Page 108 of Ruling the Green

“What happened to her?” I asked as we ran up the stairs to our quarters.

Nira was in and out of consciousness in Vishen’s arms, her head dangling, blood soaking through her hair.

“When I found her, she was fighting with three men—maybe Grimwood’s guys. They weren’t ours, but they were trained. She was outnumbered six-to-one. I jumped in, but it was a tough fight. She jumped back from a sword swipe, tripped, and fell into a rock.”

My gaze scanned over her, seeing more blood soaking through her side.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“She has to be,” Vishen said, pulling her closer, the worry etched deep into his face.

We burst into Vishen’s room, and he gently lowered Nira down.

“Tell me what to do.”

“Clean cloths. Water. I have a kit,” he said, rushing to grab it from his wardrobe. “Not your water,” he clarified.

“I might be able to convince it to heal her,” I objected.

“Did you see what is going on out there?” he asked, his tone more brusque than I’d ever heard toward me. But I couldn’t blame him. He was clearly more than professionally worried about Nira. “We don’t know if we are going to be on lockdown for days. You need to conserve all of your water so you don’t start fading on us.”

“Okay,” I agreed, not liking it but understanding his logic. “Cora, stay with me,” I demanded, getting a little nod from the terrified girl before rushing across the hall.

I grabbed water, taking just a second to chug some of my own, then helped her rip the clean linens into strips.

When we made it across the hall, Vishen had Nira’s shirt off, exposing the nasty gash in her side.

My stomach twisted.

“Serin, get over here and apply pressure. I need to work on her head. Can the girl hold this basin?” he asked as he turned Nira so her head hung off the bed.

Cora and I rushed forward. She picked up the basin, holding it under Nira’s head as Vishen poured glass after glass of water over her head until the blood was washed away enough to see the wound.

I steeled my stomach, grabbed a few rags, and pressed them hard into Nira’s side, making her shoot awake with a cry.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“’s okay,” Nira said weakly.

“Babe, I’m gonna have to shave half your head,” Vishen told her while he had her awake. I didn’t miss the soft way he touched her cheek as he told her.

Nira tried to offer him a smile, but she was too weak. “It’ll look badass,” she managed in a tiny whisper.

“Yeah, it will,” Vishen agreed. “You can put that down,” he told Cora. “Could you go into the office next door and grab some of the alcohol?”

“How bad?” Nira asked.

“Could be worse,” Vishen told her. “I’ve seen worse.”

“Did they live?” Nira asked, sounding like she was fading.

“Most of them. And you’re more of a stubborn-ass than all of them combined. And I give a fuck if something happens to you. So, I like your odds.”

“Here,” Cora said, rushing back with two different bottles of alcohol—one brown and one clear.

“Let’s have a drink,” Vishen said, lifting Nira’s head and holding up the brown liquor. Nira went ahead and chugged.

“Is that good for her?”