After the Rain, Never See You Again

Pain throbbed through my right arm, all the way to the bone.

Blood trailed from my fingertips and spattered the wood floor with dark spots.

I wrapped my arm in a towel and took a cab alone to the nearest urgent care clinic.

The urgent care physician drew a sharp breath when he unwrapped the towel.

"The glass is embedded deep. I'll need to clean the wound and stitch it up. Are you here alone?"

I nodded.

The doctor looked at my right arm, then toward the door.

"You really should have someone with you. Once the local anesthetic kicks in, you'll have trouble holding things, and you still need to confirm your insurance information at the front desk."

I accepted the form with my left hand and managed a smile.

"It's fine. I can manage on my own."

The moment my right arm moved, the wound felt like it tore open again.

With only my left hand, I fumbled to sign the forms, fish out my ID, and swipe my card.

The man in line behind me tapped the counter impatiently.

"How much longer is this going to take? Does nobody else need to see a doctor?"

I kept apologizing, my forehead damp with cold sweat.

The physician removed more than a dozen tiny glass shards from my arm. The deepest cut needed six stitches.

Night had fallen by the time I left urgent care.

No text from Noah. Not one missed call.

When I got home, the living room had been cleaned spotless.

Kayla was there too.

With a small gauze patch on her right palm and another on her left leg, she lounged on the couch and winked at me.

"Where'd you go? I thought you were resting in the bedroom."

Noah came out of the kitchen carrying a soup pot.

"Hungry? Taking Kayla to the hospital held me up. I made the clam chowder you've been craving."

"Both of her cuts needed three stitches. When I saw all that blood in the living room, it scared me half to death."

But my worst cut took six stitches.

I nodded and turned to ask Kayla, "Does it still hurt?"

Kayla shook her head with a grin.

"If I can still mooch a meal at your place, it can't be that bad."

Noah carried out the food and gave his usual cold scoff when he heard her.

Four dishes and a pot of chowder soon covered the table.

Kayla and I both loved clam chowder.

I had asked for it several times lately, but he always said scrubbing the clams was too much trouble and promised to make it when he had time that weekend.

Looking back, Kayla had been there every time he made it.

It wasn't until we were eating that they noticed the gauze on my arm.

Noah looked at me guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Leah. When I came in, Kayla was lying on the far side. I thought she was the only one badly hurt."

The truth was, I had fallen first. Kayla had only gone down when I pulled her with me.

But I was never the first person Noah saw.

"It's fine." I lowered my head and sipped the soup. "At least I finally got the chowder I'd been dreaming about."

Noah's jaw stilled for a beat before he looked away.

"Then have some more."

After dinner, Kayla suddenly smacked her forehead.

"Oh no, I've got a client review tomorrow morning and I haven't finished revising my product demo deck."

She nudged me with her elbow, her voice so casually intimate it sounded almost like a pout.

"Leah, sweetie, I hurt my hand. I'll dictate; you make the edits. Please?"

Noah frowned, wearing the familiar irritation he always seemed to reserve for Kayla.

"She's hurt worse than you are. Why should she stay up all night for you?"

"Come on, I got hurt helping with your wall sconce." Kayla sounded utterly entitled. "If I can't claim workers' comp, I can at least claim friendship benefits, can't I?"

Noah jerked his chin toward the study with an exasperated look.

Kayla instantly flashed a victory sign.

"With two product experts in my corner, tomorrow's in the bag."

At the study door, she turned back and called out to Noah.

"Grab my laptop bag while you're at it."

A few lines of banter between them, and the decision was made.

Standing by the dining table, I suddenly felt like a guest who'd wandered into someone else's life by mistake.

I turned and went back to the bedroom.

Voices drifted in from the living room now and then.

Without quite knowing why, I opened the home security app.

On the screen, Noah filled two snack bowls with nuts, sliced a plate of fruit, and carried everything into the study.

Then he took Kayla's favorite lemon-and-honey black tea from the top shelf and dropped in two slices of dried orange.

Only then did he pour himself a cup of black coffee.

An old movie love song drifted in from the next room.

Noah headed for the study with the tea, light-footed and humming under his breath.

I hadn't seen that spring in his step in a long time.

They stayed in the study for over three hours before coming out.

I heard movement at the door and got up to look.

Kayla was putting on her shoes.

Noah held her laptop bag in his left hand and her handbag in his right, her coat draped over his arm.

When he saw me, he explained as if it were obvious.

"Kayla can't drive with that hand. I'll take her home in her car."

"Get some sleep. You must be exhausted."

"I'll be back soon."