The Circle Eight: Tobias (6 page)

It was all speculation, but at that moment, in the middle of the night in a strange place, she couldn’t help but think of the worst. Will had been severely injured. The swelling on his skull and leg were the most dangerous. She had seen one rancher die after a horse kicked him in the head. His brain had swelled too far by the time she arrived to help him. It had haunted her for several months afterwards. The sight of his brain pushing through the break in his skull was horrifying.
 

She had been relieved to discover Will’s skull was intact. That did not mean his brain wouldn’t swell. It occurred to her the room was warm, not overly so, but it was warm. Swelling occurred most when the patient’s temperature was raised. She needed to cool Will down, more specifically, his head.
 

Rebecca blew on the ink to dry it, anxious to find cold compresses to use on her patient. She closed the journal, corked the inkpot and tucked everything back in her bag. Unfortunately she forgot Tobias was on the floor and she kicked him in the stomach and fell straight toward the floor. She threw out her hands to break her fall, wondering if she would have to doctor herself.
 

Strong hands grabbed her by the waist and stopped her in mid-motion. All the air gusted from her lungs in a whoosh and for a moment, she thought she might lose consciousness. Then she landed atop Tobias, her softness against his hardness, with a solid thump.
 

“Ooof!” She managed to suck in a small breath, then pushed herself up, her hands braced against his chest while his circled her waist. He stared up at her, his dark eyes boring into hers. “I’m sorry I kicked you.”
 

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “I ain’t glass. I don’t break easy.”
 

She tried to rise but fell back on top of him. Her face blushed with heat as memories of the last time she had been chest-to-chest with him flashed through her mind. Then they had been half-dressed, frantic, with breaths heaving. Heat poured through her and she couldn’t stop the gasp that burst from her mouth.
 

His gaze changed in an instant. Fire leapt from the depths of his gaze, its flames making her skin sizzle with want. Need. Desire. Passion. “Becca?”
 

She jumped to her feet with little grace but as much speed as she could muster. Her body thrummed and every inch of skin sparked with awareness. Rebecca thought she remembered what it had been like, but she was so very wrong. The intensity of her reaction frightened her. It had been five years. Five! Yet she only had to touch him only for a few seconds and everything came back.
 

Her hands shook as she stumbled across the room toward the door. She needed to compose herself before she did something else foolish. As if giving away her heart wasn’t the most epic failure of her life. She couldn’t do it a second time.
 

Rebecca couldn’t go far with Will in such rough shape, but she headed toward what she remembered was the kitchen. A cup of coffee and something to eat would help bring her back to some semblance of calm. Having that calmness was necessary to perform her duties. She couldn’t risk her patient because of her errant heart.
 

She found her way to the kitchen and found James sitting at the large table, his face decorated with a few cuts and bruises. It reminded her of his brother, lying on the floor where she left him. Could she not escape for ten minutes without being reminded of the Gibsons?
 

Frustration made her short-tempered. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping in the bunkhouse?”
 

His brows went up. “More than likely but I can’t sleep with being worried about Will.”
 

“You chose to sit in the kitchen of the main house instead of where you’re supposed to be?” She didn’t like how shrewish she sounded but her mouth would not listen to her head.
 

James’s jaw tightened. “Donovan gives his ranch hands free use of the kitchen. Don’t think to judge me, Miss Graham.”
 

She put her hands over her face and took a deep breath before she was able to look at him. Rebecca wasn’t like this. She didn’t snap at people or make them feel less than they were. “I’m sorry. I need some food and a moment to refresh myself.”
 

James got to his feet. “I’ll leave you to it then.” He slammed his hat on his head and left the kitchen out the back door.
 

Rebecca found herself shaking even more. That did not go well. She couldn’t seem to have a conversation with the Gibson brothers that didn’t degrade to an emotional mess. She only hoped it didn’t affect Will. He needed all of them to get through this.
 

Tobias quit the room moments after Rebecca. He was shocked by what had occurred between them. He touched her and the hounds of hell unleashed within him. When she landed on him, his body exploded to life. Every nerve ending sang while his muscles tightened. His cock hardened to nearly painful proportions. His body had been nearly dead for years, only coming awake for the barest necessities and, of course, liquor. Touching her had awakened him in more ways than one.
 

He hadn’t expected the arousal to hit him that hard. It almost took his breath and it sure as hell stole his thoughts. They scattered around him until all he could focus on was her soft body pressed against his. The abruptness of her flight told him all he needed to know.
 

He disgusted her to the point she ran.
 

Tobias took his pitiful self and went outside, the moonlight shining through the yard to guide his steps. He had to find a place to lay his head that was away from his brother and Rebecca. Since Tobias had spent his time away from people most of the time, he wasn’t prepared to be thrust into a big ranch with two dozen hands and twice as many horses, chickens, pigs and milk cows.
 

The night creatures sang, adding to the noise of barking dogs, lowing cows and murmurs of men’s voices from in and around the ranch. All that was missing were the clucking chickens, but being as it was nighttime, they were asleep.
 

He crept through the side door of the barn and looked for his gelding. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d slept with his horse and wouldn’t be the last. At least he trusted the equine to warn him if anyone approached, and not to step on his head during the night.
 

Tobias laid his saddle blanket on the floor and settled in. He didn’t expect to sleep, but it was a place to be alone for a spell. He closed his eyes until he remembered the whiskey in his saddlebags.
 

He told himself he needed to leave it alone.
 

Just one drink
.
 

Will needed him sober.
 

Just a sip
.
 

Rebecca already had a low opinion of him. He didn’t need to make it worse.
 

One little sip
.
 

