“Fuck,” Lucas blurted out, pulling the knife out of Melody’s reach. But it was too late.
“Oh,” Melody said, staring at the blood on her hand — her breathing rapidly growing erratic.
“Melody, it’s okay, it’s just a little blood,” Anna said gently, although maybe she should have directed the words at Lucas.
“Oh God,” he exclaimed, abruptly jumping up from his chair. His face was the color of the milk in Melody’s glass, and Anna noticed his panicked expression. “We need a cloth. We need...” He reached for a dishcloth — which was so dirty that millions of bacteria along with other harmful microorganisms were probably partying on it.
“Oh no,” Anna said hastily, pulling the germ-riddled cloth from his grasp. “Melody, give me your hand so I can put some pressure on the cut.” She pulled a section off the paper towel roll, folded it, and wrapped it around Melody’s small hand like a pressure bandage. Melody was crying and holding out her hand, so that little drops of blood splattered the kitchen floor.
“Melody, are you dizzy?” Lucas asked frantically, one hand in his hair. God, he really wasn’t good in emergencies. At least not when it came to Melody. “Are you feeling ill?” He held out his hands to her. “Are you…”
“Okay!” Anna said loudly. “Lucas, sit. You’re not helping anyone with your honey hands and panic. Melody, it’s fine.” She smiled encouragingly at the girl. “It’s not a deep cut. And we doctors see blood all the time, so it doesn’t bother us at all, right?”
Melody sniffed and pressed her trembling lips together, nodding.
“Good. I know it hurts, but it’s nothing serious. It’ll pass.”
“Soon?” Melody sniffed.
“Yes. Soon. Come on...”
“Wait, she...” Lucas began, but Anna didn’t let him finish.
“She doesn’t need you right now,” she said, smiling. “Or do you, Mel? We can manage this between the two of us.”
She sniffed and nodded. “Yes. I’m really old, Dad,” she whispered.
Lucas merely nodded stiffly...and Anna wondered if he’d noticed that Melody saidDadand notLu. “Come on, let’s goupstairs to the big bathroom, then we can wash out the wound and put a bandage on it. I don’t think you’ll need anything else. Lu can make sure the toast doesn’t burn.” She gave him a meaningful look, then took Melody by the uninjured hand and hurried out of the room with her. Lucas panicking wasn’t going to help right now. Children noticed when adults became agitated. And she understood that he didn’t take well to seeing his daughter bleeding, but they all had to go through it. It really wasn’t a deep cut. She’d seen ten thousand worse things.
Melody clung to her hand and climbed the stairs. And when Anna set her on the stool by the sink to clean the wound with cold water, she behaved bravely even though it had to sting.
“See? The bleeding has almost stopped,” Anna murmured encouragingly, stroking Melody’s head...when the doorbell rang downstairs.
Melody glanced up, but Anna ignored the bell and continued gently washing the wound.
“It’s cold,” the five-year-old complained.
“I know, but it’s important to clean wounds so that they don’t become infected. Remember that if you want to become a doctor.”
Melody looked at her soberly and nodded firmly. “Okay.”
Anna suppressed a smile. The way her brows furrowed, the knowledge seemingly etching into her brain, she was rather certain Melody would never miss a chance to wash a wound for the rest of her life.
Anna turned off the water and pulled the first-aid kit from under the sink. She knew where it was because they’d needed it the last time Melody had patched her up.
“The cut really wasn’t deep. What kind of bandage do you want? The selection is huge.”
Melody opened her mouth, surely to tell Anna exactly which bandage was suitable for which wound, when two voices wafted up from below. One was Lucas’ deep bass voice and the other was a high, irritated voice Anna didn’t recognize.
“...that's what happens if a five-year-old girl gets a hole of a bread knife and cuts herself!”
“And I don’t understand how a grown man could give her coffee!”
“She asked your father what it tasted like, and he thought his description alone didn’t do the drink justice.”
“She’s five! In ten years, it might be okay to give her caffeine. But even then, I’d try to talk her out of it!”
“Luc, we did you a favor by taking her last week, didn’t we? I really don’t deserve to listen to your whining right now, especially not after I drove all the way here to bring her favorite stuffed animal, which she left at our house.”
