I closed my eyes, picturing his naked body poised above mine, and I felt my pussy moisten at the thought. All consciousness of the throbbing pain in my leg and the dirt covering me disappeared as the image of him hovered in my mind.
After a moment, I opened my eyes and caught him staring at me. I smiled at him and said, “What? Do I have boogers hanging out of my nose or something?”
He smiled and said, “No. I was just thinking about how amazing you are. You are smart, tough, and intelligent. On top of that, you are incredibly beautiful.”
His words alone made my world go ‘round. With my leg bandaged and the adrenaline wearing off, I fell into a light sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke up, Jared was taking some food out of the bag. He smiled at me, but I was not able to focus on him. He offered me some food, but I was too concentrated on my leg to consider food. My head started spinning, and my ankle was burning and throbbing. Blood and something yellow was oozing through the bandage. Could he have been wrong, and there had been venom in the bite after all? Not enough to kill me instantly, but enough to prolong my death? Did I survive the kidnapping, the hiding, and the hiking to die in a cave?
I tried to tell Jared that something was wrong, but I couldn’t get the words out. My tongue was thick and heavy in my mouth. Then, the world went dark.
9
Jared
For about half a second, I panicked. Elise had just passed out on me. That was not a good sign. Then, I calmed myself down by telling myself that I would never be able to help her if my emotions were in an uproar. The panic surprised me. I had never been one to panic. Elise was changing me. I was starting to care for her more than I had ever cared for anyone else in the world. Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand.
I checked her forehead. A fever had started. That was not a good sign. Although it wasn’t incredibly bad at this moment, it wouldn’t take long for it to get worse. Then, I checked her leg. It was leaking yellow pus, and her ankle had started to swell to epic proportions. I eased her shoe off, then her sock. Her ankle and foot were at least twice their usual size. I hoped that the swelling would go down, and I would soon be able to put her shoe back on. I couldn’t leave it on, though, because the swelling would cause intense pain and could possibly interfere with the circulation in her foot, which we really didn’t need.
I started to make a to-do list in my head. Taking care of the infection in the leg was my top priority. I had a sharp knife, which I sterilized using my lighter. Then, once it had cooled, I cut open the bites, giving the pus a larger area to escape from. As I cut her leg, Elise moaned, but she didn’t wake up. It was good that she didn’t feel the cut, but it was a bad sign that she was that far gone into unconsciousness.
I squeezed all around her leg, wiping pus that came out. Gradually, there was more blood than pus, and finally, it was pure blood. I hoped that I had got the infection out of her leg in time to keep it from getting worse or even going gangrene.
After washing her leg, I put some antibiotic ointment on it and then covered it with gauze to try to keep some of the dirt out. Then, I bathed her face with cool water. I was lucky that there was a stream nearby again, so I was able to refill the canteens often.
At one point, she was conscious enough that I could get some fever reducer and pain relievers in her. She immediately fell back to sleep. Although her fever was higher, her breathing was more evened out.
I crashed. I was so exhausted, physically and mentally. Elise would not be the only one who was going to end up sleeping for a month when we got back to the States. Perhaps a hot bath loaded with Epsom salt would also be in my future.
I was afraid I was getting soft after my retirement.
That was my last thought before Morpheus overtook me, and I was sleeping soundly next to Elise.
It felt like I had slept forever, but my watch informed me that it had only been a couple of hours.
Her fever was still high, so I woke her up for another round of fever-reducing medication. Her purple eyes were hazy and unfocused. Fear gripped my heart like a vise. I got more water so I could bathe her forehead. Moaning, she fell back into a deep sleep.
As quietly as I could, I drug some branches and rocks over to the entrance of the cave. I was certain that we would not be going anywhere tomorrow, and I didn’t want the cave to be easily spotted.
My assessment of Elise’s condition was spot on. She still had a high fever, and her entire leg had swollen. There was more infection.
This time, she was awake when I used my knife on her. She was like a heroine out of the old-time westerns, and she bit down on a stick to keep from yelling out. This woman was phenomenal. And I told her that, too.
Her leg was cleared out again, and I used some Sterno to heat up water. I laid hot rags over the cuts to draw out anything else that might be in her leg. The fact that she was still alive proved that there was no venom in the bite. For that, I was grateful. But there was absolutely no way that I was going to lose her to infection.
About noon, her fever had gone down some. Her eyes were no longer glassy, and the wet sheen from the heat had disappeared from her face. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer of thanks. The swelling in her leg had also gone down. There was some, but it wasn’t nearly as bulging as the night before. However, it was clear that we were going nowhere today.
I pulled out a satellite phone to contact the home base to let them know the situation. I told them that I hoped we would be able to get back on the move tomorrow, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. If I didn’t call them back, that meant we were heading out. I would only contact them if we had to stay another day.
When I came back into the cave, she had a tear streaking down her dirty face. “I’m so sorry. I’ve put you and everyone else in danger.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “It isn’t your fault. If anything, it was my job to keep you safe, and I didn’t.”
“You’ve done nothing but take care of me. You are wonderful.”
I wanted to ask her what she was going to tell me before she passed out last night, but I must admit that I was afraid. What if she was going to use the “L” word? What if she wasn’t? Shaking my head to empty it of those thoughts, I tried to focus more on what was going on now.
I grabbed a washcloth and wiped the dirt and grime from her face that had clung to it throughout the night. She smiled at me. That lit up the entire cave.
That evening, she stood up. She couldn’t put a lot of weight on her leg. I know it killed her to admit any kind of weakness whatsoever. She had more pride than any Army Ranger I had ever met in my life. She was also as tough as most of them. If she had been a shifter, she would have been unstoppable.