Awakened Desires (34 page)

“Is he going to be all right?” Josie asked from the doorway.

“Just go sit down out there and I will let you know.” She nodded. Gunther growled again as Levi examined his leg.

“Okay…it’s still in there. No exit wound. I’m going to have to cut it out. And from its positioning, I think it should be an easy removal. You are a lucky man,” he murmured.

Quinn looked back at Gunther and his eyes pleaded with her for comfort. She leaned down to his ear, lying across his chest. “It’s going to be okay. I love you.” He nodded as he cringed.

Levi pulled a small knife out of his kit, dropping it into the steaming pot of water. It wasn’t going to be the most sterile of operations, but it had to be done. “Are you ready?” Levi murmured from the end of the bed.

“Listen to me.” Gunther found Quinn’s eyes as she spoke. “You are so strong. You’ve been through much worse than this.” He nodded, the sweat beading up on his forehead. She grabbed one of the smaller towels that Josie had brought in and wiped his brow. “Take my hand.” He wrapped his big mitt around her slight hand.

“Mitch. Reid. I need you.” They both came lumbering into the room. “He woke back up. I need you both to hold down a leg. I don’t feel like getting kicked in the face tonight.” They took their positions: Mitch at Gunther’s wounded leg, Reid on his good leg.

“Breathe, Gun,” Quinn spoke softly in his ear. “I’m right here with you.” He nodded and locked eyes with her. Fear ran through her, seeing his eyes were grayer than before. “As soon as you are done, Levi, I need you all to leave the room immediately. He will need a few minutes to work through this.” Levi looked at her questioningly. “He’s been through a lot and, when he’s dealing with intense pain, he sometimes flashes back.” She paused and cleared her throat. “Ex-special forces.”

“Ah…yes. I understand. All right, making incision.” Levi held the knife in his hand and nodded at Quinn. She laid back across Gunther’s chest and began talking to him.

Levi couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he knew they must have been loving words. He was grateful for her being there to help keep him calm.

He sliced through the tissue and Gunther yelled out. Mitch and Reid pressed their weight onto his legs when they started stiffening. Levi touched the bullet with the tip of the knife and slowly pulled it out. Gunther was panting through his teeth.

“Got it,” Levi announced. “Now I need to sterilize the wound.” He pulled a bottle of vodka from his kit. “This is going to burn. Fair warning.” Quinn braced herself and held his arms down. She knew she was no match for his strength, but she had to try.

Levi poured the vodka all over the wound.

I nearly came off the bed, throwing everyone off of me. If I wasn’t awake before, I was now. “Fuck!” I bellowed.

“Shhh…he’s almost done.” Quinn did her best to comfort me.

“I’m going to stitch up the area.”

“Fuck me… I can’t do this anymore,” I muttered, shuddering from head to toe.

“Try to hold still,” Levi commanded from the foot of the bed.

“Yes, you can,” Quinn murmured. “You
can
do this. It’s going to be okay.” She wiped my brow as the sweat continued to roll off of it. She leaned down and kissed my cheek. I loved her for everything she was doing for me.

Levi stitched up my wound, as I panted through my clenched teeth. “Okay, almost done. One more dose of vodka.”

“Jesus Christ…” I mumbled.

Levi poured the cool liquid over my leg before he wrapped the wound. “All set. Let’s get out of here and allow him his privacy.” The good doctor, the bloke, and the wally headed out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Quinn jumped up and locked it. She then reached for my pack and pulled out what she needed to perform a draw.

“Is there a bag in there?” I whispered. “I need at least half or this is going to end badly.” Quinn searched through my pack and, sure enough, there was a bag.

“Can you hook me up? I’m not sure how.”

“Yeah.” My body was riddled with pain. I used the rest of my strength to pull myself up to the headboard. Quinn adjusted the towel under my ankle and I let out a nasty hiss.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

“S’okay. Motherfucker,” I growled with my head tipped back and eyelids shut. I popped them open again, seeing Quinn inching her way up to me, looking leery. My hands shook and I needed to take a few breathers while I was hooking her up, but I managed.

We drew a half-bag, then she held onto it while I sucked it back. What an amazing woman I had.

The high flowed through me and my eyes fluttered. “Doing better?” she asked. Her voice echoed in my head.

“Yes,” I breathed out. “I need to sleep, though.”

“Absolutely.” She leaned down and pressed her perfect lips to my forehead. “I love you, Gun,” she murmured as she pressed another kiss to my lips.

I was too knackered and too fucked up to tell her she was the only person who would ever get away with calling me “Gun”. All that I was able to get out was, “I love you, too.” Then some arseface knocked on the door.

