Page 15 of Just One Chance
She finally relented, slipping one hand into his, the other pushing the dish towel she’d used to cover the cut back against her leg. “Fine, fine.”
David helped Avery to the couch, guiding her as she leaned back onto the cushions. He tried not to notice how much he liked the feel of her hand in his. He slid the coffee table a little closer. “Here. Maybe if you prop your foot up on the table . . .” He pushed a hand through his hair. No matter how she sat, there was no way he was suturing a cut on her inner thigh without getting close into her personal space. Almosttoo close.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t cut myself in a more convenient spot,” Avery said with a knowing grin.
David’s cheeks flushed with heat, but he managed a smile. “Don’t worry about it. This could definitely be worse.” He retrieved his supplies from the kitchen and sat down on the edge of the coffee table. “Not that this is bad. This is good. I mean, not good as in—”
“Dave,” Avery said, cutting him off. She held a finger out and pressed it against his lips. “Shhhh. Please just doctor me so I can stop freaking out about the needles you’re about to thread through my skin.”
“Got it,” he said, hoping she didn’t notice the slight tremor in his voice. What did she do to him? He was a medical professional. A man who kept his cool even in the most stressful of situations. It’s what he was known for. Yet, she turned him into a fumbling, bumbling middle schooler. He didn’t even care that she’d called him Dave.
He willed himself to forget about how close she was, how warm her skin felt, and just zero in on the actual wound.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Lightheaded at all?”
She shook her head no.
“Do you have any allergies? Latex? Iodine?”
Another head shake.
“Okay. This will feel cold for a minute.” He swabbed the cut down with iodine. “And you’ll feel a tiny pinch,” he said, before injecting the lidocaine, “but it will only last a second and then you won’t feel much of anything else. Maybe a little tugging here and there.”
She nodded again, but kept her eyes closed. “Just tell me when it’s over.”
David chuckled to himself. That she was willing to climb onto her roof to do a little pressure washing but couldn’t stand the sight of needles? Somehow it only made him like her more.
Chapter 5
Averycrackedoneeyeball,peeking out at David’s face. If she looked at the stitches, at the actual needle going into and out of her flesh, she’d pass out for sure. But she could look at Dave’s face. It was a nice face.
“Hey, you’re wearing different glasses.”
David looked up and met her gaze. “Yeah. Do you . . . do you like them? My friend, Lucy, picked them out. Her husband is an optometrist and said something about them better complimenting my bone structure.” His cheeks turned red again. “Sorry. That was a lot of information. I should have just said thank you.”
“Lucy was right,” Avery said. “They look good. They make you look older. In a good way, you know? More professional.”
He swallowed and she watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Thank you.”
She closed her eyes again, sighing as she sank even further into the couch. “How am I doing?”
“You’re doing great,” David said. “Just a few more and you’ll be all set.”
“So I’m venturing a guess that you’re not going to let me pay you for this,” Avery said.
David grunted. “Absolutely not.” He patted her leg gently. “All finished. Just let me wrap it up for you. You’ll need to keep it clean and dry for ten days. Showers are fine after the first 48 hours, just dry it well and cover it afterwards.”
She opened her eyes and watched as he put some gauze over the cut then wrapped a bandage around her leg to hold it in place. “You’re good at this.”
David’s eyes lifted, but he didn’t quite smile. “This is probably the easiest part of what I do but thank you.”
“Sure. But I can see you being very good with patients,” Avery said. “Putting them at ease.”
“Once I convince them I’m really their doctor and not a first-year med student, I think I do okay.”
Avery stretched her leg out in front of her, bending it at the knee, then extending it again.
“How does it feel?” David lowered himself onto the couch beside her.
