Her eyes had started to drift closed again, but they snapped open at something in my tone. “You’re scared.”
“I’m not?—”
“You are. You’re using your scared voice.” Her bloody hand came up to touch my face. “I’m okay, Teddy. I promise.”
“You’re as blue as a goddamned Smurf and bleeding.” The words came out harsher than I meant them to, driven by the fear that was crawling up my throat. “That’s pretty fucking far from okay.”
“But I’m here.” She said it so quietly I almost missed it. “I’m still here.”
“We need to get you out of here.”
“Wait—the eggs,” she said suddenly, her eyes going wide with panic. “Fought a woman for them. Free-range. They’re in the back.”
“Forget the fucking eggs, Kels.”
“But Christmas breakfast—” Her teeth were chattering so hard I could barely understand her.
The seatbelt wouldn’t release. I pressed the button harder, jamming my thumb against it repeatedly. Nothing.
“It’s stuck. I tried… but I couldn’t—” When I pulled back, she pawed clumsily at the air, her teary eyes going wide with panic. “No. Please don’t leave me here!”
“Not going anywhere.” I pulled the hunting knife from the sheath on my belt. “Hold still.”
I sawed through the seatbelt, the fabric parting with a wet ripping sound. She sagged forward the second it released, and I caught her against my chest, her blood immediately soaking through my shirt.
“I’ve got you, baby,” I murmured as I maneuvered her through the gap in the door, trying to be gentle while urgency screamed at me to move faster. Every second in this freezing tomb was stealing more of her body heat. “Can you stand?”
“Of course I can.” She tried to prove it by shifting her weight, then immediately swayed. “Maybe. The world’s a little spinny.”
“Spinny ain’t a medical term, Kels.”
“Sure it is. Right between ‘owie’ and ‘fuck, that hurts.’”
The loopy, unfiltered version of Kelsey typically only came out when she was drunk or heavily medicated, which told me she was definitely hypothermic.
The storm hit us full force once we cleared thevehicle, the wind threatening to knock us both down. I tucked her against my side, using my body to shield her from the worst of it.
“The groceries,” she mumbled against my shoulder as I guided her arms around my neck and bent to scoop her up. One arm under her knees, the other around her back. “We can’t forget the groceries.”
“Kelsey Dawn Riggs, swear to God, if you don’t forget about the fucking groceries…” I growled.
“Don’t yell at me.” She was crying again. “I’m trying to make it nice for them even though everything’s broken and wrong and?—”
“Shh.” I pulled her closer, tucking her head under my chin. “I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m not yelling. And I promise I’ll come back for the groceries. But first, we need to get you out of the cold.”
“I can walk,” she protested, but her arms tightened around my neck.
“Humor me.”
“Since when do I do that?”
Since never, I thought, but didn’t say it. The trip back to the Bronco was treacherous. Ice under snow, wind trying to knock us sideways, Kelsey’s weight throwing off my balance. Twice I nearly went down, and both times she gasped and clung tighter, her face buried in my neck.
“Almost there,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if I was reassuring her or myself.
The truck was still running with the driver’s door hanging open. I kicked it shut before moving around to the passenger side. When I reached for the handle, she caught my hand.
“I can’t—I’ll get blood on the seats.” She stared down at the worn leather as if it were sacred. “I know how you are about the Bronco.”
