Page 18 of Wraith

Chapter Seventeen

His body crumplesto the floor in a heap, the knife he used to cut my hand free falling from his grip to the bed. Immediately I grab it and cut my other hand free followed by my feet. I jump from the bed down to the floor and roll him over to his back so I can face him. He doesn’t lay flat, the large pack strapped to him is too bulky. It doesn’t matter I can kill him either way. With the knife still in hand I raise it up over his unmoving form and ready myself to plunge it into his chest cavity.One. Two.Three.

Only Ican’t.

This isn’t how I wanted this to happen, and if the person who shot him is still out there, there is a chance that person will come for me, too.Not a chance—a certainty. I may need him, if who is out there, is who I think it is. I need to find the wound and assess it. Pulling the pack from his shoulders I start striping away the layers he has on. A thick down coat, now with a bloodied hole through it, comes off easily, but the two shirts he has on don’t. I cut them away with the knife, finding a seeping bullet hole in the side of his chest. I need water to wash away the blood before I can assess how fatal the shot is, so I go over to the fireplace and take off the pot sitting on the heated top. Next, I search the small area he has designated for a kitchen and find a first aid kit tucked away underneath a box of empty jars. I grab a towel from the open cupboard on the wall and go back to him. The water is hot so I make sure to let the towel cool before placing it on his skin and start wiping. With each swipe of the towel I find that the wound isn’t bad and the bullet is no longer inside his body. It must have gone in, possibly hit a rib bone and exited through his back. Stripping the shirts off the rest of the way I find the exit wound, confirming my guess. I will just need to stitch him to stop the bleeding and hope he doesn’t get an infection and that there are no fragments of his rib bones left inside. They could cause internal bleeding and there is no way I will be able to stopthat.

Searching through the first aid kit I find what I need and sew him up best I can, given the position, and leave him lying on the floor. I take a moment and pause, looking him over. He snuck out this morning while I pretended to be asleep. Almost as if he was embarrassed about the story he told me last night. I try picturing him as a boy but I can’t see through the man lying on the floor at me feet. His bare chest covered with a small smattering of hair that trails down to a small line, disappearing into his pants. He still has on his snow pants and boots but I leave them for now. I need something to wear. After a shirt search, I find my clothes folded neatly inside a small dresser full of his things. I pull on my jeans and then my shirt. I shrug on my coat and find my boots by the door. I need to go out and relieve myself—right now. Hesitantly, I look out the door. The night is black with only a sliver of moonlight shining down from the sky to light my way outside as I take a few steps from the cabin. I chance the trip out to the small outhouse to do my business, thankful I no longer have to use the small pan and quickly scramble back inside. My heart beats a rapid staccato in my chest as I slam the door shut behind me. I take a moment to calm myself then I go search for food to ease my empty stomach. He only has soup but the pack he had on when he came inside comes to mind. Looking it over I open it up to find meat wrapped up in a sheet of some kind. Rummaging further in the kitchen I set about slicing the meat. I set aside a few pieces to cook and the rest I store in the empty icebox I find under the makeshiftsink.

The kitchen is bare bones, just enough structure to give the feel of what it is supposed to be but no luxury at all. There is a pump over the sink and after a few cranks on the handle I decide to give up the quest for water and just grab some hot water from the pot on the stove. It isn’t long before my belly is full and my energy is back up from being tied to the bed. I contemplate tying him up but decide against it. He doesn’t want to kill me and right now, I don’t want him dead, nor can he hurt me while he is out. So, I strip him of his boots and snow pants and just leave him lying on thefloor.

I search the cabin for weapons. He is a killer the man should have something stashed away but I turn up disappointed. Only recovering a hand gun and the knife he had in his bag, most likely the one he used to skin the animal from his pack. Only the rifle he would have needed to take down the creature is nowhere in sight making me believe he must have lost it in the snow while being shotat.

The next thing I do is cover the only two windows the cabin has. If someone is out there, seeing in through the windows isn’t going to help us. I then drag the small side table from its place next to bed over to the front of the door, holding it shut. It may not do much, but if someone tries to come inside I will give me a chance to get ready before they can completely make their wayin.

I know I won’t get any sleep and with the sun already starting to come up, I decide that just laying back on the bed with the hunting rifle at my side and the pistol in my hand is how I will start theday.

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