Link grabbedAnsley under the arms and pulled her away from the window. With her passing out, they couldn’t be in public. They needed to hide. He did a thorough check through the other four rooms, noticing there was no fresh food on any of the shelves. Most likely, the home had been abandoned.
“Ansley, you need to wake up.”
She didn’t stir. Her body felt hot to his touch. Infection. Shit.
After making her comfortable on her side, he checked the wound on her leg. It looked okay. Her leg wasn’t hot, so that probably wasn’t it.
He moved her to her back, making sure her head and neck were positioned so she could breathe. Then he unwrapped her arm, feeling the heat before the bandage was off.
"Shit." Somehow, a piece of debris must have been left in her arm.
He had to do something. First, antibiotics. He grabbed his pack, preparing the medicine for her. Her body had been through too much, and now she was down for the count.
After giving her the antibiotic, he cut the stitches and shone a bright light on the wound. He poured in alcohol, glad that she flinched. At least the pain was getting to her.
He used light again, and with the wetness of the alcohol, he could see the tiny sliver of metal that he'd missed before.
“Damn it. I should have caught that.”
He found a pair of tweezers in one of the drawers in another room. He took time to disinfect the tweezers, knowing that introducing more bacteria to her body wouldn't help her at all.
When he pulled out the metal, it was longer than he expected. Hopefully, this would help her recover.
He disinfected the area again, wondering if he should close it up. He took time to disinfect the needle and began sewing her arm closed. It only took four stitches, but it would hold her arm together until they were rescued and she could see a medic.
He used more alcohol to further disinfect the area. It wasn't perfect, but he hoped it was enough.
“Might as well hang here for a bit.”
She was still out and didn't respond to his statement. He took a moment to study her again. She was tough and beautiful. There was no way she didn't have a boyfriend back home. He pushed the thought away. If she came out to stay with him, he would ask, but for now, he would focus on the mission.
He stayed close and got comfortable. His team should be close soon. Maybe he should go out and look for them, but he didn’t want to leave Ansley alone. Not with her passed out.
He’d been sitting for about twenty minutes when he heard someone entering the building. He froze, hoping it was his buddies and not the enemy. He was prepared to do whatever it took to keep Ansley safe.
As he moved closer to the door, he could just make out the whisper of a footfall. They were nearly silent out there, but it was enough noise that the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
He drew in a slow breath and waited. One second passed, then another. He was ready for anything. He calmed his breathing, forcing a calm that was unnatural.
“Link, you in here?”
Relief slid through him like melted chocolate on a hot summer day. Chase. “Yep. It’s me.”
He opened the door and spied both Chase and Bean. He wanted to shout for joy, but that would bring too much attention. He glanced over at Ansley and saw she was still out of it.
“Glad you found us,” he said to his buddies.
“Yeah. Your coms are out. Took us a bit to figure out it was only your coms down and not you.”
“Yeah. Glad it was only coms.”
Bean pointed at Ansley. “You got one.”
He nodded. “Ansley. She has an infection. Passed out about an hour ago. Gave her antibiotics.”
“Well, let’s get you two out of here. We’ve got a bird headed our way. It will be here in about ten minutes. We need to move.”
“Everyone good?” Link asked.
