5
Diggs sensedthe shift in the air as soon as Melissa moved above the dog’s neck. Trigger tensed, the eye that was facing up toward them focused on the doctor. His lip curled back in the slightest snarl. Melissa kept moving as if she were completelyunaware.
“Melissa, stop moving.” Diggs said as quietly and yet firmly as hecould.
Melissa froze halfway up the dog’s neck, her eyes flicking to Diggs first and then down to Trigger’s face. With all the care of a person handling a ticking time bomb, she slowly pulled her hand away. Trigger continued to watch her, his black eyes still filled with pain, but also with the deadly focus of a terrorized animal ready to defenditself.
“Hey, boy, it’s okay. She’s trying to help you.” Diggs eased in closer, as he’d been able to touch Trigger’s entire body before without the dog reacting. As carefully as he could, he inched his hand closer to the dog’s head, ready to yank back if he went in for a bite. Trigger watched his every move, still panting but completely focused. The fear was still there, but not in such an acute way as before. “We’re going to take care of you,boy.”
He was almost there, inches from caressing the dog’s head. Trigger’s eyes rolled toward his touch. “Shhh. It’s okay. You need to let her help you. She can help with thepain.”
Diggs sensed the shift in the dog just before he growled and snapped. Trigger’s teeth closed around the meaty part of Diggs’ hand. A bone-crushing pain shot up his arm but he didn’t move. Sweat broke out along his temples but he forced himself to focus on the dog. “It’s okay, boy, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurtyou.”
Trigger didn’t let go but he eased up the pressure in his jaw enough that it relieved the edge on the sharp pain. Staring at Trigger, Diggs spoke to Melissa. “Give him something for the pain while he’s got me and isdistracted.”
In his peripheral vision, Diggs could see Audra with her hand slapped over her mouth, her face pale, her eyeswide.
Melissa returned to the table, syringe in hand. Diggs gave her a nod of approval, and she stuck the needle in Trigger’s neck. Trigger latched tight onto his hand again, but when the drugs took effect, his jaw opened and his head lolled on thetable.
“I gave him something to sedate him too. It’ll be easier to patch him up if he doesn’tmove.”
Audra rushed around the table, her tiny hands taking Diggs’ arm as she stared down at his wound in shock. “Diggs, oh my God. Are you okay? I can’t believe he didthat.”
“I’m okay,” Diggs said in the same gentle voice he’d used with the injured animal. “He was terrified. It was a naturalresponse.”
She let go of his arm and pressed the soft pads of her fingers against the pulse in his wrist. Diggs found that he immensely enjoyed Audra’s touch. Whatever she did, he didn’t want her to stop touchinghim.
“You need to disinfect that. She can wrap your hand after. I’m going to take care of the dog before the effects of the sedative wear off in his system.” Melissa had already resumed her examination, checking Trigger overthoroughly
“This way.” Diggs tilted his head toward one of the medical stations they had set up along the wall. Each was fully stocked for just about any emergency. They were always ready for something to gowrong.
“What do I need to do?” Audra asked when they reached the nearest station. She was still holding his wrist. With his free hand, Diggs reached for the cabinet to his right, pulling out the disinfectant and antibiotic ointment as well as a roll of gauze, tape and scissors. He placed them on the table and then sat down on the bench. Blood oozed from the puncture holes in his hand, dripped onto his pants and stained Audra’sfingers.
“Need to disinfect first,” he gestured to the bottle and Audra let go, as he knew shewould.
“Should I just pourit?”
Diggs stuck out his hand and said, “Yes, but get me a towel first.” She handed him a hand towel from the stack near the bedside and he held it beneath his hand, ready to catch the excess liquid and blood. “Okay. Doit.”
She turned the bottle and poured liquid fire into his open wounds. Diggs wanted to hiss with the pain, but he kept his mouth clamped shut and his expression neutral. If it didn’t burn, it didn’t work. Then he turned his hand over, allowing her to douse the otherside.
The next time he spoke his voice was hoarse. “Okay, now the antibiotic cream. If you don’t want to touch the wound I’ll do it,” he offered, not knowing if she’d be squeamish about it. By the way her face had taken on an ashen tinge, he half expected her to shove everything at him and run. But shedidn’t.
She nodded and reached for the antibiotics. “Give me yourhand.”
He followed her directions, watching as she squeezed the clear ointment on her finger and then began to lightly dab at the two largest holes on his hand. Each time she touched him, he felt the wound all the way through, but he didn’t so much as blink. Because Audra was touching him, and even though his hand hurt like a son of a bitch, he likedit.
Diggs turned his hand over and she did the same to the other side. There were half-moon small teeth marks around the fleshy part of his thumb. She traced that line, her skin skimming over his. He’d never been so aware of another woman in his entire life. He found himself leaning in toward Audra so he could catch a whiff of her scent as she bent her head over hishand.
She stood so abruptly, he had to jerk back to miss being smacked in theface.
“Now what?” sheasked.
“Now we wrap it. Use that gauze I laid out. Start here.” Diggs pointed to an area just off the bottom of his fingers. “And wrap down. I’ll tell you when to stop.” He’d had enough medical training that he could actually wrap it himself, but damned if he was going to stop her from getting close again. If it took a dog bite a day to keep her near, he’d willingly make thatsacrifice.
She placed the edge of gauze where he’d instructed and began wrapping it around and around, careful when she neared the wound, then down around his thumb and wrist, going like she would do his wholearm.
“That’s enough. You hold it and I’ll cut it,okay?”
