Page 80 of Forbidden Confessions: Vol. 2
Relieved, I draw a syringe with some pain meds—I don’t want him waking up in the middle of this—and administer it. I can only hope it will keep him under so I can patch him up. Thankfully, he’s got veins for days. Then I wipe away the blood on his arm and his neck. The latter wound is far more serious. I’ll need to suture it first. I’ve actually done a couple of animals, so it’s not my first rodeo.
Yeah, under Dr. Robbins’s guidance. Tonight, this is all you.
Gulping down my nerves, I bandage the wound on his arm to slow the bleeding and focus on the neck. I clean and disinfect it, spray it with a little lidocaine, then start inserting the needle into his skin. I wince. The feel is almost as horrible as the sterile smell. I don’t mind this on animals, but tonight I’m trying to save the man I fell for against all odds.
“Breathe,” Ethan encourages, now beside me, gloves in place. “You got this.”
I freaking hope so.
After I put ten tiny stitches in his neck as neatly as I know how, I back away with a jagged sigh, then set in again on his arm. Since I’ve managed the hard part, I’m feeling better. It only takes a few stitches to close up the gash in his biceps. I check his pulse again. It’s steady, but still not as strong as I want.
Two minutes later, I’ve managed to bandage his wounds to stem any additional bleeding. It’s tapered off and should stop altogether soon.
Finally, I hold up the syringes and tubing I pulled out for the transfusion. “I don’t know how to do this, but I think he needs blood.”
“I’ve done this part. Leave it to me.”
I’m horrified. “How often does he turn up in this shape?”
Ethan gets quiet again. “The first time, I was fourteen, right after my mother finally decided I was too much like Dad and dropped me on his doorstep for good. Probably the best thing she ever did, honestly. But it was late one night when my uncle Ridge barged through the front door, carrying my dad, who looked all kinds of fucked up. Ridge came equipped with tubing and blood packs he swiped from a clinic, but he had me help Dad. It’s happened a couple times since. Not often…but it’s always rough.”
What is Ransom? And what am I getting myself into?
Now isn’t the time for questions.
“What do we need to do?”
Ethan hooks his foot around the leg of a rolling stool and drags it under my ass. “Sit. Close your eyes. Leave this to me.”
With a bob of my head, I do. I hear him working. The rubber tourniquet goes around my arm and squeezes. He swipes alcohol over the crook of my elbow. A minute later, the needle goes in my vein, first try. Almost no pain.
“There it is…” he murmurs.
“That’s it? You’re a pro.”
“Thanks. Never done this without help, but I guess there’s always a first time.”
Like me and stitches.
“Yeah.” I feel the blood traveling through my veins, exiting at the injection site. Ugh, this always gets me a little queasy. I need to talk to distract myself. And I need to say something to Ethan. “I’m sorry.”
“That you’re more into my dad than you were ever into me?”
I nod. “I couldn’t help it.”
“I know. And I’m sorry I got pissed at you. But I know it wasn’t one-sided. I saw the way Dad looked at you. I knew he wanted you in a way I didn’t. I mean, you’re hot, and if you had been willing, I would have gladly fucked you.” Ethan takes my chin in his grip, and I find myself staring into his hazel eyes. “But he wanted you. He burned for you. He fell for you.”
Those words make me go hot all over. “I fell for him, too.”
At my whisper, Ethan lets go. “Close your eyes again.”
I do. I need time to think.
“Something’s happened to you,” I blurt. “You’ve grown up in the last couple of months.”
He hesitates. “Let’s just say I’m finding my way.”
Then silence falls. Neither of us tries to fill it, which is a relief because I’m getting dizzy and I’m feeling the fact I skipped dinner.
