Page 17 of Shattered Home

Emmanuel had a large bump on his head and from the way he was swaying on his feet, I knew he had a concussion. My eyes fell to Lucas next, his small body trembling. Quickly, I scanned him from head to toe, thankful when there didn’t seem to be any injuries except for a few red marks on his arms. Most likely, those would turn to bruises.

Finally, I looked to Murphy and Rainer. Blood was dripping from Murphy’s lip, but overall, there didn’t seem to be any dangerous injuries. Rainer was a different story. The left sleeve of his threadbare gray t-shirt was darker than the rest and when I leaned in closer, I saw the trails of blood seeping down his arm. Without asking, I lifted the sleeve and saw the bullet burrowed deep into his skin. He winced as I touched the skin around the wound.

Years of school and training kicked in at that moment and I rushed to the log near the fire that I stored the first aid supplies under. We didn’t have much but we hadn’t needed to use any since my last tally.

Making my way back toward the others, I directed Emmanuel, Murphy, and Lucas to sit down. They had injuries, but they could wait until I dealt with Rainer.

“I need you to sit down,” I told him and gestured toward the ground. “You’re losing blood and I don’t need you passing out.”

Rainer listened, but he looked at me with confusion. “What are you going to do?”

“You can do everything else out here, but I can do this. Now be quiet so I can focus.”

Thankfully, Rainer closed his mouth, allowing me the focus I needed. The sun wouldn’t be up for a few more hours, but this wound couldn’t wait that long. Given that, I could barely see what I was working with. But even though I had never trained for something like this, I couldn’t fight the surge of pride as I rolled Rainer’s sleeve above his shoulder. For the first time, I was no longer worthless out here. And I was going to hold on to that fact for as long as I could.

Chapter Eleven

“What can I do to help?” Murphy asked from behind me, his presence hovering as he stood up.

Turning to glare at him, I released Rainer’s arm and motioned for him to sit back beside Emmanuel and Lucas. “You can sit down until I can assess your injuries.”

Murphy did as I said, but he frowned. “I have a split lip. Nothing more serious.”

“Did you get hit in the head at all?”

Murphy opened his mouth to respond, but Rainer beat him to it. “Yes, he did. Sit your ass down, man.”

Rainer’s words were more of a grunt than anything else, and I knew he was biting his tongue to hold back a scream from the pain in his arm. Even so, he was handling this better than anyone else, to no one’s surprise. If I had been shot in the arm, and at that close of range, I’d be curled into a ball and sobbing.

“Elizabeth, can you find me some water?” I eyed Rainer’s wound, the blood continuing to drip and although I knew what I needed to do, I still struggled to choke out the words. “And the knife.”

Elizabeth hurried into motion, Stephanie curled onto the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest as she watched all of us with worry. Sasha and Mina must have heard my words because Sasha was the one to rush over with the knife in her palm. I must have dropped it sometime while the three of us were standing together.

Nodding thanks to her and then to Elizabeth when she brought me a bottle of water, I prepared myself. Blood didn’t make me queasy, but when I worked in the emergency room, most of the patients were on some sort of pain medication. Or were under anesthesia. I wasn’t prepared for how this would affect Rainer.

For the first time ever, Rainer’s eyes were soft when they met mine. He knew what I was going to have to do and he was letting me know that it was okay. We couldn’t keep the bullet in his arm and I couldn’t properly bandage the wound until it was gone. Which left only one option.

“Murphy, give me your shirt,” I directed and Murphy obliged immediately, tearing off the black fabric and handing it to me.

For a moment, my eyes took in his sculpted chest, the futile emotions I still possessed bringing me back to our interrupted moment at the radio tower. Shaking the thoughts from my head, knowing now wasn’t the time, I grabbed the cotton and shoved it toward Rainer.

“Here.” When he raised a brow at me, I was surprised he didn’t already know what I wanted him to do. “Bite down on it. The twins don’t need to hear you scream.”

Murphy coughed loudly, and Rainer frowned in silence. I didn’t care how much of a badass he thought he was, this was going to hurt like hell. And Lucas and Stephanie were already scared enough, they didn’t need to hear him yelling out in pain.

And speaking of the twins and their wellbeing, I turned toward Elizabeth. “Maybe we should get some privacy?”

I arched my brows and hoped she understood my meaning. Nodding quickly, she grabbed the kids, promising that she would make sure Lucas would stay sitting until I could check on him. Thankfully, out of the four injured, Lucas was the one I was least worried about. He’d have some bruises, but overall, I figured he would be okay.

Taking a deep breath, I turned back toward Rainer, reaching for the first aid bag. Pulling out the remaining pieces of gauze, I grabbed the water bottle and doused my hands. Alcohol or soap would have been preferable, and I cringed at the thought of the bacteria that were most likely going to infest the bullet hole. Hopefully, the few antibiotics we had would deter any infection.

Pouring the water over Rainer’s arm, I used the gauze to wipe away as much blood as I could, giving myself a better visual of the damage. Unfortunately, the pitch black sky was doing me no favors.

“Can you even see Alessia?” Murphy echoed my thoughts.

“Barely.” But I could feel.

Reaching for the knife, I doused it in water, and then nodded for Rainer to pick up the shirt. With a clenched fist, he shoved the fabric into his mouth and bit down. The adrenaline from being shot had most likely long faded by now, and I knew he had to be in immense pain.

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