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“Never.” I stood by her head and carefully unclenched her fingers from my shirt and laced them in mine. “You’re not alone, Julia.”
She tipped her head back to meet my eyes, and I smiled softly at her. Some of the panic eased from her face, and the corners of her mouth lifted a little. Not enough to be an actual smile, but it was something.
“I’m going to begin.”
Julia squeezed my hand tightly, and her lips pressed into a flat line. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I used my free hand to smooth the hair from her forehead. “You’re doing great,” I murmured.
I watched Andy move steadily and efficiently, hooking the curved needle through her skin and pulling the thread through. Julia whimpered, but she didn’t fight him. I brought our joined hands to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “Talk to me, Julia.”
Her nostrils flared as she shoved the air from her lungs. “Kind of hard to focus right now.”
“Tell me about your little sister.”
“Alexi?” Julia’s eyes fluttered open. “She’s sixteen and is at that age where she thinks she knows everything. She gives me attitude every chance she gets.”
I smiled. “I remember being that age.”
“She’s a good kid, though. I don’t exactly make life easy for her since I have to travel all the time for work. She does her schooling on the net, and most of her friends are on the net, too.” Her voice broke as Andy pulled the needle through her skin again. “Snails!”
“Snails?” I asked, hoping to keep her talking.
She snorted softly. “My attempt to curb my language. Once I got custody of Alexi, I tried to do everything I could to be a good parent. That included changing my language to something more kid appropriate.” She smiled, though pain still crinkled the edges of her eyes. “Snails was the best thing I came up with.”
“Finished.” Andy clipped the thread and stepped away.
Julia relaxed a little more, though she didn’t release my hand. “That’s good.”
“You’re strong, Julia. You handled that well.” I rubbed her hand, and I stepped closer to peer at her wound again. “I’ll finish cleaning this up and bandage it.” I glanced back at Andy. “Get to work on those sensors. I’ll call if I need you.”
Andy nodded to me while he finished putting the supplies away. He glanced at Julia before leaving. “I hope you recover quickly, Agent Carter.”
She hesitated before nodding. “Thank you.”
I scrubbed my hands and forearms in the sink before putting gloves on. I didn’t want to get any sand or grit in her wound. The last thing either of us needed was for her to get an infection. I cleaned the area around the wound as best as I could before dabbing at the cut itself. Andy had done a good job with the stitches. Definitely better than I would have done. There was some sand visible, so I irrigated the wound with water.
Julia hissed in pain, and I shot her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. I’m almost done.”
Though she still seemed to be in a lot of pain, her breathing had settled. “I know. I’ve been through this kind of thing before.”
I frowned as I grabbed some clotting powder. “You have?”
“Was stabbed in the back once. I’d only been out of the academy for a few months. A carjacker thought he could take me on. He had a chance to run, but he didn’t. Took a swipe at me with his knife. I ducked, but he caught me in the back of the shoulder. It hurt worse than this. Sliced through the muscle. I had to go to a special clinic to get the damage repaired. Surgery and physical therapy. I was benched for six weeks.”
I tipped some powder on the wound before reaching for the bandages. “Did the carjacker get away?”
“No. Jordan shot him. He was going in to stab me a second time, to finish the job, but Jordan got him first.” She half-smiled. “He saved my life. It was the first person he’d ever killed. Tossed his lunch on the pavement right after he called for backup and an ambulance.”
“He sounds like a great partner.”
“The best. I wouldn’t want anyone else riding shotgun.”
I finished wrapping her up and took a deep breath. “That looks a lot better. Are you hurt anywhere else? How are you feeling?”
She closed her eyes. “Honestly, everything hurts. I don’t think I have any other important injuries. I feel exhausted.”
“Sleep is the best thing for you right now anyway.” I went back to the medical kit and pulled out some antibiotics. I retrieved a glass of water and brought both over to her. “Take these. They’re antibiotics. In case there’s any infection starting.”
She eyed the pills warily, but after a moment she took them. I cradled her head so she could drink some water. She gave me a grateful look when she was finished. “Thank you. Could you move me to a bed? This table is extremely uncomfortable.”
