Page 25 of A Future in the Bay

“Well, that’s not good,” he murmured, looking down at it calmly.

It stung badly—but what he was most worried about was how much he was bleeding. He wouldn’t be able to continue working until he got his hand cleaned up and bandaged.

I’m sure it’s nothing, he thought.Doesn’t seem like that deep of a cut. But I’d better get this cleaned up before I keep working.

He started to walk toward the school, keeping his injured hand closed in a fist to try to prevent more bleeding. It hurt, but the pain wasn’t terrible. He knew there was a first aid kit in one of the staff bathrooms, so he decided to stop there and tend to his cut.

As he was walking along the hallways of the school, Olivia turned the corner and grinned when she saw him.

“Hey, you,” she said. “How was your—oh no!”

He chuckled. By that point, he was holding his uninjured hand over the other to keep it from bleeding too much, but his fingers were bloody enough that Olivia was able to see clearly that he’d been injured. “I’m okay,” he said. “Just on the hunt for a first aid kit.”

“What happened?” she asked in concern, falling into step beside him and trotting along at his side. “A tool cut you?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I was foolish enough to try building with pieces I haven’t sanded yet. I got sliced by a metal shard.”

“Oh, Isaiah,” she clucked sympathetically, looking down at his hand with a frown. “I hope it isn’t too bad. I’ll help you clean it up and bandage it.”

“Thanks. I’m sure it’s not too bad,” he said, smiling at her.

A few moments later, they reached the staff bathroom that had a first aid kit. Isaiah washed his hands in the sink while Olivia opened the kit and got out alcohol wipes and a gauze bandage.

“Okay, let me see it,” she said, tearing open the alcohol wipe’s packaging.

He laughed and held out his hand. “You sounded just like Mom when you said that.”

She grinned, and carefully began to sanitize his cut. He winced, sucking in his breath. It hurt more than he thought it would, and she noticed his reaction.

“This looks deep, Isaiah,” she said, pressing her lips together. “And look at how much it’s bleeding again already. I think you might need stitches, and?—”

He let out a grunt as a sudden shock of pain went through him. Part of the cut hurt a great deal more than the rest of it.

“And I think you might have a metal sliver in here,” she said, peering down at his cut in concern. “You need to go to the doctor right away.”

“The doctor?” he protested. “Olivia, it’s just a cut. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

She shook her head firmly. “Absolutely not. I’m not having you get some kind of infection while you’re working on something I asked you to do. This needs proper care and attention so it doesn’t get worse. You are going to the doctor and that’s final.”

“Now you really sound like Mom,” he said, grinning.

She laughed. “Good. Hopefully that’s enough to convince you to go get this cut checked out.”

“What if I just keep an eye on it for a while, and?—”

“Isaiah!”

“Okay, fine.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “You want me to drive you there?”

“Yeah, if you want. Although I could probably walk there from here, it’s not that far.”

“I’ll drive you,” she said. “Let’s leave right away, as soon as I finish taking care of this cut.”

A few minutes later, he was sitting in the passenger seat of Olivia’s car, and she was pulling up to a little red brick building in the middle of one of the gift store areas of town.

“What are we—oh, you’re taking me tothatdoctor, huh?” All of a sudden, his stomach did a somersault.

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