She disappeared into the back, and one of the men in the corner stood from his table. “You some sort of doctor?”
Addie stiffened, pushing closer against my side as he walked towards us. I shifted our positions so I was between her and the man. “I am. Beckett Easton.”
He eyed me up and down. “Barely look old enough to be out of high school.”
“I assure you, I’ve done all my training.”
“Can you fix this?” He held out his hand for me to examine. He had a nasty burn that had blistered and started to get an infection.
I didn’t have my kit here or anything else, but I knew this was as good of an opportunity as I would get. The door from the back swung open, and Sue reappeared. “You got a first-aid kit around here?” I asked.
She didn’t answer but bent down and pulled what looked like a fishing tackle box out from under the counter. “Has a little bit of everything.”
Sue wasn’t kidding. I pawed through the contents of the box, finding a suture kit, trauma dressings, and a million other things. My brows rose at the hardcore painkiller at the bottom of the box. Sue just shrugged. “Never know what you might need.”
“Just be careful who you share the contents with.”
“Always am.”
Addie moved in closer. “Can I help?”
“Can you sterilize that table over there?” I inclined my head towards the one nearest to us.
“Sure.” She turned to Sue. “Do you have any alcohol wipes or some hydrogen peroxide?”
Sue let out a little growl. “What are we, a surgery center?” But she moved to an aisle in the store section of the building. “Here are some wipes, but you’ll have to pay for them.”
“Not a problem,” I assured her.
Addie went to work on the table while I pulled out the things I would need. “Have a seat…?”
“Darren.”
“Have a seat, Darren. We’ll get you fixed up.”
One of his friends eyed us from his table. “Just make sure you don’t accidentally chop off a finger. He needs those to work.”
“I’ll do my best.” I sat and motioned to Addie. “Can I get one of those wipes?”
She handed me the container. “Need anything else?”
“I’m good.” I wiped down my hands and then put on some gloves. Darren watched every step of the process. “We need to lance the blister.”
“I’ve been telling him as much,” the second friend said. Both had scooted closer, watching the show.
“It’s good you didn’t do it yourself. It could’ve made the infection worse.”
“This is going to hurt like a bitch, ain’t it?” His gaze flicked to Addie. “Apologies, ma’am.”
She sent him a warm smile. “Trust me, I’ve heard a lot worse than that.”
“It won’t feel good, but I don’t have any lidocaine with me. You could come into my office—”
“Just get it done.”
“All right.”
I made quick work of cleaning Darren’s hand and sterilizing the small scissors in the kit. “Here we go.” I pierced the skin with a needle and then cut a small opening for the blister to drain. I had to push on the inflamed skin to get everything out.