Stitches and Scars (7 page)

“And you figured it would be better to let a professional handle it.” It was a statement not a question.

“Right. It has been a few months since I’ve seen Dr. Williams, and I didn’t want him to think I was ignoring him.”

As soon as the words were out of Kate’s mouth, she was aware of how they must have sounded. “Oh! I mean, I … I …” She scrambled to come up with a better explanation. “Dr. Williams has treated my friend a few times. So I’ve gotten to know him. He’s really nice … reminds me a lot of my dad.”

Ethan watched as she floundered through her explanation. Not bothering to repress his grin, he tucked Kate’s chart under his arm and leaned back against the counter. There was something about her that amused him. She was always doing or saying something he wasn’t expecting. He found it intriguing. “Dr. Williams is a great doctor. He’s actually taught me a lot. But he isn’t working today, so you’re kind of stuck with me, if that’s all right.”

“Fine with me,” Kate said, holding back the desire to tell him it was
more
than fine. “As long as you know what you’re doing.” She looked at him skeptically.

“I think I’ll be able to handle it,” he said with a smirk. “Let’s start with your cut. I want to get any bleeding under control. I’ll just step out while you put this on.” He walked toward her and handed her a paper gown, then turned and left the room.

Kate took the moment alone to gather her thoughts and take a calming, deep breath.
It’s okay, it’s no big deal. He’s a doctor—he sees this stuff all the time. Plus, I’ll be in my sports bra.
She continued to give herself a pep talk and tugged the bottom of her filthy shirt over her head. Just as she slipped her arms into the paper gown, the door opened.

“All right, let’s take a look.” Ethan pulled on a pair of gloves and sat down on a rolling chair, pulling up beside Kate. Without lowering her eyes, Kate pulled the front of the gown back and held her breath.

“It does look pretty deep,” Ethan said, leaning in. “You really did a number on yourself.”

Kate nodded still not looking down. “I’ll take your word for it.” She tried to relax and stay calm, but having him this close made it hard. Her heart was pounding so fast she knew he could hear it.

“Just relax and take some deep breaths. That always helps.” Kate’s eyes were closed but she could hear the smile in his voice. She let out a long sigh and tried to ignore the fact that his hands were touching her bare skin.

“It looks like you will need a few stitches, but it’s not too deep.” Ethan stood from his chair and began gathering everything he’d need. Kate watched him out of the corner of her eye. His white lab coat stretched taut across his broad shoulders and she couldn’t help but fantasize about how they would look bare. Her thoughts were interrupted when he turned around.

“Okay, are you ready to get started?” he asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Kate mumbled, trying to clear her mind.

“I’ll be careful, don’t worry. You probably won’t even end up with a scar.” His smile was reassuring.

Kate lay back on the gurney and stared at the ceiling. Ethan moved so gently that Kate barely noticed he was even touching her. Doctor and patient remained in comfortable silence for a few minutes before either of them spoke.

“So, are you from the area?” Kate asked, figuring it was a pretty safe question to start with.

“No. I’ve lived in a few places over the years, but Philly has been my home for the past four. I was born in Boston, but my family moved to San Francisco when I was a baby. Went to medical school at Hopkins, and after I finished, I needed to find a place to complete my residency. My best friend Trent and his family had moved here and said it was a great area, so I took his word for it.”

“Don’t you miss your family?”

“I do miss my parents, but they visit a lot and recently bought a home not too far from here. Also, I try to make it home a few times a year. I’m the only child, and Trent is the closest thing I have to a brother. I see him every day, so that makes it pretty easy. What about you? Are you from the area?”

“I grew up in Arlington, Virginia.”

“And what brought you here?”

“One of my best friends got a job here, and my other best friend and I decided to tag along. We wanted a change in scenery. It’s great because we’re all within driving distance of our families. I’m actually living in New Hope now and I love it there.”

“So, do you live with them, then?” It was a simple question, but Kate felt the weight behind it.

“Elle and I live together. Her line of work is pretty flexible, and she’s only a short train ride from New York City. Sophie keeps a room at our place, but practically lives with her boyfriend. But she does take pity on us
single
girls by going out with us every once in a while. They were the ones I was with last night at Rain.”

Ethan stopped stitching and looked up at Kate with a smile. “You mean the ones you were hunting with?”

Kate blinked. “What are you talking about?” she asked innocently.

“Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. You three must be killers. I do feel bad for your prey, though.”

She was so shocked that she couldn’t speak and when she finally could, she didn’t know what to say. “It’s not like that,” she stammered, trying to explain.

“There is no need to explain,” he said with a laugh. “I think it’s pretty funny.” He shrugged and kept his eyes down while finishing the sutures. He placed the last piece of tape over the protective gauze and helped her to sit up again. He backed his chair up slightly as Kate swung her legs over the side of the gurney, facing him. Then he looked directly into Kate’s eyes. They were dark and full of life.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she responded in an almost-whisper. She hadn’t a clue what he was about to ask, but in that moment she knew that she would answer him honestly.

