Page 25 of The Bad Boy's Homecoming
“It’s not your fault, it’s my fault.I’ve been skittish ever since…” Missy began.Her throat felt rough and scratchy, as if she’d been screaming.
Levi gripped the steering wheel with one hand as his other hand worked the stick shift in his sports car.She held her arm close to her chest with a bag of ice under her palm.
“Ever since?”he said, prompting her.
“Ever since he pushed me, and I can’t get that feeling out of my mind.”She said it all so fast she didn’t have time to really think about it.But the act of admission, voicing what happened out loud, felt like a weight lifting off of her shoulders.
“We’re going to talk about that later.But this was my fault because I should have known you weren’t expecting me back so soon.And I don’t know how, but I’ll make it up to you.”
She closed her eyes, afraid to look at her hand, and unsure why she was being so honest with him.They were both quiet the rest of the ride.Then as soon as Levi pulled up in front of the clinic, her cousin and Dalton were waiting for her with a wheelchair.Declan was first to reach for the door but let Dalton help her out of the car, so he could be careful of her hand.Once inside there were several nurses preparing something for Dalton in a stark, bright room that looked like it was used for surgeries.
“Missy, we need to clean the wound, and then I can see if we can handle the burn here or if we need to transport you to a bigger hospital.”
“Not Atlanta.”
“Let’s just see what Dalton thinks,” Declan said, hovering at her side.
“If anything Savannah has a fantastic burn unit, but I’m hoping we won’t need that.”
Levi left the car parked out front and followed behind them but stood just inside the doorway.
“So we need you all to wait in the lobby, and once I have news I’ll come find you,” Dalton said to them as he started to scrub his hands with soap and a nurse gently lifted her arm away from her chest to lay it on a metal table that she’d moved next to the hospital bed.
“She’s been shivering.Can she at least get a few blankets before you get started?”Levi asked, stepping inside.
“We need to keep the room sterile,” Dalton said as the other nurse ushered him and Declan out.“We’ll get her warmed up with several blankets,” Dalton assured them.
“I’m just outside if you need me,” Declan said, dropping a kiss on her head and then heading for the door.
“Missy, I’m going to talk you through every step.First we’re going to numb your hand up as much as possible,” Dalton said to her as he continued to scrub his hands.
“Okay, but you don’t have to tell me everything.I’m fine with missing all the pain and details.”
Dalton laughed and pulled a light over the table where her hand lay next to the bed’s edge.
“Alright, you’ll feel a few sharp twinges of the needle I’m going to use to numb your hand, then I’ll begin.Luckily there’s no fabric that burned into your hand and it looks like you weren’t wearing any jewelry.So we’ll just clean the charred layers of skin away and then wrap your hand in some salve, and a damp cloth.I’ll give you a pain reliever and one of us we’ll keep you here tonight so you can sleep,” Dalton said as he worked on her hand.
She had been staring up at the ceiling, afraid to feel more pain or ask how bad it was.
“How long will it take to heal?”
“I’m guessing four to six weeks for several layers of skin to grow back, but it’ll remain tender.Are you left- or right-handed?”
“I’m right-handed.But I need my left hand to open the paints, to clean my brushes, and make the frames.”
“Sounds like you’ll need a helper for a few weeks.”
She let out a long sigh.
“My brother seemed to think it was his fault you got burned?Should I worry about Declan taking him for a long walk off a short pier?”
“It was my own doing.I stumbled while carrying a large Dutch oven full of soup and for some reason I’d left the burner on.Then I burned the biscuits.”
“My brother tends to take over a room and be a nuisance, so I think it’s fair if we give him credit for this.Then he’ll have to help you with all your paint prep and cleanup as penance.”
“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Missy said, knowing he would only distract her more.
Dalton laughed.“I see.Maybe I better encourage him to come back and stay with me and Brooke.”
