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I moved to the door and paused before pulling it open. An embarrassed flush worked its way up my neck.
“I put that bucket next to your bed in case you need it…”
He nodded solemnly, saving me from having to explain myself.
“And I’ll bring you a shirt tomorrow. We’ll talk about you leaving then.”
I was almost through the door when he called out. “Lizzy!”
Stepping back inside, I looked at him lying on the bed. Somehow, through all the haze of yesterday, he’d remembered my name. It sort of scared and thrilled me at the same time.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about that jerk in town,” he said, his gaze intensifying. “I hope he got what he deserved.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Maybe not. But with any luck, I made it so he can’t have children in the future.”
Gabe’s laughter followed me out of the shack and into the darkening forest.
Chapter Seven
It was a challenge to hide my nerves from Granny the whole next day at the Pump N’ Go. All I wanted to do was finish my shift so I could run and check on Gabe. Then, I’d have to decide how to release him without getting myself killed. I hadn’t quite figured that part out yet.
After an uneventful afternoon, Queenie finally came to release
me from my shift. I ran home and changed, stuffed some more food and clothes in my bag, and left for the shack. Gabe’s knife was tucked safely in my pocket. If I released him, he’d need something to defend himself with. I’d hate for him to get eaten alive so soon after healing.
The shack was quiet once again as I slowly approached it. Although yesterday had left me feeling more secure about the ropes that bound him to the bed, I still wasn’t taking any chances. These woods were full of dangers and not just the demon kind.
The idea that I had a gorgeous half-naked creature tied to a bed suddenly struck me as hilarious. Kate would’ve died laughing, if she wasn’t so afraid of demons. All we needed now was a whip and a blindfold, and this would practically be Fifty Shades of Grey territory. I stifled a giggle at the ridiculous idea.
Pushing through the door, I glanced at Gabe lying on the bed.
“How are we feeling today?”
He was still asleep, so I quieted my footsteps and went about emptying my bag of food and a shirt for him. It was one of the t-shirts we used to sell at the gas station – Black Hills National Forest was stamped on the front over a picture of a bunch of ponderosa pine and a majestic elk lifting its head to scent the wind. We’d sold a few, but now they were faded and old, so Granny stuffed them in the back storage room.
“Gabe? I brought some food for you.” I snuck up beside him, waving a strawberry pop-tart under his nose.
He still wasn’t moving. It was then that I realized he looked paler than ever. I placed my hand on his forehead to feel his temperature and immediately pulled my hand away. His skin was burning up. A layer of cold sweat covered his face and his chest moved in shallow breaths.
“Wake up,” I said, giving him a little shove.
He moaned, but didn’t open his eyes.
“Come on, you have to wake up.” Panic was starting to leak into my voice. I took a couple of breaths to calm myself and began scanning his wounds.
All the claw marks on his chest had healed to thin red lines. They probably wouldn’t even scar. They weren't the problem. It was the wound on his shoulder that bothered me. The opening had grown red and swollen. The redness was spreading in pink lines across his shoulder and down his chest. It had to be an infection.
I’d seen a horse from Lara Cleary’s stables die from an infection when I was ten. It had banged its head on some rebar sticking out of the ground. Lara hadn’t noticed the infection until it was too late for antibiotics and the horse died within a few days. She cancelled my riding lessons for the next month, while she grieved the loss of her favorite mare.
"You need medicine," I said, placing my hand on his chest.
The dull thumping of a heart deep in his ribcage told me he was still hanging on. For how much longer, I couldn't be sure. But he needed antibiotics as soon as possible.
"Okay, handsome. Just hang on," I whispered.
Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I ran out of the shack and into the forest. I didn't even bother taking my usual roundabout route home. Using the most direct route through the forest, I ran to the only person I could think of who might be able to help me get those meds.
