Past Loves

Part 26

Chapter 26

Rose watched as Peirce’s body lay motionless while Emily wiggled under the man.  She was frozen in place, not knowing what to do about the fact that Peirce wasn’t moving.  Blood poured onto the ground, and still he did not move.  She sunk to the ground, feeling her heart pound in her chest.  This couldn’t be the end; he couldn’t die.

Something grabbed her leg, making her scream and kick at the object.  Still the grip on her leg did not loosen, if anything it became tighter as the voice matching the grip finally met her ears.  “Rose!”

Letting her eyes look away from Peirce, she met Ramsey’s.  “He’s dead.”

Ramsey rose to his feet, wobbling slightly before steadying himself.  “You need to stop acting this way,” he groaned, putting his hand to the back of his head only to come back with blood coating it.  “He may be dead, and if he is, I am sure your heart will be broken, but until we find out his condition, stop.”

The command in his voice made the panic ease away, only to be replaced by anger.  “Do not speak to me that way,” she growled, standing to his feet.

He had the gall to smile at her with a nod.  “That is the sister I love.  I will roll him off her; you do what you wish with the woman.”

Ramsey walked towards the two of them.  Emily was still trying to get out from underneath Peirce, but when she saw Ramsey advancing on her, she froze, terror filling her eyes.  “I did not mean to cause him harm.  I did not mean it.”  Tears ran down her face as she shook her head back and forth.

Rose watched as her brother looked at the woman with no emotion in his eyes.  “If it were my choice, you would be dead.  You are fortunate there is another in the room.”

He bent down and carefully eased Peirce off the woman.  When Rose saw the blood coating his shirt, she almost forgot about Emily, almost forgot how crazed the woman was.  Emily jumped to her feet, looking as if she were going to run.  Rose didn’t even think.  She just took a step forward, raised her hand and let it connect with the woman’s jaw.  Emily blinked at Rose, shock covering her face as Rose threw another punch, this time to the side of the woman’s head.  Emily dropped, the sound of her body hitting the ground echoing through the silent room.

“Brilliant,” Ramsey mumbled.  “I guess Cassie did teach you a few things while you lived with her.”

Rose shook her hand, the soreness she was feeling becoming known.  “Actually, Will taught me,” she mumbled, walking towards Ramsey, who now had his eyes on Peirce.

“With Cassie pregnant, I would understand why Will would teach you,” Ramsey answered.  She knew her brother was talking to calm her, trying to make her stay composed as he did everything he could for Peirce.

Rose took a step forward, looking down at the two most important men in her life.  She felt useless.  She did not have the knowledge that Cassie, Ramsey, and Peirce did.  She had never thought to ask Cassie to teach her.  “What can I do?” she asked, leaning over the two of them.

Ramsey glanced up for a moment before gesturing towards the window seat.  “See if there are any needles and thread near there.  I am going to have to suture his wounds.  Alcohol,” he mumbled as if just thinking of the item, “see if there is any brandy or scotch in the cabinets.”

She scrambled towards the seat, turning pillows over until she finally found what looked like a shirt someone was stitching.  Yanking the needle and what thread was left off the shirt, she ran towards the liquor cabinet.  She was in luck; it seemed that when Peirce left the manor, no one thought to move the beverages.  Her hand connected with the first one she could reach before she ran back towards Ramsey.  Setting the objects next to her brother, she stared at him.  “What else?”

“Your hairpin.”

“What?”

He looked up at her, his eyes staring at her hair.  “Take out your hairpin and hand it to me.”

Her hand reached up to her smallest one, but when he shook his head, she reached further back, grabbing the thick, diamond one her uncle had purchased for her.  Handing it to him, she winced as he bent it.  Ramsey reached out, pulling the top from the alcohol and pouring it on her hairpin before pouring it onto Peirce’s wound.  As the man groaned in pain, hope filled Rose.  If he were able to feel pain, he was not dead.

Ramsey thrust her hairpin into Peirce’s wound, making her look away as blood seeped from the wound.  She couldn’t watch, couldn’t handle the sight of his blood, which is most likely the reason why Cassie had never taught her how to tend wounds. 

“Finished,” Ramsey said.  She heard the bullet hit the ground, but still did not look his way.  Next, Ramsey would be weaving the needle through Peirce’s skin, sealing his wound, keeping the blood from seeping out more than it already was. 

“The bullet did not hit anywhere important,” Ramsey mumbled into the silence.  “As long as he does not get infected, he should live.”

“Infected?” she asked, turning towards him, only to turn away once more when she saw the needle push itself into Peirce’s skin.

“Something quite common,” he said, before letting out a sigh.  “Finished.”

Turning towards them, she watched Ramsey stand to his feet, only to fall to his knees once more.  “Ramsey?” she asked in a worried tone. 

He shook his head at her.  “Cassie says not to fall asleep after a head wound.  Do not let me fall asleep, Rose.  Whatever you do, do not let me fall asleep.”

Nodding, she felt tears well in her eyes.  “What do I do with Emily?”

“Kill her, tie her up, I do not care, but whatever it is that you do, make sure that the woman can cause harm to no one else.

She ignored the beginning of his statement, knowing she couldn’t bring herself to kill the woman.  “Tie her with what?”

Ramsey motioned towards the curtains.  “The cords, ropes, whatever it is that you women call the things that tie the curtains open, use them.  Bind her tight, use the tie Cassie taught us as children.”  His eyes closed, sending her scrambling over towards him.  Punching him in the shoulder, she let out a sigh as he opened his eyes and glared at her.  “I think hitting Emily did nothing but harm to your mind.  Violence is not the way,” he said with a laugh before motioning towards the curtains once more.  “Hurry, before she wakes.”

Hating the fact that she would have to turn her back on her brother, she did so anyway.  As she passed Peirce, she sent a prayer to God, praying that the two men would be fine, that they would still be with her in the morn.  If either of them left her, she would not know what to do, would not be able to live with herself, and if either of them did die, Rose would rethink her thoughts on Emily.  If one of her men were to die, the woman would die with them.