“What?” I asked, hurrying toward his voice. “Who?”
The thought that an intruder would be in the middle of nowhere was absurd but what would they take?
My question was quickly answered as I swung my massive frame into the room and paused mid-step, gawking at the bloodied, unconscious girl in my bed.
“Sweet Jesus!” I muttered, regaining myself. “How the hell did she get in here?”
Instantly, I saw from where the blood was pouring and anger spiked through my veins when I realized what was on her leg.
“You idiot!” I yelled at Jim who hovered near the unconscious girl. Her skin was as white as the snow which fell outside, a stark contrast to her ebony hair which lay dripping over a mouth of surprising redness.
“How many times have I told you that those bear traps are an accident waiting to happen?”
I dropped to my knees and barked at Harry to grab the medical kit from the bathroom.
“Yeah but the polar bears,” Jim whimpered and I glowered at him.
“Does she look like a polar bear to you, Jimmy?”
I didn’t listen for a response and I looked at the wound around her leg. I needed to pry the clamp off her before she got sepsis. There was no way of knowing how long she’d been there or how hurt she was just by looking at her.
Harry returned and handed me the kit as I struggled to unhinge the jaws from her leg.
“Be careful,” Jim muttered and I shot him a scathing look.
“I wouldn’t have to be careful if you’d be more sensible!”
“I’m sorry,” Jim muttered and I softened, knowing it was never his intention to hurt anyone. That didn’t change the fact that there was a woman bleeding to death in our dorm.
“Stand by with towels. Blood is going to go everywhere. She’s lucky the brunt of it caught her boot. I don’t think there’s much damage to her bones.”
Jim did as he was instructed and slowly, I pulled the trap off her calf, my dark eyes darting up toward her face to see if the pain would rouse her but she remained in a deep, slumber and it scared me beyond reason.
As I predicted, gushes of red began to spurt from the wound and we were on the blood, holding towels to her as I managed to slip off her boots.
“Her pants need to come off too,” Harry offered and I nodded.
“Get out,” I told them. “I’ll deal with this.”
No one moved as they looked at one another as if they weren’t sure they should go.
“Guys get out. If she wakes up and sees seven men looming over her without her pants—”
“Oh!”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“Come on.”
“Nothing to see here.”
They all moved out of the room with lightning speed, except Graham who lingered.
“You can go too, Graham,” I told him without turning around. “I’ve got this.”
He didn’t say anything and when I turned to look at him, he had a peculiar look on his face.
“What?” I demanded.
“You know what,” he replied but without another word, he, too, left the room. I didn’t have time to think about Graham and his weirdness at that moment. This woman’s life was in my hands.
“Come on, honey,” I breathed. “Wake up.”
Tenderly, I removed her stained, soaked outer pants and then her long johns, followed by her drenched socks.
Gooseflesh prickled her fair skin and I managed to apply pressure to her wound as I slipped off her jacket.
She was breathtakingly lovely and I had to wonder how she’d gotten out there by herself. Someone had to be missing her. I knew I would be.
Carefully, I disinfected the deep gouges but my initial assessment had been correct. Nothing was broken. It was a flesh wound, nothing more.
It only took a few stitches and some alcohol to stop the bleeding and I gave her a shot of Demerol, knowing that when she woke, she’d be in excruciating pain.
Satisfied with my handiwork, I yelled for Jim again.
“Help me move her onto another bed so I can change these sheets,” I told him. “And we need to find her some warm clothes. It’s a small wonder she doesn’t have hypothermia.”
“Where the heck did she come from?” Jim asked, echoing my own thoughts from earlier. “There’s not a town for miles!”
“We’ll ask her when she wakes up, I guess.” I looked around for a purse or bag, my eyes resting on a knapsack on the floor.
“Is that hers?”
“I guess.”
Together, we lifted her and placed her on the next nearest bed which was Bash’s and Jim giggled.
