Page 41 of Cowboy Seeks Husband
They did move back a bit, but the cameras stayed on Roan despite Walker wanting to shove them even farther away.
“Why didn’t I feel it?” Roan asked, his voice wobbly. Little lion had lost his courage, and Walker didn’t blame him. Of all the critters in Louisiana, leeches grossed him out the most too.
“They inject some kind of anesthetic so you can’t feel their bite. And that’s why you won’t know if there are any more on you. How are you with blood?”
Roan’s gaze went faraway for a second. “I can deal with blood.”
“Okay, good, because there might be a lot of it.” To the medics he said, “I just need some cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, and a bandage.”
Roan looked pale. His hands trembled, and Walker squeezed one of them briefly.
“Aren’t you supposed to put salt on them? That kills them, right?” the medic asked.
“Yes, but you can’t do that when they’re still attached to you. They might regurgitate blood back into your body and cause infection.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Roan closed his eyes, and Walker dropped to his knees.
“You’ll be okay. You won’t feel a thing, I promise.” He lifted his head and grinned at Roan, who was staring down at him. “Remember, leeching was a medical practice for hundreds of years.”
“So was trepanation.”
Walker laughed, then looked down at the leech again. He gently rubbed his hand over Roan’s stomach. “Ready?” he asked.
“No, but do it anyway.”
“Little lion,” Walker whispered, then gently felt around the leech, looking for the narrowest side. He eased his nail underneath it, taking his time to work the sucker loose. Blood began to drip down and he held a wad of cotton balls drenched in alcohol at the ready. As soon as the leech came off he flicked it away so it couldn’t reattach on his hand and pressed the cotton to Roan’s hip. It soaked through almost immediately.
“Can you hold this for a second?” he asked the medic.
Roan looked down as the nurse pressed his hand against the wound while Walker readied a new tuft of cotton with rubbing alcohol. “Here, let me.” He rubbed the alcohol into the wound, pulled out more cotton with his free hand and pressed it against Roan’s hip. “Now hold this, press it tight. I’m going to see if there’re anymore, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You know,” one of the medics said conversationally. “They still use leeches these days in medicine. With reconstructive surgery, aftercare following reattachment of severed fingers, and other circumstances where the removal of congested blood from a wound is required.”
Walker eyed the guy. “Right. This is none of those things. I need more pressure over here please,” he said, and flicked another leech back into the water.
“Second crew,” Walker heard John call out. “Go see if we can spot any gators.” Then to the camera guy zeroing in on Roan, John added, “This is some seriously good stuff.”
“I’m feeling the love, John,” Roan muttered.
John ignored him and spoke into his mic, “Set up an interview spot over by the boat with the water in the background. We’ll grab an In-the-moment interview with the medics after this. That way we’ll have it in the can. No need to trek back down here or round them up in post.”
Walker rose to his feet and checked Roan’s chest, his back, and his hairline. He really did have a bit of a sunburn, Walker noticed. Roan would want to apply some aloe to that. Then he checked Roan’s ears, and went to stand in front of him again. He tipped Roan’s head up, pushed his fingers into his thick hair to feel his scalp, checked his nose, and then, “Open your mouth.”
Roan blinked at him. “Are you serious?”
“Very.”
“Really?” one of the nurses said. “I wouldn’t have known to check there.”
Roan looked away and opened his mouth. “Lift your tongue. Okay, you’re good.” He waited until Roan could look at him again. “I know this is embarrassing. And we can wait until we’re back at the house so you can do it yourself, but—” He waved at Roan’s lower half.
“Just do it,” Roan whispered and closed his eyes.
The cotton hadsaturated with blood again, so the nurses changed it while Walker gently eased the waterproof pants over Roan’s narrow hips. Roan steadied himself on Walker’s shoulder when Walker checked over his feet and his calves.
“I need to take these off too,” Walker whispered, his heart beginning to thud in his chest as he indicated Roan’s underwear. “You can check your groin. I’ll do the back.”
