Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 51

"You can't see your shoulder," Ryker grumbled, "And you're family. Blake's definitely not."

A warmth like a hug touched her at the idea of Ryker's family already seeing her as one of their own. The Monroes seemed so nice and friendly... "Well, I'd feel better if Brett dealt with Blake first."

"And the rest of us feel the opposite," Ryker replied, "He'll make sure Blake's not going to go into a coma or something ridiculous then come in here."

Jo shifted anxiously. "It didn't seem that bad, did it?"

"Jo..." Ryker moved around the edge of the exam table and stood to face her, arm around her shoulder as he held onto the cloth. His eyes were searching, and she found herself looking past him, focusing on a random poster on the wall about the upcoming flu season. "He probably passed out from getting crushed to the ground by Lexi. I don't think the burns he had are nearly as bad as you think they are. All right?"

"Yeah..." Jo wanted to believe him, especially since she had been trying hard not to hurt Blake too much. She bit her lip and took a deeper breath as pain traveled across her shoulder blade and up toward her arm. Laying down didn't sound so bad now, actually. As wired as she felt, she also felt worn out.

"You're looking pale," Ryker said worriedly, reaching out to cup her cheek with one rough hand.

She leaned into his touch. "Well, I did get scratched up by a werewolf..."

The door opened, and Brett stepped in, looking mildly cross though maybe not exactly with them. "Duncan wolves must to be the most stubborn, idiotic pack around," he growled, sounding like Ryker. He glanced from his brother to Jo, his expression shifting to concern. "Let's see how bad it is."

"Is Blake okay?" Jo asked as Brett came over, put on a new pair of gloves, and took the cloth off her shoulder.

"He'll be fine in a day or two," Brett said, "Just a couple second degree burns and a cut Lexi gave him, nothing he can't handle." He scoffed as he gently touched the edge of her wound. "He's already awake and bickering with AJ and Lincoln, so there's that."

Relief rushed through Jo. She hadn't seriously hurt him, and she had protected herself and helped Lexi.

"What about her?" Ryker asked, looming over his brother.

"Back off," Brett said in a half-hearted sing-song tone, "I'm working." He turned his attention back to her shoulder. She wrapped her fingers around the edge of the table as he poked around a little more. "They're shallow but jagged. Werewolf claws are sharp but big and thick, so it's not exactly clean. Jo, how're you feeling?"

"Tired," she said, "But I'm okay."

"Yeah, that's the blood loss," Brett said. "You're going to need stitches. A good number of them. I'll get you something for the pain while I clean this and then get you stitched up, okay?"

Jo nodded. "I'm not going to argue," she said, feeling somewhat lightheaded as stabs of pain arced out from the claw marks. Still, she didn't want to show Ryker that it was starting to hurt more, especially since Brett was going to give her something for the pain anyways. "Are you sure Blake's going to be okay?"

"Can we focus on you for five minutes?" Ryker mumbled grouchily.

Brett raised an eyebrow at her. "He'll be fine, though I think it'll be harder to fix his stupidity." He shook his head. "Ryker's right, for once. Your wounds are still bleeding, and he's a werewolf. He'll bounce back faster than you."

"But she'll be okay, right?" Ryker demanded.

"I'm going to give her a 99% chance of pulling through," Brett said as he rummaged around in the nearby drawers and cabinets, pulling out a metal tray and a few other things. He was too busy to pay attention to the glare Ryker was shooting at him. "Jo, I'm going to give you some IV fluids to help deal with the blood loss and then morphine for the pain, plus a local anesthetic. You'll hardly remember anything."

"Sure," Jo said, giving a slow nod.

Brett took her vitals and then started an IV for her, hanging the bag on a hook near the bed. Sliding out the end of the exam bed, he glanced at Ryker. "She's going to get really sleepy pretty fast, but she'll be okay. Why don't you lay down on your stomach, Jo?"

Ryker helped her carefully turn so that she didn't get tangled up in the IV line, then he pulled a stool up to the side of the table. He'd seemed almost too tense to sit, but she had a feeling he was trying to stay as close to her as possible. It was kind of sweet, poor guy.

"How you feel about needles?" Ryker asked, shooting a look at Brett as he prepped the anesthetic.

"Can't say I love them," Jo said, "but I handled the IV alright so I think I'll survive."

"True," Ryker agreed. His hand started to go to her shoulder before he remembered not to touch it--he quickly snatched his hand away, moving it to her leg instead, rubbing his thumb along her calf. Jo shivered a little at the warm and surprisingly pleasant sensation, then glanced at his blank expression, realizing something.

"You've never had an IV before, have you?"

"With our fast healing, werewolves usually don't need them," Ryker said, looking almost sheepish. Then his expression turned sober as he studied the IV, probably thinking again about the fact that she wasn't a werewolf and would never heal as fast as him.

"I'm fine, Ryker." Jo interrupted whatever thoughts were going through his head and held out her hand, palm up. It only took a second for Ryker to grasp it, squeezing gently.

"Pretty sure I'm the one who's supposed to be doing the comforting here," he said, smiling tightly at her. His hazel eyes had finally started to lighten a little from the darkness they'd taken on earlier, but the concern in them was still obvious.

"Pretty sure I agree," Brett interrupted. "Ready, Jo?" Jo nodded, squeezing a little tighter on Ryker's hand, and then in a moment it was over and the anesthetic was hopefully starting to do its job. "Let me go get the stitching thread, I'll be right back," he said, exiting the room.

"So I don't know how I feel about needles strung with thread," Jo admitted, watching as the door clicked softly shut behind Brett. Now that she had time to think of it, the image of a thick piece of thread, sliding through her skin, scraping against the rough edges, wet with blood...

Ugh.

"You won't feel it," Ryker reminded her, before smirking a little. "And I'll distract you so you'll forget to look."

Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "Better keep that distraction PG in front of your brother."

"You have such a dirty mind," Ryker said, shaking his head in mock-disapproval, although there was no mistaking the mischievous glint to his eye.

"Mhmm, yeah, it's all me," Jo muttered. It was hard to come up with an excellent comeback when your brain was all foggy with medicine shot directly into your veins. Someone wasn't playing fair.

"And here I was, just planning to show off my juggling skills."

"With what, painkillers and needles?" Jo hadn't even realized her eyes had started to close until they popped open. "Wait, you juggle?"

Ryker chuckled, expression finally starting to soften a little. He brushed a light kiss across her forehead. "Guess you'll just have to find out."