Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Riley
“But this is totally rigged!” Lexi shouts at the TV. “She should have chosen the lawyer dude!”
“At this rate, anyone else would have been a better choice,” Elena sighs, covering her eyes dramatically. “I can’t believe she went for that arrogant guy.”
The three of us decided to spend our girls’ night watching a dating reality show. It was supposed to be a light and fun activity but by the third episode, all three of us were losing it. It’s a surprise we even reached the finale.
Before I can say anything, we’re interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Both girls freeze, and we exchange looks.
“Are any of you expecting someone?” Elena asks and both Lexi and I shake our heads. There is another knock, this one louder than the first.
“I’ll get it,” I jump to my feet and quickly waltz to the door. Just as I’m about to open it, the person on the other side, knocks again. “Just a sec!”
The sight in front of my eyes takes me by surprise.
“I was worried you might not be home.”
“Zeke…” My eyes trail the path of the dark, wet blood dripping from his shirt. The metallic scent of it hits me immediately. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” his voice is weak as he struggles to speak.
“Come inside,” I move to the side, making space for him to enter.
“Riley, who is it?” Lexi shouts from the living room.
“Just…” Ezekiel’s eyes meet mine for a brief moment, making my heart skip a beat.
The weight of him coming to me out of all places is something I struggle to process.
“A friend from work. They need some help with something. Come on,” I take Zeke’s arm, letting him lean his weight on me, hoping to help ease his steps even a little bit.
“Let’s go to my room and take a look at that. ”
I do my best not to look at the sticky red pool soaking into the fabric of his shirt, or think about all the ways he could have gotten injured. He walks by my side in silence, his shallow breathing loud in my ears. Once I close the bedroom door behind us, he lets out a breath.
“What happened to you?” I’m already tearing through my closet, getting out my heavy first aid kit and setting it on the desk. My hands are shaking, but the paramedic student in me forces them steady.
“Someone broke in at the Eden,” he responds, leaning his back against the wall, without giving many details, “but I couldn’t go to the hospital. I can’t have the police getting involved in this.”
“I see,” I snap open the plastic lid of a bottle, the sharp smell of antiseptic filling the small space. Then I proceed to pull out the sterile gauze packages and a bottle of saline. “Can you take your shirt off or do you need my help?”
He raises an eyebrow, trying to crack a joke, but the pain takes over and his face quickly frowns again.
I step close, carefully helping him peel the ruined, heavy cotton shirt down his arms. My heart races as my fingertips accidentally graze the warm, bare skin of his chest, suddenly remembering the last time I touched him and everything he did to me after that.
Focus, Riley!
“There is a lot of blood,” I say.
He catches the tone of my voice and he grabs my hand, while with his free hand, he lifts my chin so he could look me in the eyes.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he reassures me. “Trust me, I’ve been through worse.”
“I’m not sure that’s as comforting as you think it is,” I admit, my breath catching in my throat at how close he is.
“You can do this,” he says, his voice dropping lower, with a certainty that somehow manages to calm me down. “Just pretend I’m just a patient at the hospital, okay?”
I nod, finding myself unable to say anything else.
He lets go of my hand, and I force my brain into medic-mode, getting back to cleaning his wound.
I drench a stack of gauze in cold saline and press it firmly against the injury.
Zeke lets out a sharp, hissed breath through his teeth, his entire body tensing under my hands, but he doesn’t pull away.
I proceed to wipe away the thick, smeared blood surrounding the puncture, watching the white cotton turn dark red.
He’s right.
Once I have a clear view of the skin and the wound itself, I see that the bullet greatly damaged his skin, making it look awful, but it only grazed the surface of the muscle.
It never went through, which thankfully also means it missed every major artery and the bone.
The wound is not as bad as the amount of blood made it seem.
“See?” The corner of his lip raises into a weak smile and only then do I realize he’s been watching me carefully. “I told you it’s not that bad.”
“You were right,” I nod, continuing to treat the wound.
“Say that again,” he teases.
“You really love hearing that you’re right,” I smile, avoiding looking him in the eyes.
“Only because it’s true,” he leans back his head against the wall, the muscles in his neck strained.
I wrap up the treatment by applying a thick layer of antibacterial ointment and placing a fresh, clean pad over the wound, securely taping down the edges with medical tape.
“All done,” my voice is barely a whisper when I speak again, yet it sounds incredibly loud in the quiet room. “For the second time,” I tease.
“Thanks, Riley,” he mumbles, a weak smile on his face.
“Just give me a sec to clean all of this up,” I return my attention to the bloody mess I’ve made out of my room.
“You seem to hate blood a little too much for a future paramedic.”
“It’s not the blood that I hate,” I say but I don’t allow myself to finish that sentence. Seeing Zeke bleeding tonight made me realize how much I care about him.
By the time I finish cleaning up and return my attention to him, Zeke has already fallen asleep in my bed. The sight warms my heart in ways I can’t even name.
He came to me tonight, and he feels safe enough in my room to fall asleep when he’s vulnerable.
The thought makes my heart ache and I’m worried that if I continue staring at him deep asleep on my sheets a minute longer, I might melt entirely.
I glance at the closed bedroom door, hearing the distant, muffled sound of the TV from the living room where Lexi and Elena are still watching something.
They’re clueless about what’s happening in here, and somehow that realization excites me.
The air in the room feels charged and my own body is suddenly aching from the leftover adrenaline. The thought of trying to sneak out to the living room couch later when my roommates go to sleep, feels impossible. And if I’m being entirely honest, I don’t want to leave him.
“Whatever,” I slide in right next to him in the small bed.
There is no way to avoid him and when my shoulder brushes against his uninjured side, the sudden, intense heat radiating from his skin makes my breath catch.
I lie completely still on my side, staring at the dark silhouette of his jawline in the shadows.
He smells like iron and antiseptic, yet at the same time he somehow still smells like him.
He shifts slightly in his sleep, but he doesn’t wake up. His breathing remains steady, a slow, warm puff of air that I can feel against my forehead as I close my eyes. I match the rhythm of my breathing to his, letting the darkness finally take over.