The Summer of Sunshine and Margot - Susan Mallery Page 0,103
the thrill of throwing them. So thanks for letting me do this.” She waved her papers. “Let’s get started.”
They cut large ants out of construction paper and glued them onto the bags. Nine boys were coming to the party, giving them an even ten. Sunshine had ten bags, the last of which she would tuck away until everyone was gone and the postparty letdown had started. Then she would give Connor his bag.
While Declan applied bug stickers to the bags and filled them with the toys and candy, she put a fresh blade into her X-Acto knife and went to work on the heat resistant tape she’d found. Her plan was to cut out an ant silhouette and apply it to the lens of the flashlight, thereby creating a custom beam. She’d just finished two of them when the knife slipped and the sharp blade sliced through the edge of her left palm.
In the nanosecond that followed, Sunshine tried to figure out what she’d done. Nothing hurt and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. Then blood began to gush onto the table and nerve endings lit on fire. She started to stand, only to realize that might be a bad idea.
“Declan!”
He glanced at her, swore and jumped to his feet. “What happened?” he asked as he grabbed a dish towel and wrapped it around her hand. In seconds, the towel was red with blood.
“I cut myself with the knife.”
She felt sick to her stomach and the pain was intense.
Declan grabbed three more towels from the drawer and hustled her into the car. He ran back to the house for her bag so she would have ID, then quickly drove out of the neighborhood and to the local hospital. Quicker than she would have thought, she was in a small room in the ER, sitting upright in a hospital bed. Her nurse, who had introduced herself as Nikki, put on a pressure bandage that hurt like hell, while Declan hovered.
“You’re going to need stitches,” Nikki told her. “Let me get the paperwork started. Are you right-handed?”
Sunshine nodded, trying to ignore her wooziness.
“That’s good because you won’t be able to use your left hand for a while. Still, have your husband fill out the paperwork. You can just sign it at the end.”
She handed a clipboard to Declan before stepping out of the room.
Sunshine leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “You should tell her we’re not married,” she said quietly, wondering if she really was going to throw up. Blood wasn’t her favorite, but it didn’t usually bother her. Of course she could be in shock or maybe she’d lost a lot of blood. Either way, her hand was throbbing something fierce.
“I think that’s kind of the least of it,” he said, taking a seat. “Let me get this filled out.”
He wrote in the basic information, then asked her if she was allergic to any medications and about any past medical conditions.
“There’s nothing,” she said, her head spinning a little. “And no family history of anything.” Not that she knew about. Her great-grandmother had been well into her nineties before she’d died quietly in her sleep. As for Sunshine’s father, well, they didn’t know anything about him. Which was a stupid thing to be thinking about right now, she told herself, even as she tried not to cry.
Nikki returned with several pillows so Sunshine could keep her hand elevated. She put in an IV.
“Fluids and something for the pain,” she said. “Do you remember your last tetanus shot?”
“No. I think I was a kid.”
Nikki smiled. “You want to keep up with that. The guidelines are for every ten years. We’ll get you a booster.”
Great. A shot and stitches. Of course she already had an IV in her arm, so maybe that was the worst of it. She looked at Declan. “What about the party?”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get you fixed up and then I’ll deal with the prep work.”
“You can’t do it all yourself. This is Connor’s birthday party. It’s huge.”
“I’ll manage.”
He sounded confident, but she was less sure. “Margot was going to help tomorrow anyway. I can call and ask her to come early or even today,” she began.
“Stop,” he told her. “Let’s get you through this first and then we’ll assess, okay?” His voice was gentle but firm. “Sunshine, you’re my main concern. If Connor were here, he would completely agree with me. The party will happen. Let it go.”