‘Where are the tubes, then?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Test tubes.All I see is a bag.How much blood do you need to run tests?’
‘This is none of your concern and while we appreciate—’
‘If you draw his blood, I’ll kill you.’
The room falls deathly silent.The medics glance at one another.
Jules is staring raptly at Lachlan, expression unreadable.
It’s he who breaks the silence.
‘I’ll let you do it.’
‘Jules,’ Lachlan says calmly.‘No one is—’
‘You can do it.I don’t want them to get into trouble, and I don’t want anyone to be punished because of me.If you do it, I’ll be OK.Really.’
‘I can’t use a knife, kid.That’s not how it works.’
‘You can use the…’ Jules swallows.‘The needle.It’ll be all right if it’s you.’
Lachlan glares stonily at the team.‘Got a problem with that?’
‘Well, you’ll need to wear gloves.’
‘Ohno, however will I navigate such a difficult task?’he deadpans, stepping forward.Jules smiles shakily despite himself.Lachlan is rarely so snarky, but he suspected it’d help and he was right.‘Hand me the box.’
‘Do you even know how to—?’
‘I know how to use a fucking needle.’
Lachlan’s freshly gloved hands prep Jules confidently and he talks the whole time while the medics hover in the background, no doubt saying bad things about him.Lachlan couldn’t care less.He finds a big vein in Jules’ right arm, rubs in a little numbing cream.
‘Now then,’ he says calmly, ‘why don’t you tell me all your worst plans?’
‘Worst plans?’
‘Yeah, you know.When you’re scheming to absolutely wreck my day, what are some of your worst ideas?’
Jules gives a shaky laugh.‘Why, so you can try and prepare?’
‘I’m curious.’He carefully pushes the needle in the vein, angles it almost fully horizontal, knows it’s better that way.Jules hisses under his breath but looks up at Lachlan.‘C’mon, shock me.’
Jules’ blood begins to travel through the tube.He’s not looking at it which is good.‘Uhh, I used to think about putting bad things in your coffee.’
‘Like what?’
‘Laxatives.’
‘That’s pretty tame.What else?’
‘It would have been a lot of laxatives.’
‘I’d expect nothing less, but that’s child’s play.Come on.’
