"I've got some bruise salve in the bathroom cabinet that you're going to want to put on that," he said, dropping a hand from his knife long enough to cover hers and squeeze gently.
The vegetables finally chopped, he tossed them into the nearby skillet to get started sauteing.
"Pasta should be done in a few minutes. Wanna tell me what happened?" he asked, his tone as easy as if he was talking about the weather.