“What exactly do you do with your prey once you’ve caught him?” He was still looking into her eyes, and they both felt the intensity between them thicken. His hands were still pressed against her skin as he leaned forward slightly, waiting for her response. He knew he should stop himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t. It was like one magnet being pulled to the other.

Kate’s heart started beating faster and her breaths came in short pants. She couldn’t speak. They both knew that if either one of them leaned in another few inches, their lips would touch. Kate shivered at the thought of being that close to him, being able to taste him and breathe him in. His eyes were locked with hers, and she could see the sparks of excitement.

The room around them faded away, and Kate knew at that moment he was feeling the same pull that she was. Ethan leaned forward and paused for only a second, as if waiting for permission. Her eyes began to close as she leaned towards him in acceptance. Kate could feel his breath on her mouth as their lips almost touched. The sound of the door opening startled them both, causing them to jerk away from each other. Ethan quickly pushed back in his chair and grabbed Kate’s file, flipping it open. With a defeated sigh, Kate turned and lifted her legs back onto the gurney, feeling the blood slowly rush back into her body and relieving the ache in her ankle. The red-headed nurse who had been in the room earlier stepped in and looked from doctor to patient and back again.

“How is everything going? Do you need me for anything? I was just heading out for lunch and thought I would check.”

“No, I think we’re doing fine.” Ethan kept his head down and continued to read over her chart. The nurse turned around and was heading for the door when Ethan spoke up. “Lisa?”

“Yeah?” The nurse turned back to face him.

“Could you grab an ice pack for Miss Thomas, please? I’m sure her ankle could use it.”

“Sure,” she said with a bat of her lashes. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as they were alone again, Ethan turned back to face Kate and stared blankly. She could sense that he wasn’t sure what to say, and neither was she. A few minutes ago, they were only a few inches from each other. The energy between them had been undeniable, and she knew he felt it, just as he knew she had. They had been so close to kissing, and yet now they sat as distant from each other as they could in the small room and were at a loss for words.

Kate wondered if perhaps he was regretting what almost happened, and that thought brought with it a wave of rejection. It wasn’t until he started to smile that she felt some relief. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Lisa walked back into the room.

“Here you go.” She placed the ice pack on Kate’s ankle gently. “Do you need anything else?” she asked Ethan, who was already shaking his head. “I’m heading out then.” As she turned to leave the room for the last time, Kate looked over at Ethan, wondering what he was going to do next.

In one fluid movement, he stood and started to walk towards her, but paused when Lisa walked back through the door again. Kate let out an annoyed sigh. Ethan heard her frustration and felt the same way. He gave Kate a quick wink before turning his attention to Lisa.

She was only in the room for a second and yet it took an entire minute for what Lisa said to register in Kate’s mind. And even then, she couldn’t be sure if she had heard her correctly. She looked at Ethan and the expression on his face said everything.

Her stomach dropped and her eyes closed as she silently repeated Lisa’s words.

“
I almost forgot to tell you. Your girlfriend called about an hour ago. She said she’s sorry she won’t be able to meet you for dinner tonight. But she’ll call you later.”

Chapter 7

Broken

T
he instant Kate heard the words come out of Lisa’s mouth, her heart sank. Did she just say
girlfriend?
she wondered.
I am such an idiot.
She hadn’t looked at Ethan since his face had confirmed that what she’d heard was true. Kate mentally scolded herself for being so stupid and for actually assuming that he was single and interested.
He’s just like all the other jerks I’ve met. How could I be so dumb?

“Kate?” His voice was reluctant.

“What?” She knew he wanted her to look at him, but she refused.

“Could I please explain what just happened? I want to—”

“No,” she cut him off.

Kate didn’t want to hear anything he had to say, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Part of her didn’t know if she was angrier at herself or him. She knew it was ridiculous to be angry at him. It wasn’t as if the two of them were dating; they had just met. She felt stupid and humiliated for thinking that perhaps he’d felt the connection she had. Apparently he didn’t. Then again, he had almost kissed her.

“Kate, please. I …” He paused and took a step closer to her.

Kate exhaled and tried to gather the courage she knew it would take to look him in the eyes and say what she wanted to. She pushed the ice pack off her foot in frustration.

“Look Doctor …” she fumbled, trying to remember his last name, then realized she had never learned it. “Dr. Whoever-you-are. Thank you for stitching me up. I think my ankle is fine, and I’d like to get going now, if that’s okay.” She tried to remain calm and hold back her anger.

His eyes looked pained, and for a second, Kate regretted her rudeness, but then remembered it wasn’t she who had the girlfriend. Her brief moment of weakness was shoved aside, and she let the frustration and anger return.

