Chapter 6 #2
“Nothing,” he said, keeping his gaze locked on her.
“I pulled a huge piece of glass out of his shoulder and it bled pretty badly,” she tattled without remorse. “And he thinks his ribs might be cracked or broken after a freaking truck smashed him against a bunch of logs in the water.”
“Fuck!”
“Shit, Chaos.”
“Change of plans, we’re going straight to the hospital’s helipad.”
“Chill out. I’m okay, guys,” Arrow told his friends, turning his head to frown at them.
“We’re already down one with Pyro still being out of commission. I’m not losing another pilot,” one of the men behind the controls said, sounding extremely grouchy.
“Fine,” Arrow said. “But only because Kara needs medical attention too.”
It was her turn to frown.
“Of course. How are you doing, ma’am?”
Looking at the man behind Arrow who’d spoken, Kara was suddenly tongue tied.
She wasn’t about to tell these extreme alpha males what she’d been through.
It wasn’t as if she was ashamed of what happened.
It wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
But she had a feeling they’d all lose their minds if they knew what Nolan had done.
“I’m okay.”
“How long were you in that tree? We couldn’t believe it when Chaos spotted you out there. And we’re going to have words, Chaos. I also can’t believe you fucking jumped into that water. What a stupid-ass thing to do!”
The man’s words rose as he spoke, but it was obvious to Kara that his irritation came from a place of affection for Arrow.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” he said, staring straight at Kara.
Something passed between them. A kind of connection she could no longer deny.
This man…why couldn’t she have found him three months ago? But then again, that would’ve been impossible, as she was here in Asheville and he’d been in Virginia. They’d met because of a hurricane, and because of Nolan and his fucked-up actions. It was kind of depressing.
“Everyone, this is Kara Guthrie. Casper’s flying on the left, Edge on the right. Behind me is Obi-Wan and Buck.”
She gave the two men looking at her a dorky wave. “Hi.”
When she looked back at Arrow, he spoke to his friends but kept his gaze locked on hers.
“She’s been to hell and back, and I’m not just talking about escaping the floodwaters.
She needs to see a doctor, but we have to keep her hospital visit on the down low.
No one can know she was there. Not sure how to swing that, but it needs to happen. For her safety.”
The vibe in the chopper changed instantly. The men who a second ago had been smiling at her, were now frowning.
“Another change of plans. We’ll head back to the evacuation center and have doctors look at you both there. If they think either of you need to go to the hospital, we’ll make that happen,” Casper said in a clipped tone.
Arrow nodded. “Appreciate it. I’m going to need antibiotics. My shoulder is infected.”
Kara was kind of surprised he admitted that. And also irritated that he hadn’t said anything to her about the infection.
“Don’t frown at me,” Arrow told her with a small smile.
“There wasn’t anything either of us could’ve done about it while we were in the woods.
And I knew my team would find us before it got too serious.
” Then he said, again without turning to look at his friends, “Guys, can you change channels for a sec? I need to ask Kara something sensitive.”
Without question, all four men in the helicopter reached up to the side of their headsets.
“They can’t hear us now,” Arrow said. “I’d like for you to get a rape test done.
The likelihood of any biological evidence being found is low after all the time you spent in the water, but if there’s the slightest possibility that there could be some, we need to take the chance.
You probably also need an STD test, and maybe even the morning-after pill? ”
Kara noted how he’d said we instead of you, but she didn’t dwell on it. She was sure he didn’t mean anything by his choice of words.
She was also kind of blown away that he was being so supportive and sensitive by asking his friends to not listen in on this conversation.
“Kara?”
“Sorry. Um…I’m protected. I have an implant. And believe me, I’ve never been so thankful for that in my life. I agree about everything else though. I’m not looking forward to the tests, but I’ll do them.”
“Good.”
“And thank you for telling your friends not to take me to the hospital. I’m sure Nolan has been calling to see if I’ve been brought in.
He’ll probably say he’s my fiancé or something.
And I’m certain if I protest or tell anyone what he’s done to me, he’ll try to insist I’ve got some sort of mental issue.
That I’m delusional or something. I’m terrified that he’ll be able to circumvent security protocols and steal me away.
And if he gets his hands on me again, I’ll be a dead woman. He won’t let me escape a second time.”
Arrow was frowning, but he nodded in agreement. “I’d like to tell my team what happened to you. We can protect you, but they’re going to need to know why, and who we’re protecting you from.”
Kara swallowed hard around the lump in her throat.
“And we’ll have to call the police too. Let them do a report. They’ll require your real name, but we’ll make it clear that if they screw up and leak your new location, Nolan will likely find out.”
She nodded. Then asked, “Why are you going so out of your way to help me?”
Arrow shrugged, then winced as the movement pulled on his wound. “Because you’re worth it.”
“You don’t know me. I could be a terrible person.”
“You aren’t.”