A one shot I couldn't get out of my head. Hope you enjoy!
Her thumb glides over his now still hand as the sound of the heart rate monitor beeps softly in the background. Slow and steady it pulses indicating the strong beat of his heart. If she had been in the emergency room when he arrived she would have heard a more fevered tempo followed by a high pitched whine but the doctors had brought him back. The gun had nearly taken his life.
She slowly turns his hand so the palm is up. Rough calluses cover the pads of his fingers and the tops of the palm. She knows these hands well, have been watching them for years now. The thick protective cushions of skin have been there since she's known him built up over time by his grip on various woodworking tools. She flips it back over, careful to avoid tangling the IV lancing a vein on the back. Here small white scars dot the skin pulling and puckering. None of these are large. They're the type of scars a person gains over a lifetime. Insignificant, and yet part of who you are.
His knuckles are swollen by age and arthritis, though he won't admit they pain him. He won't let it stop him from doing the job or working on his projects in the basement. And that too is a reflection of who he is; strong, stubborn.
She's seen these hands do many things. More often than not she sees them clutching a paper cup of coffee. But she's seen them do more. She's seen them give life and take life. She's seen them reaching out to help, pushing away to harm. She's seen them delicately caressing the smooth hull of a boat searching, feeling for any imperfection that needs to be sanded away. She's felt them doing the same thing to her skin, gliding over the smooth soft surface reveling in every dip and imperfection and loving them because they are part of her.
They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul but sometimes she thinks that's wrong. That looking at his hands will tell you everything you would ever need to know about him.
She feels a finger twitch and knows he'll be awake soon. Gently she grips back letting him know that it's safe to wake up and come back to her.