Erin M. Leaf (2 page)

There was silence on the other end
for a moment, then Gideon laughed so loud Theo had to pull the phone away. His
sister snickered.

“Gideon! Come on, it’s not that
funny.” Theo glared at the little screen as if his best friend could see.

“It
is
that funny. Come on
man, you sat on a knitting needle. Where did it bite you?” Gideon could barely
keep his voice level.

Theo sighed. “On my upper thigh—”

Ella snatched the phone right out
of his hand and started talking. “He almost stabbed his balls, Gideon. Oh my
God, you should’ve seen his face!”

Theo grabbed the phone back. “Don’t
listen to her. Just come and get me in an hour or so.” He thought about how
long the waits were in the emergency room and reconsidered. “Better make that
two hours.”

Gideon coughed, obviously hiding
another laugh. “Okay, man. I’ll be there.”

Theo hung up without saying
goodbye. “Are we there yet?” he asked, just to torture his sister. They were on
the road to the hospital, but he knew they were at least ten minutes away. His
sister tossed him a disgusted look. Theo gingerly touched the lump where he’d
stuffed her favorite towel and winced. It was going to be a long afternoon.

****

Gideon walked into the ER and
sauntered up to the desk. Every time he thought about Theo stabbing himself in
the nuts he started to snicker.
Only
Theo…

“Can I help you?” the woman behind
the counter asked him. Her ponytail was mussed and she had dark circles under
her eyes. The waiting room was only half-full, but she must’ve had a hard day.

He smiled at her winningly. It
never hurt to be nice. “Yeah, I’m looking for my partner. He came here about an
hour ago.”

She blinked at him, looking him up
and down.

Gideon barely refrained from
sighing.
I have to stop calling Theo my partner. Everyone assumes we’re
together, instead of work partners.
He subtly moved his jacket aside so
that she could see the badge he’d clipped to his belt.

“Oh! Of course. What’s his name?”
she asked, flushing a little.

That reaction was even worse.
Gideon restrained a wince, wishing he’d just let her go on thinking Theo was
his boyfriend. “Theodore Gray,” he said, keeping his voice neutral.

The woman clicked a few keys on her
keyboard, then flashed him a grin. “He’s in bay eleven. Just go on back and I’ll
buzz you in.” She pointed to the wide hall just past her desk. The double-doors
to the ER entrance were closed.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling at her.

She blushed again and nodded. “My
pleasure.”

He shook his head slightly.
You
don’t have time for dating, remember? You work all the damn time,
he told
himself.

“And also, you’re in love with your
partner,” he muttered, disgusted with himself. He’d told Theo he was bi years
ago, when they’d first been partnered up. Theo had been great. No weirdness, no
sidelong looks. As Gideon had gotten to be friends with him, he’d realized he
really liked Theo. A lot.
Too much,
he mused as the doors swung inward.
He walked into the ER, shaking off his morose thoughts. There was nothing he
could do about it. Theo was straight and Gideon valued his friendship way too
much to risk poking at his feelings. Not to mention that getting involved with
your partner was a recipe for disaster. Best to just ignore what he felt and
get on with his life like he always did.

****

Theo sat on the bed, wishing that
they’d at least let him keep his underwear on. The room was cold. The bed was
hard. The tiny cloth drape they’d given him to hide his junk didn’t have nearly
enough fabric to keep him warm. And every time he started shivering, the hole
in his thigh ached like a rotten tooth. Happily, he hadn’t needed the tetanus
booster he thought he’d be getting, but that was the only bit of good news he’d
received so far. He was cold, bored, and his ride was nowhere to be seen.
Where
the hell is Gideon?
he wondered grumpily, not for the first time.

“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got
here.”

Theo looked up hopefully. Two
nurses and one physician’s assistant had already examined him and declared that
the doctor would have to come sew him up. The last visit had been an hour ago.
He really just wanted to get the hell out of here. When the woman who’d come
into the room pulled the curtain shut and turned around, his brain stuttered.
She had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail so that it showed off the
spectacular bone structure of her face. Her grey eyes were striking and
intelligent. She had high cheekbones and full lips, and even though she wore
hardly any makeup, she was gorgeous. The drab lab coat she wore did little to
disguise the generous curves of her body. Astonishingly, his dick twitched
under the thin cloth. After he’d stabbed himself with the knitting needle, he
hadn’t thought he’d be able to get it up for at least a week. Clearly he’d been
wrong.

“Mr. Gray?” she asked walking
forward. “I’m Dr. Morgan.” She held out her hand. Her nails were short, but
well-kept. She didn’t wear any rings.

Theo looked at it for a moment,
then shook her hand. “It’s Detective, ma’am.”

She blinked. “You’re a cop?”

He nodded, shifting on the bed. He
leaned on his wound deliberately, hoping the pain would make his dick behave. It
didn’t.
Dammit
. She set her laptop on
the counter. As she twisted to reach, he stared at her curvy backside in awe.
Damn, that’s gorgeous.
He idly wondered
if she’d go out on a date with him.

“Detective Gray, could you shift up
a little? I need to get a good look at your wound.” She smiled kindly.
Professionally.

Theo swallowed. His cock stirred
some more and he closed his eyes briefly, hoping to God he wasn’t blushing. “Uh,
sure,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “You can call me Theo. Detective sounds
a little formal for someone who’s about to sew me up.”

She smiled again and moved closer,
slipping some nitrile gloves on with practiced ease. Theo envied her calm. “Okay,
Theo. Where exactly is the injury?” She made no move to grab the drape. “What
exactly happened?”

This woman has amazing bedside
skills,
he thought vaguely as he tried to figure out how to describe the situation. “Um,
well, I went home and sat down in my favorite chair. Unfortunately, my niece’s
knitting needle had slipped down between the cushions and when I sat down…” He
mimed wincing and cupped his hands over his groin.