“Just a minute. I’m helping him change.”
Such a good woman, thinking on the spot.
I would have just told them to fuck off. “Lift your arms,” she murmured. I wanted to die when they made it above my head. The pain in my torso was so outrageous that I almost forgot about my leg. Almost. “I need to go get a change of clothes for you.” I covered my face with my hands. I wasn’t looking forward to changing my jeans.

Quinn cracked open the door and was met with seven pairs of worried eyes. She stepped out and closed the door behind her. “Is he okay?” Josie asked, concerned.

“I don’t know yet. He’s resting right now.” Quinn glared at Mitch.

“I’m sorry. Really, I am. I didn’t realize he was alive.”

Quinn stepped up to him and poked him in the chest. “I swear, if he dies because of you, I will drag you out into the woods and leave you for dead! Do you understand me?”

“That’s not fair! I have apologized a few times.”

“But you still shot him!” she growled.

“What was he doing out there in the middle of the night anyway?” Mitch questioned.

She scoffed at him. “Looking for firewood to keep his family warm!” She turned toward Levi. “Thank you for everything.”

“You are very welcome. It’s the least that I can do after what Mitch did.” Mitch sighed.

“I need to get him some clean clothes to change into.” Quinn turned to the bags where Gunther’s clothes were. She pulled out a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt, and headed back into the bedroom. When she opened the door, he was leaning back on the headboard, his hands over his face.

“Are you okay?’ Her voice was like music to my ears, although it didn’t make me drop my hands. I felt that if I could hide, maybe the ridiculous pain would subside.

“Better than ever,” I muttered.

“I’m going to put your shirt on first. Then I’ll finish cutting your pants off and we will put on your shorts, okay?”

“I’m not looking forward to it,” I breathed out. I lifted my arms over my head once again, keeping my eyes shut. With great care, Quinn pulled on my shirt. Then she began the tedious process of cutting off what remained of my jeans. She was extra careful not to jostle my leg or cut me with the knife. Such a good woman. I couldn’t say that enough.

“You ready?”

“Not really, but give it a go.” With slow and precise movements, she lifted my injured leg and eased my shorts over the wound. Then I picked up my other leg and she pulled them up mid-thigh. I growled out several obscenities and she paused every time I did. “Just hurry,” I pled. Sweat poured off of me, dampening the shirt she just put on me. I used my good leg to lift my body off of the bed and she pulled my shorts over me. “Thank fuck that’s over with.” She wiped the sweat off my brow.

We heard another knock on the door and I was close to snapping. “Come in,” Quinn said as she was helping me with the pillows. She swiped her thumb across my lips as Levi opened the door.

“Just coming to check on things. I heard some harsh words, so I wanted to make sure your bandage is still in place.” Levi sat down on the bed, grabbed the lantern, and held it close to my leg. “Well, it doesn’t seem to be oozing too much at the moment. You need to keep it elevated and rest.
A lot of rest
. I don’t want you walking on it for a few days.”

“I have to stay in bed?”

“That would be preferable.”

“I can’t fucking lie here and do nothing,” I whined. “I’ll go nuts.” Levi looked at Quinn.

“Gunther…if that is what the doctor says, then that is what you do.” She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll try,” I grumbled, noting how bloody foxy she looked with that stern look.

“More like you
will
,” Quinn quipped. Levi chuckled.

“Thanks for helping me out,” I mumbled to him, a little embarrassed by the emasculation.

“No problem.” Levi stood up and tucked his hands in his pockets. “Would it be too much to ask for us to stay here for the night? In the morning, we will go out and get firewood for your family since you weren’t able to collect any.” I glanced over at Quinn and she gave me a quirked brow.

“Let me have a chat about it with Quinn.” Levi nodded and left the room.

“I’m not cool with this, Gunther,” she whispered.

“I get you, love, but…” I sighed and rubbed my face. I didn’t realize how truly exhausted I was until that moment. “Maybe just a day or so, until I’m up and around and we know that I don’t have an infection.”

She glared at me. “I don’t trust them,” she growled.

“Frankly, Quinn, neither do I, but if I get an infection, he might be my only hope.” She exhaled rather loudly and crossed her arms in front of her amazing chest. What I wouldn’t have given for the energy to have a bit of fun.

“Fine. I will go talk to them.” She turned on her heels and stormed out of the bedroom door. I had a feeling she was more than a little angry with me. I decided to listen in to what she was saying.

“Levi, per your request…” Quinn looked over at Josie, who was pressed up against the wall. “We will honor that. Gunther said you can stay until he’s up on his feet.”

“What?! No! They shot him!” Josie raged.

“Josie, I know what happened, but with Gunther down, we will need extra help. And Levi was kind enough to take care of his leg. I’m not overly thrilled with it, either, but Gunther feels it’s a necessity right now.”