Hurt

CHAPTER

         Feeling relieved as the song came to an end, Willy stepped away from Dillon. She couldn’t wait to get back to the table and plead with Lee to bring her home.  The day had been too long on her tortured body.  Dancing all evening with Kirk and now fighting off her own emotions as she’d danced with Dillon, made her shaky with fatigue. As she turned away from Dillon another hand caught her arm.  A square stocky man she didn’t recognize suggested that they dance. 

            Willy tried to gently turn the man down.  She really had no energy left.  The man persisted though, unwilling to let a pretty girl slip from his clutches.  Dillon who’d only just bullied her into a dance with him minutes before now took up the gauntlet as her hero of the evening.  He shoved the guy hard. 

The men postured and faced off against each other.  Willy tried to reason with them, but Dillon pushed her none too gently out of the way.  The man poked Dillon in the chest.  Dillon shoved him back and then fists started flying. 

            Willy ducked and shielded her face as an out of control punch breezed past.  She tried to stick an arm between the two men, but a sharp elbow in her already bruised ribs threw her backwards where she landed hard on the dance floor and slid on her butt along the floor.  Cries rose from the crowd at the disruption.      

        Willy stayed down a second, contemplating how best to get to her feet, but before she could move strong arms picked her up off the floor.    Willy looked up in gratitude to see it was Lee who had boosted her to her feet.  He gave her no time to steady herself, instead he pushed her into Kirk’s arms and disappeared into the mix of people.  Kirk shoved her behind him and used his big body to shelter her.  As more people scrambled and pushed to get away the fight spread outwards.  Women screamed and men shouted.  Utter chaos broke out.  The band stopped playing.  

When she didn’t think it could get any worse the sound of breaking glass had everyone frozen in their tracks.  Willy peered around Kirk to see Lee and Dillon facing off against each other.  Dillon’s initial adversary now lay unconscious on the floor, and Dillon had centered his attention on Lee.

Dillon brandished a broken bottle at Lee.  Willy looked around frantically for the beefy bouncer who’d been at the door earlier.  Dillon was a half a head taller than Lee and moved at Lee with powerful direct jabs and slashes.  Lee moved gracefully away from Dillon’s drunken charges and he tried unsuccessfully to reason with him at the same time. 

Willy felt ill.  Lee was out there because of her.  He didn’t know her whole history with Dillon, but he knew she feared him.  That was enough of a reason for him to feel the need to protect her.   She watched the men circle.   It would take only one slip for Lee to be severely injured.  She couldn’t allow that.

            Kirk focused on the fight as he looked for an opening to help Lee, but Willy spotted the way quicker.  Kirk would stop her if he realized what she intended so she moved quickly, climbing to the top of the bar.  Kirk saw her when she reached the top and made a grab for her, but she twisted away, evading his reaching hand.  Kirk hollered to Lee.  Willy saw his eyes follow Kirk’s gesturing hand where she perched on the bar.  Knowing she had less than a second before Lee did something stupid to save her she gathered herself and leaped through the air.

            She landed on Dillon’s back.  He grunted and wavered as her full weight rocked him on his unsteady feet.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to hold on as she struggled to dislodge her from his back. 

Willy’s breath came in short gasps, and it was like being back on the colt’s back this morning.  Things were moving in slow motion, and she clung there as long as she could before Dillon’s rage and strength won out and she was sent crashing to the floor.  The hard collision with the floor was a shock she barely felt.  She saw the bottle flash and put her arm up to block it.  A shearing pain went through her arm and she cried out. 

Horror registered on Dillon’s face as he dropped down to his knees by her side.  “Katherine!  I’m so sorry!  Katherine!”

           Willy knew he hadn’t meant to hurt her.  She pulled her eyes from his alarmed face and watched in fascination as the blood rose from her arm.  She heard Dillon calling her by her name.  In the back of her mind that amused her.  It was the one reason she’d gone out with him all those years ago, because he treated her like a woman and not one of the guys.  Dillon leaned over her concern written all over his handsome face.

 

 

             Lee stood frozen in horror as Willy launched in the air.  He’d seen Kirk make a grab for her and miss.  He started forward, but he’d been to slow to catch her as Dillon slung her to the ground.  Dillon’s bottle flashed in the neon lights of the bar and Willy screamed. 

The crowd closed in on them and the hum of voices filled the once silent room.  The bouncer finally pushed his way through the crowd trying to sort innocent people and the trouble makers.  Lee wanted to hurt Dillon, but more importantly he had to get to Willy.  He needed to assess the damage.

            “Dillon! Dillon!”  Lee screamed above the commotion. 

The fight had gone out of Dillon as he leaned over Willy with remorse, but as Lee called to him, Dillon reared back away from Willy and turned to face Lee again. 

“What?” he roared impatiently. 

Lee brought his fist up from his hip with all his weight behind it and caught Dillon’s jaw.  Dillon rocked back on his heels and crashed to the floor.  Lee didn’t even see Dillon fall.  He knelt down by Willy’s side.   She lay deathly still with her good hand clasped over her bleeding forearm.  Blood seeped through her fingers. 

“Let me see,”  he said gently. 

            “I’m fine.” 

Despite her words, Lee could tell hear the shaky shock in her voice.  He clasped her elbow in a strong grip and with another hand under her armpit he boosted her to her feet.  Without letting go of her he steered her towards the bathrooms.  The crowd parted for them. 

