Marrying the Playboy Doctor

He strode to Ben’s bedside, calling for the facial suture tray, realizing Kylie was very much off-limits.

At least for him.

CHAPTER THREE

WATCHING Seth suture the laceration in Ben’s eyebrow was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.

But she hadn’t made a fool of herself by passing out, although she’d definitely felt woozy for a few bad moments. Which was odd, since she’d seen her fair share of blood while on duty. No wonder they always asked family members to leave for these types of procedures. She’d felt every one of those five tiny stitches Seth had placed more than Ben had, since he’d been given lidocaine to numb the area.

Fighting nausea, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Seth had deemed Ben stable enough to be moved out of the trauma bay, and after the CT scan of his head they’d ended up in a small private room in the ED area. It felt strange to be sitting at his bedside, watching the activity all around, instead of being the one bringing patients in.

Now they were simply waiting for the CT scan results, and for the orthopedic surgeon to cast Ben’s left arm. The break was actually fairly minor, not complex at all, but Ben would need to wear a cast for the next four to six weeks.

She closed her eyes and tried not to succumb to the overwhelming wave of guilt. Ben was okay. He wasn’t hurt badly. He knew the rules—knew he shouldn’t have been riding his bike on the road. She didn’t blame Missy Clairmont, because the real fault was hers. If she hadn’t been trying to impress Seth with having a hypothermia protocol finished in record time maybe she would have stayed outside to watch the boys herself, instead of depending on Joey’s mother to do it.

“Kylie?” Seth called from the doorway.

She lifted her head and struggled to smile. “Hi. Do you have the CT results yet?”

He shook his head. “No, but I would like to put the cast on Ben’s arm, if you don’t object. The orthopedic surgeon is pretty far behind. He’s telling me it’ll be another couple of hours before he can break away to come down here.”

Hours? Good grief—she and Ben had already been here for two and a half hours. At this rate it was amazing Cedar Bluff ever got patients out of the ED.

“I don’t mind.” The break was simple, and she didn’t doubt that Seth wouldn’t have offered to place the cast if he didn’t know what he was doing. He might have an ego where women were concerned, but so far, from what she’d seen, his medical skills were solid.

“Great, I’ll be right back.” When he returned, he was pushing a bulky cart into Ben’s room. “Hey, Ben. How are you feeling?”

Her son glanced over at Seth with his good eye. His left eye was swollen and partially covered by the dressing over his incision. “Better,” Ben answered, although his voice was a little slurred.

She sent Seth a wry look. “They gave him something for the pain and he’s been a little loopy.”

Seth grinned. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being a little loopy.” He turned his attention back to Ben. “So, Ben, tell me your favorite color. You get to pick what you want for your cast. Or—” he paused dramatically “—we can put this special Green Bay Packers gauze on. What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?”

Ben’s brow puckered as he solemnly surveyed the options on the cast cart. “Doncha have Chicago Bears gauze?”

“Chicago Bears? What? You’re kidding me, right? Chicago Bears?” Seth clasped his chest dramatically, staggering back a few steps as he stared at Ben in mock horror. “This is Wisconsin, son. What are you thinking? The Chicago Bears are the archenemy.”

Ben giggled, as Seth had meant him to. “I like the Chicago Bears.”

“You do realize Green Bay is only seventy-five miles north of here, don’t you? Heck, the stadium is practically in our backyard.”

Ben shrugged. Kylie doubted her son even understood how far seventy-five miles was. “I don’t care.”

“A Bears fan living in Cedar Bluff.” Seth shook his head from side to side, pretending to be upset. “What is the world coming to? Sorry, Ben, we don’t have any Chicago Bears gauze. But we do have navy blue and we do have orange.”

“Yeah?” Ben’s eyes lit up. “Blue and orange, the Bears colors. That’s what I want on my cast.”

“Okay.” Seth let out a dramatic sigh. “But you’re lucky I like you, Ben, because it’s not going to be easy for me to help out a Chicago Bears fan.” Seth went to work, setting the blue and orange gauze off to the side before slipping the stocking over Ben’s small arm. “You have to promise not to tell anyone I did this for you, all right?”

