Page 11 of My Girl
“Don’t answer it.” The husky voice did things to her already primed system.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. I have to. It might be a patient, or the office.”
Sheridan bent to pick her top off the floor and struggled to pull it on one-handed. She picked her phone up and noticed it was one of her patients. With a grimace, she connected the call. “Hi Caley. Can you hang on a moment for me?” Turning to him, she said, “I need to take this call.” Heading to her bedroom, she greeted the caller with, “Hi. How are you, Caley?”
Her patient once again calm, Sheridan sat at her desk logging the call and making notes of the conversation. She was grateful for the respite. Things had become pretty heated between her and Gabe. Who knew where it would have gone had they not been interrupted? She finished what she was doing and braced herself to face him again.
Eyeing the mountain of food before her as she walked into the kitchen, Sheridan rolled up imaginary sleeves. “All right, let’s get all of this packed away, and I’ll make us some lunch,” she said, striving to keep things light. “Cheese and ham sandwiches good?”
She thanked her lucky stars he seemed game to play along.
“Grilled?” Gabe’s expression was hopeful.
Sheridan laughed. “Sure. Why not?”
They worked in companionable silence, putting everything away. When it was done, she gathered the ingredients and got the pan heating while she worked. Looking over her shoulder at him, Sheridan asked, “Can I get you something to drink?”
Gabe hopped up. “How about I pour the drinks while you do that?” he asked, angling his chin at the bread she was buttering.
“Sounds like a plan.”
A high-pitched squeal of a braking vehicle shattered the silence of the kitchen, followed by the sound of breaking glass. Sheridan turned her head to look at Gabriel. He stood as still as if he’d turned to stone. His skin going equally as pale. The heaving of his chest as he hyperventilated caught her attention.
Putting the knife down as quietly as she could, she made her way over to him. Soft enough not to startle him, loud enough to reach him, Sheridan said, “Gabe? I’m going to touch you, okay?” She laid a gentle hand on his chest and took a step closer, her face directly in his line of sight. Despite the warning, his body jerked. “Shh, it’s okay. You’re fine.”
His head dropped, as if he were looking at her. But it was clear he wasn’t seeing her. Wherever he was, it wasn’t in the room with her. “Gabe, I need you to slow your breathing down for me. Breathe with me, champ. In for three, out for three.” She inhaled slowly, her hand still resting over his racing heart.
For long moments, they stood like that. Taking one breath after the other. Gradually, his heartrate decreased, and his breaths matched hers. Gabriel swallowed thickly. Cleared his throat. She saw when awareness finally kicked in.
“Hi,” Sheridan spoke, ever so softly. She couldn’t believe her eyes when he blushed a dull brick-red.
He cleared his throat again before he spoke, embarrassment clearly stamped across his face. “Hi yourself.”
“You okay there, champ?” The childhood nickname she’d given him brought a weak smile to his lips.
“Yeah, I …” He stumbled to a halt as he spotted the mess on the floor. “Ah hell, Sher. I’m sorry. Let me clean this quickly.”
He went to his knees to collect as much glass as he could reach. When he got up to toss the shards in the bin, Sheridan did some swearing of her own. “Gabe, you’re bleeding. A lot.”
He looked at her with a blank expression on his face. “Bleeding?” he spoke as if he couldn’t comprehend what she was saying to him.
“Yeah. As in you’ve cut yourself on glass, and now you’re losing blood.”
His gaze shifted to where she pointed. “Dammit! These are my favourite pair of jeans.”
Unable to hold it back, Sheridan snorted out a laugh. “Seriously, dude? You’ve sliced your leg open, you’re bleeding all over my kitchen, and all you’re concerned about are your jeans?” She grabbed his hand and towed him into the living room, stopping beside the sofa. “Right, let’s get those jeans off so I can take a look.”
“Sorry, say what now?”
For the second time in almost as many minutes, she laughed out loud. “You know I’m a trained professional, right? I may not be a medical doctor, but I can still be one hundred percent impartial. So, drop ’em, pal.”
“Sheridan Alicia Daniels, there is no way I am dropping my pants for you.” Gabriel took a step back.
“Why the hell not?”
“Well, for one, your brother would kill my sorry ass.”
“So, you’d rather stand here and bleed all over my living room floor than let me assess the damage?” Not giving him a chance to answer, she continued, “You’ve got a choice. Either you let me have a look, or I’m loading you up and taking you to the hospital right this second, and they can deal with your ‘sorry ass’. You choose. Right now.”
