As Jenna drew closer, she quickly began to assess the situation.
Nick was grimacing, obviously in pain and he was squinting as if he seemed to be having trouble seeing.
Shoot!This didn’t look good.
Jenna suspected he might have a concussion but taking him to the clinic in town was not an option, since the trip was longer than the ankle bracelet would allow and would trigger the alarm and result in his return to prison.
Fortunately, Jenna was knowledgeable about first aid so she could tend to him.She’d also have to reach out to the nurse practitioner for advice on how best to help him if it were serious.
“What the hell happened?”Axel shouted, his voice was sharp with worry as he swooped in around Nick like a mother hen.
“Hey, not so loud.Got a killer headache,” Nick complained, wincing as he spoke.
Jenna watched as Axel reached up, and with surprising gentleness, touched the area on his scalp near where blood was trickling down the side of Nick’s face.
“Might need stitches.What happened?”Axel asked again.His tone now soft and tender respecting Nick’s request.
As she watched the interaction between the two men she suddenly remembered the look that had passed between the two of them in the kitchen shortly after they’d shown up.
The airhadbeen charged with a sizzling connection, despite her gaslighting herself that she’d been imagining it.
It had been hot.Caring.
But now as Axel tended to Nick, his concern was evident.It was more than just being worried; it was a genuine care that ran deeper than one what might expect from a friend.
Jenna was certain now that there was definitely something going on between the two men.
“Saw a truck parked at the side of the road up there on the ridge.Thought somebody might need help, so I stopped.No one was around and the next thing I know Daisy is freaking out, barking, and I looked at her and then I’m getting smacked over the head.And then that truck took off.”
Axel swore and his face twisted with anger.There was a sudden storm behind his eyes.The transformation was immediate.This was the flip side of his tender side.
Intense.Volatile and fiercely protective.
Jenna remembered it well.
Here was that explosive temper that had gotten him thrown into prison.It was the same force that drove him when someone he cared about was hurt or threatened.
“Axel…” she warned.Her voice trembled, barely audible over the pounding of her heart.She feared where his anger might lead him now.Waves of that same helplessness she’d felt upon finding out he’d gone after the men that had put his father into a wheelchair was pummelling her now.
Axel didn’t seem to hear her.The fury had swallowed him whole.
“How long ago did this happen?”Axel demanded.
“Just a few minutes ago.Hey chill.He’s long gone, man.Took off like the devil was after him,” Nick said in a controlled voice that didn’t seem to penetrate Axel’s anger.
“Give me the keys.I'm going after him,” he snapped.Nick’s eyes widened, but he didn’t argue.He knew better than anyone what Axel was like when he snapped.
Before Nick could give him the keys, Axel had grabbed them.
He jumped into the truck and sped off.The roar of the engine faded down the road, leaving a hollow ache in its wake.It happened so fast, Jenna hadn't even been able to warn him to be careful and to not set off the ankle security monitor.
Damn that man.Not even a day here and he was already trying to get himself into trouble.
She forced herself to breathe, to focus.One crisis at a time.She refocused on what she could control and that was tending to Nick.
“Come on, let's go inside,” Jenna urged, now realizing someone had been watching her place.
Nick nodded.