Ben giggled again, and nodded earnestly. Watching Seth interact with her son made Kylie realize how much Ben missed having a father figure around. She hated to admit it, but she hadn’t even known Ben had a favorite football team. It must be something they talked about at day care, because it wasn’t as if she watched sports on TV on a regular basis.

Seth kept up a running commentary as he made the cast on Ben’s arm. She could only watch helplessly as Ben reveled in Seth’s male attention. Since his father had left before he was born, Ben didn’t have any male role models in his life.

Guilt returned full force. Along with an edgy wariness. She didn’t have a good track record as far as her choices in men went. She and Ben’s father had dated for over a year, and had actually been just starting to talk about the future when she’d discovered she was pregnant. Tristan had completely changed during her pregnancy—seemingly overnight. Once charming and sweet, he turned sullen and resentful. When Tristan had finally left she’d felt lost, and alone, but also somewhat relieved. She’d thought he might change his mind once the baby was born, but he hadn’t.

So she’d borne the stigma of having a child out of wedlock with her chin held high, refusing to think of Ben as a mistake.

Her son was the highlight of her life. The best thing to ever happen to her. He could never be a mistake.

And she didn’t need a man in her life to be happy.

Seth finished the cast, telling Ben how he could use a permanent marker to write on the outside if he wanted, then joking that if he wanted to write the word “Bears” he’d have to ask for his mother’s help, because he wasn’t sure how to spell it and might accidentally write “Packers” instead. Then he rolled the cast cart back out of the room, promising to return soon.

Ben’s eyelids drifted closed, so Kylie took advantage of the moment to rest her head on his bed, still holding on to his non-casted hand. Now that the adrenaline rush had faded, she felt as if she’d gone ten rounds in the ring with a boxer and lost every one.

She must have dozed a bit, because suddenly she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “Wake up, Kylie.”

Prying her eyes open, she blinked, focusing on Seth’s face. His kindness was like a balm to her wounded soul. “I’m awake. Sorry. Do you have the results?”

He nodded and gave a reassuring smile. “Yes, and you’ll be glad to know Ben’s CT is clear. He’s suffered a minor concussion, but there isn’t any sign of a bleed.”

“Thank heavens,” she whispered. Glancing at her son, she noticed Ben was still asleep. The pain meds were no doubt making him drowsy.

“I’d still like Ben to see an ophthalmologist.” Seth frowned, his expression turning serious. “The cut over his eye is very deep, and once the swelling goes down he should see a specialist to make sure there isn’t any damage to the eye—particularly the retina.”

“All right.” She stared at her son for a moment, before lifting her gaze to Seth’s. “Thank you for everything. You did a wonderful job with him.”

He smiled gently. “No problem. That’s what I’m here for. Besides, he’s a great kid.”

“Yes, he is. When I saw his bike mangled beneath that car…” She swallowed hard and shook her head. “I was so scared.”

“I can only imagine how awful that must have been.”

His hand tightened on her shoulder for a moment, and she had the insane urge to rest her cheek against his arm, drawing from his seemingly endless strength.

“I’ll get a nurse in here to go through the discharge paperwork.”

Seth’s hand dropped from her shoulder and she immediately felt the loss of his touch. “Take care of yourself, and follow up with Ben’s pediatrician in a week.”

“I will.” She watched Seth leave, noting how serious he’d been since they’d arrived. There was no sign of the flirty charm he’d displayed with they’d first met.

Which was exactly what she wanted—for him to treat her as an equal. As a professional.

There was no reason to feel this sense of desolation at the change in Seth’s demeanor.

It struck him, as Seth watched Kylie prepare to leave, packing up the supplies they’d given her for Ben’s dressing changes, that since she’d come in on the ambulance with Ben she probably needed a ride home.

Cedar Bluff was a fairly small town. They didn’t have a regular or reliable cab service. People always tended to help each other out when needed.