She followed instructions because her own brain wasn’t working and somehow, despite fumbling and shaking, she opened the pads and gave him her scarf.
“Right, let’s see what we’re dealing with here. So how was the trail before you hit the rock? Were you having fun on your new bike? I wish I had a bike like that.” He kept talking to the boy, keeping it light as he worked, cleaning away blood so that he could get a close-up view of the damage. For a brief second blood spurted upward like a fountain but then he took the sterile pads and pressed down hard, bound it in place with a firm pressure bandage and secured it with Élise’s scarf. His fingers were slippery with blood, his shirt stained with it. But the man who complained when he got mud on his shoes and dust on his trousers didn’t seem to notice the mess. All his attention was on the child who seemed to be fading under his hands. “Élise, get me a knife or a fork from our pack.”
Her hands were shaking as much as her knees. “Which? Knife or fork?”
“Either. I just need something to tighten this. Pressure isn’t enough.”
“Am I going to die?” Sam’s eyes were fixed on Sean’s face. “My dad said I’m going to die.”
“You’re not going to die, Sam. You’re going to feel pretty rough for a few days, but you’re going to be just fine.”
“Why would he say that if it isn’t true?”
“Because he was panicking. You’re his boy. He loves you.” He moved the scarf and tightened it. “It’s hard to see someone you love in pain.”
“But you’re not panicking, right?”
“Nothing to panic about.” Sean looked almost bored. “You’ve cut your leg, that’s all. No big drama.”
Élise looked at the blood and the child and decided she never wanted to witness Sean’s idea of drama.
Sam clutched Sean’s arm. “I heard you say it’s an artery. That’s bad, right?”
“Well, if we leave it, it’s bad. But we’re not leaving it. We’ve stopped it bleeding and now we’re going to get you to a hospital and the doctors there will fix it.”
“Will you fix it? I want you to be the one to fix it.”
“There are doctors who are better trained at this sort of thing than I am. If you’d broken your leg, that would be different. Then I’d be your man.”
Élise would want him to be her man. If she were in trouble, she’d want that.
Suddenly she understood his total commitment to his work. He was gifted. Focused. When he went to work in the morning he saved lives. What did she do? She cooked pastry. No wonder he hadn’t understood that she was stressed about a delay to the opening of the Boathouse. What did the café matter compared to the life of a child? What did anything matter compared to that?
He did something few other people could do. He had skills few other people had. It was right that he put them to good use.
Sam’s eyes closed and then he forced them open again. “Will you come to the hospital with me, Dr. O’Neil?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Will you stay with me the whole time, even when I’m asleep?”
“I’ll stay with you the whole time.” Sean didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be there when you go to sleep and I’ll be there when you wake up.”
“Do you promise? Pinky swear?”
“I don’t know what pinky swear is, but I won’t leave you. That’s a promise.”
“Cool.” Sam finally allowed his eyes to close, his eyelashes the only color in his ashen face.
Élise swallowed down the lump in her throat.
She’d never seen this side of Sean before. Or maybe she had. Hadn’t he been the same with his grandfather? Cool and calm while everyone else was panicking? And last night, when she’d spilled all her secrets, he’d been cool and calm then, too.
And after the party, when he could easily have walked away, he’d cared enough to come after her. Cared enough to carry her to bed and tuck the covers around her.
“I got a signal.” Sam’s father arrived back, red in the face from running. “They’re coming. They’re coming right now. They reckon five minutes. Is that too long? How long do we have before— Oh, God, is he unconscious? That’s bad, right?” He was shaking with fear and shock, sobbing with it, and Sean’s gaze flickered to Élise and she understood his meaning immediately.
He couldn’t deal with the father and the boy.