Page 79 of Close Match

“It’s fine. I feel like an idiot though.” I try to pull my hand away but hiss in pain when his fingers tighten slightly. “Damn you, that hurts!”

“I’m trying to apply pressure to stop the bleeding,” he tells me calmly.

“Do you have to be perfect?” I gripe.

Leaning down, he whispers close to my ear, “Yes. It’s part of my charm.”

“Yeah, well, right now your charm sucks.”

Monty squeezes tighter, which makes me whimper. “Linnie, we’ve got to try to get the bleeding to stop. Even from where I was sitting, I saw the ooze of blood.”

“Great, with my blood type, I’ll probably need a freaking transfusion,” I overdramatize, lifting my other hand to my forehead. Monty chuckles.

“Calm down there, sweetheart. This isn’t Broadway. About five minutes of pressure should do the trick. If not, then we might need to get you to urgent care for some stitches.”

I start to pull away. “No. No stitches.”

“Afraid of needles?”

“Yeah, it’s called all the vamps who have tried to harvest my blood since I was eighteen. They sucked at it. I left all these blood drives with so many bruises, and I began to get a ridiculous phobia. So, either you manage to fix this or I’ll ruin one of your mother’s kitchen towels.” Both of our eyes drop to the one wrapped around my hand.

“You haven’t even bled through this one…”

I interrupt him. “Much.”

“Much,” he agrees. “I think we’re safe to say… Hey. What did you mean about people harvesting your blood?”

Forgetting there’s anyone else in the room, I glibly say, “I have a somewhat rare blood type. I’m what doctor’s call a universal donor? So, every few weeks, the Red Cross is asking for my blood. I give as often as I can, but as I said…”

“You’re afraid of needles.” His eyes are swirling with something profound.

“What is it?” Even through my pain, I can tell something much more serious is happening. Monty squeezes my fingers harder. Char drops the phone, startled. Ev makes his way over to her. He lifts the phone, murmurs a few indistinct words, and presses the Off button.

“Ev?” Monty calls out to my father without losing my eyes. “You have exactly ten minutes to tell her or I’m breaking my promise. I swear to fucking God, I’m not holding a thing back at this point.”

“Get her fixed up and bring her into the library.” I turn my head and watch as Ev wearily pushes his hand through his hair. “Charlotte and I will meet you both in there.”

“Ev?” I call out. My father’s eyes cut to mine. In them is sadness, despair, and so much love, I’m knocked back into Monty with the force of it.

“In the library.” He slips an arm around his wife, and they make their way out of the kitchen.

I’m almost nauseous by the time Monty stops the bleeding enough to bandage my hand before I race out of the kitchen. He catches up with me and grabs me by the shoulders. “Linnie…”

“Tell me,” I demand.

“I can’t. Just promise me you’ll meet me later to talk about everything you’re about to hear.” His hazel eyes bore into mine.

“You want me to promise you something when you won’t give me anything in return?” I demand.

He nods. “You’re right.” Trailing a finger from my temple down to my chin, he whispers, “When you first came here, I was afraid and not just for Ev. Now, I’m hopeful for exactly the same reasons.” His simple touch sends shivers coursing through my body. As he steps back, he whispers, “Come on. It’s time for you to know everything.”

Side by side, we make our way into the library.

* * *

Thirty minutes later,I burst out of the library with tears streaking down my face.

I only just found my father, and now I could lose him too.