Page 101 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

Had something happened there too?

Anywhere else?

I washed my hands and wet a paper towel to blot at some of the blood so I could get a better look at the wound beneath it.

Unlike Caitlin, I had a strong stomach for gore. A lifetime in the Family necessitated that. But I still felt my guts twist as I looked at the gash across the back of her head.

It was big.

And it was bleeding like a bitch.

But I wasn’t seeing the white of her skull through the opening.

Thank God for small fucking miracles.

“Okay. This isn’t as bad as I was worrying, but it is going to need to be stitched up.”

“I don’t want to go to the hospital.” There was a high, almost hysterical edge to her words I didn’t understand. But it was hardly the time to ask her about it.

“That’s okay. The Family has someone who can do this kind of thing. Would that be okay?”

She sniffled and wiped at her cheeks with her sleeves. “Yeah.”

“Alright. I’m just going to call him to give him the heads up. Then we’re going to go get you all taken care of.”

“You’re coming, right?”

“I won’t leave your side,” I assured her.

Except as I walked off to the hall to call one of my soldiers for a ride, then my cousin to get his ass to the medical center because I was bringing someone in.

“Alright. We’re all set. Do you want me to grab anything for you before we go?”

“No. I just… I just need you.”

It was not the time for that tight, full feeling in my chest, but there was no stopping it, either.

“Well, you’ve got me,” I told her, grabbing a hoodie off the back of a chair and pulling it on to hide the blood on my shoulder and mask any more that might transfer as I lifted her into my arms again.

It wasn’t a long drive to Salvatore’s place, and I kept Caitlin cuddled on my lap the whole way.

“He’s waiting,” Nero, Miko’s little brother, greeted me as he opened the door. “Room One.”

“And who do we have here?” Salvatore asked as he pulled on gloves.

“This is Caitlin. She’s got a head wound.”

“Okay. Let’s take a look,” he said, dragging a bendable lamp closer as I set Caitlin down. “What happened here?” he asked.

I stayed close, holding onto Caitlin’s hand as she tensed when Salvatore prodded around her wound.

“I don’t know exactly. I was hit from behind. Then I was falling and then… out.”

“Do you know how long you were unconscious?”

“No. But it couldn’t have been long.”

“Cait, did you fall on your wrist?” I asked, watching the way she cradled the cast to her chest.