Butterflies

Accident

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of something pressed against my side, completely forgetting that Caleb had slept the night in our bed. I opened my eyes to see his little head close to mine, still sleeping peacefully. I looked past him, meeting Shawn's eyes, which sparkled in the bright sunlight. He was propped up on his elbow facing Caleb and I, clearly watching the two of us sleep together. 

"Good morning" he said. His voice was raspy and sounded tired. I smiled and began to rub my eyes. 

"Good morning, Shawn. How long have you been up?" I asked. 

"Not long. You know, you look really cute when you are sleeping." he smiled. I grinned and began to stretch my arms, which stirred up the blankets. I could hear Caleb take in a large breath of air as his eyes fluttered open. 

"Sorry buddy. I didn't mean to wake you up." I said. He began to stretch as well and soon enough, the three of us were all sitting up, still under the warmth of the blanket. Several voices echoed from downstairs which made Caleb's eyebrows perk up. The other kids were clearly all awake and making their way down for breakfast. With a swift movement, Caleb climbed out of bed and began to make his way to the door. 

"Hey, Caleb." Shawn said. "Come here real quick." Caleb quickly walked to the side of the bed where Shawn smoothed out his hair. "Didn't want bed head, did you?" he laughed. Caleb giggled then quickly exited the room, leaving Shawn and I alone. 

"We'd be good parents" Shawn laughed. 

"Yes we would." I chuckled. We both stood up and rummaged through our bags. Within minutes, we were dressed and had cleaned up the room before leaving for breakfast. As we shut the door to our room behind us, a loud thud rang throughout the house. It was followed by a scream so loud that Shawn and I both took off in a run. As we turned the corner into the kitchen, blood appeared on the floor and Alex, one of Shawn's younger cousins, was bent over on his knees. He was holding his mouth with tears streaming down his face. Everyone else ran into the room and crowded around him. 

"What happened?" Shawn's mom said frantically, grabbing a towel to catch the blood. 

"We were running around and he fell. I think he hit the side of the counter." One of the other kids said. I took a step closer to him knowing I'm currently the only one in the room who works in the medical field. 

"Can you pull your hands down and show me where you are bleeding?" I asked calmly. A lot of the family members backed away to give me space but Shawn stayed with me. Alex took his hands off his mouth to reveal a cut on his lip that was rather large. 

"Looks like you'll need some stitches. It's pretty deep, buddy." I said. With that, he began to cry again and Shawn took him into his arms. 

"Do we need to take him to the hospital?" someone asked. 

"No, I think I have some medical supplies in the car. I can do it." I said. Shawn's dad immediately grabbed the keys and went out to grab my bag. Shawn lifted Alex off of the floor and placed him on the kitchen counter. I handed him an ice pack while others cleaned up the blood from the floor. Once Shawn's dad returned, everyone crowded around once again waiting to see what I was going to do. 

"I'm going to need some help." I said quietly to Shawn while everyone else was distracted. He nodded his head and came over beside me. As I pulled things out of the bag, both his and Alex's eyes widened. "Alex, why don't you lay back for me?" I said, knowing he'd no longer be able to see my supplies. He did as I said and shifted his body so his head was next to me and his body was spread out across the counter. With that, I gave Shawn the light to hold while I grabbed some gloves. 

"Looks like it has stopped bleeding. We still need to stitch it up though but it will be fast." I said while cleaning his cut. "I'm just going to numb it up real quick". Looking closely at his lip, I grabbed the small syringe of local anesthesia and Shawn brought the light closer. Alex closed his eyes and I began to slowly numb his lip. He didn't flinch or make any noise which took me by surprise. He's only twelve and normally kinds his age have a hard time with shots. Either way, I finished and set the needle aside giving it time to set in. Shawn closely concentrated on everything I was doing and everyone else remained fairly quiet. 

"I think it's working" Alex mumbled.