Page 15 of Nightcrawler
“Good.”
He smirked. “Now, I seriously need to pee.”
“Oh…yeah. Sorry.”
He took a step and then faltered, and I instantly pulled his arm over my shoulder, supporting his weight. “You’re gonna have to let me help you for a little while.” I left his stay at my place open-ended, knowing now that he had a wife at home, probably worried as hell about him. We walked to the bathroom slowly as I kept talking, trying my damnedest not to notice how smooth and hot his bare skin felt against my body. “Vonneis gonna be here in the morning to give you another shot of antibiotic and then—” I almost sighed out loud before going on. “I can see to it that you get home to your wife.”
He stopped in the doorway to the bathroom and twisted to look at me. “My wife?”
“I saw your ring. That’s why I asked you if you wanted to call anyone. I’m sure she’s worried. It’s after ten.”
He smirked at me, holding up his hand. “That’s not a wedding ring, Huerta. My mom gave this to me when I turned sixteen.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling stupid and for some godforsaken reason, a little relieved.
“But, yeah, I do need to call someone.”
My relief disappeared. What the hell?
He braced himself on the pedestal sink in the bathroom and looked at me. “I can take it from here. Thank you.”
“Are you—you’re fine?” I felt unusually protective.
“I’m steady enough to stand at the john, yeah, Huerta. I really don’t need you to watch me take a piss.” He snorted. “That sounded funny.”
“I’ll be just out here then. Let me know when you’re done.”
He nodded, staring at me for long seconds as he leaned against my sink again. “Thanks for everything, Trigg. I know you saved my life today.”
“I got you shot,” I growled, reaching up to run a hand through my hair.
“I got myself shot.”
I wasn’t about to argue with him. “Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll help you get back to the other room.”
“Okay.”
I stepped back, and he shut the door. I leaned against the wall, mentally doing the laundry in my head, hopeful that no one was using the single washer in the laundry room at the end of the hall. Sometimes my neighbors forgot to take stuff out of the dryer. I hoped the bloodstains would come out because after today, I might not have a job, so buying a new set of sheets would be low on my to-do list.
I’d put my phone on silent after Vonne left so that the ringer wouldn’t disturb Mathis and thankfully, Jamie hadn’t called to check on my progress. He was probably too busy with his other bounty hunters. It was November. Lots of criminals skipped bail at this time of year, and some were stupid enough to make their way home to see loved ones, making it easy for bounty hunters to find them.
I heard the toilet flush and then the faucet turn on in my tiny bathroom. After a minute or so, the door opened and Raven stood in the doorway. He looked a lot grayer than he had before I’d left him alone in the bathroom.
“I’m feeling kinda dizzy,” he said, reaching out for me, and I instantly stepped forward, sliding a hand around his waist and taking his weight.
“You should’ve let me help you. You’re lucky you didn’t pass out in there,” I groused as we walked back out into the living room. I sat him in my recliner and then retrieved the clean dressings Vonne had left there. “Let me get these dressings changed and then I’ll get you that food. You’re probably not only weak from blood loss but also from hunger.”
“Thank you, Trigg.” He reached out and touched my forearm, looking up and meeting my eyes, making shivers run over myskin. It was all I could do not to reach out and cover his hand with my own.
I pulled away quickly and went back to my closet to grab the last of the towels I had. After setting it down, I knelt in front of him, ignoring the weight of his stare at the top of my head as well as the proximity of all the beautiful maleness right in front of me. It wasn’t lost on me that all he wore was a pair of boxer briefs, unfortunately fitting him like afuckingglove. When I was done here, I was going to give him a pair of my loose sleeping pants. I leaned forward and began removing the tape holding the dressing low on his belly.
I worked silently, cleaning both wounds which thankfully, looked pink and absent of any puffiness or swelling, and then pressed new gauze against them, using tape last. Finally, I opened some wrapping which would go around his abdomen and with him helping to hold it in place, wrapped his torso several times. When I was done, he was sweating again.
I was ready to get as far away from him as I possibly could. If I had to get that close to him again, I was going to lose my fucking mind.
“Be right back,” I grunted, standing and gathering all the soiled dressings, along with the clean ones. I threw away the used bandages, setting the others on the breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the rest of the room. After grabbing a pair of sleeping pants from my top drawer, I helped him stand and get into them. The touch of his hand on my shoulder to steady himself made my skin hot. As soon as he was sitting in my easy chair so he could eat, I stepped back, safely out of his personal space. I lifted a hand to run through my hair before I recognized it for the nervous gesture only I knew it to be and, looked down at him.
“I-I’m going to start a load of laundry. I…ah…have to clean these sheets. Let me get you some food first, though.”