Blue Eyes | 5sos

Twenty-two

(not proofread)

..

Michael gently took hold of my left arm and started to roll the sleeve of my hoodie up when I remembered something.

"Stop." I snatched my arm away from him and yanked my sleeve down, handing him my right arm. "Do this one instead."

He looked at me confused but did oblige without asking questions. "Okay..."

The same couldn't be said for my father, however.

"Carson, what are you hiding?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"It's something. Let me see."

"No! It's not your business!"

It was nothing necessarily bad per se, but I knew they wouldn't be happy if they found out.

There was an incident that happened over a year ago with Ralph, my mom's boyfriend. We were arguing over something stupid and petty, and I didn't realize he had a knife in his hand. He had gotten me right in the forearm, leaving a pretty nasty scar.

It was probably something I should've seen a doctor for, but my mother refused to take me, and it wasn't something that bandages couldn't fix.

"Carson." My father rudely snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Huh?"

"You zoned out, hun." Michael smiled up at me, still seemingly searching for a vein.

"Oh."

They both worried way too much. It was weird, especially being the complete opposite of Mom.

I watched Michael poke around my arm for a few more minutes before he looked up at me with a sigh. "Can I please try your other arm?"

"No."

"Carson, are you harming yourself?" My dad asked and tried to grab my left arm to look.

But I was quicker. "What? No?!"

"Then what are you hiding from us?"

"Nothing." I rolled my eyes and looked away from him.

"It's something."

"Stop fucking acting like you care all of a sudden!"

Nothing but silence filled the room after that.

I could sense Luke's frustration even without looking at him.

"Luke, I think you need to leave," Michael spoke up without looking up from my arm.

"What? No."

"Out."

I watched my father sigh and walk out, clearly upset. But I was upset too. How could he just accuse me like this? He barely even knew me.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to Michael with a sheepish smile.

"You have nothing to apologize for." He finally looked up, trying to find a vein. "He's still kind of new to this whole being a parent thing, but he is trying, Carson. I'm not asking you to immediately forgive him, but maybe give him the benefit of the doubt sometimes. There is more to the story than what your mom tells you."

I opted to stay silent and take in what Michael said. I know that I was being harsh with Luke, but having a father in my life was a first for me too.

Sure, Ralph was in my life, but I didn't consider him a father when he would hit me, especially not after that knife incident.

Maybe he was right and there was more than what my mom had told me about Luke. Maybe his being in my life could be a good thing.

"What are you doing?" I asked when I saw Michael untie the band, which I learned was called a tourniquet, from around my arm.

"I can't find a vein."

"So you're not taking my blood?"

"Oh no, I am, but I'm going to need to have a look at that other arm."

"No, I don't think that's necessary."

Instead, he didn't take that as an answer and held out his hand. "Come on, you've got nothing to hide, right?"

"Promise you won't judge and tell Luke?"

"Judge-free zone, I promise. And I'll only tell Luke if it's an imminent danger to your health and safety."

I took a deep breath in and pushed up my left hoodie sleeve, placing my hand into his waiting one. His eyes roamed around for a minute and landed on the scar, but he didn't say anything about it and instead tied the tourniquet.

"Ah, see. These look much better." He smiled and grabbed an alcohol wipe from the tray. "I even found the perfect one."

"Do doctors even know how to draw blood?"

"Of course we do," he laughed. Typically, we don't do it, but you're considered a VIP patient."

"A VIP patient?"

"Well, you're Luke's daughter, which means you'll get the best of the best."

I felt a slight tugging sensation on my arm and looked down to see Michael removing the needle from my vein."

"I didn't even feel you put that in."

"I know, I'm just that good." He smiled and stood up, disposing of the needle properly into the sharps container. He also tossed his gloves away and grabbed a new pair. "I'm going to get started on your checkup now, but please, just think about what I said about Luke. He's trying. He really is, I promise."