Page 25 of You Found Me
Saying that gets me a full-blown smile. “Oh, he is one of the most squeamish people I know when it comes to blood. But let’s get you into a room so we can fix you right up.”
She guides Theo and I into the room, efficiently taking my vitals, and I try my damn best not to stare at her any more than a patient would. Emmaline jots down one last thing and lets me know that the doctor will be in to check me out shortly.
When he does come in, he’s quick with introductions, looks over my chart, examines the cut and informs me that thankfully, only a couple of stitches will be needed.
Before I can say anything, Theo looks at him, rubbing his knee as it restlessly bobs up and down. “Are you sure? There was a lot of blood.”
Doctor Bradford chuckles. “Head wounds bleed quite a lot, no matter how minor they are. Mr. Hale is in no danger of bleeding to death.” He looks back over to me. “Nurse Emmaline has the training, so she will be the one to do your sutures. If that’s alright with you?”
“Whatever you think is best. I’m good with her doing it.”
“Great,” he says, clapping his hands together. “I’ll send her in and once she’s done, you’re free to go.”
Emmaline comes in with a tray full of gauze and medical supplies and once Theo sees it, he jumps up. “Um. I need to go call my dad to let him know what’s going on. I’ll be out in the waiting room.”
We both laugh at his hasty retreat before she starts cleaning the cut. Other than telling me what she’s going to do before she does it, we don’t speak. I’m not the biggest fan of silence, and this isn’t the most ideal “getting to know you” moment, but I’m going to make the most out of this situation and try to get her to speak to me.
So, I ask her how she met Theo and Mia.
The smile that overtakes her face is breathtaking. “I met Mia in third grade. Their family moved into town the summer before, and she was in the same class as me and the twins. And there was this older boy, Greg, he would ceaselessly pick on us at recess.
“One of the first days we invited Mia to play with us, Greg came over, taunting us as usual. It upset Colette, and he made her cry. Which must have pissed Mia off, because first thing the next morning, Teddy walked up to Greg and punched him square in the nose.”
“First, I love when you guys call him Teddy. He tries to act so annoyed by it, but he isn’t. Second, that sounds exactly like the Theo I met in college.”
She goes on to say the four of them became inseparable after that. “I don’t have any siblings, so those girls are the closest thing I have to sisters.”
“You know I have a brother, but our cousin, Sebastian, as well as Theo, are like brothers to me. So I understand.”
A small smile dances across her face, before she lets me know that she’s going to give me a shot to numb the area before starting on the sutures.
“Would now be a bad time to mention that I’ve got a tiny fear of needles?”
She looks down at my tattooed arm, raising her brow when she looks back to my face. “Yet you managed to sit through being tattooed?”
“Barely.It took way longer than the artist planned because I had to keep taking breaks.”
She purses her lips, holding in a laugh. “This will be over before you know it. I’ll be honest, it’s not going to feel great. However, it’s better than being stitched up without it.”
Well, she’s right, it hurts like a bitch, but it is over quick. While we wait for the shot to fully kick in, I find myself asking, “Do you still want to be a nurse practitioner?”
Emmaline’s lips part in surprise. “We talked about that when we first met. I can’t believe you remembered.”
“I remember a lot when the subject is interesting enough.”
Her cheeks flush the cutest pink and she chuckles nervously, ignoring my previous comment to answer my question, “I wanted to continue after graduation, but Chance wanted me to hold off on it until we got settled in Georgia. I’ve been looking at different programs to apply to since moving back.”
“I say go for it.”
“Maybe,” she pushes out a breath. “It’s probably time I put myself first. There wasn’t much of that happening in the past. None at all, really.” I notice her face pink up again. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t care about that. I’ve got one more stitch to do, then you’re all done.”
“You never have to apologize for having feelings or speaking your mind in front of me. Even if you think the timing is inappropriate.”
“Sor—” she starts to say but catches herself. “It’s a force of habit after all these years . . . with Chance.”
She starts covering up the stitches. “You will need to avoid getting them wet for twenty-four hours and after that, gently pat the area dry if it gets wet. Dr. Bradford works at the clinic and will want to be the one to take them out. You can either call later today to make an appointment for removal in about ten days or use the website the day of to make a walk-in appointment.”
Once her workspace is cleaned up, she says, “From now on, try to wear your hard hat when you’re on a job site.” With a wink, she walks out.
