Page 25 of Huge Dynamite
Turning my head back to Dr. Boling, she made eye contact again before looking away, and then she walked to my right side and stood next to the nurse. Pressing against my veins with a gloved finger, Dr. Boling glanced up at me. “Tough skin. Why am I not surprised?” Giving me a small smile, she took the needle from the nurse and then spoke directly to me. “This is called an IV cannula. It’s a small, flexible tube made of plastic that I’m going to insert into your vein so you can get an antibiotic.”
Looking at her just in time, I caught her expression as she leaned down closer to my arm. After the nurse cleaned the area again, Dr. Holly’s face tightened, and she grimaced slightly as a look of determination flooded her soft features. With a strong push, she managed to get the needle—or the IV cannula, or whatever the hell it was—into my arm.
“There.” She stood up and patted my uninjured shoulder. “This will start making you feel better. Any idea when your last tetanus shot was?”
“Never had one.”
Nodding, she instructed the nurse to get the shot. “I didn’t see it on the chart, but my colleague already administered a painkiller?”
“He said no.” Dr. Morton, the short doctor, finally chimed in.
“No. No painkillers,” I reiterated.
Dr. Holly took the shot from the nurse and turned to the short doctor. “Give me a moment with Mr. Hardy, please. Just wait outside; I’ll need you both in a minute.”
The short doctor pushed his way past the tiny nurse to be the first out the door. Creep. I don’t care who you are or where you are in the world—a woman always goes first. Call me old-fashioned, but a woman is made to be protected and respected.
If I hadn’t been in so much freaking pain, I would have explained that to him.
“Mr. Hardy.” Still holding the shot, Dr. Holly stepped up closer to my bed.
“Seth, please.”
“All right, Seth. I can tell by the sweat on your forehead and the way you clench your teeth when you speak that you’re in considerable pain. But when I looked over your intake papers, there was no record of habitual alcohol or drug use. No addictions. This is not the time to lie, Seth.”
“I’m not a liar,” I snapped at her, louder than I meant.
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t back away. “I wasn’t calling you a liar. I said this is not the time to lie. There’s a difference.”
Nodding, I agreed. It was true. I’d just never come across anyone else who thought the way I did.
Tilting her head, she smiled. “When my mother asks me if I’ve stopped biting my nails, I tell her I have. Even though…” She held up her gloved hand. “Well, you can’t see them through the glove, but trust me, I haven’t. I’ve stopped for the moment. It’s not a lie. So, I need to know why you’re not taking painkillers, as I’m about to pull an impaled knife out of your shoulder.”
“Fine.” Staring up at the ceiling, I answered her. “I did this to myself. I need to feel the pain so I don’t do it again.”
“Okay.”
Rolling my head toward her, I furrowed my brow. “That’s it?”
“If you tell me that’s how it is, that’s how it is. I don’t lie either, and I recognize the trait in you. But I’m required to ask, was this some kind of illegal activity? Gang violence?”
Shaking my head, I sigh. “No gang. I’m part of the Steel Knights motorcycle club. But we’re not a gang, and we’re not an outlaw club. I fought with one of my brothers. I can act… impulsively sometimes. I pulled a knife, and thank god I was the only one who was hurt.”
Standing there, she took a deep breath and then shook her head. “No, you weren’t.”
Fighting against my tight neck muscles, I craned my head to look her in the eye. “What do you mean?”
Cleaning my upper right arm with an alcohol pad, she prepped me for the tetanus shot by squeezing my skin between her fingers. I could tell she had a hard time grabbing anything but muscle.
“You may be the only one who has a physical injury, but the people who love you also suffer when you’re hurt.” Her words were soft, and I knew they were laden with something, but what? Stabbing me with the needle, she injected my tetanus shot.
“All right.” Walking to the door, she let in the other doctor and the nurse as she tossed the syringe. “The first thing we’re going to do is clean the wound, and then we’ll remove the object. Mr. Hardy, we’re going to sit you up now.”
So, we were back to Mr. Hardy. Guess it made sense when the other doctor and nurse are around. Besides, I kind of liked how she called me Seth in private.
She and the short doctor each reached behind me and lifted gently to help me to a sitting position. Hell no. I’m not one to physically rely on a woman, but it wasn’t time for me to argue, and I could barely think straight. Between the freaking knife lodged in my shoulder and being this close to Dr. Holly…
The short doctor held a tan, U-shaped bin under my shoulder as Dr. Boling poured some warm liquid around the wound. She spoke as she worked.
