Turning her toward him, I pick her up and carry her out of the garden. She’s covered in mud, blood, and she’s soaking wet.
Her arm goes across my shoulders. “I’m okay, Dad.” The adrenaline is wearing off, and her body is shaking.
“That’s an awful lot of blood for someone who claims to be okay.” He says, walking up to her with his flashlight to inspect her like a lion inspecting its cub.
“It’s just a scratch.” She says, the affection for her father obvious in her voice.
I’ve been grazed several times before when I was in the Rangers, and I know they burn like a motherfucker. When the adrenaline wears off completely, she’ll be singing a different tune.
Mr. Harlow stands in front of us and sets his hand on her cheek, looking at her face. I’m pretty sure the old man’s eyes are glassy as he looks at her, but he doesn’t say anything.
She grabs his hand on her cheek and smiles at him. “I’m fine, Dad, I promise.”
His gaze moves over her face for another second before he nods and gently pats her cheek before turning away.
She lays her head on my shoulder, and her trembling fingers clasp the area where my neck meets my shoulder as she pushes her nose against my neck and inhales. I kiss her forehead and walk toward the big house. “Come on, theparamedics will be here soon.”
Later in the ER room, Kinley is pissed. “You could have supported me.” She crosses her arms over her chest with a huff and looks at the wall across from me.
She looks small in the bed in the hospital gown and the five blankets piled around her because she was so cold. Being in pain or cold didn’t stop her from almost having a meltdown when they started shaving a small section of her hair from around the cut.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, I’m trying not to laugh at her. “It’s standard procedure, baby. They have to do that to prevent infection.”
Her eyebrows are pulled together so hard that they might become one, and her eyes flick back to me. “I won’t be able to fix my hair into a half updo for months, and the holidays are coming. I’m limited to only up or down, and even some of my up choices are now gone. Couldn’t they have shaved a smaller section, closer to the cut?”
Grabbing her hand from under her arm, she tries to pull away, but I hold fast, and when she gives up, I clasp it between mine. “Baby, they’re doctors, not hairdressers.”
“Whatever.” Her lips are pulled tight into a straight line, and she rolls her eyes to look away again.
“Sounds like you’re feeling better.” Mason’s voice has both of us turning our heads toward the door.
If looks could kill, Kinley’s condescending smirk would have incinerated him on the spot. “What do you know, Mason? You shave your hair off so you all look the same.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Jax walks in behind Mason with his hands up. “What do you mean ‘you all’?”
Another ‘fuck-you’ squint is given by Kinley. “You know what I mean! All you military, muscle-bound, tough-guy, jarhead types.”
I don’t think I’ve seen her so pissed.
Jax sets his hand over his heart. “I’ve been trying to bulk up, it means a lot you noticed.”
Mason is quiet and serious, standing next to the bed in his usual at-ease position with his hands tucked under his arms. “Why were you outside by yourself?”
Kinley’s eye-roll is so big her head moves with it. “I was coming to get you!”
“You could have called. Why didn’t you call?”
Answering for her, I lock eyes with Mason. “I wanted her out of the cabin and in the big house where it was safe while I contained Sanders. I told her to go to the house and send you, thinking Sanders was the only threat.”
His eyes stay locked with mine, the anger evident.
“Hey!” Kinley lets go of my hand and snaps her fingers at Mason, her anger just as palpable. When he looks at her, she nearly explodes. “I’m not a fucking child, Mason! Stop acting like I don’t have a goddamn brain in my head and I couldn’t possibly live on this Earth without you holding my hand.”
They have a stare-off for several long moments before Mason caves, and his face softens. “Do you know where I was when Marley was being beaten and raped?”
Kinley jerks her head like he slapped her, and her eyes go wide as shock replaces the anger.
Mason continues without an answer. “I was inside having fun and drinking with my friends, after I handed her the keys to my truck, instead of walking out to the parking lot with her. If I’d gone the extra step, been a little more protective, her life wouldn’t have been ruined.”
