Page 50 of As the World Falls

“I know I’m probably being a giant crybaby right now, but I got a splinter stuck under my fingernail, and it is killing me. The pain is shooting down my arm, and I can’t get it out. Every little move makes it hurt worse.”

I gently take hold of her hand, inspecting it closer. As she claims, I spot a long, thick wood splinter lodged under her nail, deep enough to send a slight shiver through my body. Sure, they didn’t hurt badly, but splinters are the kind of pain that is incredibly annoying and seems to remind you that they are there in anything you do. The pain really does become frustrating after a while, and not to mention, they can cause some pretty serious infections.

“How did you manage to do this?”

She grumbles in pain as I touch the tip of my finger to the top of the splinter. “The wooden table in the break room is splintering in the corners. I stopped in there to grab some coffeebefore heading here, and all I did was lean my hand onto the corner of the table as I was talking to Clarence and?—”

“Who’s Clarence?” I cut her off, my eyes snapping to meet hers.

She rolls her eyes. “He works in maintenance. How do you not know that?”

“I don’t oversee every person hired. Just you.”

“Can we focus on the splinter, please?” I nod. She rolls her eyes again. “As I was saying, I simply rested my hand against the table, and then it happened. Wood. Lodged into my finger. Under my nail. In turn, ruining my mood for the rest of the day unless I get this thing out.”

Her voice is whiney, and even though she’s clearly in discomfort, I find myself enjoying the tone of it and her utter helplessness. It was a nice change of pace and exactly the kind of boost I needed today.

“Are you saying you’d like my help?” I smirk.

She purses her lips angrily, her eyes narrowing into vengeful slits. “Can you?”

“I think I can.”

“Then do it.”

I squeeze her hand slightly tighter. “What’s the magic word babe?”

Her face barely winces, but I notice the slight twitch in her expression. She remains defiant, keeping her gaze locked with mine. “Please, James.”

I nearly falter at the sound of her adding my name to her plea. I grind my teeth together, forcing the thoughts brewing in my head to regenerate into contempt for her. I dropped my hand to her wrist and tugged her to follow me outside my office and down the hall to the bathroom.

Her feet stumble as she follows behind me, and once again, all eyes are on me as I show her the way. “Where are we going?” she murmurs.

“Bathroom. There are first aid kits in there.”

When we walk into the bathroom, she instantly goes past me and hops up onto the counter, sitting on its edge. I look down at her thighs pressed to the marble counter and tear them away, turning behind me to lock the door so that we aren’t interrupted.

I went to the first aid box bolted to the wall at the other end of the bathroom and opened it, looking around inside. Thankfully, splinter removers were actually available, so I grabbed one of the small paper packets, alcohol wipes, antibiotic ointment, gauze, and a band-aid.

“Wow, that’s quite the stock there,” she remarks as I set the supplies on the counter beside her. “I would have done this all myself if I had known it was here.”

“It’s fine,” I tell her, opening the alcohol wipe. I retake her hand and place the wipe around the tip of her finger, attempting to clean what I can around the splinter.

She winces and tries to rip her hand away, but I hold tighter onto it, continuing to clean her finger. “Don’t move.”

“You could have warned me you were going to do that. It burns.”

“It hurts worse when you’re warned. It's better when you aren’t expecting it.”

“I’ll remember that when I suddenly get run over by a car.”

“You’re extremely dramatic.” I open the splinter remover packet and pull out the sharp metal pick.

Her eyes widen and then meet mine. “That looks like it’s going to hurt.”

“It will.”

She tears her hand away again. “I don’t want to do it.”

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