AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lennox and I run to her at the same time, kneeling on either side of her. Lennox eases the hood off, careful not to injure her head or neck, that could already be injured.
And then we both gasp.
It’s not River.
The body with a weak breath, moaning just soft enough to let us know he’s alive, is Kit.
Chapter 13
Lennox
Rialta and I stare at Kit, who is lying on the bed in a safe house Gage found on the outskirts of the city. We didn’t think it was safe to go back to the apartment we were in before. Not with so many people after us, and not when we have no idea what happened to Kit.
Gage left to join Hayes and Beckett to search for Ri the second he helped us get Kit here.
“What do we do?” Rialta asks, staring at him. “Should we call a doctor? Should we have taken him to the ER?”
“No, he’s better off here.”
She looks at me deeply, as if unsure if she can trust me or not.
“Kit’s breathing. His heart rate is fine. His blood loss minimal. Most of his wounds seem to have healed. He’s been tortured, but not for a while. We can stitch up the remaining injuries, give him some pain meds, and help him sleep.”
“But what if he has internal injuries?” she says, her voice full of worry.
“Then we’ll take him to the hospital.”
Her head snaps to me.
“I’ll take him myself. I promise,” I say.
Her eyes don’t blink as she bores into mine. And then she nods slightly, accepting my promise.
“Let’s get him undressed to see if there are any other injuries we need to address.”
“Okay,” her voice is breathy. She pulls out the scissors from the first aid kit we always travel with and begins cutting down the middle of his T-shirt. She gently pulls the pieces of cloth off, and we both wince. His torso is covered in dark shades of purple. There’s a deep slice across one of his pectoral muscles that could use some stitching.
Rialta’s eyes dash to me, waiting for my assessment—trusting me with the man she loves.
“He’s okay—I’ll stitch up that wound in just a minute. Cut off his pants first, though.”
She nods. Her hands shake as she cuts down his pant legs. Tears well in her eyes, and her face turns white as a ghost as she looks at the slices on his legs.
“Kit’s going to be okay. He’s going to live. And you and him are going to live happily ever after.”
Her face turns whiter, and I think she’s going to pass out on me.
“Rialta!” I grab her hands and shake her gently. “He’s going to live, and so are you. You’ll marry him and have babies with him and live your life with him.”
Her eyebrows pinch together, and her lips quake. “We won’t,” she whispers.
“He’s going to live. I promise. Why don’t you go get him some water and food while I stitch him up? He’ll need something to regain his strength when he wakes up.”
She squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head before taking his hand in hers, holding it tightly. “I’m not leaving him. He didn’t deserve this. He wasn’t supposed to be in this life. This is my fault.”
I sigh but don’t say anything else. There are no words I can offer that will comfort her now.
I take the supplies out of the first aid kit and go to work stitching him up as much as I can, ignoring his naked body and the way she stares at him with eyes full of love and worry. I would give everything for her to look at me the way she does him.
