I spilled out at least one of my secrets and told her about the tattoo parlor.
She took a step forward and stopped. “May I?”
“I promise not to bite…hard.” What was I doing? Flirting? That wasn’t me. I must be addled.
Allie placed the back of her hand on my neck. “You’re warm. That’s not good.”
Her ministrations moved lower, and I sucked in a breath when she touched the tender skin above the wound.
“Normally, I’d say leave the dressing on until we get to a hospital, but…”
“I can wait eleven hours.”
Her eyes bored into mine. “You think so, huh?” The words challenged me.
“I know so.”
That didn’t get the reaction I’d intended. Her nimble fingers slipped the pad up while her other hand pressed me flat onto the bed.
“The bleeding has stopped. That’s good. You should get stitches, though.” The corners of her mouth tightened. “Does this hurt?” Her fingers pressed down on a spot about one inch from the wound.
I flinched.
“That’s a yep.” She shifted to inspect another section. This time her fingers were lighter as she prodded. Then she sat on the bed next to me. “You need antibiotics, stitches, and rest.”
I slid a glance at the bed I was on.
She understood, but frowned. “I’m going to see if there is a first aid kit.”
“No.” I caught her hand before she could stand.
Allie slipped it out of my grip. “Listen, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. But either way, I’m going to get you some pain reliever and a fresh bandage. This one is shit.”
“Don’t tell them I’m injured.”
Her eyebrow shot up. “Why not?”
I debated how much I could trust her. Perhaps a small gamble wouldn’t hurt? “What do you think caused my wound?” I knew the answer, but this was a test.
The narrowing of her eyes told me almost as much as I needed to know. “Quite possibly, a knife. Something sharp and angled like this when it entered here and glanced off here.” Her hand followed the line of Ringo’s thrust.
She already knew too much. But then she sealed her fate. “Did you know your liver extends from here up to here, and angles like this across your abdomen?” Her finger brushed my skin.
The liver being one of the major organs that, if damaged, could likely result in death. One not as long or as lingering as stabbing me in the small intestine, but a much more painful process than catching my lung would have been. Ringo aimed his strike with intention to make me regret every hour of my death with agony. I’d been lucky to catch his hand and deflect it.
Allie stared at the wound site she’d lightly covered. “I’ll tell them I have an allergy and that I would feel better if it were at hand. Okay?”
Instead of letting her leave me, I leaned to activate the communication service. “Please send the stewardess to the back with the first aid kit. My wife has a headache.”
Allie rolled her eyes.
I shifted the sheet, so it covered my stomach and the bandages.
To my surprise, Allie tugged off her pants, exposing her long legs. The stewardess knocked on the panel before opening the sliding door. Her gaze dipped from Allie’s state of undress to mine on the bed. With as much professionalism she could muster, she handed off the case without comment and slid the panel shut giving us privacy again.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Allie shrugged. “Better than getting blood on my pants. Do you know how hard that is to get out?”
