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“Oh,” I said, relieved I hadn’t screwed up. “No, that’s fine. We have plenty of food, so eat as much as you want.”
Ade smiled and knelt, and there was excited muttering as he shared the plates and food between the four of them. I reached back into the wagon and brought out the thermos of coffee and a small bottle of milk.
“Do you guys like coffee? There’s milk, but I’m afraid we don’t have any sugar...”
I trailed off as Jophiel jumped back up onto his feet and wrapped his arms around me. I found my face pressed up against his chest, his muscles disturbingly sculpted through his shirt. The heat of his body flooded through my clothes and my heart jumped. He released me almost instantly, and I immediately missed his warmth as he took the thermos from me. He flashed me the sweetest smile that seemed like it took all the air from the room.
“You’re the most incredible woman in the world, Dylan. Coffee!”
He was as excitable as a child, and I found myself laughing as I looked over at Ade. “Should he have coffee?”
Ade laughed. “Probably not, but on this occasion, I’ll allow it.” Jophiel sent him a mock glare as he started pouring steaming black coffee into the old, battered mugs I’d brought. I grabbed the medical kit and one of the mugs and knelt down next to the injured angel, Remiel.
“I’m just going to clean out your wound and put some fresh bandages on,” I told him, reaching out.
He grabbed my hand, his fingers tightening around my wrist. It was slightly painful, but I’d been through worse. I froze and returned his cold stare. “Are you medically trained, farm girl?”
Arrogant man. “No, I’m not, but I’ve had a lot of experience treating wounds from living on the farm, so unless one of your friends is a doctor, I’m all you’ve got.”
He stared at me a moment longer then released my wrist.“Fine, go ahead,” he muttered.
I pulled back the bandages. The wound was deep, but it didn’t seem as bad as it had a few hours ago. The skin around it was angry and inflamed, and as I touched my fingertips gently to his skin, I could feel the heat. I looked up at his face. He was still wearing that cold expression he had before, but I ignored him and reached up to lay my hand across his forehead. His skin felt as though it was burning under my touch.
“You’ve got a fever. I think the wound is infected.”
“No, really?” His tone was sarcastic, and I fixed him with my sternest expression.
“Yeah, plus I’m going to have to sew it up if you insist on not going to a hospital.”
“We insist. Just get on with it.”
I bit down on my lip, fighting the urge to completely abandon my morals and tell him to go and fuck himself, but I didn’t. Instead, I fed him an antibiotic and a couple of Tylenol with a drink of water to try and get his temperature down. Next, I took a bottle of antiseptic and a sewing kit out of the bag. My father didn’t have great faith in doctors, or science at all to be honest, so I’d grown up tending to injuries and had a little experience in sewing up people’s skin—including my own.
“This is going to hurt,” I warned him a split second before pouring antiseptic on the wound. He let out a surprised yell, and I bent over to clean the wound, trying to hide the grin that had spread across my face. To be fair, he didn’t make a sound after that, just grunted occasionally as I cleaned out the wound and stitched it up as best as I could.
“How exactly did you get this?” I asked.
“I was flying overhead, scouting ahead of the others, when I saw the horde heading toward your farm. They were nearly at the house, so I landed and drove them back toward the animals. I was outnumbered until the others caught up.”
I stopped sewing for a moment and looked up in surprise.“You took on all of those hellions by yourself? To defend one house?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s my job. What did you think? That I’m evil too?”
“Evil? No.” I returned to my sewing, jabbing him slightly harder than necessary. “Asshole, definitely.”
The guys behind me snorted with laughter, and Remiel’s eyes narrowed, but I was done. I did a fairly neat job, all things considered, and I was glad, because when I turned to put the supplies back into the medical kit, I realized the other three were watching me closely. I tried to ignore them and instead set about making Remiel comfortable. I put clean bandages on, and then Jophiel dropped down and helped lean Remiel forward so I could slip pillows behind him. I covered him with a blanket and set two bottles of water next to him.
“I’ll come back in a few hours with more pills. Make sure you drink these by then. Just sips, not too much at a time. I might have to change your dressings then too.”
“Why? Did you not do it right?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Because the wound is infected, and I had to leave it open slightly so it could drain. That’ll make a mess, and it’ll stink worse than you do now. Now put that mouth to better use than poking at me.”
His eyes widened and dropped to my mouth and then lower, and I blushed, realizing what I’d said. I turned and hastily grabbed the remaining plate of breakfast, shoving it at him.
“Eat,” I demanded firmly, not meeting his eyes. “And rest. Doctor’s orders.”
I scrambled up to my feet and stuck the medical kit back in the wagon. The guys had already packed up all the breakfast stuff, stacking it neatly in the wagon for me, which surprised me. I wasn’t used to people doing things for me. I pulled out a duffel bag filled with clothes and passed it to Eleth, who was closest.
