by Marla Monroe
“Fuck! You’re bleeding too much. Hold on, baby. This is going to hurt.” He pressed down on her until she cried.
Around the ringing in her ears, she heard the grunts of several men as they carried Jeremy between them into the bedroom.
“He’s alive. I don’t think it’s going to be too bad, but we’ve got to get the bullet out. How is she?”
“She’s fucking bleeding, and I can’t get it to stop.”
“It’s not going to until you get the bullet out, man. We need Brice. He’s a paramedic. Luke, take the truck and go get him.”
“Where is Valerie? One of the men got away.”
“She’s at April’s house. She’s safe.”
“Fuck! I thought we were safe, too.”
Rachael tried to move, but Micah had her pinned to the bed. The movement caused the pain to get worse. She had the oddest feeling of floating, and then she passed out.
* * * *
“Ah, hell. I think she passed out.” Micah ran a hand over her face trailing blood—her blood.
“Luke will be back soon with Brice.” Grant was holding pressure on Jeremy’s shoulder. He looked over at Micah. “What the hell happened?”
“I was out checking the fences, and Jeremy had evidently gone out to the barn to feed the animals. All I know is that I was walking back, and she came running out of the house screaming for us to run. I looked up and behind her were two men with guns. They started shooting toward us. One hit Jeremy as he ran for Rachael. Then another one hit Rachael. I got one of the men, but the other one ran around the house. I heard a truck. It could have been yours or whatever they came in.”
“We didn’t see anyone on the way up. We were just leaving to go get Valerie when we heard all the gunshots and raced over here. I wish we had gotten here sooner.”
“I’m just thankful you’re here now. I couldn’t see about Jeremy and Rachael at the same time.”
Grant nodded his head. “Looks like Jeremy is coming to.”
“Fuck, being shot hurts. Where is Rachael?” He tried to sit up.
“Be still, Jeremy. Micah has Rachael.” Grant pushed him back down.
“Micah! What happened to Rachael?”
“They shot her, Jeremy. They fucking shot her.”
“No! Is she okay? Let me see her.” Jeremy fought to get up.
“Settle the hell down before I put a fist in your jaw. I’ll move you closer to her if you lay back down.” Grant tugged on Jeremy until the other man settled down.
Micah helped pull Jeremy closer to Rachael. He reached out and grasped her hand in his. His eyes held a shiny sheen to them. Micah already had trouble focusing on what he was doing because of the tears in his eyes.
After what seemed like hours, Luke returned with Brice in tow. They both carried first-aid supplies.
“Rachael. See about Rachael.” Jeremy waved Luke away from him.
“Brice has Rachael. There isn’t room for all three of us over there. I’m going to see about you.” Luke tore the rest of Jeremy’s shirt off.
Micah watched Luke while Brice was tending to Rachael. He couldn’t stand to see him pressing on her like he was. He knew it had to be done, but it was making him sick. He didn’t let go of her hand. Jeremy still had her other hand.
“Micah. Micah! Look at me. I have to get that bullet out. I need you to focus and help me here.” Brice had to jerk Micah’s shoulder to get his attention. He felt as if everything was happening around him in another world.
“Okay. What do you need me to do?”
“Hold her still. She’s unconscious, which is good right now, but she might wake up when I start digging for the bullet. You’ve got to keep her still.”
Micah swallowed hard around the lump in his throat and nodded. He averted his eyes from where he was working and concentrated on watching her breathe. The soft rise and fall of her back let him know she was alive, and he needed to know that.
“I’ve almost got it, Micah. She’s doing fine.”
Micah looked over at Jeremy, and Grant was holding him down as Luke dug for the bullet in his shoulder. Jeremy cursed a blue streak. He was surprised the other man was still conscious through all of it. Maybe he was afraid to give in and pass out in case Rachael woke up.
“Okay, Micah. I have it. I need you to hold pressure while I get a bandage ready. I’m not going to sew it up. It needs to drain so she won’t have a pocket of infection. We’ll probably do the same thing to Jeremy.”
“I’ve got his bullet out, too. He’s not bleeding nearly as bad as she is though,” Luke said.
“I think the bullet hit a vein in her back.” We’ve got to stop the bleeding.” Brice was busy gathering supplies for a bandage.
“She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?” Jeremy’s voice was tight with pain.
“She’s going to be fine, Jeremy.” Brice nodded and began to clean up around her wound.
Micah kept pressure directly over the bullet wound until the other man had him move so he could check it. No further blood welled up from the wound. He breathed a sigh of relief. Brice began to wipe the area down with something before applying a bandage.
“Let’s get her clothes off of her and put her to bed, Micah. I’d let you do it alone, but we don’t need to move her any more than we have to. We don’t want to open the wound back up.”
“How can we do that without moving her?”
“I’ll cut all the cloth from around her on top. You can just pull her jeans off of her while I hold her still.”
They worked together and soon had her nude and under the covers without jarring her too much.
“Jeremy, how are you doing?” Micah felt a little bit guilty at not worrying over the other man as much as he had Rachael, but he figured Jeremy understood.
“I’m fine. What about her and the baby?”
