When It's Right(47)
He reached for her, placing both his big hands over hers. She gave in to his kindness and warmth and turned her hands to grip his. He turned her hand and examined her wrist. “Is it better?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Good.”
The doctor walked in with a tray filled with instruments. Gillian shifted to bolt. Blake squeezed her hands to still her and silently let her know with his eyes filled with sympathy that she wasn’t alone.
“Hi, Gillian, I’m Dr. Bell. I’ve gone over your medical records, and your last doctor sent the MRI of your knee injury and the X-ray for your arm. How are you feeling today? Are the meds helping with your pain level?”
“Her meds got burned in a fire. She needs new prescriptions for everything,” Blake answered for her. “She’s in agony. You’ve got to do something.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of the prescriptions. How is your vision out of that left eye?”
“Back to normal. The swelling is gone. The bruises look nasty, but I can see.”
“Great. Let’s take a look at your knee first, then I’ll check your back and arms.”
Blake moved out of Gillian’s way but never stopped holding her hands.
Dr. Bell gently touched her knee, testing her mobility, or lack thereof. Gillian hissed in pain when it bent too much. Blake brushed his fingers up her arm, trying to comfort her.
“This looks good, Gillian. Healing nicely. I’ve got a smaller brace you can use. It should make it easier for you to walk. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful and stay off it as much as possible.” Dr. Bell gently put Gillian’s leg back on the table. “Do you need help rolling over so I can see the stitches on your back and legs?”
Blake stood to help Gillian shift and turn over. He pulled the gown down to cover her front, though her ass hung out the back. He hissed in a sharp breath when he got a good look at the cuts and gashes.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone with this many stitches. Any one cut bothering you more than another?” the doctor asked.
“The one down my thigh. I think it’s just irritated because I have no choice but to sit on it. It itches.”
“You’re in luck. Most of these look good. We can take the stitches out. That should help. A couple on your back need to stay.”
Dr. Bell got to work, quickly removing stitches from many of the cuts, including two of the lines up her scalp. Blake remained a gentleman and stayed by her head and held her hands, telling her to breathe when she held her breath to ward off the pain. He only peeked at her ass once when she winced at a particularly stubborn stitch that didn’t want to come out.
“Okay, Gillian, you’re doing great. The bruising is healing, though I bet your muscles ache.”
“The spasms are the worst.”
“The meds will help. We’ll get you those before you leave. Let’s have a look at your arms.”
Gillian rolled over her good leg and Blake helped her sit up. The swelling in her broken arm had decreased considerably, leaving a huge gap between her arm and the cast.
“We’ll need to cut the cast off and redo it. There’s some swelling, but it looks like it’s gone down quite a bit.” Dr. Bell tested her other hand. “Any pain or tenderness when you flex it?”
“No.”
“Looks good. You don’t need the bandage, but be cautious using your hand. You don’t want to strain it again. Go ahead and get dressed, then we’ll get you a new cast. It will stabilize your wrist and help the bone heal and lessen the pain.”
The doctor rummaged through the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the new, much smaller brace. Gillian would still have limited range of motion, but at least she’d be able to walk more normally.
Blake never left her side, but he did turn his back when she got dressed. He accompanied her into the other room to get her new cast and picked out the new color. Green. “It won’t show the dirt and grass stains when you work with Boots.” Steady, he silently let her know he was there for her, whatever she needed. It touched her deeply. No one had ever been there for her.
They left the clinic with her new meds and went to find her grandparents and Justin in the parking lot. He kept her fingers in his hand and slowed his pace to accommodate her hurt knee. She didn’t say anything. She just went with him. It felt good to hold his hand and walk beside him. And damnit, she wanted to hold on to the light feeling she had when he touched her.
Gillian sat beside Blake in the truck, feeling closer to him than when they drove into town. Her grandparents and Blake waited outside the school while she and Justin went into the office and signed all the paperwork. Gillian walked Justin to his classroom and knocked on the door. His teacher stood at a table, setting out papers, brushes, and paints for an art project.