You Are my Sunshine

Chapter 7: Stitches

I've never had stitches done (that I was awake for) so please don't get angry if I describe something wrong. Thanks!
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Before we even started, I was involuntarily shaking. I tried to hide it and force it to stop, but that made it worse. Will only had to take one look at me to know I was more terrified than I let on before. Earlier, he fixed a face mask over his mouth. Now, he took a gloved hand and lowered the mask so it was resting on his chin. "Hey, it's going to be okay." He said the low voice I've deemed as his comfort voice.
I tried to laugh, but it was too short and shaky to actually be funny. "I've summoned souls of the damned, rose armies of skeletons, and shadow traveled with Hell hounds, yet I'm petrified of two little needles."
Will sighed. "I know." He looked at his feet for a moment, thinking. Then, he hesitantly lifted his eyes up at me. Today, his eyes were the playful blue of a blue jay. His lower lip was pressed gently between his teeth. Even with a mint green face mask on his chin, Will managed to look stunning. My heart shivered inside my chest. "Do you want me to... to hold your hand when I give you the shot?"
My brain couldn't process what was happening. I think it was confused whether I should be terrified, flustered, or tired. So, with my brain being stretched in multiple different directions, I intelligently replied, "What?"
Through his thick mane of hair, I saw Will's ears turn pink, matching the side of his cheeks. His teeth clenched a little harder on his lip and I was scared it would start to bleed. I think we've dealt with enough blood today. Nervously, he rubbed his gloved hands together. He was ringing them so hard together that a small squeaking noise pierced the air. Will quietly cleared his throat and I could tell he was embarrassed. As he talked, his ears grew redder. "Yeah, sorry, it was stupid. I'll just-"
"Yes!" My idiotic brain finally chose a setting. Unfortunately, I was so flustered that I screamed. Will's eyes widened in surprise, his lips parted in a tiny "o". My heart was beating wildly, rushing color to my face. I dug my nails into the bed. "I mean, if it's okay, can you?"
We both stood in silence for a few seconds, staring. Will still had the same expression on his face, but his eyes were now moving to study me. They first landed on my own eyes looking into his, then to the red tint of my face that was no doubt even more noticeable on my pale skin, and finally on my hands digging anxiously into the bed. Finally, he closed his eyes and laughed. "Of course."
So, after a cold disinfectant wipe cleaned a spot on my shoulder, Will took my right hand with his and held the shot in his left. I eyed the needle with displeasure. "Turn the other way," Will suggested. "It helps all my younger patients."
"Great, now I'm acting like a child." I muttered more in hatred for the needle than being compared to a kid.
Nonetheless, I craned my neck the other way and squeezed my eyes shut. Will's hand with the shot rested on my shoulder and I tensed. In the back of my mind, I felt bad for how hard I was squeezing Will's hand. He took off the glove and I could feel his rough, warm skin. Suddenly, I felt a small pinch that lasted for three seconds, and the shot was over with. I felt clammy and nervous, although I don't know why I was so nervous. Most likely for the stitches.
I loosened my grip on Will's hand but didn't let go quite yet. His thumb absently brushed along my hand, making goosebumps form on my arms. "Was that so bad?"
"I guess not, but I still get a lollipop after this, right?"
I was joking, but Will used his free hand to dig in his shirt pocket. He pulled out a green lollipop in clear wrapping and pushed it in the hand I was using to hold his. "I hope you like lime," He said with both of his hands wrapped around my single one.
I flushed. How was it possible for anyone's hands to be so comfortably warm? For them to be so calloused from years of working with them, yet more gentle than anyone else's hand I've ever held? For a pair of hands to fit so perfectly with mine?
To clear those thoughts from my mind, I shook my head. Will frowned. "You don't like lime?"
"No, I do." I said. "I just... had an itch."
Will rose an eyebrow, but didn't ask anything else about it. He looked past me at the clock on the wall. "Another five minutes, and the numbing should be working fully." Announced Will. He hesitantly took his hands back and slipped the mask back on over his mouth.
"It's working already," I replied. It was a strange sensation not being able to feel my shoulder and the upper part of my arm, but it was nice to not feel the pain that I didn't really know was there until it was gone.
He gave a thumbs up. "It'll be fine, Nico," he assured me. "The shot will probably be the most painful part of this process. Besides, I've stitched worse things before."
"Like what?"
"Well, one time a son of Hephaestus got his di-"
"Never mind, I don't want to know!" I yelled.
Will chuckled. "You asked." With his back to me, he walked over to the metal cart that held the tools that were going to be used for my surgery. I watched nervously as he looped the needle with the black medical thread. My stomach felt tight. Thankfully, I was sitting, or else my legs probably would have given out beneath me. A cold, sticky sweat began to form on my face and neck. "I promise you'll barely feel a thing." Will said without turning around.
Part of me wondered how he knew I was beginning to freak out again, but most of me was focusing on trying to calm down. "What... what will I feel?" I questioned with a wavering voice.
"You'll only feel the skin around the wound being tugged at. That's it, I promise."
My breaths started to even out. Leave it to Will to patiently calm me down before I face one of my biggest fears. Leave it to Will to always be there for me. Without reason, I blushed just as Will faced me again. I wished the red tint on my face would leave, but I knew it was still there and being illuminated by the bright surgical lights above. Even so, Will didn't make a comment about it. "Are you ready?" His voice was slightly muffled behind the mask, but I could still detect his caring concern.
I looked back at the clock and saw that five minutes did in fact pass by. From my collarbone to bicep, I couldn't feel a thing. Slightly intrigued, I flicked the numb part of my arm. "I don't know how to feel about this," I murmured while poking my arm multiple times.
"Just relax," Will cooed, suddenly right next to me. Both hands were in gloves again. The needle and tread were in his left hand, and I glared uncertainly at it. The corner of his eyes crinkled and I could tell he was smiling somewhat apologetically. "Sorry, Nico. I know you don't want to get it done, but these wounds can get really bad if left untreated."
I groaned unpleasantly. "Please make it quick." I shielded my face away from my shoulder and clenched my eyes tightly together for good measure. Will's right hand rested just below the range of the numbing sensation in my arm, so I could feel the smooth rubber of the glove.
A few minutes passed, and there was no indication that Will started. "When are you going to start?" I grumbled through clenched teeth with my eyes still closed.
I wasn't expecting Will to laugh in reply. "Nico, I started fifteen minutes ago. I'm nearly halfway done with one wound."
"What, are you serious?" I went to open my eyes and look, but hesitated. I finally began to feel my skin around the wound tugging like Will said it would, which meant that there was currently a needle in my body. I shivered, but managed to remain calm.
After another fifteen minutes, the tugging stopped. "How are you feeling?"
I opened my eyes and dared to look at the stitched wound. Sure enough, the scratch furthest to my right was crisscrossed in black thread. It was still weird to think that a needle did this to me, but I wasn't creeped out by the stitches now that they were in my arm. "I'm... fine." I stated.
"Awesome," Will must've knew that I really was fine, because he grabbed a new needle and thread off the medical cart. My chest tightened just the slightest, but I took a deep breath. "One down, two to go."
I may have been taking the surgery better than I first expected, but I still turned my face away and closed my eyes again. "Just get this done, Solace, before I punch you again."

Sorry if the ending is rather abrupt. If I didn't end it there, the chapter would've been waaaaay too long, so I'm pretty much splitting it into two chapters. Please, vote comment, share, don't ask Will what he has had to stitch.