I highly doubted that. He would have had to hit something significant for it to be spraying blood and, judging by his calm demeanor, that wasn’t the case. “Noted,” I acknowledged and reached for his makeshift bandage.
“Oh! You weren’t lying!” I shrieked when blood started to shoot up from his skin. I quickly pressed his bandage back down and held pressure to it. With my foot outstretched, I kicked the door open wider and shouted, “Dr. Daniels! I need you in room seven, stat!”
Jonah laughed. “Told ya.”
I smiled. “Yeah, you did.”
Dr. Daniels entered the room moments later. “What’s going on in here, River?”
“Mr. Jackson has a small, but deep, laceration on his palm. I believe he may have nicked an artery.”
Dr. Daniels chuckled. “What’d you do this time, Judge?”
“Box cutter slipped while I was opening some new equipment for an install.”
“All right, let’s have a look,” Dr. Daniels said and moved her body to the side. She carefully lifted the bandage and just as quickly pressed it back down. “I do believe you’re correct, River. Will you draw up some lidocaine for me and then get a laceration kit?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said and left the room as she started explaining what was going to happen to Jonah.
When I returned to the room, the two were chatting and laughing like old friends. I drew up the lidocaine and handed the syringe to Dr. Daniels.
“River, could you go over and hold Judge’s hand?” Dr. Daniels asked. I found the request odd, but didn’t argue and reached to steady my patient’s injured hand.
Dr. Daniels laughed and said, “I meant the other one. This big galoot doesn’t like needles, and I don’t want him to punch me again.”
“That only happened one time, Doc, and I was five years old,” Jonah retorted.
Dr. Daniels continued to guffaw. “Yeah, but you sure threw one hell of a punch. I couldn’t believe it. Just an average sized five-year-old, and he blacked my eye and damn near broke my cheekbone.”
Judge laughed. “I bet my ass hurt worse than your face after my daddy spanked the daylights out of me.”
Dr. Daniels patted Jonah’s thigh. “I’m sure it did, sweetie.” I wasn’t sure what, but something in the atmosphere changed at the mention of Jonah’s father. “All right, this is going to sting,” Dr. Daniels announced and proceeded to numb Jonah’s hand before cleaning the wound and closing it with sutures.
“All finished. Same aftercare as usual, except I want to leave those sutures in for fourteen days since it’s so deep.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
“Give me just a few minutes, and I’ll be right back with your discharge papers,” I told him.
When I returned with his discharge instructions, he was standing by the door, clearly ready to go. I went over the necessities, had him sign on the dotted line, and then he was gone, leaving me to wonder when Jonah started going by Judge and why I was disappointed that he didn’t recognize me.
That was my last twelve-hour shift for the week, and I was ready to crash. As I was walking out, the charge nurse, Kennedy, sidled up next to me and asked if I had any plans for the weekend.
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything other than laundry, binging some shows on Netflix, and sleeping. Why? Do you need me to cover a shift?” I asked.
“No,” she said and shifted her weight, suddenly seeming nervous. “Uh, okay, this is kind of embarrassing, so I’m just going to say it. Um, I have a blind date this weekend, and I’m supposed to meet him at a bar in town. I was wondering if you would go with me in case he stands me up or turns out to be a creep. I know we just met, but you seem like a fun girl, and if I end up being humiliated, well, you’re only here for a few weeks…” she trailed off and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry! I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. Oh, hell, you probably think I’m a loony bird.”
“Kennedy, it’s fine. You don’t have to explain. Where are you meeting this guy?”
“Precious Metals. It’s a bar off Old Devil Springs Road. Kind of a hole-in-the-wall place, but it’s never overly crowded, and I’ve always had a good time when I’ve been there.”
I sighed. I really didn’t want to, but she was a nice girl, and it seemed like she needed someone to go with her. “Yeah, I’ll tag along, as long as you don’t mind me leaving if you two hit it off.”
“No problem. Can you meet me there at seven?”
“Tonight?” I asked in surprise.
“Oh, yes, tonight. Is that okay?”