Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“What happened to your hand?” Sunshine demanded as she rushed toward CC. “Is that where you got bit?”
CC looked at her hand. “It’s kinda red, isn’t it?”
“Give me that!” Sunshine said, taking the iced coffee from her boss. “Put your hands next to each other. It looks super swollen to me as well.”
Comparing her two hands, CC felt sick. “That’s not good.” The injured one was definitely larger. “I’ll go get some antibiotics when we close tonight.”
“You’ll go now. I’ll call Melanie. She’ll be glad to come in early and we can handle the lunch crowd. Go to an urgent care center,” Sunshine suggested, pulling out her phone and holding her finger over the screen for permission to call her coworker.
“See if Melanie is available. If so, I’ll go.”
Thirty minutes later, Melanie arrived and tied on her apron. The two employees shooed CC out the door. CC tried not to look at her hand as she drove to the urgent care. It didn’t look good. Thankfully, there wasn’t a big crowd in the facility, and she was taken back in a few minutes.
“Cat bites are dangerous,” the nurse warned as she looked at CC’s hand. “I’m glad you came in. I’ll get the doctor in here to look at your hand.”
“You’re back!” Sunshine greeted her. “It was a good idea to go, huh?”
“I don’t think a germ can survive on me now,” CC joked. “Antibiotics, a shot, and major disinfectant treatment. I think I’m covered.”
“You’ll never believe who got adopted while you were gone,” Melanie called across the kitchen.
“Little Miss?” CC guessed.
“And four more cats. We’ll have to call and see if the shelter has any more they want to bring to us.”
“Wow, it was a banner day for adoptions. You must have been busy!” CC set her prescription on her desk and grabbed her apron.
“It was wild, but time went so fast. It seems like you just left,” Melanie added.
“Do you have to go back?” Sunshine asked, pitching in to help as CC began restocking cups and other supplies.
“I got the dire warning of go to the ER if it doesn’t look better in two days,” CC joked.
“Definitely keep an eye on it,” Sunshine warned.
Chapter Two
Two days later, Wyatt stood with CC at the check-in window for the emergency room. CC glared at him as she provided her health insurance card and her identification. “This is stupid. I don’t need to be here,” she complained.
“No matter how busy you think you are, it’s not worth risking your hand,” Wyatt said brusquely. He’d shown up at the coffee shop and whisked her to the doctor.
“They’ll come to assess your hand in a few minutes. If the doctor decides it’s infected, they’ll admit you,” the woman assured her.
Everyone looked at her grossly swollen hand. Just based on the sight of it alone, CC knew what was coming.
“Wyatt! They’re going to admit me to the hospital. I can’t be away from the café!” she hissed as Wyatt tugged her away from the window.
“Look at your hand. Is it getting better?” Wyatt asked as he eyed her oversized appendage.
“No, but…”
“No buts. If Darren was here, he’d have dragged you to the ER much sooner. Everyone is taking care of the café. Your employees love you. They’re all taking extra shifts. You’ve shown Sunshine how to handle the money. She’s reliable and eager to help. She’d make a great assistant manager,” he suggested.
“She would but…”
“No buts,” Wyatt repeated, cutting off her protests.
Before CC could answer, the nurse called her name. In a whirlwind of activity, the hospital staff showed CC to an exam room in the ER. When Wyatt walked into the room a few minutes later, CC glared at him from her perch on the hospital bed.
“Just listen to what the doc says. If he wants to give you a higher-dose antibiotic and send you home, I’ll drive you there and come to your shop to clean all the litter boxes for a week,” Wyatt tried to placate her.
“A month,” she hissed.
“A month,” Wyatt agreed.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Hunter Warren. I hear you have a cat bite I need to check out.”
CC turned her angry glare at the handsome man holding the curtain to her bay to one side. Instantly distracted from her ire at being forced to come to the hospital, she checked out the very fit man wearing scrubs and a white jacket.
“Ahem,” Wyatt cleared his throat. “Hi, Hunter.”
“Wyatt, I’m glad to see you. Camille Clover isn’t a cat burglar, is she?” the doctor asked, walking into the room.
His smile was infectious. CC couldn’t prevent the corners of her mouth from twitching upward in amusement. “CC, please. My mother had me late in life and she had too much time to create a name no one would forget.”
“CC it is. So, it’s a no on the burglar part too?”