Fate and Destiny (11 page)

On her stomach in the
narrow space, she fought down claustrophobia. The fireplace poker
rested on the floor beside her, replaced by the gun positioned
under her arm. The silence was powerful as she strained to hear any
noise.

The sick unease in her
stomach twisting, she swallowed hard. Mentally repeating the steps
in the difficult process of breathing, she controlled the
queasiness.

Her mind wandered, seeking
solace. A short time before, she had been ready to bash Andrew's
brains in with a fireplace poker, not knowing there was a rifle
directly under her.

Whispering into the dark,
she could not believe her own ignorance.

“
Of course he would have a
gun you dummy. He’s out in the middle of the—”

She forgot how to breathe.
Listening for a repeat of what she heard while talking to
herself.

Near panic, she
trembled.

Wait. The thudding wasn’t
footsteps.

Her own heart drumming in
her ears. The breathing was not the boogeyman, but ragged breaths
sucking in and out of her open mouth.

Making herself calm again,
she was ready to get out from under the bed to look out the window
since she now had a gun to protect her.

She only moved a fraction
of an inch. All sounds exploded through the air as the front door
opened and Destiny blindly pulled the trigger.

11.

Screaming, crying, a yelp.
A flurry of activity. The space under the bed suddenly
brightening.

“
Oh my God! You shot
me!”

It only took a second for
Destiny to come back to her senses and stop crying. The fear that
pierced through her when she heard the door open and screamed
promptly replaced with a new fear.

She shot Andrew.

Another victim to add to
her list.

She was already imagining
him sliding to the floor, a gaping wound in his chest. His last
words being the incredulous yet true accusation that she shot him.
Images of her uncles’ mangled face replaced by Andrew’s with the
same irreparable damage.

Wanting to be with him as
he died, she tried to squirm out from under the bed. Only her hands
emerged from the hiding place before someone grabbed them with the
strength of a man possessed, pulling her free and lifting her to
her feet.

She focused on Andrew’s
face, the tears renewed as she realized it was whole, complete and
unharmed. He let go of her hands, pushing her backwards onto the
bed before limping to the chair, leaning on it for
support.

“
I can’t believe you shot
me with my own gun! Thank God you can’t aim for shit!”

Rage poured from him. Still
trembling, Destiny was too shocked to reply.

“
What were you thinking? I
walk in the front door and you shoot me?”

“
I didn’t know where you
were! I woke up alone and heard noises. I thought those men were
coming back to finish me off!”

“
Christ, Destiny. Didn’t
you stop to think since I wasn’t here that eventually I would come
back in? Did you think I left you alone to fend for
yourself?”

“
I didn’t
know!”

He removed his hand from
his leg just above his knee, and saw the blood smeared across his
palm. He couldn’t tell how deep the bullet penetrated, but it hurt
like hell. Removing his jeans, standing in his boxers in front of
the fire, he inspected the gash in his thigh. The bullet took out a
nice chunk of flesh, but he would live. Ruined a perfectly good
pair of jeans too.

Destiny hadn’t moved from
where he deposited her on the bed. Her eyes bulging, face pale,
still trembling, she sat watching him, naked since she neglected to
put any clothing on before climbing under the bed.

His own nerves were edgy.
It wasn’t everyday that someone shot him. He needed to get things
back in control. Clean the wound, stop the bleeding, comfort
Destiny. Turning towards the kitchen for the first aid kit, his
heart thudded too fast, then stopped altogether. Control was no
longer an option.

“
Oh no. No.”

A groove marked the floor
where the bullet hit before slicing through Andrew’s leg. Just
beyond that, Shadow lay on his side, blood pooling under
him.

 
His legs moving
again, Andrew limped the short distance to the dog’s side. Dropping
to the floor, he searched from the blood puddle through the fur.
His finger sunk into the flesh where the thick neck, meaty
shoulder, and chest came together.

