Page 12 of His Little Garnet

I roll my eyes. “For real though.”

He chuckles. “We have a quill behind our front teeth. It can be used for a variety of things.”

“Let me guess,” I respond. “In addition to numbing my arm so you can set it, you also used it to inject an aphrodisiac into my fingertips earlier.”

He smiles. “Exactly. Wait until I use it all over your body.”

I gasp. “You wouldn’t.” I jerk my good arm up to cover my breasts, instinctively knowing he means all over my body.

He laughs. “Baby girl, trust me, you’re going to enjoy every second of it. Now, let’s get this bone set. Would you like to look away?”

I shake my head. “I’m not squeamish. I’m a nurse. I’ll watch.”

Surgient grins. “A nurse, huh?”

“Yes. I was telling Chadka he should help me get a job in one of your hospitals.”

Surgient’s brows rise high on his head, and he smirks. “I can’t wait to hear how that goes over.”

I glare at him. “Is Eleadia completely chauvinistic?”

Both men sober.

Papi looks at me. “Protective, Baby girl. We take care of our females as if they’re fragile glass. We do so because we don’t want anything to happen to you. You will be spoiled rotten but always under my watchful eye.”

I swallow hard as he finishes his speech. I don’t know how to process what he’s said, but he was certainly offended by my suggestion, so I simply nod for now.

Papi lifts my limp, numb hand, wraps his other enormous hand around my forearm at my elbow, and gives a quick pull, realigning the bones so fast I would have missed it if I’d blinked.

Surgient lifts the scanner up to my wrist again and hovers for a moment before they both turn back to the monitor.

“Perfect,” Papi declares. He grabs a splint from Surgient’s case and carefully settles my wrist over it before securing my arm so that the bone is immobilized. He meets my gaze as he sets it down on the mattress. “How about that be the last broken bone you ever get. I can’t stand the idea of going through that again.” He blows out a breath as if he were the one who’d been in pain instead of me. I’m beginning to suspect he was. He seems to have some sort of empathic abilities.

I gingerly lift my arm to inspect the splint. It’s similar to what I’ve seen in our hospitals but molds to my arm better and feels more secure. I realize my arm has settled into the material, and it indeed does mold around me perfectly.

“I can’t promise to never break a bone, Chadka. It happens sometimes.”

He leans over me, shaking his head. “I’m going to wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you safe.”

I’m worried he’s not kidding.

He erases my next comment by kissing me again. Damn him. I’m beginning to realize he uses his lips to distract me, and it works.

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