Colters' Lady

Chapter Five

Lily stirred, and for a moment she had no awareness of her surroundings. Where was she? She blinked and then heard a low voice to her left accompanied by a hand on her shoulder.

She tried to turn, but pain splintered down her arm.

“Easy, don’t move too fast.”

Michael. Seth’s brother. He’d come for her. She was in his truck. She looked through the windshield to see they were parked in front of Seth’s house.

Once again she tried to shift, but Michael prevented her with a gentle hand. When he pulled it away, she was stunned to see his palm red with blood. She stared in bewilderment at the concern in his eyes and then looked down at her arm.

“What happened?”

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Michael said in a grim voice.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize… It was all such a blur.”

“I need to get you inside so I can take a look at your arm and see what’s going on, okay? We may need to take you to the hospital.”

Instant nausea rolled in her stomach. The smell of the hospital was vibrant in her nose. The sights.

The sounds. She couldn’t go back there. She could never go back there.

Distant weeping. Shouted denials. Shock. Her world crashing around her.

She shuddered and purposely blanked her mind, refusing to go back to that place.

“No hospital.”

The words sounded harsh on her lips. Michael’s eyes flared in surprise, and he studied her thoughtfully.

“We may not have a choice, Lily.”

She shook her head again, ignoring the pain the vehement action caused her.

Michael sighed and opened his door. He walked around to her side and opened her door. For a moment he stood there as if studying the best way to handle her. She was struck by the differences between him and Seth. Even though Seth was the cop, Michael…he seemed more intense. Subtle power emanated from him in waves. There was confidence to his movements, and his attitude suggested he was used to taking charge and used to people following his directions.

His hair was longer. It clipped the tops of his shoulders but was shoved behind both ears as if he impatiently tucked it there often. The only resemblance she could find to Seth was the color of his hair and eyes. They both had beautiful blue eyes, though Seth’s were lighter. And their hair was a darker shade of brown.

“Tell you what,” he finally said as if coming to a decision. “For now, let’s go inside so I can take a look. Until I know what we’re dealing with, it’s senseless to have this argument.” He reached for her, to help her, but she pushed at his hand.

“I can walk. I’m okay.”

His mouth turned down into an expression of disapproval, but he didn’t press. He simply took a step back and waited for her to get out.

She swung her legs out and tried to get down too fast. Her feet hit the ground, and a moan escaped as the action jarred her upper body. Michael cursed, and before she could protest, he pulled her into his side, supporting her weight as they started for the house.

Once inside, the heat washed over her, thawing some of the numbness in her limbs. What should have felt like heaven quickly became hell as more feeling washed into her arm.

Michael sat her on the couch and knelt in front of her, his intense gaze finding hers. “I’m going out to my truck to get my bag. I don’t want you to move.”

She tried to smile but her lips quivered with the effort. “I thought you were a vet.” His eyes lightened and he smiled. “I am. But people…animals…what’s the difference?” She laughed at his joke but promptly shut up when the movement proved too much.

He got up and hurried out and once again she found herself staring around Seth’s house, taking in the smells and atmosphere of a home.

It lacked a woman’s touch, but then she’d seen no evidence that Seth was involved with someone.

He’d kissed her. Acted like he cared, though she couldn’t wrap her brain around that. She hadn’t done anything to encourage his attention—she wouldn’t have. She’d spent too much time trying to make herself invisible.

Life was for others to live. It was for her to survive.

Michael returned a moment later carrying a large duffel bag that he set on the floor in front of the couch. He knelt back down in front of her and took her hand in his, his fingers moving carefully over hers in a soothing manner.

“We need to get your sweater off, but I don’t want to pull it over your head so I’m going to cut it away from your arm so I can see where the bleeding is coming from.” She glanced between her arm and him and then nodded. He seemed relieved by her acceptance and opened his bag to take out scissors.

He started at her wrist where the tattered cuff of her sweater all but swallowed her hand. He worked methodically upward until the sleeve fell apart in two distinct pieces. She sucked in her breath when she saw the blood seeping down the inside of her arm.

