Then, the world went black.
I thought I was dreaming when I heard Luka’s voice softly whispering to me that she loved me. The light seemed too bright against my eyelids, and I didn’t want to open them. I felt a sting in my shoulder, and I jerked.
I heard a voice telling me that I had to be still for just a little bit longer.
Finally, I had gathered enough strength to open my eyes.
Dr. Ursa was packing my shoulder with a poultice. Luka was hovering nearby, gently caressing my face.
“Welcome back,” Dr. Ursa said.
I smiled weakly. It hurt too much to do anything else.
“You should be fine. The bullet in your side barely missed your lung. If he had hit it, I’m not sure we would be having this conversation. The bullet in your shoulder barely missed your collarbone. That would have been extremely painful and a lot more dangerous. It’s a really good thing you were in your bear form when he shot you,” she told me.
I glanced over at Luka when Dr. Ursa said bear form, but she was focused on the doctor’s words.
“You are to behave and do everything that Luka tells you. She saved your life and was exceptionally brave. Not too many women would run straight into a bears’ den, full of bears, to get help for her man. She was also an excellent nurse.”
I nodded.
“Don’t be a whiny butt and don’t give her a hard time. Do you hear me, Gage?”
I nodded again. “Yes, ma’am.”
She and Luka walked out of the room.
I heard the doctor giving Luka her instructions.
Then came the moment I was both dreading and looking forward to—Luka came back in the room, alone.
She handed me a glass of water and a pain pill.
“Just take a sip of the water. I really don’t want you to get sick all over the place,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.
She shot me a glare that would make a lesser man shrink and pee his pants. I tried to look humble as I obeyed her instructions.
“The first thing we need to do is to get you cleaned up. You are covered in blood. Any minute now, blowflies are going to come in here and lay their eggs all over you, thinking you are a stinking corpse.”
Luka left and came back with two washcloths and a towel. She left again and came back in with two bowls of water. She got one of the washcloths wet and rubbed soap on it. She gently cleaned all the blood from my body that she could reach, including the blood in my hair and on the back of my neck. She gently rolled me so she could wash the blood off my back.
I gasped loudly as a burning pain shot through me.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m trying to be as gentle as I can.”
“I know,” I answered. “I didn’t know that I had to get shot to get a sponge bath.”
Tears formed into her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I never expected that he would come back with guns. I didn’t even know he had them. You would never have been hurt if it weren’t for me.”
My temper flashed again. “You listen to me, woman. This isn’t your fault. You broke up with him a long time ago. You told him to get lost again the day we met. Most men would have gotten gone and stayed gone. You did not invite him back, and you did not tell him to drink a ton of beer and bring guns. This is all on him. None of this is your fault. Do you understand me?”
She nodded.
“I want to hear you say it.”
“You think it’s not my fault.”