Begging for a Second Chance (Sienna Sloan and Jarred Sterling) novel Chapter 34

"The supplies to change your dressing are inside. Handle it yourself. I'm going to sleep."

With that, she turned to leave, but he caught her hand.

"You're not going to help me change it?" His voice carried a hint of clingy persistence, completely stripping away the image of the ruthless captain he usually portrayed.

Sienna looked back, annoyed. "It's not like your hands are broken."

"I don't know how," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Then go to the hospital!" Sienna was genuinely losing her patience.

Jarred suddenly smiled, a boyish, innocent curve to his lips. "My wife is a doctor, and you want me to go to the hospital for a little scratch like this? Do you want the whole world to know our marriage is falling apart?"

Sienna was utterly stunned.

She had known Jarred for years. He had always been the golden boy, untouchably powerful and utterly capable. He never showed weakness, much less used such a borderline pathetic tone.

Right now, his face was pale, his eyes heavy with exhaustion. That slight edge of neediness mixed with his sickly pallor created a dark, obsessive vulnerability that was strangely intoxicating.

Her instincts as a doctor made her momentarily forget that just days ago, this was the man who had her suspended pending an investigation.

She took a deep breath, turned back, and sat down on the single armchair across from him, beginning to unwrap the gauze on his shoulder.

The old bandage had already adhered to the dried blood. She lightened her touch, peeling it back with extreme care.

Jarred didn't make a sound. He simply stared at her, his dark eyes unwavering.

The moment the gauze came off, Sienna drew in a sharp breath.

The wound was deep, trailing from just below his collarbone all the way down to his shoulder blade. Although it had been stitched, the edges were red and swollen—clearly infected.

"You haven't been taking care of this wound at all these past few days." She frowned, her voice carrying a protective scolding she didn't even notice.

Jarred didn't look the least bit embarrassed about being reprimanded.

Instead, watching her pick up the iodine and cotton swabs to meticulously clean his wound, a rare softness bloomed in his eyes.

With that movement, she practically leaned her entire body into his embrace.

Jarred didn't even have to look down to feel the distinct softness pressing against his chest.

He closed his eyes, his thoughts running wild.

The sting of his wound had long been eclipsed by the intoxicating warmth of her body in his arms.

He fiercely restrained the primal urge to crush her into his bones, his Adam's apple bobbing before he spoke in a low, gravelly voice. "I've already arranged for someone to install streetlights in that alleyway tomorrow."

Sienna's hand paused.

The property management at this old apartment complex was virtually nonexistent. The two-hundred-yard alleyway from the main road didn't have a single streetlight, forcing residents to park their cars outside.

Every time she came home from a night shift, she had to navigate that stretch in pitch black. She had been terrified of the dark since she was a little girl, making that walk an absolute nightmare.

She had never imagined that Jarred would notice a detail like that.