30. Chapter 30
Chapter thirty
Cooper
S utton’s eyes widen as the medical assistant picks up the circular saw. She scoots closer to me until she’s sitting in my lap. “Don’t let them cut my hand off, Cooper.” Warmth spreads through my chest as she turns and tucks her head into my neck.
This morning, she had been buzzing with excitement to come to this appointment.
The four short weeks she had to spend in a cast had apparently been the longest of her life.
Not that I had noticed. Every day, she would beam up at me as I helped her wash, dry, and fix her hair. Even painted her nails twice.
Heck, in my eyes, it seemed like she liked having the cast. Liked having me dote on her more than usual.
Not that I plan to stop.
I enjoyed every extra moment we got to spend together due to her cast.
If she still wants me to help with her hair, I will.
If she needs me to do her other hand when she’s painting her nails, I will gladly volunteer.
Cast or no cast, I don’t plan to give up any of the time we gained.
I chuckle as I rub a hand down her back. “No one is going to cut off your hand. But how about you sit still so the nice woman can get that stinky thing off you, because that odor isn’t doing good things for you.”
Sutton rears back on a gasp. “Take it back.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. It’s true. You smell.”
“No I don’t.” She turns to face the poor woman bearing witness to her crazy. “Do I?”
The woman winces.
“Oh my God. I do,” Sutton whines, letting her chin fall to her chest. “Just put me out of my misery.” She juts her hand out to the woman.
“Don’t worry, though, everyone smells after having a cast for a few weeks. It’s normal. I promise.”
“But does everyone have a hot man tell them that nasty fact?”
I smile. It doesn’t matter how many times Sutton tells me how attracted to me she is. I will never get used to it.
The woman positions Sutton’s arm on the small worktable. “Only the lucky ones.” Then she flips the switch at the bottom of the saw, turning on the circular blade.
Sutton jerks her arm back and shakes. “I can’t do this.” She looks at me, her eyes getting bigger and bigger with fear. “I won’t do this.”
I grimace at the medical assistant, who has flipped the off switch on the saw and is staring at Sutton patiently. “Maybe you could walk us through the process.”
“Sure,” she says. Her voice sounds sweet but rehearsed as she gives us a spiel about how it doesn’t hurt at all. The only thing Sutton will feel is some mild vibrations as it works through the cast.
“It won’t cut me?” Sutton eyes the saw warily.
The woman shakes her head adamantly. “Nope. Watch.” She flips the switch again, and the blade begins to spin as she takes it down to her fingers.
Sutton lets out a yelp as she closes her eyes. But I watch as the blade does nothing. “Open your eyes, baby opossum.”
“No, thank you, I would prefer not to see dismembered fingers today.”
“No dismemberment here.”
“What about blood.”
“None of that either.”
“Are you lying?”
“Would I lie to you?”
She contemplates that for a minute before peeking one eye open cautiously. When she sees there’s no blood, she opens up both eyes. “Witch,” she accuses the only slightly amused medical assistant. “Does your employer know you are practicing the dark arts in their fine medical establishment?”
“Listen, honey, do you want the cast off or not?”
Sutton’s face scrunches in debate before she lays her arm back out on the table. “Fine. Do it.”
The saw starts up once more. The woman has it mere inches from the cast when Sutton mumbles, “Please be a good witch.”
The saw cuts through Sutton’s cast within moments. She cringes, wincing the entire time, only peeking through one eye as she holds on to my thigh, squeezing for dear life. Her grip is sure to leave a bruise, but I don’t care. I’ll wear whatever mark she gives me with pride.
With the cast removed, Sutton gets one last lecture over violence never being the answer, but if she must punch, not to tuck her thumb in her palm again.
We’ve only made it into the lobby before she’s pulling me into one of the two family bathrooms. The light flickers on as she locks the door behind us.
“A bathroom in a healthcare facility?” I ask, not at all feeling turned on by the setting. “I mean, if you want to, I will. But it feels nasty, and not in the sexy way.”
“Ew.” She slaps my chest with the back of her arm. “No, I need you to help me try to wash the stench off.”
She scrunches her nose in disgust as she holds her previously casted hand as far away from us as possible.
My hearty chuckle bounces off the bathroom walls. “It’s not that bad.”
Her eyes narrow. “Not that bad. Not that bad . Cooper, this thing smells like a family of mice burrowed into my fingers and died.”
“I think you’re exaggerating.”
She shoves her hand under my nose, and I gag. It’s undeniable. The smell is putrid. And either we get rid of it now, or she is going to be riding in the bed of my truck trying to air that thing out on the way home.
“See,” she whines. “I’m gross.”
“Come on.” I pull her over to the sink, being careful not to touch the skin where her cast had been. I don’t think the smell can transfer to me, but I’m not about to test that theory.
Water spurts from the faucet as I turn it on and stick her hand under the warm stream. Next, I push the soap dispenser ten times, gathering more soap than any person should ever need into my hands. But if I’m going to scrub that radiating stench, I’m going to have enough soap that, hopefully, my bare skin never comes into contact with hers.
Sutton fills her hand with soap as well, and we both scrub. She takes her palm, and I take the outside of her hand. It’s a group effort, but after five minutes, we rinse away the suds, and I pat her dry for the moment of truth.
Lifting her hand to her nose, Sutton inhales, never once making a face of disgust or pleasure.
“Is it gone?”
She bops her head from side to side. “For the most part. It still doesn’t smell right, but there isn’t a lingering smell of death anymore. So I’d call that a win.”
“Come on.” I grab her non-smelly hand and pull her out of the bathroom. “You can air it the rest of the way out on the way to your surprise.”