Page 18 of Shattered Home

“Ready?” I asked, my face centimeters from his arm and the knife held steadily in my hand.

Rainer tapped my thigh twice and I took that at his assurance to go ahead. Bringing the knife to the small hole, I slit the tip between his skin, slowly peeling back layers until the hole was large enough for a small finger. More blood poured down his arm and I blindly reached for another piece of gauze, trying to soak up the liquid.

“Fuck, I can’t watch this,” Murphy mumbled, and I was slightly surprised. The man could gut a deer, but human blood bothered him? Although, more likely, it was probably the sight of his best friend’s face contorted in pain that had him standing up and walking away.

Switching the knife into my left hand, I took a deep breath before pressing my finger into the wound. Immediately, I felt the small bullet embedded in his muscle and all I could think about was how much more trouble we’d be in if it had hit an artery. I didn’t think I had the stomach to cauterize something.

Curling my finger around the bullet, the small yet deadly metal popped out and onto the ground. Immediately, blood started rushing like a faucet from his skin and I cursed under my breath. We only had one more piece of gauze and the few small bandages. Not nearly enough to stem the blood flow.

Thinking fast, I grabbed the knife once more, cutting off the bottom few inches of my shirt. Scrambling in the dirt, I found a sturdy stick and got back to work. Wrapping the shirt a few inches above Rainer’s bicep, I tightened the cotton, threading the stick through the fabric and turning until I was content with the tourniquet.

The flow softened to a trickle, and I knew the hard part was over. A wave of calm washed through me for the moment and I picked up the gauze, pressing it against the wound and then brandishing three bandages over top to cover the entire thing.

Backing away from my handiwork, my eyes dropped to my blood covered hands and the moment of calm passed. An internal freak out bringing its way back to me. Rainer was really shot. We could have all been shot. We could have died.

A large hand gripped the bottom of my chin, bringing my gaze to a pair of soft eyes. Rainer must have sensed the meltdown I was having, and he shook his head.

“How’d you know how to do that? Figured you couldn’t do shit.”

I knew what he was doing. He was trying to act normal, or at least the new normal we had established over the past three months. And I hated to admit that it was working, my breath slowing as I came back to reality and let the panic fade.

“In the real world, I’m actually quite good at this. I usually have more tools and medicine, though.”

Rainer glanced at his arm, his lips tilting in an amused smirk. A bout of pride surged through me before Rainer doused that happiness. “Hate to break it to you, Less, but this is the real world now.”

After giving Rainer an antibiotic and telling him to rest with some water, I went to check on everyone else. Thankfully, I had been right about Lucas and he was just a little bruised. I offered a painkiller, but Elizabeth said he would be fine. Those should be used in dire circumstances. I hated to think that we were at the point where dire circumstances weren’t that far off.

Murphy did indeed not have a concussion, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He had cleaned up his split lip and, with the blood gone, it was easy to see the puffiness that would probably fade in a few days.

Emmanuel, unfortunately, did have a concussion. I gave him one of the painkillers to help with the headache and told him that he needed to drink as much water as he could. I also assured Elizabeth that I would wake him up every few hours while he rested to make sure he was okay.

Finally settling against a tree, the sun was just beginning to rise. Mina and Sasha were at my side, the three of us sitting in silence, no one quite sure what we should say. All we knew was that we needed each other more than ever now.

When the sky eventually brightened, Elizabeth ushered the kids to the creek and I was confused why they were leaving Emmanuel, until I spotted the three bodies still lying in the clearing. In the broad daylight, the dried blood beneath them was a beacon against the dirt.

“We need to move the bodies. And preferably far away, they’ll draw in animals.”

I glanced up at Murphy, his face set in a stern expression. Rainer couldn’t pick up anything right now, not without hurting his arm even more, and Emmanuel was resting near the fire. Which meant the four of us were the only ones capable of moving the bodies.

Death didn’t affect me as much as it used to, after six years in nursing, I was used to seeing people die. But I had never seen such a gruesome death, let alone had to move their body on my own.

The task was harder than I anticipated. Not only were the bodies heavier than I guessed, but the sight was ghastly and I struggled to not gag while we carried them through the woods. We hiked for miles, trying to put as much distance between our clearing and their bodies as we could, and by the time we reached camp, my body was ready to give out on me.

I hadn’t had much rest and the adrenaline from the intruders, the shooting, and taking care of injuries, was fading fast. My lids drooped over my eyes and Murphy pulled me into his side when he realized my body was shutting down.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart. I’ll wake up Emmanuel and make sure he’s okay.”

Nodding against his chest, I let him guide me to the ground, shoving a bag underneath my head. My eyes closed on their own accord and I snuggled into the rough dirt, finding comfort in the familiarity and in the warm weight pressed against my side.

“Everything is about to change, isn’t it?” I whispered so low, I wasn’t sure Murphy even heard me.

Finally, he responded on a long sigh, “I’m pretty sure everything changed a while ago. It’s just finally catching up to us.”

Chapter Twelve

The next few weeks passed in a blur, the weather warming and the days becoming longer. I knew we were nearing July if we weren’t already there. Emmanuel’s concussion cleared up after a few days and he was back to fishing in the early mornings. I continued to join him and even managed to start catching a few fish on my own.

Elizabeth rarely left the twins' side, never allowing them to wander around on their own any longer. Someone was always watching them. The twins themselves returned to normal, or at least a version of normal. I guess that was the thing with young minds, they could get over something quicker than the rest of us.

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