CHAPTER3
Liam
Since Finn said we were going to dinner tonight, I made sure I finished working early enough to get into a hot shower. I couldn’t picture him taking me to a five-star restaurant, mostly because I hadn’t passed any during my exploration of the island. But I knew better than to judge a restaurant by the outside appearance. Many of my favorite dining places back home were little gems, hidden off in the countryside.
Along the way to meet up with Finn at the hospital, I came across a vehicle pulled over on the side of the road with its hood up. I’d been warned about stopping to help strangers. Finn made it clear that there still were people in Tabiq that preyed on others, and being an obvious foreigner just made me a bigger target. But I’ve never turned my back on helping anyone in Ireland, and I’m not about to do so here.
I got out of my SUV and walked over to the truck. It was vacant. I peered under the truck in case the person was working on it. Still no one in sight. The driver must have walked into town to get assistance. Turning to head back to my SUV, I saw someone coming out of the woods, headed right for my vehicle.
Oh, no you don’t.
I rushed over and grabbed his arm just before he opened the driver’s door. The guy spun around and took a swing at me. I pulled back, but instantly realized his hand hadn’t been empty. The sting of a blade heightened my adrenaline. He wasn’t getting a second chance to do more damage.
Holding one of his arms, I made a fist and slammed it into the right side of his temple. The guy dropped to the ground, out cold. Two younger guys came rushing out of the woods, hands up in the air, not wanting to fight me.
“Sorry. Sorry,” they said as they picked up their friend off the ground and laid him in the back of the truck. Then they shut the hood, started the engine, and raced off down the road.
Only when they were out of sight did I look down at my white dress shirt. A red stain was now growing and heading down towards my pants
Fuck.
I’d been in plenty of barroom brawls–I couldn’t believe I had let someone get the better of me. Finn would never let me hear the end of this. And I’m sure he’ll inform our parents so they can lecture me too.
Unbuttoning my shirt, I inspected the wound. Thankfully it was a shallow slash-just a flesh wound. None of my internal organs were affected. Unless you count my pride. Any other time, I would just head down to an urgent care and get patched up. But I was in a foreign country and the last thing I needed was an infection. I needed it cleaned and maybe a stitch or two, but if I sought treatment at the hospital, Finn would hear about it.
From what I knew, there were no other options on the island. Not even a doctor on the resort. I could think of only one person who might potentially help me.
I took off my shirt and pressed it against my side while I drove to the hospital. I parked where I could see the window where I’d waved to the woman. I scanned the parking lot and the windows, satisfied that Finn wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Then I got out of the SUV and leaned against the side, so no one could see the alarming red of my blood. All I could do was wait for the mysterious woman.
And with my luck today, she won’t be looking for me.
Seconds turned into minutes, and I was just about to give up when I saw her. I knew waving would just make her hide again. I wanted her to see that I needed help. When I knew she was looking, I lifted my blood-stained shirt into the air, and then pointed to my right side. She came closer to the window, and I could finally make out her face. I raised my finger to my lips, instructing her to be quiet. Then I pointed to her and waved for her to come down to me.
She stood there, frozen. Maybe she isn’t a nurse. Maybe this is a bad idea.
Eventually she nodded and left the window. I walked over to the back of my SUV and opened it up so I could sit on the tailgate and placed the shirt back onto the wound to keep the bleeding to a minimum.
A few minutes later, she appeared. “What happened?” she asked, her tone full of concern.
She was wearing a nurse’s uniform, so that put me at ease. “A little accident with a knife,” I said.
I removed my shirt and she looked at the wound. “That doesn’t look like a cooking accident. Were you in a fight?” she asked.
I shrugged. “It didn’t last long enough to be considered a fight, but you’re right, this didn’t take place in a kitchen. All I need is for it to be cleaned and bandaged.”
“Then you really need to go into the hospital where we treat patients. Besides, I’m sure your brother would want to know,” she stated.
Normally I’d question how she knew we were brothers, people on this island didn’t seem to have anything better to do than to gossip. It also didn’t hurt that Finn and I are the only two fair skinned redheads here either. “If I wanted him to know, I wouldn’t have asked you to come here quietly.”
She looked up at me with the most beautiful dark brown eyes I’d ever seen. “I don’t know what you want me to do.”
“You’re the nurse.”
“I…I’ll have to go back inside to get some supplies. I still think going in would be the wise thing to do,” she said.
“I trust you to do as good a job as anyone in there would,” I said. If it had been a serious wound, I’d have a different opinion. “Please, all I ask is that you don’t say anything to anyone.”
“Okay, I won’t,” she replied and dashed back into the hospital. When she returned, she didn’t seem to be carrying anything except her purse.