Captain Swan - Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Chapter 7

"I hope that isn't a rental," she grumbles under her breath as she calmly and safely pulls off to the side of the road. She's calm because she's accustomed to blood, but she's angry because now she has to clean up his mess. She's also accustomed to dealing with drunken idiots who are brought into the ER with self-inflicted injuries. "Here, give me your hand."

His features are contorted in pain as he clutches onto the wrist of his injured hand, holding it to his chest, and yet still manages a small smirk. "Though I'm flattered, do you really think this is the best time for hand-holding?"

Emma rolls her eyes and unbuckles her seatbelt, pulling out a few supplies from her clutch purse to clean and inspect the damage. He hisses in pain and tries to pull his hand away, but she grips his wrist firmly. "Stay still." When she's done cleaning the wound, it's still bleeding, so she scans the backseat of his truck. "I'm assuming you don't have a first aid kit?" Her clutch purse is too small to carry any emergency items other than some baby wipes, a mini squeeze bottle with water, nasal spray for nosebleeds, bacitracin ointment and bandages she brought just in case one of the kids fell and scraped their knee, but the big gash across his palm is too deep to just throw on a bandaid and call it a day. In fact, he'll need stitches. But first, she has to stop the bleeding.

He shakes his head. "Sorry, love."

Returning her attention to him, she spots a sliver of what appears to be a handkerchief tucked into the breast pocket of his tux jacket. She pulls it out, unfolds it and wraps the handkerchief around his hand quickly and efficiently. She leans over him and takes his other hand, holding it gently to the covered wound to keep pressure there. "You need stitches."

His intense blue eyes widen. "You sure?"

Emma rolls her eyes again. "I'm a doctor, of course I'm sure. The wound needs to be closed up to reduce the chance of infection and so it can start healing properly. I'll drive you to the ER."

As she buckles her seatbelt, Killian places his good hand on her arm to stop her.

"Wait, why do I have to go to the ER if I have a doctor right here?"

Her breath hitches and she removes his hand, returning it to his covered wound. Yes, she removes his hand from her skin to apply pressure to the injury. That's all. Not because his touch scorches her skin or because she can't think straight when he's touching her. "Because I don't have the proper supplies with me. I need sutures and a sterilized needle."

He pouts. "But I don't want to spend the rest of the evening in the emergency room just for a cut." He rifles through her purse, pulling out some bandaids. "I'll be fine, I'll just use some bandaids to keep the cut closed."

She shrugs defeatedly. "Okay, I'll just take you to your motel then." She finishes buckling up and shifts gears, trailing away from the curb.

"Thank you, love," he says appreciatively.

"No problem. Just don't blame me when you have to get fitted for a prosthetic hand."

Killian jerks his head so quickly, she's surprised he's not dizzy. However, his face is very pale as his eyes widen in horror. "Prosthetic hand?"

Emma glances at him and says very casually, "Well, yeah. When your injury leads to sepsis because you decided to slap some bandaids on it instead of going to the ER, a surgeon will have to amputate your hand." She reassuringly places her hand on his arm, which is now very tense. "But don't worry, I'm sure the doctors in Port Lavaca are very good and your amputation won't also lead to an infection or death." She removes her hand and waves it dismissively. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

He sighs dramatically and sits back in his seat, still holding his wounded hand. "Fine, I'll go to the ER."

Emma smirks as she keeps her eyes on the road. Pointing out to someone that refusing to go to the hospital for something as minor as a cut may lead to amputation or death usually does the trick. But as Emma heads toward the hospital, she purses her lips pensively. She has the supplies she needs at home and can easily fix up his injury herself. And since there's a chance Gold will be lurking around in the darkness when she's at home tonight, and peeping through her windows, having someone in the house with her sounds much more appealing than being alone. So instead of taking him to the motel afterward, Killian can just sleep on her couch and drive himself home in the morning—if he plans on leaving for Port Lavaca tomorrow. Emma kind of hates the thought of him leaving the next day, but she can't think about that right now.