“The rescuers are coming. It won’t be much longer. What’s the last thing you do remember?”
The more she tried to think, the worse it hurt, but an image did come to mind.
“You … talking to Bliss.”
“That’s the last thing you remember?”
She started to nod, but a burst of pain had vomit coming up her throat.
“I’m going to throw up.” She felt herself roll over as she couldn’t hold the vomit back any longer. She didn’t have anything in her stomach, so dry heaves had her crying in misery. Dustin supported her head until she stopped, then he rolled her onto her back.
With the cloth gone, she could make out foggy images of him.
“Jess, I’m going to move you to the other side of the fire. Ready?” He lifted her, and she rested her face against his chest, lying passively against him as he walked the few short steps.
“Do you want to sit up or lie down?”
“Sit.”
He gradually moved her until she was sitting on her bottom. Then he sat down behind her and pulled her back to lean against his chest.
“Did I fall when I was hiking?” she asked, trying to make sense of what happened to her.
“No, you didn’t have an accident. We’ll try to figure out what happened when we get to the hospital. Asher and Holt are there waiting for you.” He reassuringly rubbed her arms, the warmth he was creating making her sleepy again.
“I’ve been worried about them.”
“They’ve been worried about you. Your brothers and the whole town have been searching for you.”
“How did you find me?” she rasped out.
“Greer.”
“He finally tried to kill me?”
Jessie could feel Dustin’s chuckle against her back.
“No, he suggested I look here. When you’re better, we’ll explain everything to you.”
“Okay … but if Greer beat me, you need to get him outta town. My brothers will kill him.”
More chuckles had her trying to smile in response.
“Ouch … What’s wrong with my mouth?”
“Peanut, you don’t want to know.”
She lost all desire to smile. “It’s been a long time since you called me that nickname.”
“What can I say? Porters are stupid. At least the men are.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Feeling so tired, she fought off sleep. Crazy as it sounded, she didn’t want the time alone with Dustin to end. When help arrived, he would disappear from her life again, and they would go back to ignoring each other on a daily basis.
“Jess?”
“Huh?”
“I was checking to see if you were still with me.”
“Where …?” Her head hurt so badly that she didn’t want to talk, but she wasn’t able to stay quiet. Holt always joked that she should join the army, that she would talk their enemies to death.
“Are you crying again? You need more water?”
“No, I was trying to laugh, but it hurts too bad.”
“What were you laughing at? Where does it hurt?” he asked solicitously.
“I was trying to ask where I would go in the shape I’m in. Was I in a car wreck?”
“No, you weren’t in a wreck. Shh ….”
She hadn’t realized she was whimpering until Dustin started soothing her again. She tried to stop when she could hear that he was getting distressed at her unintentional sounds.
“I must be bad off if you feel as sorry as you sound.”
“You remember when I was stung by the wasps and what I looked like after Ma scrubbed my face with paint thinner?”
“That bad?” she asked, wincing at the memory.
“Worse.”
“Damn, Holt and Asher are going to have a fit. You sure Greer—”
“I’m sure,” he said resolutely, shifting her to lie on the ground. “I see flashlights coming. Don’t make a sound until I see if Tate or Greer are with them. Don’t be scared …,” he soothed her when she must have made a keening mewl of terror. “Woman, you don’t have to be scared of a fucking thing anymore. As long as a Porter man is alive and breathing, no one is going to touch you again. You hear me?”
“Kinda hard not to,” she murmured under her breath.
After that, everything became disjointed as hands and faces blurred into a mass of nothingness that had her agitatedly shying away from the eyes staring down at her. She started to think she had been imagining Dustin being there with her, that she was back at the old cabin and the rats were biting her again.
The wrenching pain from her nose was so extreme that she tried to claw herself away. Like a wounded animal, she wanted to get to her feet so she could run.
“Jess ….” Dustin’s urgent voice broke through the haze of agony surrounding her.
Turning toward him, she reached out for him, wanting him to make the pain go away.
“Let me hold her while you check her out!”
Releasing a shuddering sigh, she went slack. He had promised her that no one would hurt her again. As long as he was close by, she could take others touching her.