Jonathan's hands are cold, even though the medical gloves he's wearing as he rolls your sleeve up with the clinical detachment of someone who's done this countless times.

It doesn't make you feel any better, though. If anything, the impersonality of it all makes it worse.

Your eyes lock onto the alcohol wipe in his hand, the smell of latex from his gloves filling your nose and leaking into your mouth while Jonathan wipes the inside of your elbow with the disinfectant.

Anything to try and pretend that the needle between his fingers isn't there, isn't about to slide inside your vein like a hot knife through butter for the sole purpose of stealing away your blood.

The way you avert your gaze makes Jonathan pause, his pale blue eyes flicking up to meet yours from where he's kneeled down at your side, but he doesn't stop until you tense up and push his hand away. "You're scared," it's not a question. You should have known that Jonathan of all people would pick up on your fear like flies sense a corpse.

He stares at you for a moment, his grip tightening on your arm before he forces himself to let go. "Trypanophobia," he mutters under his breath. "You don't need to worry, I've done this hundreds of times." Jonathan sighs, letting the hand holding the needle drop to his side, "you mustn't touch the needle itself, it'll violate the sterility and you run the risk of getting an infection."

Even if he's done this who knows how many times, most of those were getting blood samples from people terrified out of their minds.

"Yes, exactly. If I can get the needle in subjects that are thrashing for dear life, that just proves that I have good aim, I'm not going to miss your vein and hit a nerve." Jonathan's icy gaze softens a bit, "Do you want me to fetch you something to bite on or hold onto?"

Honestly, you wish you never opened up to Jonathan about your dizzy spells, so then he'd never insist on a blood test to check your iron levels.

"I'm not just going to stick it in when you least expect it, you might flinch and—" Jonathan stops himself, seeming to remember that he's not trying to scare you. "Just... Take a deep breath. Count to ten, then back down to one." He squeezes your hand, "it's just a little pinch, only for a few minutes and then it's all done."