“Do you have anything on underneath the sweater?” he asked gently.

“A T-shirt,” she said huskily.

“Okay, good. I’m going to cut away the sweater. It’s not salvageable anyway.” In a few more seconds, he had the sweater completely peeled away and she chanced another look at her arm. Blood was smeared over the entire upper portion. She blinked, trying to see what was wrong, what had happened, but the world seemed woozier than it had a moment ago.

“Take deep breaths,” Michael said. “And look away. Focus on something else.” Something else. What? He touched her arm, and she flinched even though it didn’t hurt.

“Sorry,” he murmured “I need to get this cleaned up. What happened out there, Lily? Can you tell me?”

“I don’t know. It was all so crazy. Everyone was shouting and running. There was so much gunfire. I didn’t know where to go so I just ran.”

“Looks like you may have taken a stray bullet,” he said grimly.

Her head swung back to stare at him in shock. “Shot? I was shot? But I don’t remember. I mean I didn’t feel anything. My arm didn’t start hurting until I hid in the alley, but…”

“Adrenaline will do that to you sometimes. You were in fight-or-flight mode. The pain didn’t hit you until you came off that rush.”

“Is it…is it bad?”

He brushed his finger down the line of her jaw and lingered at the dip in her chin. “It’s not too bad.

Looks like a graze. I really think I should take you to the hospital. If it’s money you’re worried about” She shook her head before he could continue. “It’s not that. I mean no, I don’t have insurance or a way to pay, but I hate hospitals. I won’t go back there.” She shivered and looked away, causing his hand to fall. “Never.”

He blew out his breath. “I can’t make you go, Lily, even if it’s what I think you should do. I can stop the bleeding—the wound isn’t very deep—but infection is my primary concern. I’ll give you some topical ointment but I’d really rather you have a shot. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since your last tetanus?”

She almost laughed. It was such an ordinary conversation. One she might have with her family doctor.

Things hadn’t felt normal in so long.

“I’ll be fine.”

The front door burst open and Seth flew inside, his gaze immediately lighting on Lily. His brow furrowed, and a mixture of concern and confusion crossed his face.

“What the hell is going on?” He rushed over and crouched down beside Michael. “What happened?

Are you okay?”

She stared at the two brothers, bewildered by their concern and their caring. She was nobody to them and yet they’d have her believe she wasn’t.

“She took a bullet,” Michael said.

“What?” Seth stared at the blood on her arm and then back at Michael. “Are you crazy? She should be in the hospital. Why haven’t you taken her?”

Lily stiffened and started to sit forward, her objection poised on her lips. Michael gently pushed her back.

“She’s not going to the hospital. She’s fine. I can take care of it.”

“You’re out of your mind,” Seth bit out. “She’s still bleeding, for God’s sake.” He sounded so worried that she put her hand out to touch his to reassure him.

“She doesn’t want to go, Seth. I tried. Now let me clean this up and get it bandaged so the bleeding stops. It’s not serious.”

Seth ran a hand through his hair and backed off. He got up and stood for a moment, looming over her and Michael, and then he moved to sit beside her on the couch, watching as Michael continued his careful treatment of her wound.

“You must have been scared out of your mind,” Seth said. “Why did you run, Lily? You could have been here, not downtown in the middle of some turf war.” The frustration—and sincerity—in his voice startled her. There was a possessive tone that intrigued and frightened her all at the same time.

“I just thought I should go,” she said, not knowing what else to say. She wanted to appease him, but at the same time, it frustrated her that this entire situation confused her.

Michael paused as he placed a bandage over her wound. “Did my showing up frighten you?” Frighten? That was probably the wrong word. Unsettled. His appearance had effectively popped the fantasy bubble that she’d existed in for the previous night.

“No, not frightened,” she said.

“I don’t want you back on the streets, Lily,” Seth said fiercely.

She cocked her head and stared up at him. “Where do you want me then?” His blue eyes focused intently on her. There was no guard, no hesitation, no hint that he was speaking anywhere but from the heart. He brushed his fingers over her face, gentle and perhaps a bit shaky.

“Here. With me.”