“This will be the first time Bash has ever had a girl in his bed,” he joked but I wasn’t amused. It wasn’t the time for jokes, even though I knew it was Harry’s defense mechanism.
“Jim, go find her some clothes.”
His smile faded and he hurried to oblige as the others slowly filtered back inside.
“Is she awake yet?” Harry wanted to know, his usually amused expression somber. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes,” I replied with conviction. I had no doubt in my mind that she was going to be fine.
“We just need to keep an eye on that wound and she’ll be fine.”
“What can we do?” Bash asked, his small voice barely over a whisper. I could see that having the girl in his bed unnerved him but his heart was good. He wouldn’t make it about him, not when someone’s life was at risk.
“Pray?” I suggested. “I gave her something for the pain but she’ll come around soon.”
I hoped.
All around me, my companions hung their heads and silently wished her well as Jim returned with a pair of his own flannel pajamas.
“Will these do?” he asked and I could read the contrition on his face.
“Yeah,” I said, offering him a brief smile. “You’re scrawny.”
Jim scoffed and the others laughed but quietly as to not wake our sleepy beauty.
Come on, princess, I begged her. Wake up so I can see your eyes.
It was only then that I noticed Graham still standing off to the side, frowning at all of us and I stifled a sigh of worry.
I hoped he wasn’t going to make matters unpleasant.
7
Sasha
In a dream, I saw the forms of six men hovering over me, a haze of muscle and scruff. The smell of a burning fire filled the air and I blinked, smiling fuzzily at them, my clouded eyes focused on the man front and center.
He was tall, or so he seemed, even sitting at my side, his chocolate eyes shadowed with concern beneath a mass of thick lashes.
He sported a short beard and I think I heard his voice before I identified even the unruly curls on his head.
I couldn’t quite make sense of the words falling from his full mouth but I found myself fascinated by the movement of them.
Slowly, the others came into better view as my trance-like position seemed to lift. I realized then that I couldn’t be dreaming or if I was, it was very lucid.
The man at my side abruptly stopped speaking and he leaned in close to meet my gaze, his irises lightening as he realized I was looking at him.
“She’s awake!” he said and the other men clamored in closer to look at me. Suddenly, I wasn’t floating above them on a cloud but very aware of the fact that I was in a strange place, surrounded by strange men.
I struggled to sit up but a wave of voices called out to me in unison.
“Oh no, hon, just relax!”
“Don’t try and move.”
“You’ve been through an ordeal.”
Their words meshed together in a chorus but my eyes were fixed on the coffee-colored ones in front of me.
“Bash, get her some water,” he growled softly, leaning in closer to me. “How are you feeling?”
I sank back, unsure if my fear was founded. Instinctively, I understood that being in such a situation couldn’t be good but a feeling of peace stole over me as I read nothing but deep concern around the room. Abruptly, I remembered how I’d gotten there.
“Oh shit!” I cursed and there was a titter of nervous giggles in the room. I looked down and saw the blanket covering my body, felt the pain throbbing in my right leg.
“It’s all right,” the sitting man told me with tenderness. He couldn’t seem to stop staring at my face as I pulled the thick quilted comforter aside and peered at my lower body. I was wearing a pair of too-large pajamas and I could see the white of a bandage sticking out through my foot. I realized that I’d been dressed by one of these men but the information didn’t bother me as much as it probably should have.
After all, these guys had saved my life. If they’d wanted to harm me, they wouldn’t have taken such care with me.
A glass of water was pressed into my hands and I took a long sip before handing it to the dark, mysterious stranger beside me. He placed it on a nearby table and turned back to me.
“How’s your pain?” the man asked me and I refocused my attention on him, a million questions of my own on the tip of my lips.
“I-I’m okay,” I said slowly, realizing that I meant it. Aside from the fog which was slipping away from my mind, I meant it.
“Where am I?” I demanded, finally managing to pull my body upward and stare at the men. “What is this place?”
“I’m Dan,” he offered and nodded over his shoulder. “These are my friends and business associates.”