Solemn Oath. Hannah Alexander

as Abby, but she could be a little less secure than others her age. Her parents were behaving quite immaturely, and he found himself wondering if they acted like this all the time. “If these shots hurt after the first little sting, you let me know and you get a Popsicle. What flavor do you like?”

      Abby looked from him to the nurse, her lips pressed together, eyes narrowed, as if making a monumental decision. “Grape.”

      “I think we have that, don’t we, Claudia?”

      Claudia grinned at the girl. “Sure do.”

      “Good.” He raised the syringe once more. “Now, we’ll numb you up, and everything will go smoothly. Abby, you can’t watch me when I do it, because that would be cheating.”

      She turned her head and looked away, but her father hovered in an almost-threatening stance, watching every move Lukas made.

      Lukas slid the point of the needle just underneath the edge of the skin cut.

      “What’re you doing it like that for?” Cuendet snapped. “Trying to kill the kid?”

      Abby whimpered and drew back.

      Lukas shot an irritated glance at the father, fighting the urge to plunge the needle into the wrong person. “Due to the nerve endings on the noninjured skin,” he snapped, then took a breath and tried to slow his words and his annoyance, “it’s actually more painful to inject through the skin surface. As long as the wound is not grossly contaminated, I prefer to do this so it won’t hurt the child.” He looked more closely at the man’s pale, moist skin. “We have a water cooler and some paper towels out in the waiting room. Would you want to step outside for a moment?”

      The man shook his head, but he didn’t hover so close to his daughter. Lukas had barely stitched the first cut when Jason took a deep breath, released it and walked out of the room.

      With both parents gone, Claudia managed to divert Abby’s attention from the procedure. She asked about Abby’s brother and sister and encouraged her to talk about her favorite sport, baseball. Then Abby’s attention caught and held on something past the open threshold of the exam room. Her eyes widened, and she stared for a long moment.

      “I don’t need that grape Popsicle now,” she said at last, her voice soft, almost reverent.

      Lukas finished tying off a stitch. “I’m that good, huh?” He winked at Claudia.

      “That’s not it.”

      Claudia laughed.

      Abby looked back at the sutures Lukas had placed, then looked up at him. “I’m too old for stuff like that. You won’t tell Tedi how scared I was, will you?”

      “Of course not. You don’t act scared now.”

      “Nope. Mom and Dad are more scared than I am.”

      “I noticed.”

      “At least I didn’t get in trouble for making them miss work. I guess all that blood got to them. Wait’ll I show Tedi my stitches. Are you going to marry Dr. Mercy?”

      Lukas nearly dropped the needle driver he was using. “What?”

      “She likes you. She always talks about you, and so does Tedi. You’d sure be a better father than Tedi’s real father was.”

      He glanced at Claudia, who was at least keeping her laughter to herself.

      “Are you sure you don’t want a Popsicle?” he urged. Children were growing up too fast these days. “Aren’t sixth-graders supposed to still like Popsicles?”

      Abby shrugged. “Nah, I’m not hungry.” She glanced again out the exam room entrance.

      Lukas looked up to see what she was watching and caught sight of Abby’s parents standing side by side, and Jason had his arm around Lindy’s shoulders.

      “I should get stitches more often,” Abby murmured.