Chapter 227 Chapter 227
“Okay. I have the medical box, there are some big bandages in it.”
“You’ll need those. Is there some gauze? You’re going to have to pack some in it if it’s deep.”
“Let me get that ready before I look.”
Jesse glanced to see her blood-covered hand riffling through the med kit. He blinked and brought his focus back to the road.
“Jesse, start pounding back some liquids, juice if you have it.” Cal’s tone said it wasn’t a request. “As soon as you put enough miles between you find a spot to hole up so you can deal with this.”
Before he could speak, Leah held up a bottle of water. “I’ll get the juice in a moment.” She told him softly. “Okay.” She blew out a breath, “I’m going to look.” He felt the air hit the site and it stung. “I don’t,” she made a soft noise as she dabbed against his side, “I don’t think it’s deep. It’s long though.”
“Good. Sounds like a graze. Grab the gauze and the big bandages and get that on it. You will have to keep pressure on it until he stops, but it should clot and slow until he’s able to shift and heal it.”
He watched her grab things out of the box and then she pressed the gauze against his side, it stung like a bitch making him clamp his teeth together.
“How are you doing, Jesse?” Shaelan asked.
“Just dandy.” He growled out.
“No dizziness or shakes?”
He looked at his hand on the wheel and shook his head, “no, I’m good.”
Leah leaned closer and looked up at him, “he’s a little pale.”
“Okay, if you have it covered, get him some juice now.” Shaelan’s voice never changed in tone as she spoke.
Leah moved out of his peripheral vision for a moment and then she was back with a juice box and holding it out to him.
Setting the water, he hadn’t drunk between his legs he took the juice and literally sucked it back until the box was indented. With a quick nod, he held out the box to her.
“How’s it looking, Leah?”
“The bandage is red, but it’s not running out of it.” Leah’s tone was filled with worry.
“Okay, it should be okay until he stops.”
“How much distance have you put between them now?” Calum asked in a less harsh tone.
“If I remember right, we should be to a good spot in fifteen minutes,” Jesse told him. He was not stopping until then.
“Don’t wait too long,” Calum said in a quiet warning tone.
“I won’t.” Leah still had one hand over his injury as she straightened up so her face was level with his shoulder. Reaching, he cupped the back of her head in a brief awkward hug with his other arm as best as he could manage while driving. He felt her breathing change against his bare arm.
“I don’t—I can’t stay Jesse.” She said in a hushed tone.
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine now. You do what you need to feel safe.” He assured her.
“Okay,” she blew out a breath, her head resting completely against his arm for a few seconds.
Jesse had to focus hard on the road and not check to make sure she was okay.
“What the actual hell was that?”
He smirked knowing that Evanna was fronting now. “I’ll be fine once I shift.”
“I heard. I was right at the front but didn’t want to take over.” Evanna moved out of his hold and pressed against his side. “It’s going to take some work to mop up this mess.” She held out one of her blood-coated hands.
“How’s the bleeding, Evanna?” Shaelan’s voice startled him, he’d forgotten they were on the phone.
“Uh, I think it’s slowed down. Should we put some of this antiseptic spray on it?”
Jesse cringed at the thought of spraying it with that.
“If it’s going to be a while before he shifts, you could, but otherwise infection shouldn’t be an issue.”
He could see Evanna nodding out of the corner of his eye.
“Okay. It’s a good thing I was close,” she moved so she was sitting sideways on the other seat, leaning over and still holding his side, “Leah was close to losing her hold on Minn and Minn wanted to go hunt down the hunters.” She grinned at Jesse before lowering her head to look closer at his side.
“I’m glad you were close, chasing after Minn would not have helped things,” Jesse said quietly.
She chortled, “when are you stopping? This isn’t going to soak up much more.”
“A few more minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll stay out and Thera and I will watch your back while you fix this.”
“Jesse, send me a text after you’ve shifted and are back on the road.”
Evanna looked at the phone, “Hey, thanks for the help, Shaelan, Leah was close to freaking out until she heard you.”
“Anytime, Evanna. She did great.”
Evanna nodded, “yeah, she held it together.”
“Stop soon, Jesse,” Shaelan said just as the line went quiet.
It was silent for a moment, then Evanna looked away from the road and at him. “You don’t look the greatest, you should stop and shift to close this up.”
He nodded and motioned with his head to the windshield. “There’s a small roadside rest area up here, I’ll stop there and do a quick shift.”
Evanna moved her hand off of him and looked down at her hands. She picked up his shirt and wiped them. “You’re going to need some food after that.”
“I’ll look at the map then and see where is the closest, maybe grab some breakfast.”
“I could eat.” She said with a grin.
Jesse pulled on his jeans and stepped out of the shrubs that surrounded the little area. Thera and Evanna stood looking in opposite directions, watching.
“You good?” She came over as he cleared the scratchy growth.
He nodded, “Yeah.” He looked down at his side to see the graze was healed and gone. “I could use a bath now.” He mumbled.
She came over and leaned close to him, running her hand over his skin. Glancing up at him, she smirked, “if you could try to not get shot often, I’d appreciate it.” Straightening, she dropped her hand away from him. “I’m all for the excitement, but Leah isn’t.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he smiled at her.
With a nod, she turned back to the van.
Evanna stopped short and spun back to him. “I’m just going to say it. I know it’s probably something people just don’t say to other people, but I’m not other people.” She snorted, “I don’t even know other people.”
Jesse grinned, “that’s not an entirely bad thing—once you meet some people, you’re going to wish you didn’t. Not all, but some.”
“Don’t distract me, Jesse, this has been driving me mad.”
He sobered, not sure what could have her so wound up. “What is it?”
“Okay,” she blew out a breath, something that wasn’t really in her character, to be nervous, “okay, I like the way you smell.” She waved her hand around, “without the blood scent.
Jesse grinned. He wanted so much to tell her why that was but needed to find out more from that shifter doctor that Shaelan had talked about. “Well, if we’re confessing, you smell amazing to me too.”
“Really? I’m not weird?”
“No.” He brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen out and rested against her jaw. “You’re not. It’s a perfectly normal thing for our kind.”
She looked relieved and smiled, “I was so worried about it, I thought it was an us thing,” she motioned to herself, “Leah and I—us,” she clarified.
His cat was practically pacing inside him, urging him to explain. Jesse clamped down on him, hard, it wasn’t the right time. “It’s a good thing you’re both in agreement. I can’t explain why right now, but just know it is.”
Evanna nodded slowly, “I believe you. We all trust you.”
“Even Minn?” He needed to know. She didn’t let him anywhere near her when they went for runs.
“Well, she’s coming around, but she hasn’t tried to take a bite out of you, so that’s good, right?”
Jesse laughed quietly, “yeah, that’s good.”
Evanna nodded, “we should get Thera loaded up again.” She reached up and rubbed her hand over his chest. “Thanks for being so cool with everything, Jesse. It means a lot.” Turning she went back to the van and opened the door.
He stood there and watched her get in and close it. He was going to lose his mind being so close to his mate, but not able to be close to her. She looked at him as if to say ‘are we going or what?’ Jolting, he went around to get in.
Lose my mind.