Swinging her legs off the gurney, she stood. Her quick motion left her a little light-headed and she staggered slightly, trying to regain her balance. Ethan stood quickly to steady her with his arms, and a chill surged down Kate’s spine at his close proximity. Clenching her fists, she had to fight the urge to run her hands over his body. Her nose was filled with the scent of him and it clouded her thoughts. Realizing that she was still upset and knowing that if she stayed there another minute she would end up doing something she would regret, she stepped away from him. He was still silent. Kate didn’t chance looking up into his eyes again as she turned to leave.

At the door, she paused. “Thank you,” she whispered, and then walked out.

***

Kate didn’t remember the thirty-five minute drive home. She didn’t even remember walking up the stairs of her townhouse. Her mind was so jumbled she couldn’t think straight. Every time she began on one train of thought, her mind jumped to another.

As Kate put her keys in the lock, she realized that her friends were probably on the other side of the door. She looked down at herself. She had left the hospital so quickly she’d forgotten to grab her shirt. Her shorts were filthy, and she was pretty sure her hair was a mess. If someone saw her and didn’t know what had happened, she was positive they would think she was attacked by a bear or something. Quickly redoing her hair, she tucked the loose strands behind her ear and then tried to rub off any dirt that was still on her skin.

At the moment, Kate didn’t feel like explaining her appearance to her friends, and she was sure they would want all the details. All she wanted to do was be alone for a few minutes. She had to think through everything that had happened in the last two days and try to make some sense of it.

“Hello?” Kate called out, announcing her arrival home. There was no response and she sensed the townhouse was empty, but she walked down the hall to Elle’s room just to make sure. A feeling of relief washed over her when she saw her roommate wasn’t there. At least now she’d have time to clean up and get hold of herself.

With tired legs, Kate trudged to her room and grabbed some clean clothes. On her way to the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn’t look quite as bad as she felt. Her muscles ached in protest as she leaned down to turn on the water. Kate knew in a few hours they would feel even worse, so she grabbed some ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet.

After letting the tub fill with hot water, Kate stepped in. Luckily, she’d had stitches before and knew how to care for them. It would be at least another day until she could get them wet, so sponge bathing would have to do until then.

She sat down in the low water and let the bottom half of her body relax while making sure to leave her upper torso above the water line. Sitting back, she breathed in the steam. The longer she sat, the quieter her mind became. While her thoughts still centered around Ethan, she had finally reached two conclusions. The first was that he was indeed interested in her—she wasn’t imagining that. He did almost kiss her, and she wasn’t imagining the spark or immediate connection they felt. But the second thing she was certain of trumped the first: Ethan had a girlfriend. He was unavailable and she would have to accept that.

Every thought Kate continued to have was followed by the fact that canceled out everything else, that Ethan had a girlfriend.

“Kate, are you in there?” Elle’s voice cut through Kate’s thoughts.

“Yeah, I’ll be out in a sec.” Kate didn’t know how long she’d been soaking, but her fingers were starting to prune. She stood up, carefully babying her sore ankle, and grabbed a towel. She dried off, got dressed, and opened the door to find Elle sitting on her bed, looking through the fashion edition of
People
.

“Hey, where have you been? I came home and you weren’t here,” Kate asked.

Elle looked up and noticed Kate’s slight limp. “What happened? Did you sprain your ankle?”

“Something like that. I fell while I was running. It’s really not that bad. But the stitches hurt a little.”

“Stitches? Where?”

As Kate lifted her shirt to show the injury, Sophie slipped into the room unnoticed.

“What happened?” Her loud voice made the other two girls jump.

“Geez, Soph, don’t sneak up like that.” Elle took a breath and turned her attention back to her magazine.

Ignoring her friend, Sophie walked over to Kate and looked at her bandage. “You really need to be more careful.”

Kate was used to both her friends worrying by now and knew it was only because they cared so much. “It’s not that bad. I even drove myself to the hospital.”

As soon as the word hospital fell from her lips, Elle’s head snapped up and a smile spread across her face. “Was he there? He was, wasn’t he? Why didn’t you call me to take you? You know I like going when he’s working. Was he wearing the blue scrubs? Or was it the green ones? Oh, I love the green ones, the way they hug his—”

“Elle!” Kate cut her off. “Dr. Williams is married. Besides, he wasn’t working today. Someone else stitched me up.” She tried to keep her voice from wavering but Sophie, being the perceptive friend that she was, noticed.

Elle, however, hadn’t noticed anything and continued talking. “I know he’s married. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look at him. Plus, a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Oh, Henry,” she sighed dramatically before flopping backward onto the bed.

“He’s not a candy bar,” Kate laughed. She kept her eyes trained on Elle, but could feel the weight of Sophie watching her.

