“No, you’re not,” she cried. “You’re bleeding badly.”
“It’s stopping. Help me up.”
“Alaric –”
“Help me up, damn your eyes!”
Chapter Thirteen
Hayley
“I’m sorry,” Alaric gasped. “So sorry. Just hurting.”
“I know, it’s okay. Lean on me, that’s it.”
I slid under his healthy arm, boosting him to his feet. His terrible weight nearly dragged me down, but I locked my knees and found my resolve. Alaric’s hair tumbled over his eyes as he breathed heavily, his blood dripping onto my bare skin, staining my bra.
“One step at a time,” I murmured, half carrying him. “Just one step, then another, that’s it, you got this.”
“Yougot this,” Alaric muttered with a little humor. “You’re stronger than I thought.”
“You should be thankful.”
“Trust me, I am.”
Little by little, we made our way across the beach and up the stairs, sometimes weaving like a pair of drunks. I worried about his bleeding, despite his assurances that it wasn’t bad. Shunting aside the questions I wanted to ask about his being attacked by two other dragons, I focused on getting him into the house.
“The sofa,” he gasped. “Not the stairs. Can’t make them.”
I helped him to sit, then hustled to turn on the lights. I didn’t forget to lock the door. His attackers might come back,and Alaric was in no shape for another fight. Leaving him to rest, I trotted into the kitchen for a basin, water, and cloth.
Under the bright light, Alaric looked far worse. Blood stained his shirt, soaked into his jeans, and stuck tendrils of his hair together. His neck and shoulder looked like chopped meat. Still, he offered up a wry grin as I set the basin on the table.
“Nurse Ratched,” he commented. “Hurt me, please.”
“Knock it off, clown,” I muttered, unbuttoning the tattered remains of his shirt. “Who were they?”
“Damon was the black,” he replied, his voice weary. “The gold was Fiona.”
“Some fiancé,” I groused, peeling his shirt from his torso. “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back up.”
“I tried drowning him. Didn’t work.”
Clenching my teeth, I wet a cloth and dabbed at his shoulder wound. Alaric winced, but said nothing as I did my best to clean the deep gashes. The water in the basin soon turned scarlet, and I had yet to clean the rest of him.
“Let me take you to the hospital.”
“No. We dragons heal fast. Just do your best and let nature do her work.”
I shook my head and didn’t argue. “Should I call Willow?”
“Yeah. Later though.”
After four more basins, I judged his wounds clean. At his direction, I went to a bathroom medicine cabinet to fetch antiseptic, gauze, and medical tape. Alaric clenched his fists, his jaw set, in anticipation of the fierce pain the antiseptic would bring. I hated to hurt him, but we didn’t dare let an infection set in.
“Ready?”
“No.”
