He had kept a cool head in worse situations than this. He had, but any calmness and self-possession here had already started seeping out, long before Zelda’s question outside the door. “I’m fine!” Ari exclaimed, to head off any concern, and pressed his hand to his arm over the fabric of his shirt. His jacket was hanging somewhere, over the back of his chair – could he ask her to go and get it, shrug it on to hide the blood and then find a swift excuse to leave?
But that would maybe seem more suspicious, and the new cuts were still bleeding steadily, in spite of his best efforts to stem them, so who knew how far he would get.
It would almost have been easier to stay holed up in here and just wait to bleed out, but –
He grabbed the hand-towel, and hurriedly rolled up his shirtsleeve again towards the shoulder in order to wrap his arm up with the towel in the meantime. He banged open a cupboard, looking for a proper bandage, and found nothing. Instead, he drew in a breath and opened the door a crack. Just another lie, then. Another lie, and it would be fine. “Nothing’s wrong, I just – do you have any gauze I can use?”
But that would maybe seem more suspicious, and the new cuts were still bleeding steadily, in spite of his best efforts to stem them, so who knew how far he would get.
It would almost have been easier to stay holed up in here and just wait to bleed out, but –
He grabbed the hand-towel, and hurriedly rolled up his shirtsleeve again towards the shoulder in order to wrap his arm up with the towel in the meantime. He banged open a cupboard, looking for a proper bandage, and found nothing. Instead, he drew in a breath and opened the door a crack. Just another lie, then. Another lie, and it would be fine. “Nothing’s wrong, I just – do you have any gauze I can use?”
