“Uh-huh. I can tell. Can you take the patient in room four? Dr. Collins wants you to wrap an ankle.” Theresa grinned. “You’ll want this one. He’s hot.”

Angel grabbed the chart from Theresa’s hands. “Caleb Lewis?”

The student nurse was already halfway down the hall, chasing an old man heading toward the bathroom with his gown wide open in the back.

Angel knocked on exam room four and pushed the door open. “Mr. Lewis?”

The man on the table was wearing a hoodie, his face obscured. When he shoved the hood back, the blood left her brain, leaving her dizzy. There, on her exam table, was the Duke.

“Caleb? You’re Caleb Lewis?”

“Can you shut the door?”

She was edging back out. “I’m not supposed to be in the room alone with a patient—”

“Please.” His tone was low, pleading. His features were laced with pain and worry, the green in his eyes especially deep. “I know it’s weird I’m here. I’m sorry. But I can’t go anywhere else.”

Refusing to keep eye contact, her pulse throbbing in her throat, she said, “What’s going on?”

There was a quick rap on the door. Dr. Collins stepped in. He was wearing his trademark black turtleneck, but his coat was longer than usual. With his silver bouffant, he looked like a mad scientist.

“Duke? I’m surprised to see you back.” His southern accent was particularly pronounced.

Angel handed the chart to the doctor. She hoped he didn’t notice her shaking hands.

The doctor slipped on a pair of black reading glasses and smiled at her, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a squeeze. “There’s nothing filled out, darlin’. What’ve you been doing?” Then Dr. Collins turned to Duke. “Let me guess: You were an idiot and didn’t stay off the ankle?”

Angel was surprised he was so abrupt. It couldn’t be every day a famous baseball player came into the clinic.

“Skip the lecture, Doc. Can you just take a look?”

Dr. Collins peered at Duke over the top of his reading glasses but didn’t say anything. Instead, he reached out for Duke’s ankle and roughly tested his movement.

“What the hell? Come on! That hurts!”

“Angel, would you get his vitals?” The doctor waited while she put on the blood pressure cuff and wrote down the results. Both Duke and Dr. Collins were watching her closely; her skin tried to crawl off her body.

“Your BP is high,” the doctor said. “I’m going to take some X-rays, to be sure your ankle’s not broken. There’s a lot of swelling. What did you do to it this time?”