Page 81 of The Jester and His Outlaw: Part One

When I turn back to Riggs, he can’t seem to get enough oxygen and worry settles deep in my gut. I take a chance and lean down in front of him, hoping my lowered position seems less threatening. I’m fairly certain he’s having a flashback. Kai and I have both dealt with them before. I have an inkling, but I’m not sure I ever want to know just what triggered him or what he saw.

It’s how I can’t get mad at him. I know what this is like, what he’s dealing with. He didn’t mean to hurt me. Riggs is not an abusive person.

Placing my hand on his knee, I shake it gently. “Riggs, it’s me. It’s Charley. Everything is fine. Whatever you’re seeing, it isn’t real. It’s in the past.”

That seems to help.

First his eyes jump to my hand on his knee, then he searches my face. They widen when they land on my arm, particularly the blood dripping from the tips of my fingers. He watches as a few drops let loose, and I can tell he’s trying to decipher what just happened. He’s lost, blinking frantically. The arm that isn’t cradled to his chest comes up to swipe over his face.

“Outlaw, what the fuck? You’re bleeding,” he barks in a moment of clarity.

“I’m fine.” I shake my head, tilting my chin down to catch his gaze, but he can’t stop looking at my arm. He grimaces, throwing his head back and forth. He rubs his arm gingerly, and I wonder if he’s somehow hurt himself. It’s possible. He threw me pretty hard. “Are you hurt? Riggs, is something wrong with your arm?”

My question causes him to frown and squint up at me. He’s still not one hundred percent cognizant. He tries to lift his arm and winces. “My arm? Yeah my arm is fucking bro—He broke… he...” He stops mid sentence, looking around again, frustrated. This time I think our surroundings finally register. His inhale is shaky but also the most controlled breath he’s taken so far. It eases my worry, although not by much.

“He what? Who?” Riggs’ fingers trail up his arm, rubbing the upper part by his bicep. He rotates his shoulder, shrugging it then he wiggles out his fingers as if it’s all brand new.

“Nothing.” He swivels his head as if to dispel his thoughts and blows out a breath, looking slightly relieved but still terrified. “Are you going to tell me why you’re on the ground in front of me and why you’re bleeding?” He grabs my arm but his touch isn’t rough. He turns it to look at it. I catch a glimpse of the wound. It’s gushing blood and probably needs stitches.Damn.

I wrap my hand over it, hissing when my palm meeting the open flesh burns like a motherfucker. I hope I’m up to date on my tetanus shot. Squeezing doesn’t help but I need to try to stop the bleeding.

“Riggs…”

“What?” he snaps. I lick my lips, preparing myself to tell him what happened. He’s going to freak out, shut down, get angry, I just know it.

“Riggs, what happened?”

“I… I uh… I had a flashback, I guess. What does that have to do with why you’re bleeding? Did I…?” He trails and brings his fist to his mouth then swallows hard as I assume he puts together what I’m about to tell him. His frame sinks into the bench before he launches himself to his feet with a roar of frustration and anger. “Fucking tell me what happened, Charley. Now!”

“Calm down,” I say in a low tone. His outburst is going to freak these people out as if they aren’t already thinking he beats me after witnessing what happened. That or they think he has flat out lost his mind.

I raise up and follow him. My hands itch to touch him but my arm hurts too much to move, and I don’t want to get blood all over him at this point.

He turns his fury on me but when he senses how tense and freaked out I am, he softens. I’m not afraid of him because his anger isn’t toward me. Maybe a little annoyed at my lack of sharing, but he’s not angry with me. However, I am scared of what this all means for him, for us. We’ve come so far, this could be a major setback.

“Charley.”

“Outlaw,” I correct him. He huffs a breath, impatient. I can’t help it. He’s called me Outlaw for the longest time now. Calling me Charley feels like he is already putting distance between us.

“Outlaw,” he grinds out. “What happened?” His voice breaks at the end of his question. He lets me get it all out before he stalks off silently, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Please, let’s just go home.”

“No.”

“No?” I croak, my heart skipping a beat.

“We have to get to an Urgent Care or something and get your arm looked at. Does anything else hurt?” I shake my head in a bold faced lie, but I refuse to add to his pain and tell him about my hip or my head. I feel fine, so I’m not worried. I do, however, need stitches.

I don’t argue. I won’t. Not right now at least. The truth is, I need to get my wound taken care of and him out of this park so I can unpack how to handle everything else and not allow him to shutdown.

CHAPTER38

RIGGS

“C’mon,I’m taking you home,” I say after a long silent ride back to my apartment so I can check on Gramma. I’ve taken Charley to Urgent Care to have her stitched up. She convinced the doctor nothing else was wrong but I’m certain there is something. She just wont tell me.

She is positively insane to stay with me.

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