Nurse to Heal the High Seas Doc - Chapter 6
"Explain to me again why you touched the jellyfish?” Nicole was bent over the sink where she’d forced researcher Doug Flont to submerge his arm. Water helped relieve some of the pain the sting brought.
Shane had taken charge of Albus Andrews's stitches. The man had cut himself on rigging when he'd turned after hearing Doug scream. He’d needed six stitches in his left arm and been more than annoyed with the researcher.
But it hadn’t taken long to place the stitches. Now he was looking into the water, offering a second pair of eyes to make sure Nicole got all the tentacles off Doug's skin.
“Curiosity.” Doug let out a sigh. “I know that sounds dumb.”
“It isn’t ideal.” Nicole shook her head. “I assume you’ve sated your curiosity.”
Doug pursed his lips and looked down into the warm water. “It was an interesting experiment for sure.”
“I don’t see anything, Dr. Sapson.” Shane pushed off the counter. “Is the pain better?”
“I mean, I no longer want to rip my arm off.” Doug scratched his head with his free hand. “The guys are gonna give me a real rough time for this one.”
Shane looked at Nicole. If she wanted to offer comfort, she was welcome to it. But Shane was far too close to mentioning that Doug earned the ribbing.
Who touched a jellyfish "just because"?
“I am going to give you some hydrocortisone cream. If a rash develops that is not the dots from the stings, I need you to come back. And I will give you some pain meds to help you sleep.”
“Thanks.” Doug pulled his arm out of the water, took his meds and headed out.
“He's probably looking forward to a day of rest before facing the rest of the crew.” Nicole shifted and looked at the computer. “The clinical notes for this will be a fun read.”
Shane chuckled. “Cautioned patient not to touch ocean life known to cause stings.”
Nicole giggled too. “There should be a whole class in med school on 'expect the unexpected.' People have no impulse control.”
No impulse control.
Cool and controlled. No fun. The words Shane's mother had thrown at him when he’d confronted her. Calling him "a stick in the mud" because he couldn’t let go and have fun.
“Some people have control.” He was a good example. He made sure he’d never did anything without thinking.
Outside of kissing Nicole yesterday.
He’d thought about it but had not thought through it.
Nicole shook her head. “Every person has at least one thing they will throw caution to the wind on.”
“I don’t believe that.” People needed to think through their actions. Realize their effect on others.
Nicole didn’t look up from where she was typing the notes on Doug’s wildlife encounter. “Losing control is human.”
“There are consequences for it.” Shane wasn’t sure why he was digging his heels in on this.
“Consequences are part of life. Karma always finds you.”
Shane pursed his lips, trying to keep the grievances he felt boiling under the surface locked up. But they burst out anyway. “Yeah, well, sometimes those consequences burn others.”
Nicole shuddered and frowned. “That's true.”
Damn it. He hadn’t intended to make her feel whatever that look meant.
“Nicole.”
“Do you think we should be prepared in case Doug touches a Man of War? I mean, he already touched one jellyfish, and that one can be deadly.” Nicole kept typing, but her face made it clear the conversation had shifted.
They’d come close to personal things today, and she was putting them back on their regular course.