Tobias’s mouth watered and his stomach cramped with need. It clawed at him, making him shake and sweat.
 

He’d only have one little sip. Just one.
 

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he woke, startled, his hand on the handle of his pistol. Voices echoed around the barn as men saddled their horses. Pink shafts of sunrise peeked through slats in the wood. He sat up and tried to shake off the sleep. It was the second time he had slipped into unconsciousness since he’d arrived at Donovan’s.
 

His stomach rolled and the taste of whiskey coated his tongue. Hell and damnation. He’d had more than one drink. Shit, he’d consumed most of the bottle. He was drunk. Again. Really drunk. Still drunk.
 

The voices grew louder and he held his head in his hands. Hammers banged on his skull making his stomach clench with each thrum of his pulse. He looked around and spotted a bucket in the corner of the stall. As he crawled toward it, his mouth filled with the taste of bile.
 

As he reached for the handle, the voices stopped right outside the stall. The last thing he needed was someone finding him in this state. He didn’t recognize the men talking but that didn’t mean James wasn’t close by, or his boss, Donovan. Tobias was conscious enough to not want them to see him in his current state.
 

“Can’t believe the Doc came.” The gruff voice sounded genuinely concerned for Will. That was good.
 

“I heard she worked with Doctor Radicy in Briar Creek. Don’t know if’n a woman can do all a man can, but I heard she straightened the boy’s leg right up.” A second voice was skeptical of Rebecca’s skills.
 

“I heard that too. And she’s right pretty to be dipping her hands in blood and bone. Wonder why she ain’t married?” A third voice joined in. “Maybe it’s because his crazy brother came with her. That son of a bitch looks as bad as he smells.”
 

Shame washed over Tobias. His own failings had affected their opinion of Rebecca. She was another innocent victim of his stupidity.
 

“He’s as big as James. If he wasn’t a drunk, the three of them would be damn scary if’n they knew what really happened.” The second voice added.
 

At this Tobias forgot his self-pity and the whiskey pulsing through his veins. He forgot everything but the words floating on the air. Something had happened to Will beyond an accident. He strained to listen, wanting to know what had happened.
 

“Lucky James was helping Donovan with that mare or he woulda seen.” This from the third voice. “He mighta killed me for it.”
 

Tobias staggered to his feet, intent on sneaking a peek at the men speaking. What the hell had happened that these men thought James would have killed them for? What did they do to Will?
 

“Damn right. If Will wakes up pointing a finger, we can say the tree must’ve scrambled his memory.” The second man sounded nervous.
 

There was a moment of silence and Tobias held his breath. He had to know more but if he moved any closer, they would hear him.
 

The third man finally spoke. “You shoulda made sure he was dead.”
 

Tobias exploded out of the stall, a murderous rage coursing through him. His swung his fists with abandon, bone crushing, blood flying and curses falling from his lips in a steady stream. He ignored the fists pounding on him in favor of inflicting as much pain as possible.
 

Tobias didn’t hear or see what slammed into the back of his head, but when his face headed toward the ground, agony replaced his fury and he knew no more.
 

Chapter Four
 

Rebecca pulled up Will’s eyelids to peer at his eyes. He was still unconscious, not sleeping. It concerned her he hadn’t stirred in the nearly twenty-four hours since he’d been injured.
 

The right pupil was dilated while the other reacted to light. Her concern turned to outright worry. The damage to his skull was on the right side, which meant his eyes were telling her what she couldn’t see. His brain had been damaged when the tree hit him.
 

Rebecca cupped Will’s cheek. “I’m so sorry. I wish there was more I could do.”
 

Injuries to the brain were unknown and erratic. From what she’d read, patients could recover completely or never wake. All she could do was take care of him and make sure his body healed as best it could.
 

“In there, now!” James’s shout startled her and she jumped to her feet. Men crowded into the room carrying a man who hung like a hunter’s kill between them. He hung limper and bloodier than any person Rebecca had ever seen. His face was a mass of meat, only broken by the streams of blood coming from his multiple wounds.
 

She jumped to her feet as more men filed in with a cot and a sheet to throw over it. The men set their injured companion on the bed and the white sheet ran red within moments. James turned to her, his face a mask of pain and anger.
 

“I have to ask you to save my other brother now.” His voice was rusty with emotion.
 

Tobias
.
 

Sweet God, the bloody mess was
Tobias
? Her heart stopped beating for a moment as she stared at what was the man she had loved so long ago. At the moment, she didn’t know if she still loved him. Her heart slammed into a frantic pace but she took a calming breath. He needed to her to doctor him, not faint like a schoolgirl.
 

“I need fresh water, boiled. As fast as you can get it.” She pulled the chair over to the cot along with a stack of clean bandages. The rest of the men filed out of the room, she hoped to bring her the water she needed. James remained, his shirt covered in Tobias’s blood. “What happened?”
 

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I walked into the barn to saddle my horse and three of them had him on the floor. They were beating the hell out of him.” His gaze never left Tobias.
 

She pressed the bandages against the wounds unable to see the damage with the sheer amount of blood seeping from it. “Why would they beat him like this?”
 

“I don’t know. They’re ranch hands. The same three that were with Will when he was hurt.” James’s tone indicated he thought there was more than a coincidence.
 

She wanted to ask more, but now wasn’t the time. Tobias needed her and she would not fail him. Mr. Donovan came in with fresh water. He set the basin down on the table and looked at James.
 

“What happened?” The rancher sounded furious.
 

“I don’t know, sir. I found Travers, Johnston and Bekins beating the hell out of him.” James’s dark eyes reflected pain but his voice was hard as steel. “They ran when I came into the barn.”