Chapter 1 #2
She yelped and frantically brushed it off.
Just as she realized it was a cheap plastic Halloween decoration, she slipped on the rocks.
Frantically windmilling her arms, she hung in the air for a second before falling backward down the slope.
Her head hit the ground first, and the rest of her tumbled over the uneven ground.
It happened all at once and took forever.
She felt every stick and rock, every scrape and every jagged edge that cut into her.
Heard the unmistakable crunch of electronics being crushed.
Felt the stone that sliced open her arm at the elbow.
This was bad.
She sat up slowly, palms stinging and her head throbbing. There was a deeper pain, an overwhelming amount, that hadn’t processed yet. Shock acted like a cushion to keep her from screaming but it wouldn’t last.
Blood trickled down her left arm, rolling off her finger tips. Gently, she touched the back of her head. It wasn’t sticky but it hurt.
Fuck. This was really bad.
Jaxon laughed as if her falling was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. “You should have seen the look on your face, babe! Classic.”
“Jaxon, I need you to call 911,” she said, keeping her voice calm.
“It’s just a cut, babe. You’ll be fine,” he said, still chuckling and clearly not getting it.
“I’m a hemophiliac.”
His brow furrowed. “Is that like some kind of ironmaxxing diet? Cool, but I don’t know why you want to talk about it now.”
That man did not have a single thought in his head. She was dating a good-looking, empty-headed asshole because for the first time in the three years since her divorce, her libido woke up.
“No,” she said, still trying to keep calm even though a quiver crept into her voice. Shock would wear off soon and she’d be in a blinding amount of pain. “It’s a blood disorder. I can’t stop bleeding.”
She pressed her hand over the cut on her arm for all the good it did.
Her knees were also bleeding but not as profusely.
The real danger was internal bleeding. Slamming her head into a rock was a concussion and possible brain bleed.
She needed to get up on her feet, up to the trail and to a hospital.
“Like that Russian prince?”
“Yeah, sure.” Geri wasn’t surprised that he knew of Prince Alexei.
What was surprising was that Jaxon listened to history podcasts while at the gym.
Anyway, it didn’t matter. Prince Alexei was arguably the most famous hemophiliac of all time but he was also a positively ancient example of hemophilia.
She didn’t have time to go into the details of living with the disorder with modern treatments.
“Shit.” He ran his hands through his hair, realization finally sinking in. “Shit. Shit. It was just a prank.”
“Well, it wasn’t funny!” she snapped. “Give me your shirt.”
He yanked off his shirt and tossed it down to her. She tore off a strip at the bottom and tied it around her arm. Blood soaked through instantly. Maybe it was wishful thinking that it slowed down—maybe it was desperation.
“I don’t have any signal on my phone.” Panic crept into his voice.
Great. Now she had to manage her panicky boyfriend.
Ex-boyfriend. Seriously. They were so breaking up when this was over.
“I’ll run down to the parking lot,” he announced.
“No. Wait—”
He was already gone.
Shit. She took an infusion yesterday so her blood was at its most clotty, but she needed to act fast.
With shaky fingers, she opened her camera bag and took out her one hemostat bandage. It was designed to stop bleeding faster than a regular bandage. One was usually enough for an everyday booboo, but she had a good-sized gash on her arm, plus her knees, and whatever else she couldn’t see.
She had to pick one spot. There was no good choice.
She unwrapped it and put it over the cut on her arm.
Well, an attempt was made. Slapping on a bandage with one hand was a lot harder than she expected.
It wasn’t enough. There was a fully stocked first aid kit in her car. She just had to get there.
And Jaxon ran off.
Panicking wouldn’t help. For her knees, she tore the shirt in two and wrapped the fabric around her kneecaps. They were scraped and not bleeding so heavily. It had to be good enough.
Her phone had no signal, not that she was expecting any but it was worth a try, and a new crack covered the screen like a web.
Geri tried to stand but her ankle gave out again. Standing was a no go. She tried scooting up the bank to reach the trail, the stones and ivy digging into her already tender palms.
Her head hurt. A lot. Checking her phone again—hey, she was desperate and optimistic—only made her head hurt worse.
She rolled to the side and heaved, tossing up her breakfast.
“Help,” she called out, wiping her mouth. “Hey, I fell. I need some help.”
Where was the guy with the dog? Maybe he’d help her up the bank.
Or not. The trail seemed oddly empty.
Lightheaded, she rolled onto her back. This was her fault, wasn’t it? She never told Jaxon about her hemophilia because things weren’t that serious between them. He didn’t need to know all that. They were having fun. No complications.
Except she told the jackass no more pranks. He swore! She’d punch him in the throat if she could move her arm or keep her eyes open.
He was coming back. He was. He might be a basic gym bro who thought rubber Halloween props were the height of humor, but he wasn’t cruel. He wouldn’t abandon her.
Molly was going to be so pissed if she died.
Geri took her infusion yesterday. She wasn’t going to die. She just needed to hang on until EMS arrived.
She could do that.
She could…