Bruised wasn’t the word. Mutilated, more like. There was no other way to describe the blackened patches marring Rae’s body. From his shoulders to his slim hips, barely an inch of skin on his right side was untouched.
My hands twitched, as if I could run my palms over him and heal him.Twat.“Did you text Fletch?”
“Not yet.”
“Do it now,” I said. “I’m not giving you the van keys until you’ve seen a real doctor.”
Rae snorted. “That’s sweet, but I don’t have one. The GP surgery in our village is full, and there’s no way you’re dragging me to a London A&E at this time of night. Besides, I’m fine. It’s getting better already.”
“Take your shoes off.”
“What?”
I backed up and leaned on the doorframe. “If you’re fine, you’ll have no trouble getting those boots off.”
“Fuck you.”
There was no malice in Rae’s tone, but he didn’t move either. Had I made my point? Who the hell knew? But our umpteenth stare down was getting us nowhere.
I ventured back into the room and pointed at the bed. “Sit.”
Rae sat, and I crouched in front of him, unlacing the kind of combat boots that gave me nightmares. They were pretty clean, given where he’d come from, but up close all I could smell was mud and fear. Only Rae’s pained gasp as I eased them off his feet kept me in the present.
“Sorry.” I finished with one and moved onto the second. “Are you sure you haven’t broken your ribs?”
“Sure as I can be,” Rae ground out. “But I can handle that shit anyway. I—” He stopped and shook his head. “Never mind.”
I manoeuvred the remaining boot from his right foot, trying to ignore the buzz in my hand as I wrapped my fingers around Rae’s ankle, and mourning the loss of it when it was time to stand up. “Listen, I’m not going to drag you anywhere you don’t want to go, but I can probably persuade a friend of mine to come here and take a look at you? It can’t do any harm.”
“You reckon? Last person came on our camp to do us a favour turned out to beDaily Mailscum.”
My heart flinched. “Yeah, well. You know that’s not me. Just think about it, yeah? And get some sleep.” I started to back out of the room, but Rae caught me in another inscrutable stare. “What?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Thanks, I guess. It’s weird as fuck to be in your house again, but I appreciate it.”
I tried for a smile. “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Nine
Rae
Being in Cash’s house was beyond strange, but not even the creeping sensation of knowing he was close enough to hear my call was enough to keep me awake. Fuck the pain throbbing through me, I felt like shit everywhere.
I woke sometime later to a banging headache, a hacking cough, and bright winter sunshine streaming through the huge bay window. Shielding my scratchy eyes, I sat up, gaze darting around the unfamiliar room. My boots were in the corner where Cash had left them, my coat on the back of the door, but I couldn’t see my T-shirt anywhere, or my jeans.
Damn it. That made a quick escape unlikely, unless I wanted to skulk out in just my coat, stripper style, something I wasn’t necessarily averse to until I remembered Cash had the keys to the van.
Fucker.I lay back on the bed and rubbed my temples, shivering in spite of the warmth the sunshine brought to the room. I should’ve probably checked in with Meg after the garbled voicemail I’d left her sometime around dawn, but I had zero idea where my phone was, and the thought of getting up to look for it made my head spin.
I dozed off again and woke to knocking at the bedroom door. “Uh, come in?”
Cash slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. “You’re awake.”
“Yup. What time is it?”
“Four.”
“In the afternoon?”
