Page 3 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

“No, and I haven’t had a chance to ask him. We can do that now.”

“Again, I’m sorry for going off on you. That was uncalled for.” He swept out his hand. “After you.”

“It’s forgotten,” she said as she headed back to Sam.

The curls in her hair bounced as she walked briskly in front of him, and his gaze roamed over her. She had what people called an hourglass figure, and what he decided was very sexy. She probably thought she needed to lose ten or fifteen pounds, but she would be wrong. There was a time when he would have asked her out on a date, but that was before he’d learned a hard lesson.

His long hours and the demands of his job left little room for pleasure. Cassie had broken up with him because she said she felt like an afterthought, and that she might as well have been engaged to a fence post for all the attention he paid her. He couldn’t deny it. Although he’d been sad and hurt when she’d taken her engagement ring off and handed it back to him, a part of him had been relieved. He didn’t like feeling like a failure, which he had at the time, so he’d avoided getting serious with a woman since then.

Nowadays, he concentrated on his job and being the best doctor he could. He was a healthy male, though, and on those occasions when he got an itch, he’d have a hookup night. So, as attracted as he might be to the sexy social worker, he’d just admire her from afar.

“I was afraid you weren’t coming back,” Sam said at seeing him.

“Here I am.” He glanced at Matilda, who’d stopped at the end of the bed. It seemed that the boy was ignoring her, so he said, “Miss Matilda is here, too.”

“Matti,” Sam said.

“Pardon?”

“She said her name was Matti.”

Ryan grinned as he raised his brows at her. “I learned my lesson today on assuming, but I’m wondering if only your friends get to call you Matti.” There was that smirk again that he was finding he liked.

“You would be correct.”

“Ah, I see.” He grinned at Sam. “See that. You get to call her Matti, so that means you’re her friend.”

“I am?” The boy looked hopefully at her.

Matti beamed at Sam. “You sure are.” She moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “Dr. Palmer is going to let us spend the night here. Well, not here exactly, but in another room with a nice bed.”

Sam clutched his teddy bear to his chest. “I can keep my bear?”

“You sure can. He’s yours now.” She combed her fingers through his in-need-of-a-cut hair. “What’s your last name, Sam?”

“Cook. My big name is Samuel, but Mommy and Daddy only call me that when they’re mad.” Tears pooled in his eyes. “I try to be good, but they yell at me a lot.”

Ryan would very much like to yell at Sam’s mom and dad for being piss-poor parents. He listened to Sam’s heartbeat and took his pulse, both normal, thankfully. His temperature was a degree higher than it should be. Nothing worrying as long as it didn’t go higher.

“How old are you, Sam?” Matti asked.

“Six. I’m sleepy,” Sam said.

Matti pulled the cover up to his chin. “Then go to sleep, sweetie.” She stood and stepped back. “Will he be moved to a room soon?”

“I’ll go make that happen now.” He leaned his mouth next to her ear. “Maybe someday, you’ll consider me a friend and let me call you Matti.” Why was he flirting with her when he’d already decided he wasn’t going to pursue anything with her?

“Depends on if I think you’re worthy of being my friend.”

“Ah, challenge accepted.” He winked, then left to arrange a room for Sam. He also arranged for a cot to be put in the room since Matti would be staying with the boy.

Once that was done, he headed for the next patient. He’d really spent too long with Sam, especially for a minor wound. But the boy had needed his attention emotionally. That was one thing his mentor had encouraged. Jonathon often said, “Our job is to heal, and sometimes, that healing means more than fixing what is broken on the outside.”

Ryan agreed. The emergency room was a scary and traumatic experience for people, and anything he could do to ease their minds and make their experience a little less painful, he would. And when it was a child, he would provide that child his undivided attention, even if it was to give away teddy bears and chat a little.

Before he could step into the next curtained room, Dr. Arnold came out of one of the exam rooms. “Sounds like there was some excitement at the police station tonight,” he said at seeing Ryan.

“Heard there was a shooting.” Dr. Arnold loved to gossip, so Ryan didn’t mention Sam. The man had been at the hospital longer than anyone could remember, and no one knew his first name.