he nerve.
Jacob finally looked away and my mother's words rang in my head. He's not the man for you.
“Well, it's getting late,” he said, standing from the table. “I don't know about you, but between the long week and those kids running me ragged during the football game, I'm bushed. I think I'll head home and get some sleep.”
Oh no, I thought. I hope I didn't make him uncomfortable somehow. I shouldn't have said anything about graduation. I shouldn't have even thought about the kiss.
“Yeah, I can understand that,” I said. “I'll probably hang out and visit my parents for a little while longer.”
“See you Monday?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“Have I ever missed a day?” I asked with a smirk.
“Not one,” he said. “But it's only been a couple of weeks.”
“I don't plan on breaking my attendance streak just yet,” I said with a giggle. “See you next week.”
Jacob smiled and walked back toward my parent's house. I listened as he said goodbye to my mom and dad, thanking them for the amazing food and the good time. The humid summer air was still warm on my skin. Fireflies twinkled in the darkness beyond the light of the party.
Does he like me? I could have sworn I felt something there. I thought. It's all probably just in my imagination. It must be. It's probably just my girl crush flaring up. There's no way Jacob would ever see me as anything more than his nurse. He's probably forgotten all about that kiss.
As much as my heart hoped that there could be a flickering chance of something happening between Jacob and me, I refused to allow myself to think like that. I knew better. He and I weren't meant to be together. If we were, it would have happened years and years ago, during a simpler time.
Chapter 7
The weekend went by far too quickly and Monday morning was there before I knew it. Luckily, I loved my job, so it wasn't like it was the worst thing in the world to have to get up and go to work. I just wished I could have slept in a tiny bit longer, that's all.
When I got to the office, I parked in my usual spot, right next to Donna's big red farm truck. I got out and then glanced at my reflection in the window of my car, making sure that I looked okay before heading in.
I looked pretty good today. My curly hair wasn't frizzing too badly this morning despite the humidity, and it was mostly contained by my ponytail. I had light eyeliner and mascara on so that my blue eyes actually looked like eyes rather than getting lost in my face.
“Oh good Hannah, you're here,” Donna said, as I stepped in through the front doors. The waiting room was empty, which never boded well. Empty waiting rooms meant that fate was going to give us emergencies.
“Good morning.” I smiled a little apprehensively and approached the front desk, leaning my elbows against it. “What's up?”
“Well, you couldn't have arrived at a more perfect time,” she said, holding out a patient file for me. “We have emergency stitches in room three. It's Stephanie Myers' little boy. Put his hand through a glass table.”
“Oh no!” I picked up the file and quickly scanned it. Ashton Myers was four years old. No known allergies, was up to date on all his shots, and already had his physical done to go to preschool in the fall. “I'll set my stuff down and go right on in.”
I hurried back to my office and threw my purse in the chair. I knocked gently on the exam room door before carefully opening it. Sitting on the exam table was a little boy with big blue eyes and tear streaks running down his cheeks. His mother sat behind him, her arms wrapped around him protectively.
“Hannah, perfect timing,” Dr. Matthews said, turning as I came in. “Mr. Ashton here is going to get a very special kind of band-aid. I already applied the gel. ”
“Does it have Paw Patrol on it?” the little boy asked hopefully. He wasn't crying anymore, but I knew that was going to change as soon as we started working on his hand. Right now it was under a blood soaked towel.
“Not quite,” Dr. Matthews told him. He sat down on the round stool as I washed my hands and then finished prepping a tray with tools and meds for the doctor. “These are special string stitches. You cut your hand really deep and we want to make sure it heals. So, I'm going to use my magic string.”
The little boy's chin wavered. “Is it gonna hurt?”
The way he dropped his r sound made my heart break.
“A little, yes.” Dr. Mathew held his hand out and I passed him the needle full medicine for numbing. “But, I'm going to give you some medicine so it won't hurt very much.”
He lifted the towel from the little boy's arm to reveal a large, deep gash on Ashton's palm. With a gloved finger, he touched the outside of the injury.
“Do you feel that?” he asked.
Ashton shook his head. “No.”