Closing his eyes, Andrew
probed a little deeper. Shadow whined, the soft tissue around the
wound sucking against Andrew’s finger. He became aware of Destiny
at his side, now covered by his flannel shirt. Both of her hands
stroked Shadows head and face while she whispered comfort. Tears
streaming, she lowered her head to the dogs.

“
Baby, I am so sorry. So,
so sorry. Please don’t die. I’m so sorry.”

Shadow didn’t move his
head, but his eyes rolled around to focus on her. He gently licked
the moisture from her cheek. 

Andrew’s heart skipped
watching them. He couldn’t imagine not having one of
them.

“
I can feel the end of the
bullet. It’s not in very deep. We have to get it out.”

Remaining calm, Andrew kept
an eye on Destiny. Her emotional balance teetered on the edge. He
needed her to help him and Shadow.

“
Destiny. First, I need
something to compress this so it will stop bleeding.”

Nodding, meeting his eyes,
Destiny collected herself. Shifting her brain from grieving to
saving, she limped to the bathroom, returning with a clean white
towel.

Pressing it against the
dog, Andrew wished Shadow had passed out when the bullet struck.
This would be a lot easier if the dog was unconscious.

“
Okay Destiny, you’re
doing good. In the kitchen, in the cabinet where the first aid kit
is, there’s a toolbox. I need you to get a pair of needle nose
pliers out of there. Wash them with dish soap really good, and then
boil them so they are clean. We can use them to take out the
bullet.”

After washing the pliers
with hot soapy water, Destiny dropped them into the pot of water.
Leaning against the counter, watching the water, time
slowed.

“
Andrew? How long do I let
them boil?”

“
I’m not sure. They need
to be sterile and kill anything on them so he doesn’t get an
infection. Maybe 10 minutes or so. They’re probably clean just from
washing, but I don’t want to take any chances. As long as he is
awake and not complaining, we will take the time to do things
right.”

Shadow lay still on the
floor. Andrew controlled the bleeding, still concerned Shadow may
try to bite or move when the time came to remove the bullet.
Keeping the towel in place, Andrew noticed the fur around the
injury matted and caked with blood. Destiny didn’t move a muscle
from where she stood over the boiling pliers. It was time to
distract her.

“
Destiny, how’s your leg
doing?”

Her gaze didn’t waver from
the water. She didn’t even blink.

“
Its fine. It just aches a
little as long as I don’t try to stand or walk on it.”

“
That’s good. You’re
getting better. We will all be just fine.”

She still didn’t move,
hypnotized by the bubbling water.

“
Okay Destiny, while the
pliers are boiling, I think I should clean him up. I may need to
shave the fur around the wound. Can you bring me a bowl with warm
water and soap? I will also need a razor and some
scissors.”

Broken from the trance
created by the rolling water, Destiny moved as quickly as she could
on her hurt leg. By the time she delivered the requested items to
Andrew, ten minutes had elapsed. Removing the pliers from the
water, she took them to Andrew along with the first aid
kit.

“
What’s he going to do
when you pull the bullet out?”

She stroked the dog’s face
again.

“
I don’t know. I don’t
think he’ll bite, but he’s never had an injury this bad before. He
will probably try to get up, and with both of us only having one
good leg, it's going to be difficult keeping him down.”

Andrew avoided thinking of
the pains currently coursing from his own bullet wound. His
thoughts centered on getting the lead from Shadow’s
neck.

Lifting the compress, he
was relieved the bleeding slowed down considerably. Washing the
fur, cutting away clumps of it to make the area accessible, Andrew
examined the wound. The bullet hadn’t mushroomed too badly after
striking the floor and his leg. The hole it created not overly
large, only about the size of a dime. Good. That meant it didn’t do
a lot of damage to the muscles and should be easy to pull straight
out. Somehow, the bullet also missed all of the arteries, or Shadow
would have bled to death by now.

Not necessarily talking to
the dog or the woman, Andrew needed to hear sound in the quiet
cabin.

