CHAPTER FOUR

      JILLIAN headed to the hospital bright and early the next morning, despite her restless night. It was all Alec’s fault, she thought, feeling cranky as she walked in. Reliving those precious moments she’d spent with Alec and his daughter had made it impossible to fall asleep.

      At least ignoring her fatigue was easier once she began seeing patients. What she loved most about the ED was the wide variety of illnesses and injuries. She was never bored—how could you be when you never knew what your day would bring?

      At just before noon, one of the nurses, Susan Green, gestured her over. “Dr. Davis, you need to look at this patient. He’s suffered a pretty severe second-degree burn on his arm.”

      “I’ll be right there.” Jillian quickly washed her hands before walking over to see the patient. She picked his clipboard up off the table to glance at his name and his vital signs. “Mr. Perry, my name is Dr. Davis. What happened? How did you burn yourself?”

      “I was stupid,” Mr Perry admitted, grimacing when she lifted an edge of the cold towel that had been placed over the burn to gauge the damage. “I was trying to burn some garbage and as it rained the other day, everything in the fire-pit was wet. So I thought I’d use a little lighter fluid…” He sucked in a breath when she lifted the towel all the way off and the air hit the raw skin. “Stupid. There was a small explosion. I dropped and rolled in the grass, then went to stand in a cold shower.”

      “Very smart,” she told him. “Exactly the right treatment for a burn.”

      “Smart, yeah.” Mr. Perry, a well-built man in his forties, snorted. “Not smart enough to avoid a dangerous short-cut.”

      “Maybe not, but this could be worse,” Jillian admitted. The burned area covered almost the entire expanse of his arm between his elbow and his wrist. “You still have hair follicles, which means you won’t need a skin graft. This burn will be painful, but once the area has healed, it shouldn’t leave a scar.”

      “Good.” His smile was wan.

      She replaced the cool towel. “I’m going to have one of the nurses wash this up and put a dressing over it. We’ll give you some percocets for the pain. You’ll need someone to drive you home, though, if you take the pain medicine here.”

      “I’ll hold off on the pain medicine for now. Otherwise I’ll have to call my ex-wife,” Mr. Perry said with a sigh. “She won’t be happy with me.”