Her observant friend cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what was off. “Who stitched you up?” she finally asked.

“Umm.” Kate paused. She was planning on telling them everything that happened, but hadn’t planned on how. “It’s actually kind of funny,” she said, while trying to sound casual. Elle had now noticed the tremor in her friend’s voice and sat up. Both girls watched her closely. “It was Ethan.”

Sophie’s eyes went wide but Elle’s face scrunched in confusion. “What was Ethan?” she asked.

Sophie knew exactly what Kate meant. “The doctor, the doctor was Ethan,” she clarified.

Elle’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? He’s a doctor?” she shouted.

“What happened? What did he say? Did you exchange numbers? When are you going out with him?” Sophie bombarded Kate with questions and bounced on the tips of her toes. They were getting way ahead of themselves.

“Calm down. I’ll explain everything. Just let me speak.” Kate took a breath. “Yes, Ethan was the doctor who stitched me up. He was really nice. No, he was
great
actually.” She felt her heart skip just speaking about him. “We talked and I got to know a little bit about him. I told him about you guys and how long we’ve been best friends. It was mostly just harmless chit-chat until we talked about … going hunting.”

“What? You told him that we call it hunting?” Both of their mouths hung open in shock.

“Not really. See the other night at the club, I kind of let it slip. I thought he hadn’t caught on, but apparently I was wrong.”

Sophie was now leaning forward in anticipation. “So, what did he say?”

Feeling a rush of emotion, Kate closed her eyes and started talking. “He asked what we did with the guys that we caught.” The two friends were silent, so Kate kept her eyes shut and continued. “Then he leaned forward, and waited for me to give him the okay.”

“He kissed you!” they both interrupted.

“No, but he almost did. The nurse walked in just as he was about to.” The disappointment was clear on Kate’s face and in her voice.

Sophie gasped. “What happened when she left?”

“She only left for a second to get me an icepack. And we just stared at each other.”

“She did leave eventually, though, right? Then you jumped him?” Elle asked.

“Of course she did, Elle,” Sophie replied. “Although she probably didn’t pounce on him like you would have. Oh, I’m so excited! When are you guys going out? I want to meet him. Make sure he picks you up here. I’ll even have Logan come over, that way he can give the guy’s approval. I knew you would find him again and now we’ll be able to—”

“He has a girlfriend,” Kate said, cutting off her friend’s rant.

It took Sophie a second to process what Kate had said. And when it did, she looked livid. “What?” she snapped.

“He has a girlfriend,” Kate repeated slower this time.

“How do you know that?” Elle asked skeptically.

“Because when the nurse came back in the room, she told him that his girlfriend had called and said she wouldn’t be able to make it for dinner.”

“Jerk,” Elle yelled.

“Bastard.” Sophie joined her.

“No good piece of crap.”

“Cheater!”

Kate looked back and forth at her friends as they verbally abused Ethan. As much as she wanted to join them, she couldn’t. Deep down she felt he was none of those things. She’d only talked to him a few times, but the feelings she had around him were only good ones. She was just disappointed she would never find out who he really was. She wouldn’t get the chance to know him on a different level.

“Okay, okay, you can stop. Thanks for being so nice. But really, guys, I can’t be all that mad. It’s not like anything actually happened. We didn’t even know each other.”

“Kate, you know as well as we do that he was flirting with you. And what you said about him almost kissing you today …”

“Believe me, Soph, I’ve had time to think about everything that happened. And I
am
a little upset; but more than anything, I’m bummed and annoyed at myself for getting so worked up over some guy I didn’t even know. Remind me not to do that again.”

Kate’s friends could sense her desire to stop the topic of conversation and immediately gave her a hug. Elle was the first one to break the silence.

“How about a change of plans? Instead of going out for dinner and a movie, how about bringing the food and movie here?”

“Are you sure? You both really wanted to see that movie.” Kate didn’t want to throw a wrench in their plans, but the thought of being comfortable at home sounded really good.

“We can see it another day. Besides, I think it would be a great night to do facials. What do you think, Soph?”

“I’m in. Plus, I’m in serious need of a microdermabrasion treatment, and I can’t get in with Salina until next week.” She walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall and ran her fingers over her face.

“I’m in too,” Kate agreed. “I need it after the day I’ve had.”

Sophie rubbed her hands together. “All the more reason to do some pampering.” She spun around and stopped when she reached the door. “It’s a good thing you didn’t break your ankle today. A beautiful pedicure really deserves to be displayed on a non-cast foot.” She gave one last smile and disappeared down the hall.

Elle and Kate glanced at each other, shaking their heads and fighting off laughter.

“She does have a point,” Elle said between laughs. “It’s a good thing you didn’t break anything today. That would have really sucked.” Kate continued laughing and nodded. “All right, I’ll go find us some take-out menus.”