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“Where’s your first aid kit?” I ask.
“Under the sink,” he says after a long moment. “At your knees.”
I bend down and pull it out. I grab some ointment and some bandages and head over.
“Maybe you can…” I say as I toss him a hand towel. He catches it and puts it over his private area just in case the water is not soapy enough to cover everything.
I dab a cloth in the water and touch it to his bloody eyebrow. He doesn’t so much as wince or make a noise as I wash away the dried flakes of blood.
“This looks like it really hurts,” I say, feeling horrible for him.
“I don’t feel pain like most people do,” he answers.
“How come? Because you’re so tough?”
He shrugs. “When you feel enough pain in your life, it all starts to feel numb.”
I want him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.
“How did this happen?” I ask as I wipe his cheek. I got Alina’s side of the story, but I’m more interested in his.
“I got in a fight?”
“With what? A gorilla?”
The corner of his lip curls up slightly. Was that a smile? Almost?
“Pretty much.”
“What does he look like?”
He exhales as he closes his eyes. “Worse. Much worse.”
I shake my head as I dab the cloth into the water and start to softly wipe away the dried blood on his temple. His head is massive. Everything about him is massive.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you to use your words?” I ask as I take some ointment out of the first aid kit. “Fighting is not nice.”
“I guess I’m not nice,” he says as he stares at me with his one good eye.
I stare back at him. “I guess not.”
He finally drops his eyes and sighs. I wet a cotton ball with some ointment and dab it on the cut along his hairline.
“But I don’t really believe that,” I say as I dab another cut behind his ear. “You didn’t have to make us sandwiches and you did. That was nice.”
He doesn’t answer.
“You can talk things out with people,” I say, sounding naive even to my own ears. “You don’t have to fight.”
“Yeah, I do,” he grunts. “It’s in my contract.”
I sigh as I lean back and look at him. “I’ll never understand hockey.”
This time he smiles for real. It makes my heart do a little flip.
“Jane!” Alina shouts from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you okay up there? Make any kind of noise if you want me to call the cops!”
“I’ll be down in a second!” I shout to her, feeling frustrated at the interruption. I turn back to Tucker and smile at him. “I should get going. Are you going to be okay?”
