"This is all your fault, director's pet. This is a play. I'm not falling in love with you, and I would never ever go out with you, Jack Garrison."
Jack and Shayna can't get through a rehearsal without fighting.
Cheerleader Shayna loathes perfect Ja...
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**** Content Warning for References of Abuse and Violence****
Mom continued to examine Mary on the stage. I moved to stand on stage beside Jack. His normally bright cerulean eyes were empty, but he still managed to school his expressions.
I didn't know how he was holding himself together. If my brother were the one lying on the table, I wouldn't be able to be strong.
"Can you help her?" Lilly asked.
"I don't know, sweetie," Mom said, pulling out her phone and dialing.
She was probably calling an ambulance. This didn't look like something she could patch up here. She needed a team and sterilized equipment.
Anton was pacing the stage. Jack stood frozen as if in shock. Even if we weren't on the best terms right now, I wanted to make sure that he was fine, but I didn't want to do it in front of everyone. I grabbed his arm and pulled him backstage from the sight of his sisters.
"Jack, are you okay?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Just a graze. No big deal."
For the first time, I noticed his sleeve was bloody. "Your father attacked you?"
When I pushed aside the sleeve of his jersey, he winced. More blood was crusted beneath the fabric, surrounding a shallow gash across his bicep. Mom was preoccupied with Mary, and Lilly and Maddy seemed fine on a quick inspection.
Mom had taught me basic first aid right before she sent me to sleepaway camp when I was eleven. Jack's wound didn't look serious, but he couldn't leave it alone.
The first aid kit was mounted on the wall behind the backstage curtain. I pulled it down and ripped it open.
He was silent as I unwrapped two sterile alcohol wipes from their wrappers and cleaned the blood off his arm. Now that I could see the scrape clearer, he tried to pull away.
Gripping his arm firmly, I patted the wound with another alcohol wipe. That drew a hiss from his lips, but he didn't pull away again.
There was gauze and medical tape in the first aid kit. I found the scissors and folded the gauze back on itself to make it thicker. I cut the pad small enough to cover the scrape comfortably and added a small amount of medicine before fitting the gauze against the wound.
It took more medical tape than I was expecting to secure the gauze. Jack's arm was large from throwing a football around, and he definitely wasn't a stranger to the weight room. Not that I should have thought about that as I cleaned and secured a wound.
When I was done, Jack moved his arm to ensure he still had a range of motion. I'd helped my mother before with basic first aid, but something about this felt intimate.
