Chapter Eleven
“What can I do to help?” Murphy asked from behind me, his presence hovering as he stood up.
Turning to glare at him, I released Rainer’s arm and motioned for him to sit back beside Emmanuel and Lucas. “You can sit down until I can assess your injuries.”
Murphy did as I said, but he frowned. “I have a split lip. Nothing more serious.”
“Did you get hit in the head at all?”
Murphy opened his mouth to respond, but Rainer beat him to it. “Yes, he did. Sit your ass down, man.”
Rainer’s words were more of a grunt than anything else, and I knew he was biting his tongue to hold back a scream from the pain in his arm. Even so, he was handling this better than anyone else, to no one’s surprise. If I had been shot in the arm, and at that close of range, I’d be curled into a ball and sobbing.
“Elizabeth, can you find me some water?” I eyed Rainer’s wound, the blood continuing to drip and although I knew what I needed to do, I still struggled to choke out the words. “And the knife.”
Elizabeth hurried into motion, Stephanie curled onto the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest as she watched all of us with worry. Sasha and Mina must have heard my words because Sasha was the one to rush over with the knife in her palm. I must have dropped it sometime while the three of us were standing together.
Nodding thanks to her and then to Elizabeth when she brought me a bottle of water, I prepared myself. Blood didn’t make me queasy, but when I worked in the emergency room, most of the patients were on some sort of pain medication. Or were under anesthesia. I wasn’t prepared for how this would affect Rainer.
For the first time ever, Rainer’s eyes were soft when they met mine. He knew what I was going to have to do and he was letting me know that it was okay. We couldn’t keep the bullet in his arm and I couldn’t properly bandage the wound until it was gone. Which left only one option.
“Murphy, give me your shirt,” I directed and Murphy obliged immediately, tearing off the black fabric and handing it to me.
For a moment, my eyes took in his sculpted chest, the futile emotions I still possessed bringing me back to our interrupted moment at the radio tower. Shaking the thoughts from my head, knowing now wasn’t the time, I grabbed the cotton and shoved it toward Rainer.
“Here.” When he raised a brow at me, I was surprised he didn’t already know what I wanted him to do. “Bite down on it. The twins don’t need to hear you scream.”
Murphy coughed loudly, and Rainer frowned in silence. I didn’t care how much of a badass he thought he was, this was going to hurt like hell. And Lucas and Stephanie were already scared enough, they didn’t need to hear him yelling out in pain.
And speaking of the twins and their wellbeing, I turned toward Elizabeth. “Maybe we should get some privacy?”
I arched my brows and hoped she understood my meaning. Nodding quickly, she grabbed the kids, promising that she would make sure Lucas would stay sitting until I could check on him. Thankfully, out of the four injured, Lucas was the one I was least worried about. He’d have some bruises, but overall, I figured he would be okay.
Taking a deep breath, I turned back toward Rainer, reaching for the first aid bag. Pulling out the remaining pieces of gauze, I grabbed the water bottle and doused my hands. Alcohol or soap would have been preferable, and I cringed at the thought of the bacteria that were most likely going to infest the bullet hole. Hopefully, the few antibiotics we had would deter any infection.
Pouring the water over Rainer’s arm, I used the gauze to wipe away as much blood as I could, giving myself a better visual of the damage. Unfortunately, the pitch black sky was doing me no favors.
“Can you even see Alessia?” Murphy echoed my thoughts.
“Barely.” But I could feel.
Reaching for the knife, I doused it in water, and then nodded for Rainer to pick up the shirt. With a clenched fist, he shoved the fabric into his mouth and bit down. The adrenaline from being shot had most likely long faded by now, and I knew he had to be in immense pain.
“Ready?” I asked, my face centimeters from his arm and the knife held steadily in my hand.
Rainer tapped my thigh twice and I took that at his assurance to go ahead. Bringing the knife to the small hole, I slit the tip between his skin, slowly peeling back layers until the hole was large enough for a small finger. More blood poured down his arm and I blindly reached for another piece of gauze, trying to soak up the liquid.
“Fuck, I can’t watch this,” Murphy mumbled, and I was slightly surprised. The man could gut a deer, but human blood bothered him? Although, more likely, it was probably the sight of his best friend’s face contorted in pain that had him standing up and walking away.
