Sleigh Bell Dreams (Mistletoe Meadows Sweet Christmas #1)

Chapter 15

Judd must have taken one hen of a nap, Terry thought to herself as she stood in the kitchen, trying to figure out whether she should eat supper by herself or wait a little longer. It was six o’clock on the dot, and in her experience, sometimes people said six o’clock but they meant nine.

Judd wasn’t like that, she knew, but... Still, as the clock clicked to 6:01, she tried to figure out what to do.

She could sit at the table and make a list of the things that she wanted to be sure to tell each of her patients. She’d already made a document that she had instructed her secretary to email to each of her patients.

She had all of her payment channels set up, and her bank account had been switched. She thought she was ready. Hoped she was.

She heard a noise at the door and then the doorknob rattling, as though someone were trying to get in but couldn’t quite grab a hold of it.

She glanced at the clock.

6:03.

What in the world? This was one of those times where she wished she had a dog. Something that wasn’t ferocious exactly, but that would give someone a second thought before they came barging into her house. Except, it wasn’t her house, and she couldn’t deny that relief flooded her soul as the familiar figure of Judd came walking through the door.

Except, it looked like there was some kind of bandage on his hand.

It was bright red.

Her hand went to her throat, and she jumped up and hurried forward.

“What in the world?” she said as he closed the door behind him and looked at her, and if she wasn’t mistaken, his look said he wished that she hadn’t seen him.

“Nothing,” he said, pushing off the door and turning toward his side of the duplex, his hand out to reach for the doorknob.

“We’re not eating supper?” she asked, coming a little closer and wondering if he was drunk. He seemed...unsteady.

“Oh. I forgot about supper.”

Were there bars open on Sunday?

She knew there were. The idea of bars being closed on Sundays had ended a long time ago even though her parents had always taught them that Sunday was a special day set aside for the Lord, where a person was supposed to try to rest, despite the fact that they were no longer under the Sabbath laws.

“I have it ready, but I don’t want to force you to eat. I was just kind of waiting on you, because I didn’t want to eat without you.”

“I should have given you my number,” he said, almost as though he were thinking out loud.

“Yeah. That would be nice. I would have texted you, and then...if you already ate, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.”

“I haven’t,” he said.

He had kinda shoved his hand behind him, not exactly holding it like he was guilty of something, but he had shifted his body so that it was between her and his hand.

“Did you cut your hand?”

“No,” he said.

“But that bandage has blood on it, right?” She was a doctor, she ought to know what blood looked like. She’d seen more than her share of dirty bandages.

“Yes. It does.”

“So let me look at it,” she said.

He didn’t say anything, just stood there.

“You know I’m a doctor, right?”

He gave her a baleful look.

“Come to the kitchen. Whatever is going on, it’s fine. You’re not going to shock me. I’m not going to faint at the sight of blood.”

“I do,” he said, leaning against the door and looking at her with eyes that seemed to be held open by sheer willpower.

“Oh.” That was his problem. “Well, come on. Let’s go to the table, and I’ll get you fixed up. You don’t have to look.”

He pursed his lips, and then he said, “This sounds terrible, but I’m not sure I can make it.”

“You made it to the house somehow, unless you just cut it outside, and that’s interesting and a little scary that you carry bandages around in your pocket.”

“No. I told myself if I made it to the house, that was as far as I had to go.”

“Fine. Sit down right there, we’ll get as much light on it as we can, and we’ll figure it out.”

One eye seemed to drift shut, and he looked at her as though she had grown two heads, possibly because he was dizzy and it looked like she had.

“Go to the kitchen,” he said, not looking happy about it, his lips pulled back.

“Let me help you,” she said, slipping her hand around his waist and standing beside his good hand, in case he wanted to put it on her shoulder and allow her to help him.

He did, which she was grateful for. He seemed very woozy. She knew that some people really did pass out or get sick at the sight of blood. She knew several people from college who had planned to be doctors but at the first sight of blood had realized that it was going to be impossible. And had to change their majors.

Thankfully, that wasn’t her.

They awkwardly shuffled down the hall, with him putting a hand and elbow out and her touching the wall for balance.

He was heavy and big. She already knew that, but she’d not been this close to him before, and...she kind of liked it.

Always before, she’d been able to keep a professional distance from anyone she’d treated, but she knew before they even made it to the kitchen that Judd was different.

Grabbing a chair with her toe, she pulled on it carefully but quickly, making sure it didn’t tilt over as she moved it from the table and helped him to sit down.

“All right, if you don’t mind, I’m going to need to unwind this bandage to see what we’re dealing with.” She touched the bandage, and he winced, as though it hurt, although she knew it couldn’t have. So she wasn’t sure exactly what the issue was. Other than he must not want her to work on him. “I need to go get my bag.” She had a bag that she always kept at home for emergencies. It had novocaine in it, as well as sutures, and other things she thought she might need for an emergency like this. She could fix herself up. It was one of the benefits of being a doctor.

He jerked his head but didn’t say anything, and she left, hurrying up to her room to grab her bag.

What in the world could he have done that would have caused him to bleed like that but not be cut? Had he been attacked? She wasn’t sure, but hopefully now that he was sitting down, she could find out.