Chapter 2

“Aagghhh!” She immediately ran the tap again and stuck her hand under the cold flow of water, trying and failing to see if she needed anything more than a bandaid. Her uninjured hand made a grab for the lip of the sink to steady herself - barely - as she closed her eyes for a grounding moment. The sight of her own blood instantly made her wobbly and nauseated, just like always, and it was only this that distracted her from immediately looking up to see who’d unexpectedly joined her. Suddenly, that bacon-egg-n-cheese wasn’t sitting so nicely anymore.

“Whoa! Sorry, Aiden!” came a familiar, deep voice, usually booming with good cheer but now strained with concern. “Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m really sorry,” he continued, reaching for a wad of paper towels, his usually mischief-filled aquamarine eyes crinkled at the edges with worry. A strong hand wrapped around her arm as she swayed, before Mitch gently guided her to the kitchen table to sit.

“Whoa, whoa… easy there, I got you,” he said with a playful but concerned smile as she sucked in a breath and tried to smile in return. He dragged another chair to sit before her and took the injured hand in both of his own, applying some pressure even as she winced.

“Hey, Mitch,” she finally managed to get out, along with a wan smile at last. She drew in another slow breath and tried to snap out of the panicky haze as he slowly withdrew the paper towels and took his time checking out the wound and patiently flexing and manipulating digits and wrist alike as she did her best to sit still. “Lucky me, the town doctor just happens to be here the very moment I bust my hand open,” she said in a surprisingly calm and joking tone before her eyes went wide. “Oh no. Did I get blood everywhere?”

“Still a klutz,” he teased, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about the blood right now. Let me worry about you. It doesn't look too bad, doesn't seem to be any glass still in there. I don’t think you need stitches, but I’m gonna glue this just to be safe. Might have been luckier if the town doctor hadn't showed up and scared the hell out of you, though. Keep the pressure on it and hang tight, I'm just gonna grab my kit from the car.”

She nodded and did as he said, pointedly refusing to look at the wound in her palm lest she start feeling fainter than she already did. Instead, she trained her gaze everywhere and anywhere else before it randomly honed in on his retreating rear-end. With a blush, she tore her gaze away and decided to stare at the ceiling instead, pointedly trying not to think about how good he still looked, possibly even better than she remembered.

She was also desperately trying not to remember the searing crush she’d had on her best friend’s older brother… or the frantic make-out session they’d shared one drunken night in the woods behind his house, just before he let her down easy and moved halfway across the country for med school. But that had been years ago now, and they’d never spoken of it or picked up from where they left off during the times they’d seen one another since - to her dismay. So, she’d done her best to put it from her mind, though it liked to pop up in her thoughts at random and inconvenient moments. Aiden had even sort of let slip from her memory until that moment that he’d moved back home and taken over his dad’s practice after he graduated, a move that surprised her even now. She'd always figured he'd want to get out of Pebble Point as much as everyone else.

She swallowed hard as he reappeared in the doorway, medical bag in hand. “What are you doing here?” she finally asked the most obvious question as he set to work, not meaning to sound blunt or rude, but she was genuinely curious.

“Mom asked me to stop by and make sure everything was all set for your visit, but I don’t think she anticipated you getting here quite so early,” he said with a light laugh as he slipped on some gloves and set about cleaning out the wound and applying some antiseptic stuff while she bit her lip. A moment after, she watched him open and apply the glue he’d already laid on the table before she bit back another gasp as the pressing of the wound's edges sent another glimmer of pain through her hand and she quickly looked away, trying her best not to think about it.

“Well thanks for doing that,” she replied with a grin as the words rushed out on a soft woosh of a breath, and took a quick glance  down at her hand. “And for doing this,” she added, though she looked away quickly before she got queasy again.

“Still can’t stand the sight of your own blood, huh?” he asked, using that infuriatingly teasing tone that had never yet failed to pull a smile to her lips, no matter what kind of mood she was in. Before she could answer, he finished some silent count, released her, and unwrapped a piece of gauze before laying out a few lengths of tape.

"Pretty sure that's more than obvious," she said with a laugh and a shake of her head as he flashed that grin again and she had to fight back another reddening of her cheeks. Talk about obvious. Instead, she cleared her throat and focused on the pain that was starting to throb through her hand now that the adrenaline was wearing off. "Ugh, there goes my beach day," she murmured, the tone tinged with disappointment.

"Nah," Mitch replied. "Pop some Ibuprofen, keep it wrapped up and out of the ocean for about five or so days. You can still shower and wash your hands and stuff, just pat the glue dry. Don't use antibiotic ointment or anything like that, and try not to touch it or flex your hand too much."

At the very thought of having to look at it anytime soon let alone touch the wound, Aiden's stomach was doing more flips. She gave him a baleful look, certain the color had drained from her cheeks as quickly as it had appeared. "I was only planning to be here for the day," she finally said, trying to ignore the flash of surprise in his gaze. She was already starting to feel guilty over not taking more time to spend at the little beach house, the tugging whisper in the back of her mind trying to talk her out of leaving home no sooner than her feet had hit the sandy pavement. But she didn't really have a choice… or at least that's what she insisted on trying to tell herself. The truth was, she was owed some time off, more than some, actually, but she was doing so well in the university event management position she'd accepted a few years before that she hadn't wanted to stop. Not yet, not now that she was becoming indispensable.

"I hate to point out the obvious, but I really don't think you should be driving for at least a few days with this kind of injury. You avoided stitches, but only by a hair. You could rip it open again - sorry!" He put his hands up and cringed at his wording as she swallowed hard and slammed her eyes shut, "and anyway, if you have to make any sudden stops or do any hard steering, driving could be dangerous. It's in an awkward spot. I really must insist,” he said with a no-nonsense tone to his voice before returning to his usual teasing. “Besides, there are plenty of worse places to have to park it for a few days. And as an added incentive, Mom might freak if she can't make dinner for you at least one night this week.”

At that she had to smirk as she hefted a sigh. "Alright, alright… I'll email my bosses. I'm sure they won't mind too much. They're always pushing me to take some time for myself. Thanks, Mitch." She pulled her sunglasses off the top of her head and raked her uninjured hand through her hair, almost frustrated. "And I'm sorry for keeping you."

"You're not, I promise," he said easily. "It's my day off."

"Ugh, that's even worse! You must have plans."

"As a matter of fact, it's a few days off," he began, moving to the sink to start wiping up the blood that hadn't made it down the drain, a move that had her breathing a bigger sigh of relief than she'd anticipated, "And today, I'm heading to the airport to pick Jessie up. She had to have told you she was coming in for a few weeks? I figured that's why you came down in the first place."

Aiden blinked, trying to ignore both the mild gore she'd left behind as well as the pang of familiarity at how easily he moved through the kitchen, doubled by the sound of her childhood bestie's name. "Oh my gosh, I completely forgot! She mentioned it in passing, but I forgot to ask her about it. I hadn't even planned to come down myself, until last week!" The dates for Jessie’s visit hadn’t been hammered out at the time, but she was thrilled at the coincidence, even if she was certain Jessie would have made her way to the City at some point either way. Knowing well how life liked to get in the way, they never made plans too far ahead, so this was nothing unexpected.

After he finished up. tossed everything in the bin, and washed his hands, Mitch poured a fresh glass of water and set it in front of her along with an opened packet of the suggested painkillers. She slid them out and popped them into her mouth with a grateful look. "Thank you," she said as he settled in the seat across from her again, eyes twinkling as his knee absentmindedly nudged hers.