I've got major writer's block at the moment so I thought I'd see if I could shift it by writing a follow-up to Grace's little run in from Steve's perspective.
Apologies if you've already read/liked/commented on this chapter - I've gone over it again and made a few changes because I wasn't happy with it. Chapter two will be up soon. :)
Grace is pretty sure that her Uncle Steve is overreacting. Honestly, it's just a little cut. A little cut that happens to be bleeding a little bit. Okay, a lot.
But he's still overreacting. He's the last person Grace expected to have dragging her to the emergency room because of a little blood. Fine, a lot of blood. Enough to make her feel strangely lightheaded every time she catches sight of the towel Steve is wrapping around her hand. It's not white any more.
She begs her uncle to patch it up himself but he refuses. Apparently, Steve is responsible for her while Danno is stuck at work and her mom is on the mainland, and that means going to the hospital where they give you drugs before sticking needles into your skin. She gives Steve the silent treatment after that.
Grace is desperately trying to keep her hands from shaking. She's not scared. The suture needle is just a bit bigger than she was expecting. A lot bigger. It's freaking huge.
Silent treatment be damned. She caves before the doctor is finished tying off the first suture and ends up gripping Steve's hand so hard that she's expecting there to be deep grooves in his skin when she lets go.
The doctor doesn't have a clue when it comes to talking to kids and Grace is just about ready to tell him to forget about the stitches, she'd rather bleed to death than suffer through another minute of this guy talking to her like she's four years old. The offer of a sticker and a lollipop is the final straw.
A warning look from Steve is enough to stop her telling the idiot in the blue scrubs where to stick his stupid lollipop. For the first time ever, she has to work to keep her mouth shut.
The hospital insists on jabbing her again before they let her go. Steve doesn't know when Grace's last tetanus shot was and Danno is conveniently not answering his phone. Great, more needles. She's going to look like a human pincushion by the time they're done poking at her. Maybe she'll spring a leak.
At least the nurse doesn't treat her like a petulant toddler. It doesn't make the shot hurt any less though.
Danno is officially freaking out. Who needs speakerphone when there's a hysterical father on the other end of the line? She's not even kidding. She can hear every single word. It'll be a miracle if Steve's eardrums survive the call.
All of this drama over a little cut.
Fine, a big cut.