“There’s not enough time to argue. If you lose too much blood, I’m taking you to thehospital.”
She stiffened in his arms. Good. At least she had the sense to cooperate. Shifters knew better than to go to a hospital unless absolutely necessary. Unusual characteristics in their blood made doctors ask too many questions. Brady and Rachel had been lucky enough to find a shifter-friendly doctor for their son, but that was rare. Most doctors wanted to lock you up and subject you to a milliontests.
“Where’s the first aid kit?” He carried her into the house and kicked the doorclosed.
“In the bathroom underthesink.”
Good, he’d been afraid he’d have to carry her home. Considering how much blood she was losing, he didn’t want to waste a second. After walking down the hall, he strode into the bathroom and sat her on the edge of thebathtub.
“Don’t move. Keep pressure on it,”hesaid.
“Okay.”
She eyed him warily. She didn’t trust him. Too bad. He’d have to find a way to gain her trust. He didn’t know why he wanted it so badly, but he did. The idea that she could fear him didn’t sit right in hisbelly.
After locating the first aid kit, he set it on the sink counter. He rifled through the contents. Bandages in all shapes and sizes were strewn throughout the box. He pulled out a bottle of iodine and a tube of antibiotic cream. He checked the expiration date on the cream. Fortunately it was good for anothermonth.
He grabbed a roll of gauze and found a stitching kit. Living this far away from a hospital meant they had to be ready for any medical emergency. Fortunately, Jack had kept his medical supplies uptodate.
“We’re going to have to wash out the wound first,” he said. “It’s goingtohurt.”
“It alreadyhurts.”
“It’s going tohurtmore.”
Asking her if she needed help standing was pointless, so he wrapped an arm around her waist and supported her as she wobbled to the sink. He turned the water on and waited. Too hot and it would burn her flesh, too cold and it wouldn’t do enough to cleanthecut.
Tension crackled in the air. She didn’t want his help, but that was too damn bad. His bear’s protective instinct wouldn’t allow him to leave her, not when she was bleeding all over theplace.
“How did you cut yourself?” When she hesitated he added, “I need to know what you cut yourself on to know whether or not you’ll need antibioticshots.”
“A piece of glass was hanging in the window. When I knocked it out, it fell and cut me.” She kept her gaze fixed on the flowingwater.
“You could have cut off your hand. If you’re going to insist on doing the repairs yourself, then you need to be careful. My offer still stands. If you need help, I’m hereforyou.”
“Why are youdoingthis?”
“What? Helping you? Because it’s the decent thing to do.” He could have sworn a flash of disappointment crossed her face before vanishing. Interesting. Maybe she did want his help but was too proud to ask for it. Like father, likedaughter.
As he moved her hand off of the cut, blood dribbled into the sink. At least the bleeding had slowed. He held onto her hand as he drew her arm into thewater.
Shewinced.
“I’m sorry. I know it hurts,”hesaid.
“Have you ever been cutlikethis?”
He flashed back to his time in the Marines. “Once. I was in Baghdad on a supply mission. The convoy came under attack and the truck in front of us ran over an IED. The damn truck exploded, shooting shrapnel every which way. I was one of theluckyones.”
“I didn’t know youserved.”
“You’ve been gone a long time. There’s a lot you don’t know about me,”hesaid.
“Isupposenot.”
With his free hand, he reached for the iodine. “This is going tosting.”
He gripped her wrist and straightened her arm. As he poured the antiseptic, it splashed onto the skin around the wound, turning it a sallow orange. To her credit, she didn’t make a sound. He admired her strength. Most women would be reduced to tearsbynow.
