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“What’s wrong?” Nelle asked.
Bucky lifted his left hand. He had a damp paper towel wrapped around it. The paper towel stained wet with fresh blood. Nelle jumped up.
No, no, no,she thought.You can’t die, you old bastard. I need this place right now more than ever!
“Bucky!” Nelle cried out.
“Gave myself a nasty cut,” he said. “Bleeding like a son of a bitch.”
“I’ll drive you to the—”
“You know I can’t leave!” Bucky yelled. “Are you dumb?”
Nelle froze.Right.
Bucky was a hermit. Terrified of the world. He loved his antiques and refused to leave them. Ever. That meant Buckynever did things like go to a doctor, or a dentist. He never received routine medical care. If someone couldn’t come to him directly or something couldn’t be delivered, then Bucky didn’t worry about whatever that was.
“Let’s get you fixed up, Bucky,” Nelle said.
“You can help me?”
“Of course I can. Just let me lock the door first, okay?”
“Good thinking,” Bucky said. “Don’t need anyone to steal something!”
Nelle nodded, but truthfully, she didn’t give a damn if someone stole an antique.
She was more worried about someone showing up to kill her.
Turned out Bucky dropped a glass into the sink, reached for the broken glass and cut himself on the fatty part of his flesh, just below his thumb. It bled like crazy but Nelle figured stitches weren’t necessary, even for a guy Bucky’s age. Plus, even if he did need stitches, then what? It wasn’t like he’d leave to get medical attention.
Bucky had a well-stocked medical kit though. And it did include a needle and medical thread for stitching. Nelle went with some butterfly strips. She cleaned up the cut and Bucky’s hand, applied the necessary medication to help prevent infection, then she pinched the skin to close the cut and applied the butterfly strips. After that, she wrapped Bucky’s hand in a bandage.
“Now if we check this later and it’s soaked…”
“You can stitch me, right?” Bucky asked.
Nelle met eyes with him.
“Right?” Bucky asked again.
“If I had to, sure.”
“You know your way around here.”
“I have experience.”
“Yeah? What’s the story, Nelle? You a doctor? A nurse?”
Nelle pulled the rubber gloves off her hands and threw them out. “Just someone who has seen some stuff and knows how to do some stuff.”
“Vague as always,” Bucky said. “A woman of complete mystery. You know that can drive a man crazy with wonder.”
Nelle felt chills hit her body.
Oh, fuck, is Bucky flirting with me right now?she asked herself.
That was the last thing she needed right now.
