I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 42

Sienna gritted her teeth in sheer frustration, refusing to look at Finn.

She picked up the needle, keeping her head bowed and her eyes fixed on the sharp tip.

"Mr. Fletcher," her voice was sharp as a blade. "Please extend your arm."

Finn obediently held out his arm, even rolling his sleeve up higher to expose his entire forearm.

It was muscular and sun-kissed, the prominent blue veins faintly visible beneath his skin.

Sienna wrapped the tourniquet around his bicep and tapped the vein in the crook of his elbow.

Her fingers pressed against his skin, absorbing his body heat.

She wiped the area with a cold iodine swab.

Then she took the needle, lined it up with the vein, and pierced the skin.

The moment the tip broke his skin, she gave her wrist a subtle twist.

It was an incredibly slight movement, something nobody would have noticed unless they were looking for it.

But she did it entirely on purpose.

The needle angled sharply under his skin, creating a tiny, stinging tear.

Finn's brow furrowed.

He let out a sharp gasp.

The sound wasn't loud, but the room was so quiet that everyone heard it perfectly.

Isaac and Penny immediately looked over.

Isaac's gaze locked onto Sienna's wrist for a second before he looked away.

He kept his mouth shut.

Penny opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it.

That single gasp left Sienna feeling incredibly awkward.

She kept her head down.

She watched the dark red blood flow into the vial, her face completely void of expression.

"Ah, that really hurts," Finn suddenly complained.

Sienna froze in shock.

She looked up at him.

He wasn't faking his expression.

His eyebrows were knit tightly together, his lips pressed into a thin line, and a fine layer of sweat had broken out across his forehead.

He looked exactly like a wronged child who didn't know what else to say besides "that hurts."

Sienna almost laughed out of pure anger.

A grown man, whining about pain in public.

It was just a blood draw. How bad could it possibly be? Was it really worth shouting over?

He knew it.

He glanced down at the bruise and could not help but smile. It felt wonderful.

He would rather have her hate him than feel absolutely nothing for him at all.

He genuinely wished it hurt even more.

Once Sienna finished the labeling, she moved on to wrap up the standard protocol.

She picked up a form from the desk and looked down to fill it out.

The tip of her pen scratched lightly against the paper, the sound magnified in the dead silence of the room.

"Emergency contact number," she read the field aloud without lifting her head. "Please provide one."

"Five-five-five, zero-one-nine..." He rattled off a number without missing a beat.

Sienna's fingers twitched.

She looked up. She stared right at him.

His expression was incredibly calm, as if he were simply answering a routine question.

His eyes met hers, unwavering and burning with intensity.

"That one won't work," she stated, her voice dropping another degree. "Give me a different one."

"Why won't it work?" he challenged.