Robyn Carr - The Best Of Us

“I know,” he said. “Can you put something on it to keep it from hurting?”

“Your palm and fingertips are very sensitive, but they’re also good healers. Ah,” she said, spreading the bandage. “Looks good. A little inflammation, no bleeding, stitches intact. Here’s what should concern you—if bleeding shows through the bandage or if a red line is traveling up your arm, call me immediately. And don’t take off the bandage.”

Sean leaned around Finn. “Cool.”

“It feels so much better off,” he said.

“And it is so much more susceptible to infection or damage to the incision and stitches. Why don’t you take a day off from school, rest, put ice on it from time to time, take your antibiotics and chill out. It could be sore for a few days but you’ll be all right. It’s healing as it should.”

“We were wondering, what exactly do you do to people who take off the bandage?” Rob asked.

“Your name goes on a list of patients who just won’t listen,” she said. “And I’m not above sharing the list. So, when there’s a bank robbery or something, I have a list of people who won’t follow the rules.” She grinned. “You take off the bandage, you risk infection, difficult healing, complications.”

The bell on the clinic door tinkled and moments later Eleanor popped into the treatment room. “Did he take that bandage off?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

Leigh winked at Finn. “No, I did. We’re just checking it.”

“Let me wash my hands and I’ll wrap it up again,” Eleanor said, turning away while swinging her jacket off her shoulders.

“You got lucky,” Leigh said to Finn. “Listen, it’s going to hurt and eventually itch like the devil. Be brave. This will pass.” Then she felt his head for fever. “Don’t forget to take all of the antibiotic pills.”

“I won’t,” he said.

“As much as I enjoy seeing you, I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Not really,” he said, and he grinned.

What a handsome boy, she thought.

Finn went home from the clinic, took one of his pain pills and sprawled out on the couch, falling asleep instantly. It seemed like only seconds had passed when the doorbell rang. And rang again. He rolled to his side and looked at the time on his phone. It was noon. He’d been asleep for hours.

He opened the door and frowned in confusion. It was Maia. His girl. Probably the prettiest girl in his class. She smiled at him and held up a bag from McDonald’s. “What?” he asked, groggy.

“I brought you lunch,” she said. “Sean said your hand was so sore you were taking a day off.”

“But you have school.”

“I’ll skip fifth period,” she said. “They’ll never miss me. I thought you could use a little special treatment.”

“Wow,” he said.

“Can I come in?”

“Oh,” he said, running a hand over his head, taking note that he felt some serious bedhead. “Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks,” she said as he held the door open. “I texted you three times but you didn’t respond. I hope you’re up to company.”

He looked at his phone. Yup, three texts. “I’m up to it, I just never expected it.”

“I think I woke you up.”

“I saw the doctor this morning. She looked at the stitches and told me to just take a day off if it was hurting. So, I took one of those pain pills and fell asleep on the couch. Gimme a sec.” He headed for the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”

He had to pee like a racehorse but first he looked in the mirror. Oh, man, not only was his hair weird, it looked like he’d drooled a little. What a stud. So he peed, washed his face, brushed his teeth and tried to smooth down his hair.

He’d known Maia since junior high; she was part of a whole group who were buddies. He’d had a crush on her about that long but it took him until his senior year to ask her out because, well, she was one of the most popular girls in school and she tended to date the most popular guys. He thought she’d never go for him. Then he came to his senses and noted that she hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in a long time. He screwed up his courage and asked her out and was thrilled when she said, “Took you long enough.”

Now she was sitting on the couch and had set up a little picnic on the coffee table.

“Aw, you didn’t have to go to any trouble,” she said.

He looked at her, confused.

“Your hair is wet,” she said.

“My hair was pretty goofy from sleep,” he said. “And my brain might be on drugs.”

Her hair was beautiful. She had long, shiny dark hair and he loved plunging his hands into it. It was black or almost black. Maybe a little light around the edges. Soft and silky. He couldn’t believe she gave him a chance.

“Big Mac, extralarge fries, apple pie. I bet I should’ve gotten two Big Macs.”

In front of her was a cheeseburger, regular fries, a Diet Coke. That wouldn’t even start his motor. “No, this is great,” he said. “Why’d you do this?”

“I was looking for you this morning and couldn’t find you. Sean said you stayed home because of your hand.”

“You were looking for me?”

“Finn, you’re wearing a sling. I thought, since we have three classes together, I could help you with your books. Carry them for you.”

“Huh. I never thought of that. I have a backpack.”

“I’d still be happy to help, if you want.”

“I’ll probably manage,” he said. Because he was an idiot! “I wouldn’t mind the company, though,” he said. “I mean, if you want to.”

“Finn, I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to,” she said with a laugh. “Besides, we walk to class together, anyway.”

“Cool,” he said. Because he was oh-so-smooth. “This is good. This was really nice of you.” He’d rather be making out. But she’d brought food.

“You’re welcome.”

“What did I miss in trig?”

“Phfft, nothing. Same old drill—we went over the last assignment we turned in, he explained the next chapter, assigned the problems at the end. We have a big assignment in English, though. A paper, due in a week. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . I hate when he does that. Why didn’t he give us more time?”

He groaned. “I’m lousy with writing assignments...”

“I can help,” she said. Then she flashed him her beautiful smile. “Don’t I always?”

She was in three of his classes. All three were college prep because she was smart. And beautiful. And thoughtful—she’d brought him McDonald’s. He thought if he didn’t fuck this up, he might get to kiss her for a while before she had to get back to class. “Tell me about the paper,” he said.

“Essay format and it has to be on the original work, which is about two hundred years old. It was on the reading list for the year so I have it. I was going to read it but, of course, I didn’t. It’s horror and I hate horror.”

“What am I going to do next year when we’re at different colleges?” he asked.

“You’re either going to find a new girlfriend or flunk English.”

“I guess I’m going to flunk English. And you’re not going to do that well in math.”

“You’re my go-to boy for math,” she said, laughing.

Maia read all the time. She wanted to be an English teacher. But even though they were hot and heavy by now, she was going to college in Flagstaff and he was going to CU in Boulder. Boulder was close; he’d be home a lot of weekends. Flagstaff wasn’t so close.

“I only read the directions on things I have to assemble,” he said. “Or textbooks when there’s going to be a quiz. Stories bore me.”

“But you’re a genius at math.”

“Well, that’s because I’ve got my aunt Sid—she knows everything about math. She’s really a genius. She’s a physicist. Big-ass brain.”