My Youth Began With Him

8

Feeling a little awkward, Jessica stood up to leave.

"Jessica," he called.

Perhaps it was because she was too nervous that, as she turned around, her hand shivered and the cup of boiling hot water she had been holding hurtled to the ground.

It was currently the beginning of summer and Jessica was wearing a very thin pair of shoes. If the boiling water landed on them, it would probably scald her feet.

"Ah..." Not having time to react, she could only watch as the cup fell.

Just then, a pair of broad hands reached out and caught the cup squarely between them.

However, due to the downward momentum, a fair amount of hot water still spilled out. Large red splotches immediately flared up on the back of Andrew's left hand, extending down to the base of his thumb.

"Here's your cup." Andrew straightened up, his expression unchanging, as he handed the cup over to her.

"How's your hand?" Jessica asked nervously.

"It's fine."

"What do you mean it's fine? It's all red. Quick, come here and run it under cold water." Jessica snatched the cup from Andrew's hand and tossed it into the trash without another glance.

Then, tugging him by his sleeve, she pulled him up to the water dispenser. Holding his scalded left hand under the nozzle, she pressed down on the cold water button.

Andrew didn't make a sound as he let Jessica do all of this.

If he hadn't just misread the situation, when his hand was scalded, was that... nervousness... in Jessica's eyes?

Thinking of this, the corner of Andrew's lips lifted slightly in triumph.

"Does it still hurt?" Jessica asked, raising her head.

Andrew shook his head no.

Only then had Jessica realized that she was still holding his hand. In order to avoid making the situation even more awkward, she immediately let him go.

"Um... you should go to the pharmacy later and pick up a tube of burn cream," Jessica reminded him.

"It's fine." His voice was low and husky, with a magnetic quality.

"Since you're fine, I'll be leaving now." In truth, Jessica was terrified of facing Andrew alone.

It was because she was afraid that the strange feeling bubbling up in her chest would grow even more audaciously.

She was even more afraid that Andrew would be able to see through to what she'd really been thinking.

"Jess," he spoke again, gently.

She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around. She stood there in silence, awaiting his next words.

"Thank you for your hard work today."

"You too, Doctor Chase." With that, Jessica sped up her pace and quickly left the room, not daring to stay a second longer.

Andrew was left speechless by Jessica's words. Doctor Chase? He coughed inwardly. That was a low blow. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that she was addressing an old man.

However, he was indeed worthy of the "Doctor" title.

Thanks to this peculiar surgical procedure, he seemed to have gotten just a little closer to Jessica.

Andrew was very pleased. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he left wearing his signature better-than-thou expression. On him, the white lab coat that the doctors wore looked surprisingly tasteful. The point was that good-looking people looked good, no matter what they wore.