Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 36: Forced to play the nurse

Chapter 36: Forced to play the nurse

With trembling hands, Mia carefully laid out all the makeshift tools she’d sterilized on the small table near his leg. The room felt tense as she dreaded removing a bullet from someone’s flesh. Her major in school wasn’t medicine but journalism that had nothing to do with removing bullets and sewing wounds. However, with the mix of urgency and the desperation the man before her was using to instruct her, she knew she must not let herself panic and end up killing him by doing it wrong. Why did he even come to her to begin with when he could just go straight to a hospital? Was he trying to hide from the authorities after committing a crime? Was he a criminal?

Despite all the thoughts that ran through Mia’s head, she still didn’t back out from helping him. He had come to her rescue a few times, it was only natural that she repayed him by doing this.

Neil turned to the side and instructed her to pour the alcohol on his wound. Mia nodded, and with trembling hands, she did as he said. He slightly winced as the liquor made contact with his wound, but he didn’t make a sound. However, she noticed the beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he looked at her with those gray intense eyes of his and instructed her to use the sterilized tweezer to prob out the bullet.

Mia picked up the tweezer, her hand was shaking violently and she suddenly realized she could no longer will herself to do it.

"Relax, you’re not going to hurt me. The wound is on my side, I would have removed it myself if my eyes could reach it." He assured as he noticed her hesitation to do as he instructed.

Mia nodded and glanced at the assortment of tools before meeting his eyes with nervous tears gleaming in her own eyes, "What if I do it wrong and you catch an infection...I don’t think..."

"I won’t catch any infection if you do as I say. But if you don’t get that bullet out of me, I might really be infected. You can do it." He encouraged with a soft steady voice, something he never did.

She nodded and picked up the sterilized tweezer and leaned down to do as he said. "Oh Lord, what am I doing?" she murmured while gently probing to find the embedded bullet. His jaw clenched as she probbed for the bullet. When she couldn’t bring out the bullet, he instructed her to make a small incision with the knife to extract the bullet.

The whole time Mia was trying to remove the bullet, she was muttering a prayer as to not to kill someone. Fortunately, after she made a small incision, she revealed the lodged small bullet. She then used the tweezer to grip the bullet, her movements were a bit clumsy. Neil winced, but he remained as still as possible, gritting his teeth as Mia managed to extract the bullet. Immediately, blood started oozing from the wound.

Quickly, Mia poured the alcohol before reaching for the clean cloth he had instructed her to get earlier and pressed it against the injury. "Hold this here..." she directed, as she used another one of her clean scarves to do a makeshift bandage and wrapped around his waist. She had to support his body as to get the scarf to wrap around him properly, so she leaned over him, however, Neil also turned towards her at the same time she leaned down and by mistake, his lips brushed against the side of her mouth, making Mia’s body stiffen.

With her arms still behind his back trying to get the cloth to wrap his wound, she glanced at him in surprise, however, his expression was as blank as ever. Her heart subconsciously increased it’s pace as she locked eyes with him. Those gray eyes seemed to hold her in place, and looking into them, she couldn’t help the sudden sense of familiarity that rushed through her. His expensive cologne mixed with the scent of blood whiffed to her nose at their closeness.

"If you’re finished, step away," he softly whispered, bringing her back to reality. And Mia quickly stepped back. She frowned at his rudeness after she had helped do something she could never imagine doing in her whole life. She had never treated a normal wound not to mention probing a bullet.

"You could at least say thank you," she murmured while picking up the tools she’d used to remove the bullet and wrapped them around a cloth while telling herself she’d take care of them later. Her clothes were also covered in blood and she needed a hot bath to get rid of them as the sight of blood only brought back the terrifying figments of her strange nightmares.

When Mia turned back towards the sofa, Mr. Ice cube was already trying to stand up, she hurried towards him and tried to support him, "What are you doing? I don’t think you should be standing up yet, sit down for awhile."

