Free Stitches and Scars by Elizabeth A. Vincent Page B

felt. But the second thing she was certain of trumped the first: Ethan had a girlfriend. He was unavailable and she would have to accept that.
    Every thought Kate continued to have was followed by the fact that canceled out everything else, that Ethan had a girlfriend.
    “Kate, are you in there?” Elle’s voice cut through Kate’s thoughts.
    “Yeah, I’ll be out in a sec.” Kate didn’t know how long she’d been soaking, but her fingers were starting to prune. She stood up, carefully babying her sore ankle, and grabbed a towel. She dried off, got dressed, and opened the door to find Elle sitting on her bed, looking through the fashion edition of People .
    “Hey, where have you been? I came home and you weren’t here,” Kate asked.
    Elle looked up and noticed Kate’s slight limp. “What happened? Did you sprain your ankle?”
    “Something like that. I fell while I was running. It’s really not that bad. But the stitches hurt a little.”
    “Stitches? Where?”
    As Kate lifted her shirt to show the injury, Sophie slipped into the room unnoticed.
    “What happened?” Her loud voice made the other two girls jump.
    “Geez, Soph, don’t sneak up like that.” Elle took a breath and turned her attention back to her magazine.
    Ignoring her friend, Sophie walked over to Kate and looked at her bandage. “You really need to be more careful.”
    Kate was used to both her friends worrying by now and knew it was only because they cared so much. “It’s not that bad. I even drove myself to the hospital.”
    As soon as the word hospital fell from her lips, Elle’s head snapped up and a smile spread across her face. “Was he there? He was, wasn’t he? Why didn’t you call me to take you? You know I like going when he’s working. Was he wearing the blue scrubs? Or was it the green ones? Oh, I love the green ones, the way they hug his—”
    “Elle!” Kate cut her off. “Dr. Williams is married. Besides, he wasn’t working today. Someone else stitched me up.” She tried to keep her voice from wavering but Sophie, being the perceptive friend that she was, noticed.
    Elle, however, hadn’t noticed anything and continued talking. “I know he’s married. But that doesn’t mean I can’t look at him. Plus, a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Oh, Henry,” she sighed dramatically before flopping backward onto the bed.
    “He’s not a candy bar,” Kate laughed. She kept her eyes trained on Elle, but could feel the weight of Sophie watching her.
    Her observant friend cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what was off. “Who stitched you up?” she finally asked.
    “Umm.” Kate paused. She was planning on telling them everything that happened, but hadn’t planned on how. “It’s actually kind of funny,” she said, while trying to sound casual. Elle had now noticed the tremor in her friend’s voice and sat up. Both girls watched her closely. “It was Ethan.”
    Sophie’s eyes went wide but Elle’s face scrunched in confusion. “What was Ethan?” she asked.
    Sophie knew exactly what Kate meant. “The doctor, the doctor was Ethan,” she clarified.
    Elle’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? He’s a doctor?” she shouted.
    “What happened? What did he say? Did you exchange numbers? When are you going out with him?” Sophie bombarded Kate with questions and bounced on the tips of her toes. They were getting way ahead of themselves.
    “Calm down. I’ll explain everything. Just let me speak.” Kate took a breath. “Yes, Ethan was the doctor who stitched me up. He was really nice. No, he was great actually.” She felt her heart skip just speaking about him. “We talked and I got to know a little bit about him. I told him about you guys and how long we’ve been best friends. It was mostly just harmless chit-chat until we talked about … going hunting.”
    “What? You told him that we call it hunting?” Both of their mouths hung open in shock.
    “Not really. See the other