As she put a knee on the bed, the pale blue eyes that landed on her clashed with the deep brown of his beard and hair. “Where does it hurt?”
Amusement lit him, and she suspected he was about to say some sort of childish reply so she frowned at him, stopping him in his tracks. “You start making smartass comments and I’ll be tempted to be less than gentle when I check you out. If you want me to be as quick and painless as possible, just answer my questions.”
Gage smiled, but quickly cursed at his split lip. “Shit, doc. It’s not that bad.”
Tessa had heard that nonsense before, from big guys who eventually whimpered like babies under her hands.
“So, I can examine you, press, probe, and move all your joints and it won’t hurt?”
Her serious expression must have told him she wasn’t joking. “My shoulders and my ribs. But nothing I can’t deal with.”
“Can you lift both your arms above your head?”
The grimace he gave her was revealing. “Maybe in a couple of hours with some painkillers.”
“Let me check it out.” Turning to Locke, Tessa made a mental list. “Do you have a first aid kit? Some scissors?”
Without a word, he went to his walk-in closet to retrieve an industrial looking galvanized toolbox and put it on the bed beside her. Opening it, Tessa hesitated between whistling in admiration, or gritting her teeth that the kit was filled with products and medications that should never leave hospital walls. When she looked at the entire situation, ethics weren’t that high on her list at the moment.
Pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves, she took the scissors and started cutting the bloody fabric, and what she saw made her wince. Cuts and bruises colored most of his inked torso and if he hadn’t had those thick muscles, she would have been worried about internal bleeding, though it could still be a possibility. As soon as she cut open the fabric and saw his shoulder, Tessa knew something was wrong.
“Your shoulder is dislocated. We need to put it back in place.”
Locke cursed under his breath and Gage sighed. “Fantastic, doc. You’ve made my day.”
Examining the rest of his body, she gave him a side look. “I’m not the one who got in a fight or two. By the way, what kind of fighting?”
Gage’s blue eye never left her hands, as if he expected her to hurt him even more at any moment. As he didn’t speak, it was Locke who answered her question.
“Underground cage fighting.”
Tessa returned to the box and got out a couple of disinfectant wipes. Most were scratches, but she wanted to remove the blood nonetheless. There were also a couple of deeper gashes on his pectorals and near his shoulder. The blood on his t-shirt was probably from them. The remaining injuries were mostly bruising.
“Help me lift him into a sitting position so I can check his back.”
Locke moved to the other side of the bed and mindful of his friend’s shoulder, gently pulled him forward. Tessa peeled the cut garment from him and was satisfied that apart from a few scratches and abrasions, there wasn’t anything serious.
“Okay, let’s lower him down.”
The moment must have been particularly painful as Gage paled considerably.
Trying to complete her examination as quickly as possible, she went for his legs, as soon as she palpated near his knee, Gage hissed. “Easy, Doc.”
Ignoring him, she turned once more to Locke. “Help me untie his boots and we’ll remove his pants.”
Fatigue and pain must have taken their toll on the wounded fighter as he didn’t make any snide remarks. Tessa finished pulling at one of his boots to see Locke had already removed one and had started unfastening Gage’s pants. Immediately, images of the two men on the couch came to mind. Not the right time at all to let her hormones take over. And the challenge became even more difficult when she realized that Gage was commando under his pants. Only her years of training as a doctor allowed her to appear detached and analytical. After all, it wasn’t the first dick she had seen up close, although maybe none quite that size. Resting on his thigh, his cock at rest was impressive. Despite her imagination running wild, she focused on the task at hand, and examined his legs.
“You’re lucky, you only have an inflamed muscle above the joint that’s causing the pain. The knee is intact. With some ice and rest, you should be okay.”
Gage didn’t answer. Her last examination, before relocating his shoulder was his face. Keeping her fingers as light as possible, she saw that apart from the swelling, nothing appeared broken. “You need ice there too, but you should survive.”
One last look at Locke, she removed her gloves and took large bandages from the box. “I’ll reset your shoulder and give you shots for the pain and swelling, so you should be able to sleep.”
At her words, Gage immediately tensed. “What do you mean, reset?”
His sudden anxiety didn’t fare well. She needed him to relax, otherwise, it would be even more painful than necessary.
Locke, probably sensing the tension, came forward. “Gage, listen to her. You can’t have a dislocated shoulder for long, it will cause more damage.”