She tried to push him back down, but he didn’t budge and only stared down at her with his unemotional face. Her head barely even reached his chin and she had to tilted her head up to meet his eyes. With that lazily detached tone of his, he said, "I need to use your bathroom, and mind you, I am not that weak not to be able to walk," He moved away from her supporting hands, however when he tried to walk, he almost lost his balance from the dizziness that washed over him and before he could fall, he grabbed Mia for support, wrapping his arm around her body to support himself.

Mia, who was suddenly grabbed by Mr. Ice cube, froze when he tried to stabilize himself with her body. He was basically hugging her with his arms around her body and his head down in the crook of her neck. He might be immune to her but she wasn’t, his presence was making her heart act funny. She could feel his strong arm tightening around her, and his warm breathing was falling on her neck tickling her skin.

"If you are stable, please move away from me." She murmured softly as she tried to step away from him, but he was holding her tightly.

Neil didn’t know what was suddenly wrong with his body, but he felt like if he let her go, he would fall. He had been shot before and he had never felt this way after a bullet removal. His head was turning and he just needed a place to sit or even lay down. He had intended to use her bathroom to clean the blood stains on his body and get rid of the repulsive smell of iron that always made him want to throw up, but now he found himself unable to walk properly. He just wanted to lay down somewhere...

"Help me to your bed." He murmured softly as he felt his legs shaking from the inside.

Mia was taken aback by his words. Her bed? What was he going to do on her bed? "What do you want to do on my bed?" She asked in astonishment as she tried to move away from him again but he still wasn’t letting go.

"I need a place to lay down, and I can’t do that on that small sofa." He said calmly, trying his best not to let all his weight on the slender girl he was using to stabilize himself. She felt so small in his arms he thought he might break her in two if he released all his weight.

Mia’s eyes widened, "You don’t plan on spending the night in my room and on my bed, do you?" She asked in a surprised whisper. The last thing she wanted was a scandal about a man spending the night in her room. She hadn’t asked any questions about how he got shot because of the urgency of the situation, but then she also didn’t want to get involved with him if he was some criminal trying to avoid authorities by not going to the hospital.

"I don’t like the idea of spending my night here as much as you, but my body says otherwise, Harrison. Now help me to your bed I need to lay down." He remarked, his voice carrying that tone of command he always had.

Mia would have liked to argue with him about staying in her room, but then his weight on her was starting to pull her down, and she realized his body might not be strong enough to leave from where he came from. She silently wrapped her arm around his waist, where she could feel his toned abs against her palm and helped him to her bed.

When he fell back on her bed, he couldn’t even bring himself to put his own legs up. He just lay there trying to think of what was wrong with his body. And as if noticing he was unable to raise his legs, the girl bent down and took off his shoes before pulling his long legs on the small bed. Neil hated any act of vulnerability, he had worked and spent countless sleepless nights of his life In the military, he hadn’t for once after fifteen years relied on someone to help him do anything. And today as he felt like a piece of dead plant, he couldn’t help but feel angry at his vulnerable state.

The smell of blood whiffed to his nose again, and he suddenly felt the urge to throw up. He hated that iron smell, and he wanted to get rid of it no matter what. Even if he had to ask someone to do it for him as he couldn’t will himself to move out of the bed.

"Can you do me a favor and get some water and soap and wipe this blood off my body before I pass out?" He asked, his own small voice sounding foreign to his own ears. Damnit! He hated himself so much for being unable to move.

Mia’s eyes slightly widened at his request, not to mention how he sounded to be asking politely instead of commanding her to do it for him. However, realizing what he was requesting her to do, she couldn’t help but want to refuse. He was asking her to wipe his body, and looking down at his toned exposed torso, with that ominous snake tattoo that looked like it would swallow her with its wide open mouth if she dared come close to him.

However, seeing his vulnerable state with his closed eyes and how he was breathing steadily, she couldn’t refuse to help him. And instead of refusing as she intended to do, Mia nodded her head as if he could see her and went into the bathroom to get the things she would need to clean him.