Chapter 7 #4
“I know, honey. I’m going as fast as I can.” He cut and hacked at the branches until he had freed her limbs from the tangle. “Easy now,” he said as he took her hands and helped her to stand. “Aw, honey, you’re a bloody mess.”
Carolina tried to walk, but her tortured skin protested.
“Don’t try to move, Caro. I’ll carry you. Hold on to me.” He lifted her effortlessly and started back to the house. “That’ll teach you to run away from me.”
“I bet you put that thorn bush there to teach me a lesson.”
His quiet chuckle made her smile, even though she hurt everywhere. “I never want to see you hurt like this.” Back at the house, he used his foot to kick open the door and deposited her gently on a kitchen chair. “Let me get the first aid kit.”
Since it hurt to breathe, Carolina remained as still as she possibly could until he returned and flipped on a light so he could better see her.
“Oh, honey, God.”
Angry, bloody scratches, some of them deep, covered her arms and legs. Fortunately, her shorts and T-shirt had protected much of her body.
“We might need to call Dr. David.”
“No, no doctor. We can clean it up. Hand me the gauze and some of the antibacterial ointment.”
“Now, now, love, settle yourself. I'll tend to your wounds. It’s my fault you have them, after all.”
Carolina risked the pain of movement to touch his jaw, which was tight with tension. “It’s not your fault. I was being foolish when I ran away from you. That was my fault. Not yours.”
His hands trembled ever so slightly as he applied the ointment to her ravaged skin. “You never would’ve been out there if I hadn’t driven you to seek refuge from me.”
“Seamus, don’t. It was a silly accident. It’s not your fault.”
“Well, it’s not yours either.”
“Why are we fighting about this?”
“Because. I don’t know. Hold still.” He was exceedingly gentle as he cleaned each of the cuts and scratches on her arms and legs.
The pain was tremendous, but Carolina held still and stayed quiet until he got the deepest gash on her thigh. Too bad she’d been wearing shorts instead of jeans.
“I don’t know about this one, love. It might need a stitch or two.”
“There are butterfly bandages in there. Let’s use them and see how it is tomorrow.”
Carolina bit her lip and tried to stay silent while he dabbed the ointment into the cut. Tears rolled down her face that she brushed away.
“Please don’t cry,” he whispered. “I can’t take it.”
“Sorry. That one really hurt.”
“I know, love.” With a strip of butterfly bandages applied to her thigh, he wiped the dirt off her legs, plucked the leaves from her hair and finished by mopping up her tears.
“Now, let’s get you into bed.” He lifted her from the chair and transported her to the bedroom, setting her down carefully.
After months of cohabitation, he knew where everything was and found her a T-shirt to sleep in.
He helped her out of her clothes and into the shirt, helped her to the bathroom and then tucked her into bed.
When she was settled under the covers, he sat on the edge of the mattress, looking down at her.
“I’m sorry you got hurt. I’m sorry about this whole stupid thing.
After all my preaching about how our age difference doesn’t matter at all, after pushing and pushing for you to tell Joe about us, I couldn’t even bring myself to tell me own mum about it.
” He shook his head, clearly disgusted with himself.
“Not as easy as it looks, is it?”
“No. Not at’all.” He brushed the hair back from her face and looked down at her, his torment reflected in his eyes, the rigid set of his lips, the tension in his shoulders. “It doesn’t mean I don’t love you and want you and everything else.”
“I know that, Seamus. When I was having trouble telling Joe about us, it didn’t mean I loved you any less.”
“And now you’re all scratched and bloody because I couldn’t come clean with me mum.”
“I’m scratched and bloody because I foolishly thought the path was in the same exact place it was when I was twelve and tramping through those woods.
Clearly some things have changed since then.
” Despite the pain it caused her, she raised her arm and ran a finger over his tightly set lips.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. The scratches will heal.
We’re fine. Your mum is fine. We’re all fine. ”
“Are we fine? Really?”
“Of course we are. Do you think I don’t understand how difficult it can be to break this news to loved ones?”
“I shouldn’t have let you be blindsided.”
“No, you shouldn’t have, and you won’t do that again, right?”
“No, love. Lesson learned. I like to think I can be trained.”
Carolina laughed. “That’ll be the day.” She curled her hand around his. “Come to bed. I can’t sleep without you next to me.”
“Maybe I should sleep on the sofa so I don’t hurt you.”
“You’ll hurt me if you don’t sleep with me.”
He bent down to kiss her softly, tenderly. “I love you so damned much, Carolina.”
“I love you just as much, even if I want to kill you most of the time.”
That drew the first genuine smile from him that she’d seen in hours. “I gotta keep ya on your toes.”
“That you do. That you do. Now come to bed so we can get some sleep.”
“I’m coming, love.”