“
So far so good. I’m going
to reach in with the pliers and pull it out. Destiny, right now, I
wish you weighed about 300 pounds so you could hold him
down.”

Destiny glanced over at
him, eyes locking on his, worried but willing to stop a
bull.

“
I’m ready. Just try to
make it fast, okay?”

“
Well, I wasn’t planning
to take any longer digging around in there than I have
to.”

Moving around so she was
behind the dog, Destiny prepared to hold him down and stay out of
Andrew's way. Offering the best help she could, she bent over and
gently soothed the animal.

“
It’s going to be okay
baby. We aren’t going to hurt you on purpose.”

His tail thumped against
the floor but that was the only body part that moved. Using two
fingers to separate the bullet hole farther, Andrew quickly and
precisely positioned the tips of the pliers around the end of the
bullet. Shadow yelped and whined, his back legs kicking and
twitching, but he didn’t attempt to get up. Through the yelps,
Destiny maintained a litany of comforting words. Her voice soothed
Andrew even if it didn’t help Shadow.

Grasping the bullet tightly
with the pliers, Andrew swiftly twisted the bullet free from the
muscle. As soon as it was out, he clamped the towel back over the
hole, pressing with his weight to stop any blood flow. The yelping
and whining became softer and softer, finally ceasing altogether.
The only sign of the dog’s distress were his wildly rolling
eyes.

Waiting a few moments,
Andrew finally removed the towel from Shadow’s neck, promptly
replacing it with a sterile bandage from the medicine kit. He taped
it securely in place to the skin around the wound where he shaved
away the fur.

“
Okay, buddy. I’m all
done.”

The tail thumped against
the floor once in response to his masters calming voice. Destiny
continued rubbing her hands over the dog’s fur. She captivated his
gaze with hers, unblinking, hands continuing to stroke. He seemed
to accept what happened.

“
He knew we were helping
him. He didn’t even try to move. I’ve never seen anything like it.
And you were amazing. How did you know what to do?”

Grinning, beginning to
relax for the moment, Andrew tended to the wound in his
leg.

“
My mother is a nurse.” He
dabbed antiseptic over the deep abrasion. “And she was a single
parent to my brother and me.”

With the slice clean, he
applied butterfly strips, then placed a gauze pad over the length,
fastening it in place with tape.

“
We were pretty rough
kids. On different occasions, I broke my arm, my wrist, four
fingers, both of my legs, my collarbone, and two ribs. I had
stitches at least half a dozen times and probably should have had
them half a dozen more. My brother didn’t fare much better. We both
played any sport or game we could find and neither of us ever
walked away from a dare. I’m lucky I survived childhood. Although I
do think my brother permanently rattled a few screws loose in his
head. We got to the point where we would patch up ourselves and
each other so our mom wouldn’t know. Didn’t you get hurt as a
kid?”

Too late, he realized his
mistake. Destiny smiled sadly at him.

“
I guess I had normal
bumps and scrapes although I was pretty tame. I played with dolls
and read a lot before my parents died. Then I kind of grew up
overnight and spent my time cleaning for my aunt and uncle. I
didn’t play much after the fire.”

Shadow softly snored. He
was out of danger for the moment and should be okay as long as he
didn’t get an infection. Turning off the light in the kitchen that
he had turned on when gunfire erupted from under the bed, Andrew
grabbed the bottle of Jim Beam from the cabinet. After what they
had just been through, neither of them needed to dilute the drink
with tea. Soon after, they fell into an exhausted sleep although
they both snapped awake anytime Shadow made the slightest
noise.

Waking to a soft whine from
Shadow, Andrew glanced over at the dogs shape outlined by
firelight. The dog still slept so Andrew settled back down. Ready
to drift back into the embrace of sleep, he realized in all of the
commotion, he forgot to tell Destiny about the tracks near the
woods. Someone wearing boots had walked down the driveway and into
the trees.