Switching the knife into my left hand, I took a deep breath before pressing my finger into the wound. Immediately, I felt the small bullet embedded in his muscle and all I could think about was how much more trouble we’d be in if it had hit an artery. I didn’t think I had the stomach to cauterize something.
Curling my finger around the bullet, the small yet deadly metal popped out and onto the ground. Immediately, blood started rushing like a faucet from his skin and I cursed under my breath. We only had one more piece of gauze and the few small bandages. Not nearly enough to stem the blood flow.
Thinking fast, I grabbed the knife once more, cutting off the bottom few inches of my shirt. Scrambling in the dirt, I found a sturdy stick and got back to work. Wrapping the shirt a few inches above Rainer’s bicep, I tightened the cotton, threading the stick through the fabric and turning until I was content with the tourniquet.
The flow softened to a trickle, and I knew the hard part was over. A wave of calm washed through me for the moment and I picked up the gauze, pressing it against the wound and then brandishing three bandages over top to cover the entire thing.
Backing away from my handiwork, my eyes dropped to my blood covered hands and the moment of calm passed. An internal freak out bringing its way back to me. Rainer was really shot. We could have all been shot. We could have died.
A large hand gripped the bottom of my chin, bringing my gaze to a pair of soft eyes. Rainer must have sensed the meltdown I was having, and he shook his head.
“How’d you know how to do that? Figured you couldn’t do shit.”
I knew what he was doing. He was trying to act normal, or at least the new normal we had established over the past three months. And I hated to admit that it was working, my breath slowing as I came back to reality and let the panic fade.
“In the real world, I’m actually quite good at this. I usually have more tools and medicine, though.”
Rainer glanced at his arm, his lips tilting in an amused smirk. A bout of pride surged through me before Rainer doused that happiness. “Hate to break it to you, Less, but this is the real world now.”
After giving Rainer an antibiotic and telling him to rest with some water, I went to check on everyone else. Thankfully, I had been right about Lucas and he was just a little bruised. I offered a painkiller, but Elizabeth said he would be fine. Those should be used in dire circumstances. I hated to think that we were at the point where dire circumstances weren’t that far off.
Murphy did indeed not have a concussion, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He had cleaned up his split lip and, with the blood gone, it was easy to see the puffiness that would probably fade in a few days.
Emmanuel, unfortunately, did have a concussion. I gave him one of the painkillers to help with the headache and told him that he needed to drink as much water as he could. I also assured Elizabeth that I would wake him up every few hours while he rested to make sure he was okay.
Finally settling against a tree, the sun was just beginning to rise. Mina and Sasha were at my side, the three of us sitting in silence, no one quite sure what we should say. All we knew was that we needed each other more than ever now.
When the sky eventually brightened, Elizabeth ushered the kids to the creek and I was confused why they were leaving Emmanuel, until I spotted the three bodies still lying in the clearing. In the broad daylight, the dried blood beneath them was a beacon against the dirt.
“We need to move the bodies. And preferably far away, they’ll draw in animals.”
I glanced up at Murphy, his face set in a stern expression. Rainer couldn’t pick up anything right now, not without hurting his arm even more, and Emmanuel was resting near the fire. Which meant the four of us were the only ones capable of moving the bodies.
Death didn’t affect me as much as it used to, after six years in nursing, I was used to seeing people die. But I had never seen such a gruesome death, let alone had to move their body on my own.
The task was harder than I anticipated. Not only were the bodies heavier than I guessed, but the sight was ghastly and I struggled to not gag while we carried them through the woods. We hiked for miles, trying to put as much distance between our clearing and their bodies as we could, and by the time we reached camp, my body was ready to give out on me.
I hadn’t had much rest and the adrenaline from the intruders, the shooting, and taking care of injuries, was fading fast. My lids drooped over my eyes and Murphy pulled me into his side when he realized my body was shutting down.
“Get some sleep, sweetheart. I’ll wake up Emmanuel and make sure he’s okay.”
Nodding against his chest, I let him guide me to the ground, shoving a bag underneath my head. My eyes closed on their own accord and I snuggled into the rough dirt, finding comfort in the familiarity and in the warm weight pressed against my side.
“Everything is about to change, isn’t it?” I whispered so low, I wasn’t sure Murphy even heard me.
Finally, he responded on a long sigh, “I’m pretty sure everything changed a while ago. It’s just finally catching up to us.”