I checked out the hallway for a good place to do this and spotted a bench against the wall just a few feet away, right under a huge window.
“Would you mind sitting there so I can, um…”
I waved the supplies in the direction of the bench, then dropped my hand awkwardly and avoided her gaze, which wasn’t hard, since she was staring fixedly out the window.
It was raining now, the droplets beating against the thick glass. It hadn’t been raining when we came in.
“Sure,” she said finally. Hesitantly. “But they really aren’t bad. I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Please. It’s been haunting me. It’d really be more of a favor for me.”
She snorted, but what I said seemed to do the trick, as she walked to the bench and sat down.
Well, it was more accurate to say sheglidedthere. Graceful and silent.
I pulled my shirt away from my body, suddenly wishing I were in uniform. This would be so much easier that way.
I followed and carefully set my supplies on the bench. “Stay here. I need to wash my hands first.” I gestured to the hallway bathroom just a few feet away, and she raised her eyebrows at me. I cringed as I heard how I’d sounded. “Please, I mean. Please stay.”
“Okay,” she said after a beat.
“Okay,” I repeated.
A couple minutes later, I had freshly washed hands,having taken the time to sing the handwashing song from The Wigglesthat Delly loved as a kid. When I returned to the bench, her upper body turned toward the window as she watched the rain.
“I need to get back to my dad soon,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at me.
I leaned my crutch against the gleaming wooden bench—everything was so clean and shiny here.
“This won’t take long,” I assured her. “He seemed aware of himself when they left, but I know how quickly that can change, so I’ll be extra quick.”
She stilled, then glanced at me curiously. “Are you sure you’re qualified for this?”
I smiled. “I literally am. Now, umm….” I eyed the space between me and her knee. “Hold on.” Tentatively, I slid my wrapped ankle behind me, then bent the knee of my other leg in a sort of lunge.
She lurched forward with her hands extended. “You really don’t have to—” She stopped talking the moment my knee hit the ground.
I let out a relieved breath and smiled in victory. “I’ll have to tell Delly her yoga classes paid off,” I said as I adjusted my glasses. “My sister went through a whole yoga phase in high school,” I explained. “Didn’t last as long as the crocheting phase or the sourdough-making one.”
She didn’t respond, and I wasn’t quite ready to look up and see her reaction to my rambling, so I took a breath and tried to convince myself this was like another day at work. “Are you okay with me cleaning these scrapes? They’re not too bad, but I’ve seen what can happen when even the most minor of cuts get infected.” Nerves steadier, I finally mustered the courage to look directly at her. “You really don’t want it to….”
I lost my words.
There was no way.
No way this was real.
That she was real.
She had thebluesteyes I had ever seen. The bluestblueI had ever seen, and considering I was…
She tilted her head as we regarded each other, her gaze so striking, sointense, I lost my train of thought.
She was assessing me, andLordy,I had never tested well.
I was in trouble.
Sweat beaded my neck as I blindly reached for the bandages and alcohol swab packet, my hand steady even as my insides were busy rifling through every bit of data I had about the color blue, reassessing all previous encounters with it.