Page 73 of Uncharted

“Let’s get you over to the lounger, Calvin.” Easton’s got Calvin’s other side.

“Nope, I’ll get blood on it. The owner won’t like it.”

“I am the damn owner. Move your large white ass over there.”

Adrenaline and alcohol are battling for Calvin’s brain, turning him into a toddler the size of a small Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloon.

Haley puts the kit on the chair next to Calvin and drops to a crouch in front of him. She runs her hand up the side of his thigh. “Calvin, honey, can you please do what Easton is asking? He wants to help you.”

“Okay.” He smiles and cocks his head to the side as Haley pets his head like a giant golden retriever.

And we all take a deep breath.

Chapter33

Cabin Inspection

Easton

I’m not a surgeon. Never wanted to be a doctor. But I can do this. I push supplies around in the kit.

“Here,” Dante says, pushing a can into my hand. It’s an energy drink. Unlike other athletes, I never touch the stuff. But this is exactly what I need.

“Thanks.” I down it. I’m just hoping it doesn’t make my hands shake.

“We’ve got a couple more kits with other supplies,” Sam says.

“Good, but this one has everything I need.” Fuck. I put on gloves. And the snap of the vinyl on my wrist clears some of the thirty-year-old Scotch out of my head. Muscle memory is going to be my friend. I can remember how to do this. It wasn’t that long ago. Fuck, ten years. It’s fine. I’ve got it. “You ready?” I hope to hell the drunk giant doesn’t pick me up and throw me over the railing after the first stab of the needle. I tilt my head, trying to convey that thought to Dante, but it’s Firefly who picks up on it.

“Is it okay if I sit next to him?”

“That’s a great idea, Haley,” Sam says. “Sit there, and I’ll steady his leg.”

“What in the hell do you think I’m going to do? I’ve had stitches without being numb before. And I wasn’t drunk then. I sure as hell am now. I sliced my hand wide open on a barbed wire fence. Fucking cow charged the fence and I tried to stop her. The cow won, the fence came in second, and I sure as hell lost. Come to think of it, I was drunk then too. My grandma was a nurse. She said if I was dumb enough to try to stop a bovine from going through a fence, I deserved every ounce of pain I got.” He lies back and crosses his arms over his chest.

And I’m struck by a couple of things. How did he just fuck Haley? He’s drunker than a skunk. And two, how did he not drown, let alone swim under the tender checking it for holes?

I’ve got what I need to set out. I turn to Dante on the other side. “You got him?”

“I’ll do my best, which is always perfection.” Dante nods at Sam.

“A little pinch,” I say.

“What the fuck?” Calvin scowls at me. Then he drops his head to the cushion. “Just kidding. Do your worst.”

I brace myself while I flush the wound with disinfectant. I hold it up, waiting for Calvin to react. But he doesn’t.

Haley’s running her fingers over his hair. She’s keeping him calm.

I take the first stitch and pause. He doesn’t so much as flinch. Then the next, and more. I’m on the twelfth stitch when he snorts. I freeze. Then keep going. It’s got to hurt, but I need to just get it done. I’m only halfway finished.

Haley raises her eyebrows at me. “He’s out.”

Eighteen stitches in all, and I tie it off. I coat it with an antibacterial salve and gauze it up. How in the hell is he going to keep this clean, let alone dry? I have no idea. “How is he like this?” I still don’t get it.

“After you left the bottle of Glendronach on the floor, the two of us decided to give it a taste test. I had a sip. He had a bit more. That was right before Sam noticed the tide. The alcohol hadn’t claimed his wits yet,” Dante says.

“Ah, that will do it. I remember being eighteen and just having come home from training. The stuff isn’t meant for slamming back, for sure. The worst hangover of my life.” I glare at the giant. His mouth is hanging open. “We can’t leave him here. He’s likely to sleepwalk off the side of the yacht.”

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