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Charlie inserted the fine needle into the edge of the wound. Dana flinched slightly but stayed still. But that was the easy part. Lignocaine stung like mad and he sent up a silent prayer that Dana would continue to be good. He slowly injected the local anaesthetic agent.
‘Mummy?’ Dana’s eyes opened. ‘It’s hurting, Mummy.’
‘It’s OK, darling, squeeze my hand hard. It won’t hurt for long,’ Carrie said, rising and lying gently across Dana’s body in case she tried to kick or twist. She could see tears shining in Dana’s eyes and felt guilt and pride in equal measure. ‘Mummy’s giving you a special hug, see? You’re being so brave, isn’t she, Charlie?’
‘Absolutely,’ Charlie agreed. ‘You’re braver than a hundred boys. There…I’ve finished now.’ He placed the syringe back on the trolley.
Dana sniffled. ‘Really? You think I’m braver than a boy?’
Charlie chuckled. ‘Definitely. Now we’ll wait a couple of minutes for the local to make you numb then I’ll sew you up, OK?’
‘Then I get to dance?’
‘I promise.’
Carrie listened absently to the lively conversation between Charlie and her daughter while they waited for the local to take effect. Charlie’s regulation three-day growth and shaggy hair seemed even more endearing when he was talking to her child as if she was the most important thing in the world to him.
‘Can you feel this?’ Charlie asked Dana, giving her a light prick on the wound margin with the curved suture blade.
‘No.’
‘This?’ Charlie asked again as he prodded several places.
‘No.’
‘OK, then. What colour button do you want me to use?’
Dana giggled. ‘Charlie!’
Carrie smiled, too. ‘OK, hold my hand again, darling. Won’t be long now.’
Charlie maintained a patter of conversation as he placed four sutures in the wound, bringing the edges together. Dana was perfectly still, making his job much easier.
Carrie watched Charlie snip the last suture close to the skin. ‘That looks great. Thank you, Charlie. Maybe your father is right?’
Charlie screwed up his nose. He doubted it. ‘I’d rather watch paint dry. OK, Sleeping Beauty. Up you get. Your jukebox awaits.’
Charlie helped Dana up into a sitting position, her legs dangling over the edge again.
‘What do you say to Charlie?’ Carrie prompted.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ Dana grinned and then threw her arms around Charlie’s neck and kissed him on the cheek.
Charlie sat stock still in the little girl’s embrace. He glanced at Carrie, who was looking as stunned as he felt. For a moment he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He was shocked to register how good Dana’s little arms felt clinging to his neck. And how sweet her skin smelt—like lollipops and sunshine.
‘Sorry,’ Carrie mouthed, remembering his fast exit from her house. He hadn’t seemed particularly interested in kids then and he was looking at her with a look of apprehension and something else she couldn’t quite make out.
‘It’s fine,’ he mouthed back. How could anyone hold such sweet innocence in their arms and remain emotionally distant? Like his father had?
‘Can I dance now?’ Dana asked, dropping her arms.
‘Sure,’ he said, helping her down off the couch. He watched her walk out, her bunches bobbing, followed closely by Carrie, her pinstriped hips swaying. What the hell was with these two females that in one week they had totally consumed him? One charmed him, the other exasperated him. Where the hell was his focus these days? He turned away from the doorway in disgust.
Ten minutes later he emerged to find Dana charming everyone in the waiting room with her jiggle. Not even the bloodstained T-shirt detracted from her cuteness. Even two big gruff male teenagers were grinning stupidly at her.
‘She’s a hit,’ Charlie said, claiming the seat next to Carrie’s on the double sofa.
Carrie laughed, trying to hide the sudden leap in her pulse as his thigh brushed against hers. ‘Yes, quite the performer.’
They watched her for a few minutes in silence. ‘I’d better get her home,’ Carrie said, stirring. ‘Could you keep an eye on her while I get my stuff together?’
‘Sure,’ Charlie agreed, not daring to look up at her and exceedingly grateful when she left.
Dana pirouetted and waved at Charlie. ‘Can you dance with me, Charlie?’
Charlie groaned inwardly. Between the two Douglas women he didn’t know whether he was Arthur or Martha. ‘Sure, sweetie,’ he said, rising from the couch and sweeping her off her feet, swinging her round while she giggled in delight.