The doctor’s eyebrows lifted. “Did
it pierce your genitals?”

He flushed. “No, thank God. It went
into my thigh.”

“You pulled it out?” She frowned.

He shook his head. “No, my sister
did.” He knew that it was always better to leave whatever had pierced you in
the body to prevent bleeding. “She came running and yanked it out before I
could stop her. I was kind of freaking out at the time.”

The doctor coughed slightly, before
getting herself under control. Theo narrowed his eyes at her. She was laughing
inside, he could tell. Not that he blamed her.

“Luckily, it missed my artery or I’d
be dead by now,” he continued, trying to sound like a grown up.

She nodded, eyes bright. “May I see
the wound?”

He sighed. It was time to man up. “Yeah,
sure.” He gently pulled the drape to the side, trying to keep his dick and
balls covered. He opened his legs wider. The nurse had dressed the hole with
some gauze, and he picked at it uncomfortably before Dr. Gorgeous moved in and
gently pulled the tape free. He winced as it caught in his leg hair.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, totally
professional now.

Theo looked down and grimaced. The
wound was about an inch long and ragged, tucked right up against the crease of
his thigh where his balls rested. His eyes strayed to her bosom, straining a little
at the pretty blouse she wore under her lab coat. That was a much better view
than his hairy, bloody leg.

“I can see why you were freaking
out,” Dr. Morgan said, examining the wound. “That was a close call.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s so
torn because I instinctively jerked away.”

She probed at the injury, making it
throb. “I’m sorry it hurts. I need to see how deep it goes.”

He took a deep breath and forced
himself to hold still, despite the humiliation. The only good thing about the
situation at all was that he was able to hold the drape over his junk, so she
couldn’t tell how happy his body was that her face was right next to his dick.
Who knew he liked pain so much?

“I’m sorry, but I need a bit more
access,” she finally said, straightening up.

He stared at her. “And that means?”

She gestured at the fabric he
clutched to his groin. “I need you to move the sheet, please.” She looked
steadily at his face, nothing but professional intent in her expression.

He blinked uncomprehendingly for a
moment, then sighed when she didn’t look away. “Of course you do. Because it’s
Monday and impaling myself on a knitting needle just isn’t unpleasant enough
after a full day’s work that included staying up all Sunday night,” he snarked.
“I apologize in advance for flashing you.”

She smiled at him. “It’s nothing I
haven’t seen before.”

“You’ve seen someone almost stab himself
in the balls?” He chuckled. “Sure.”

She grinned suddenly. “Oh, I’ve
seen things you wouldn’t believe. Trust me.”

At her words, his brain flashed into
all the places it shouldn’t go, and he cursed himself silently. “Okay, okay,
mercy. I’m a cop. I don’t need more bizarre things inside my head.” He gritted
his teeth and moved the drape over a tiny bit, not enough to really show her
anything. “Is that enough?”

She gave him a look that clearly
said
no.

He sighed, loudly. “You’re as bad
as my sister,” he complained, letting go of the sheet so she could move it to
where she needed. He hoped the reference to his sister would defuse the tension
he felt, but when she tugged on the drape, pulling it away from his junk, he
immediately realized that it had done nothing. Absofuckinglutely nothing. His
cock was pointing right at her. Jesus.

“Hmm, yeah, I think this is going
to take at least three, maybe four sutures,” she murmured, probing at the
injury again. The back of her hand brushed up against his dick and he swallowed
back a moan. Clearly he was one fucked-up dude—the pain from the puncture wasn’t
doing a damn thing to keep his cock in line. It swelled a bit more with every
light brush of her knuckles until he had a full-on, raging erection. Sparks of
pleasure shot through him as she moved and he gripped the edges of the bed
tightly, willing himself not to make a sound. He found himself staring at her
breasts again, fixating on the pink cloth. He wondered if she felt as soft as she
looked…
No, Jesus, don’t think about that, you loser.

When the doctor straightened up
again, she smiled at him. “I’ll sew you up right now and then you can be on
your way. I don’t think you’ll have any complications. It should heal nicely.
The puncture isn’t as deep as I thought, which is good.” She glanced down to
where he’d drawn the drape over himself again and smiled wider. “And don’t
worry. I meant what I said about having seen everything.”

Theo groaned aloud. “I’m sorry.
Really. It has a mind of its own.”

She just shook her head. “Normal
autonomous reaction. Don’t sweat it,” she murmured as she turned to look over
the supplies a nurse had piled on a tray for her. She grabbed a syringe and
turned back around. “You might be more comfortable lying down while I do this.”

Theo thought about his dick pointed
straight up towards the ceiling and shook his head emphatically. “No thank you.”
From the look on her face, he had no doubt she knew why he’d refused.

She shrugged. “Okay. I’m going to
numb the area a little bit and then I’ll sew you up.”

“Will that stuff take care of my
little problem?” he asked, only half joking.

She snickered under her breath. “Um,
no. Sorry.”

Theo closed his eyes, wishing the
floor would swallow him up. “Figures.”

“Okay, open up a little wider. This
won’t hurt a bit,” she said, moving in again, eyes on his groin.

He stared at her.
She did
not
just say that,
he thought, trying to stifle a grin
.
When she glanced up, he started
laughing at her expression. She was amused and not hiding it very well. “You
said it like that on purpose,” he said primly. “Not very professional of you, Doctor.”
His prick twitched under the drape. He really liked this woman.

Her face pinked a little as she
looked away. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, still chuckling.
“Don’t be. If I don’t laugh over this, I might punch something. The wall, my
own face, who knows? As it is, my partner is going to joke about this for
years. I’m already doomed.”

She gave him a tiny smile. “Mondays
suck, don’t they?”