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“I’m fine. It wasn’t even bleeding that much. It’s already clotting. Look.”
“I can’t look at that or I’ll pass out!”
Kier rushed over to June and guided her gently to the corner of the room. He helped her sit down, gave her some water in a paper cup, and then blocked her view of what was going on with her sister, or, more accurately, what was going on with that nasty wound.
“I’m going to have to stitch you up.” Josephine was all business, gathering the supplies she’d need, but she was calm too. She had such a gentle, reassuring tone. If she said something was going to be okay, people believed her. She never lied, but if things weren’t going so hot, she knew how to word things and phrase things to give hope instead of instilling more fear.
“I figured,” January said wryly. She wasn’t in shock. She was in pain, but she wasn’t acting like that gash on her shin was a big deal either. She was tough.
Tavish immediately admired her. He knew more than a few grown men who would have been down for the count if that was their leg.
“Do you still need help with that flat?” Trace asked June, occupying her attention while Josephine got ready to get down to business. She was already washed and gloved up and everything she needed laid out.
“It’s still on the car.” June sighed. “All of that was for nothing.”
“How far are you down the road?”
“Twenty minutes or so. No, probably more like fifteen.”
“If you want, we could follow you there after and help you get that flat changed. You obviously have a spare you were attempting to put on.”
Tavish didn’t like feeling useless. He liked it even less that there was something wrong with his limbs and his voice. He’d never felt frozen like this before. When there was a problem, his quick thinking and fast reflexes usually were his best asset.
“You would do that?” June’s voice was even more watery. The tears were coming heavier. Tavish didn’t turn around. He was completely transfixed by January’s face.
Their eyes locked as January quickly looked away from the needle that Josephine was going to numb the area with. She got jittery now, drumming her fingers on the sides of the exam table. They loosened and clenched and then her knuckles and face both went completely white.
Suddenly finding he was back in control of his body, Tavish closed the distance in a few strides and took one of her hands. “It’ll be over quick. At least the numbing. Josephine’s incredible with a needle. You probably won’t even know this was there after it heals.”
“Okay.” January bit down on her bottom lip again. “Okay.”
Her hand felt small and delicate in his. She was maybe five foot five with a curvy build. He felt like a giant next to her. Standing, he’d probably be a true foot taller than her and easily twice as broad.
He felt the connection of their hands, a little bit of current going from her palm into his. That energy went straight to his chest, amping up his heartrate. Her eyes raked over him, so she didn’t have to look at the stitching Josephine was now starting. She looked over at Trace, and then at Kier. A frown wasn’t the reaction Trace expected.
“You guys have something in the water here that you’re all drinking?”
“Pardon me?” Kier spun around, his eyes flying to Trace.
The secret of Greenacre was pretty closely guarded. Yes, they were opening up, but that was for trusted individuals and mates only.
“You all look like you play football. You’ve probably been shopping in the big and tall section since you were, like… twelve.” The frown disappeared and she laughed. “You don’t look like typical nurses.”
“This is a sort of backwoods, mountain, smalltown clinic,” Josephine said warmly. “I don’t mean backwoods as in backwoods. I mean, it’s literally in the middle of nowhere. We rely on tourism around these parts to survive as a town, but if these men are big, then it runs in the family, but it also comes from hard work.”
“I can’t believe this place has a clinic,” June said. It sounded like she was still a little woozy, but Tavish didn’t turn to look. He was entirely fixated on January. “I thought we were going to have to go all the way to Seattle, but when I typed in clinics right before I started driving, this one came up with a pin and everything. I was just hoping it would be open. The thing about touristy towns is that they aren’t so hot in the winter. Or open.”
“That’s true for some of the businesses here, but the clinic is always open. That was important to me, that the people of this town and the surrounding areas have access to medical care whenever they need it. Seattle is only an hour away, but sometimes that’s too far.”
“It would have been a hecking heck of a lot too far for us to drive with her in that state,” June agreed emphatically. She let out a yelp, which finally made Tavish turn. “Oh god. Oh god, that’s… oh my god.”
Kier knelt down and gently touched June’s shoulder. “She’s going to be just fine in ten minutes or so. Don’t look. Medical stuff can turn even the strongest stomach.”
“I’m getting all sorts of sympathy pain.”
“That’s a thing.”
“How do you handle it if this is what you do all day?”
