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Her determined eyes met mine. “How can I help?”
I licked my lips as I glanced down at her leg. We needed her to be able to move quickly when we left. I wasn’t even sure if she could walk. Now that I was closer, her thigh looked swollen.
“Let’s take care of you first.” I moved back so I was at her thigh. “You never told me what happened here? This looks bad.”
Willa grimaced, grasping the pillows as I gently tugged on the gauze. “One of the wolves…”
She cried out when I pulled the bandage off her wound. Fresh tears slid down her face. She gulped in deep breaths as she fisted the sheets.
“I’m so sorry. We need to get this clean. Infection…” I unwrapped it and exposed the gnarled flesh.
Yellow pus oozed from the wound. I blew out a breath and stared down at her leg.
Willa let go of the sheets and closed her eyes. “One of the wolves slashed my leg with their paws when I was trying to get away.”
It was more than a slash. Those cuts were deep and should have been stitched. The claw marks ran from her knee to her upper thigh, just below her hip bone.
“I thought the doctor saw you.”
“He did. The first night. But he hasn’t been back since.” She sat up enough to look at her leg. Her eyes widened, and the color drained from her face. “Oh god.”
I pushed her back into the pillows so she couldn’t see it. “Does it hurt?”
My question sounded dumb even to my own ears. That had to freaking hurt.
“Mostly when I go to the bathroom. I don’t try to get up otherwise. If I lie still, it’s bearable.”
“But can you walk?” It was about a mile to the waterfall and another half mile or so to the car.
“Yeah. I can walk.”
“Good.” That was a good thing. Though I’d wager she couldn’t walk far. We’d need to come up with a way to get her out of here.
Willa grasped my arm. “You do have a plan.”
“Nothing concrete yet. But, yes, I’ll have to tell Lincoln about your leg. This could change things.”
She might be able to walk, but all the way to the cave? And then to the car? I worried my bottom lip. I wasn’t sure she could make the trek without help.
“If you’re getting out of here, I’ll crawl out if I have to. I’m not letting my baby be born here and raised by that monster.” She put her hand on her chest and smiled. “Jacob’s still alive. I can feel him in here. He’s scared. Worried about me. I’m going to find him. We are going to be a family together.”
She grabbed my hand and met my eyes.
The sweet, scared girl from a few days ago was gone. My mom always used to say that tragedy defined you. It had made Willa stronger. Determined. We were going to need that.
Worry and foreboding pitted in my stomach. Things were going to get worse before they got better.
I looked back at the gruesome claw marks on her leg. “First, we’re going to need to get this cleaned up.”
I stood and started for the bathroom when a jar of honey on the tray caught my eye.
Perfect!
Honey would help draw out the infection. It was from a beekeeper too and not store-bought. Bonus.
I picked it up and set it next to Willa on the end table. She lifted her brow but didn’t say anything. Next, I went into the bathroom and rummaged through the cabinets.
Damn it. There was no antiseptic. I shouldn’t have expected any. Shifters didn’t typically need it. We just transitioned to our wolves, and that healed almost any ailment. It sucked that Willa couldn’t shift. At least not for another nine months or so.