“They’re doing fine.” Brice spoke up. “She’s going to need to stay in bed until that begins to heal. I’d say at least five days before she moves around any. It will take that long for the wound to start to close up. You can change the dressing twice a day, but leave this one on for at least eight or ten hours.”
“Jeremy is going to need to stay in bed, too,” Luke added. “It’s probably a good idea for him to stay in the full five days, too. She’ll stay as long as you stay, Jeremy.”
“I’ll stay as long as you tell me she needs to. I want her taken care of. Micah, you just tell me what I need to do. Am I going to hurt her being in the same bed?”
“I don’t think so. Brice?”
“I think them staying together is the best thing for her. She’ll need someone to keep her company while she’s on bed rest.”
“Man, I can’t tell you thank you enough—all of you, Luke, Grant. I don’t know what I would have done without your help.”
“We’re just glad we were able to get here when we did. That’s why it’s so important to keep in touch and look out for each other. There are too many things against us out here. We need everyone to work together.”
“Two of the families are working together on a garden this year to see if they can handle a slightly larger one with more hands but spend less time tending to it individually. If it works and produces enough food for everyone, we’re going to widen it. I’ll let you know how it turns out,” Brice said.
“Do that. We’re open to anything that will help take some pressure off of Rachael, especially now that she’s pregnant.”
“We’d better go and pick up Valerie. We’ll give you a ride back, Brice, if you’re ready.” Grant headed toward the door.
“Thanks again.” Micah followed them to the bedroom door. He turned back and looked at Jeremy.
“Watch her. I’m going to go lock the door behind them.”
Micah hurried downstairs to lock all the doors and remembered the body of the man out back. He started to go check on it when Luke waved him off. They were picking the man up. They would take care of the bastard for him. It was damn good to have friends. He ha
ted that he had waited so long to take that first step.
When he returned upstairs, Jeremy was gently stroking Rachael’s hair away from her face. The other man looked years older in a matter of hours. No doubt he would look the same way. He sure as hell felt older.
He kissed Rachael on the cheek and looked over at Jeremy.
“I’m going to go take a shower to get all the blood off of me. I’ll bring you a cloth back to clean yourself up some. Don’t use that arm too much, or you’ll start bleeding again.”
“I won’t. I have to touch her to know that she’s still okay.”
“I know what you mean. I’m scared to leave.”
“I’m here. I’ll watch her. You go get cleaned up so that you don’t scare her when she wakes up.”
Micah checked her one last time before heading for the bathroom. He stripped and turned on the shower. Then he stepped inside and quickly washed away all the blood and dirt. Seeing it swirl down the drain was all it took for him to break down and cry. He gritted his teeth to keep from making any noise, but the tears fell regardless. He’d almost lost her, and if she ended up with an infection, he could still lose her—Jeremy, too.
He finally got control of himself again and rinsed his face before turning off the water and drying off. He didn’t bother putting on more clothes. He wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to stay right there with them.
If Jeremy noticed his red eyes, a sure indication that he had been crying, the other man didn’t say anything. It was obvious that Jeremy had shed some tears as well. They both loved her, and the idea of losing her crumpled their souls. Now that she was pregnant, they had two lives to worry about.
“She’s going to be okay,” Jeremy said.
“She’s going to be okay,” Micah echoed.
Chapter Sixteen
Rachael woke up to a searing pain in her back. She was lying on her side. What was wrong with her back? She couldn’t bear to move because it hurt so badly. She opened her eyes and saw Micah lying next to her. She wanted to know what was wrong but didn’t want to wake him up.
Then it all came back to her. Jeremy was shot. She gasped and tried to sit up.
“Whoa! Don’t move, baby. You’ll start to bleed again.” Micah had an arm across her lower back, holding her down.
“Jeremy! Oh, God, they shot him.”
“I’m fine, Rachael. Don’t move. I’m right next to you.”
She turned her head with an effort and nearly cried out in relief to see the other man lying next to her. He had a bandage on his upper chest, but other than that, he looked good. He looked alive, and that was all that mattered.
“I thought I’d lost you.” She couldn’t stop the tears that fell.
“We thought we had lost you, Rachael. You were shot in the back. Do you remember?” Micah asked.
She turned her head back toward him. “I don’t remember.”
“Well, it’s over with now. All that matters is that you get better. How do you feel?”
“My back hurts, but I’m okay.”
Micah placed his hand at her forehead and then on the back of her neck.
“I don’t feel any fever, so hopefully you won’t get an infection.”
“What about Jeremy?” she asked.
“I’m fine. I’m not running a fever either.”
She could only pray that neither of them developed an infection. Poor Micah was stuck taking care of both of them and all of the animals. He was going to be worn-out by the time they were able to do anything again.
“What about the cattle and the cow and the chickens?” she finally asked.
“I took care of them earlier. I’ll go back out and check everything again in a little while. Are you hungry? I put soup on the stove to simmer if you are.”
“I could eat,” Jeremy said with a strained grin.
“What about you, Rachael? You’ve got a little one to feed don’t forget.”
“I’ll try and eat some. Can I sit up?”
