Page 27 of Nicks and Cuts

Dante held his gaze. “I didn’t think you’d say it needed stitches.”

“I can drive you.” Shannon sat back on his heels. Was Dante afraid of hospitals after everything that had happened?

“I was hoping to have it bandaged up before you got home.”

“Were you going to clean the blood off the door handle and the mudroom floor as well?”

“Yes.”

“And somehow I wouldn’t notice the bandage when we’re in bed?”

“By then it wouldn’t matter because it would be dealt with.” Dante sighed. “I didn’t want to ask you for help, because then you’d feel obligated.”

“I saw the blood and was worried. I expected to find…” He closed his eyes and shook his head. He’d clearly seen far too many soon-to-be crime scenes. “I’m glad it’s just a cut, and you’re lucky it didn’t flick off and cut somewhere more important.”

“I wear safety gear, but when you play with knives, you’re going to get cut at some point.”

“Trust me, I know.” Foggy Basin did not have a lot of knife-related crimes. “Okay, I’m going to use those butterfly strips, but if I don’t like the look of it at any point in the next forty-eight hours, I’m taking you to urgent care, and you can tell them that you’re a dumb ass who refused to come in when you were told to.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

Shannon fixed him with another glare. “No, reasonable is going. ‘I’ve got a three-inch flap of skin on my forearm; it would be best to get stitched up.’ Looking at that injury and thinking you’re going to do an arts and craft project on yourself is how people end up calling an ambulance because two weeks later, they happen to notice that their limb is rotting.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was a dog bite. By the time they decided it was bad, they had sepsis, and around the bite was black. I don’t know if the leg was saved.”

“I would definitely see a doctor before my skin turned black.”

“Puffy edges, redness that spreads out from the wound, puss, fever, vomiting… It’s not just about the cut.”

Dante put his hand over Shannon’s where he was still applying pressure through the towel. “I know. I spent years carrying a trauma kit in my pocket, which was very reassuring until the day I needed it. And then it wasn’t enough. Let’s close this up, leave it for the night, and you can check before you go to work in the morning.”

“Fine.” He stood up and went back to the first aid kit. It was very well stocked, as well as very well organized. He located what he needed and then a bigger wound dressing to cover it up. “I’m going to clean it again.”

Dante swore. “You’re doing that to punish me.”

“Definitely, not because I want to make sure it’s done properly. Come over to the sink, and I’ll tell you about the guy who was pinned to his car seat by a tree branch.”

“Is this your go-to story for distraction?”

“It’s one with a happy ending. The tree branch didn’t puncture anything important, but the fire crew had to get out the chainsaw and cut the branch off because we didn’t know at the time. You might be wondering how he ended up with a tree branch through his shoulder?”

Dante drew a breath and went rigid as Shannon flushed out the wound.

“He had swerved to avoid a dog on the road, but because it was raining, he skidded, and next thing he knows, he’s getting intimate with the tree.”

“He didn’t lie and tell you he slipped on it?”

Shannon laughed. “Well, he kind of did slip and land on it, or at least his car did. Anyway, once he was cut out, we took him to the hospital. I was driving that day, so my coworker was in the back with him. They ended up getting married two years later.”

“That really is a happy ending.”

“I think so.” Shannon’s lips curved in a soft smile. “They also have a great first meet story.” Shannon carefully brought the edges of the wound together and taped it closed.

“That is hard to top.”

He covered the whole thing with a clear bandage that would go a long way to keeping it clean, as well as stopping it from drying out. “I’m going to wrap it, so it has a bit more protection from being bumped.”