left hand slid over a row of books on his shelf. “We like some of the same authors.”
“Good to know. Now, sit down and let me look at your wrist. If you’re a good patient you’ll get to have this sickeningly sweet hot chocolate, made to my sister’s standards of one part water and three parts cocoa mix.”
“Okay, I’m up for playing doctor,” she grinned.
“Are you always this much of a flirt?” he frowned.
“Only when I know that you want to throw the book at me and yell. If I think flirting will stop all that crud, then yeah, I’m a flirt, so sue me.”
Ezio laughed. “I was wondering if your perspective was off. After all you’ve been through tonight…”
“Look, Ezio, I’m a grown-up. It got hairy. I get that. It got really, really hairy. But I came out of it with some quick thinking and a lot of luck, so you need to chill a little bit.”
He put the drink on the coffee table next to the couch, then maneuvered her to sit down. “Drink some of the chocolate, and I’m going to examine your wrist. You’re really babying it. I want to see if there’s a broken bone.”
“Nah, I’m fine. It’s just a bruise, at most it’s a sprain.”
Why hadn’t he considered that a bone could be broken before now? She had dainty wrists and ankles, he should have taken her straight to the hospital.
“Can you let me look at your wrist?” he asked.
She looked at him hesitantly, then lowered her hand away from her chest into his waiting palms. He had to turn back the red sleeve of her dress to really get a good look at the damage, and when he did, he ground his teeth together. He could clearly see where a man had gripped her wrist; the bruising was clear. Her wrist was already red and swollen.
“Ah, Sam, we need to get you to a hospital for an x-ray.”
“Wait, watch, I can move it just fine.” She moved it side to side and up and down. “See?”
He saw, but he also saw the lines of strain around her eyes and mouth.
“I’m calling Cullen.” Ezio pulled out his phone. Cullen answered on the second ring.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m here with Samantha Brooks, Eden’s friend. She had a mishap tonight. Somebody really yanked on her wrist. I need to ask Carys a medical question, is she around?”
“Yep.”
Ezio waited.
“Some man hurt Sam?” Carys sounded angry.
“Right now, we’re working on putting them in jail,” Ezio said in a soothing manner.
“Okay then. That’s good.” Carys seemed mollified. “Put me on speaker.” Ezio wasn’t surprised. He’d met her a couple of times. She was a total caretaker, but she was a ferocious lion when it came to protecting anyone who had been abused. He set down his phone on the couch between him and Samantha.
“Sam, this is Carys. She’s a doctor. She’s worked in Africa and is now working at a hospital in Virginia Beach.”
“Hi, Samantha, I hear that your wrist is hurt pretty bad. Can you tell me the pain level on a scale of one to ten, and be honest now.”
Sam looked at Ezio from underneath her eyelashes. He could tell she was considering her words.
“She said to be honest,” he urged her.
“Probably a seven.” She looked up at Ezio. “But I’ve had worse injuries playing volleyball,” she rushed to assure them.
“Fine. How swollen is it? How much can you move your wrist?”
Ezio watched as she moved it side to side, then up and down. When she twirled it around, she gasped with pain. “I have full mobility, but when I rotate it, it really hurts.”
“When did you injure it?”
“Three hours ago.”
“Then I’d say it’s not broken. Your body would have it swollen like a sausage to keep the bones in place. It’s nature’s way of making a cast for your bone to keep it from moving. If you have that much mobility three hours after your injury it probably isn’t broken. I would ice it tonight, take some ibuprofen. If it gets worse tomorrow, go to an Urgent Care for an x-ray, or call me. I’m not on duty tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Carys,” Ezio smiled. “Are you okay with this, Samantha?”
“Absolutely, I thought an x-ray tonight was overkill. It was nice meeting you, Carys.”
“You, too. Ezio, make sure whoever did this to her, pays.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She hung up and Ezio found himself