“Not yet, baby. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll see how your wound looks tomorrow.”
She could tell she was going to get very bored very fast. The pain was a constant with her already. She wanted to cry but refused to. Jeremy wasn’t whining or crying. She could be just as strong. Only the longer she lay there, the harder it became not to cry.
Finally, a stray tear escaped from her eye, and Micah picked up on it immediately.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting, baby girl. I wish we had something to give you for pain.” Micah hovered over her with concern in his eyes.
“I’m fine. I just can’t help crying. I’m sorry, Micah.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I’m going down to fix the soup. I’ll be right back. Jeremy will be here with you. Talk to him, baby.”
She watched as Micah pulled on jeans and his boots before disappearing through the doorway. She turned her head toward Jeremy and smiled a watery smile.
“Hey, baby. I’m sorry you’re hurting.”
“I’ll be okay, Jeremy. I’m a baby when it comes to pain. I don’t handle it very well.”
“Hell, you’ve been shot. I would expect you to be hurting. I just wish you weren’t.”
“How are you doing?”
“I’m hurting, too. I doubt mine is as bad as yours is, though. At least I’m on my back. You’re stuck on your side.”
“I’m squishing the poor baby. I can tell he’s still in there because he swims around and makes me feel like I’ve got fish in my belly.”
“Wish I could feel your belly right now. I miss rubbing it,” he teased.
They heard Micah’s footfalls on the stairs and turned to look toward the door. The other man moved into their line of sight with two bowls in his hands.
“Here you go. Let’s sit you up so you can feed yourself. I’m going to put yours in your lap.” Micah settled a bowl in Jeremy’s lap.
Then he walked around the bed and picked up the other bowl to feed her. He knelt by the edge of the bed and reached across with the bowl and spoon. It took a few tries before they could work out a method of spooning the soup into her mouth. She was glad she’d made him get a towel to fold under her mouth. They made a mess to begin with.
Once they had finished eating, Micah took the bowls back downstairs to clean up everything. Jeremy and Rachael talked back and forth. She was glad he was there. She felt stranded like a beached whale and unable to move. This was going to be hard to deal with until she could turn over and lie on her back. She wasn’t comfortable on her side or her belly. She tried repositioning her legs to change the pressure on her belly. It would work for a while and then she had to change positions again.
“You’re awful antsy over there, baby. Are you okay?”
“I can’t be still. I can’t get comfortable like this,” she whined.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’d help if I could.”
“Help what?” Micah walked into the room.
“She can’t get comfortable. She’s moving around a lot over there. “You might want to check her dressing.” Jeremy patted her hand.
“Rachael, you’ve got to be careful or you might start bleeding again.”
“I can’t help it, Micah. I’m uncomfortable. I want to turn over.”
“I’ll rub around the area for you and maybe that will help.”
She sighed when he began rubbing all around her back. It was soothing in a way. Soon she realized she was falling asleep. She figured that was better than being in pain and uncomfortable, so she allowed herself to drift until she fell asleep.
* * * *
The week flew by as far as Micah was concerned. He had more than he could do each day between taking care of them and handling the animals. He was sure it went by slow for them being stuck in the bed and especially for Rachael being stuck on her side for the most part. It seemed like as soon as he fell asleep at night that it was time to get up again.
Thankfully, neither of them developed an infection. Rachael’s wound was
healing nicely. She would have a scar, but it was nothing compared to what it might have been.
Jeremy’s didn’t heal as nicely because of where it was and how much they had to cut it get to the bullet. He had a rather-wide scar. He didn’t care, though, especially when Rachael saw it for the first time and laid kisses all around it.
Micah climbed out of bed the next morning looking forward to getting Rachael and Jeremy up for the first time. Brice had checked them out the day before and said they could sit up some downstairs if they wanted to. Both of them had whooped with joy. It left no doubt in his mind that they both planned to go downstairs. He needed to get things ready for them.
He set up the couch for Rachael and the recliner for Jeremy. Then he fixed something for breakfast. He felt sorry for them to have had to eat his cooking all this time. He wasn’t that good. Before Rachael had arrived, Jeremy had done most of the cooking for them.
When he made it back upstairs, it was to find Jeremy putting a giant T-shirt on Rachael. She already had on a pair of panties. He had on his jeans.
“I hope like hell you didn’t pull your stitches doing all that.”
“I didn’t. I’ve been careful. I just figured you had more than enough to do without having to dress us.”
“And we were antsy about getting down there and thought if we were already dressed when you got back up here we wouldn’t have to wait any longer.” Rachael grinned up at him.
“Well, let’s get you down there. Stand up with me, Rachael.”
She stood up with Micah’s help and waited while the dizziness passed. Having been on bed rest for so long had zapped her energy. He didn’t want her to fall. They slowly walked toward the door and then out into the hall. When they got to the stairs, he made Jeremy wait while he walked her down then went back up for him.
She hugged him when he helped her sit down on the couch. It was obvious how much she was going to enjoy being downstairs. She would be exhausted, though, by the end of the day. He had her pillow and a blanket in case she needed to take a nap.
