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I don’t even think. I head to the door and grab my boots and a pair of snowshoes, then bundle myself up in my winter gear. My hands fumble on the poppers of my coat. My heartbeat is rushing in my ears. I’m not moving fast enough. He’shurt.
Eventually, I’m fully dressed. I look around the porch for something I can use to help, and my eyes catch on a sled leaning by the door. I grab it, brace myself, and open the door, heading out into the snow.
Oh my God, it is so cold. I’ve never felt cold like it. Even through my coat, I feel like I’ve just had a bucket of ice water sloshed all over my body. Snowflakes swarm against my face, stinging my skin like a hive of angry wasps. I remember too late that I probably should have put on goggles, but I don’t have time to go back and get them. I have to reach him. Mashing my eyes shut, I push forward towards his silhouette. As I get closer, I see that he’s clutching his shoulder with one hand, carrying a bundle with the other.
His eyes are wide behind his goggles when I finally reach him. I trip over the edge of my snowshoe and almost fall. His free arm shoots out to grab me, and I see the pain cross his face.
“You fucking idiot!” He roars over the wind. “What the Hell are you doing?”
“Shut up.” I tug the sled to his feet. “Put it on.”
He carefully lowers the bundle onto the sled with a grunt of pain. I grab the rope and start tugging it back towards the house. He grabs for the rope. I pull it away from him. “You’re injured.”
I guess his shoulder really must be hurting him, because he lets me drag the sled back to the house, heaving it through the thickening snow. The wind is at our backs, so it’s much easier this way. We make it to the front door, and he tries to turn the handle, but his numb hands keep slipping. I open the door for him, and we fall back into the cabin.
He starts shouting before I’ve even shut the door behind us.
“What the Hell is wrong with you?” he bellows as I pull off my gloves. “You don’t go out in a storm! Are you fucking stupid? You could’ve died!”
“I’mnot the one currently dripping blood all over the floor,” I snap. “Jesus, are you okay? What happened?” I shove the sled in the corner and reach over to help unzip his coat. He’s shivering convulsively, his hands shaking.
“Stop.” He bats me off. “Don’t touch me.”
I peel off the coat and wince when I see his sweater. There’s red staining his shoulder. “Let me see. You should probably put pressure on it, or something. What happened? Did you fall?” I reach for him, and he flinches away. “Stay still. We need to see how bad it is, Cole—”
“STOP!” He steps back, grabbing the door handle. “I have to get back out there.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
His face is dark. “Visibility was too bad to drive the car to the barn. I need to cover it.”
“Are you fuckinginsane?You’re injured!”
“I’m fine.”
I push past him, standing in the way of the door. “Absolutely not. There’s no way.”
He shoves his goggles up onto my head. His blue eyes are burning with rage. “What thefuckmakes you thinkyoucan tell me what I can’t do?”
“You’re weak, you won’t make it!” I point at the red seeping through into his jumper. I swear the stain is already bigger. “Look how much blood you’ve lost! Cole, I’m serious, it might be really bad.”
He tries to slide past me. I block his path again. “I have to get the car out of the snow,” he repeats slowly, like I’m an idiot. “Get out of my way.”
“No.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Are you going to dig it out of a snowdrift tomorrow? Are you going to pay for any damage? Will you defrost the engine?”
“Sure. I’d love to. Now gositdown.” I try to push him into the living room, but he grabs me by the shoulders and shunts me to the side, hissing through his teeth as the movement jogs his arm. I watch in horror as droplets of blood spatter onto the cabin floor, but he just ignores them, pulling his goggles back down over his face.
I can’t stop him. He’s too big; I feel like a little chihuahua nipping around his ankles. His hand closes around the door handle, and I do the only thing I can think of. I run back into the lounge, raise my voice, and shout “Riven!” at the top of my lungs.
Sixteen
Cole
“You’re an idiot,” Riven mutters between his teeth as he pulls down the neck of my shirt.
“I’m fine,” I force out. My shoulder hurts like a bitch, but it’s not like I’ve never gotten injured before. And I fucking hate being fussed over.