When he tried to drag her into the men’s bathroom Willy balked.  “I can’t go in there.”

            Sighing, he turned and took her into the woman’s bathroom.  A woman exiting a stall gave them a startled look and scampered out the door.  Lee led her to the row of sinks that decorated the wall opposite the stalls.  He turned on the water adjusting the taps until the water was warm. 

He peeled her hand slowly away from her bleeding forearm.  Turning on the water he directed her arm under the sluice of water.  She gasped but he continued to hold her arm steady.  The blood turn pink as it mixed with water and slid down the drain.

            “Damn it, Will!  That was a fool thing to do!”

            “Well I couldn’t let him just hook you.  He would’ve done it too.  He might have felt bad in the morning, but then again maybe not.  There’s certainly no love lost between the two of you.” 

            “Instead you got hurt.” He hated the idea that she’d been hurt twice today and each time he’d failed to keep her safe. 

 

 

Willy couldn’t read the expression on her face, disappointment or something else maybe.  She couldn’t analyze, couldn’t focus right now.  The adrenaline that had her leaping onto Dillon’s back to save Lee was wearing off.  Her arm burned and her body quaked with expression.  Lee’s fingers easily encircled her wrist and the other hand cradled her elbow as he directed her arm under the stream of water. 

She closed her eyes.  “All I wanted was to go home,” she said.  She dropped her forehead to rest on his shoulder.  She needed his strength. 

“Okay,” his breath was soft against her neck, and she felt the rumble in his chest when he spoke.  “We’ll get you home soon, but I think you’re going to need stitches.”

            “What?”  That roused her a bit.  She lifted her head to peer at the jagged cut.  Blood still continued to flow from the wound.  She dropped her head back down.  The idea of needles and stitches sent a chill down her spine.  “We’ll just tape it.”

            “This is a good sized gash.  We need to have it cleaned out better.  This really needs stitches!”

            She lifted her head again and summoned up all her energy.  “I’m not having stitches.”

            “Don’t be ridiculous!”  Lee let go of her arm long enough to peel off his shirt.  She gawked at the broad expanse of his bare chest.  It distracted her a bit as he folded the soft blue chamois shirt in half and then wrapped it around her arm, using the sleeves to tie a knot to hold it into place.  “Hold pressure on it.  I’m bringing you to the doctor.”

             Willy kept pressure on the cut as they walked back to the table.  Lee walked a step behind her, and she couldn’t decide if his position was there to catch her if she feel or if she tried to escape.  When they got back to the table she slid down into a chair and slouched down.  The bouncer came up and asked if she was okay.  She nodded.  Lee assured the man they were taking Willy to the doctor.  Kirk and Camille came over to them.  Willy noticed Camille eying Lee with interest. 

“How are you, kiddo?”  Kirk asked.

“Never better,” she responded.    

           

 

Lee watched her blue eyes drift shut.  “She needs stitches.  I’ve got to take Willy to the emergency room.”

            “I’m not getting stitches.”

            Lee shot Willy an exasperated glance, but her eyes remained closed.  Her face a serene mask.  She was running out of steam. 

“You’re getting stiches and there’s no point in arguing.”  He turned back to Camille and Kirk.  “Camille, I need you to do me a favor and drive Kirk back to our house.”

            “Why can’t Kirk take Willy to the ER?”

            Lee’s patience with Camille reached its end.  He had no time for this.  “Please, Camille.  I need you to be an adult about this.  If you missed it Kirk has been drinking…significantly.”

            Camille huffed, offended.  “I think…”

He interrupted her.  “Willy is my responsibility, and she’s not going anywhere without me.  I know you may not like this, but unless you want to spend the remainder of your night sitting in the waiting room this is the only solution I can come up with.  I’m asking for your help and cooperation.  The decision you have to make is whether you want to come with or go home.” 

Left with no choice Camille reluctantly agreed.  Lee put a supporting hand under Willy’s arm and helped her to her feet.  She meekly let him assist her.  The uncharacteristic behavior alarmed him and made him think she was going into shock.  As efficiently as possible, he escorted them all out of the bar.  Kirk led them to where he’d parked his car. 

Lee saw to it that when the pair drove away that Camille sat in the driver’s seat.  Once he knew Camille and Kirk were safely on their way back to the ranch he led Willy to his truck.  She tried to argue, but her arguments were weak. 

He kept repeating soothing comments and ignoring her objections.  She tried to pull herself into the truck with her good arm and slipped on the running board.  He caught her and supported her as she climbed into the truck.  When she was seated in the passenger seat he stepped up on the running board of the truck next to her.

 “I’m going to fasten this.”

He leaned across her body, clicked her seat belt, and then slowly withdrew.  He was close, too close.  Their faces were inches apart.  Her blue eyes were wide.  He never realized how thick her eyelashes were until now.  Her eyes rolled over his face, and she chewed nervously on her lip.  He bent his head and touched his forehead to hers.  Her eyelids flickered closed. 

“It hurts,” she whispered.

He didn’t know exactly what hurt.  It made the most sense that her arm hurt, but her tone was off.  He wondered if the hurt was more complex like his.  He stepped out of the truck. 

“Hang on for me.  We’ll make the hurt go away.” 

He shut her door and dashed around to his side of the truck.  He climbed in his seat, turned the key, and the engine roared to life.  The tires squawked as he pulled out of the parking lot.  

The emergency crew seemed to be staffed with a skeleton crew who appeared to be happy for something to do.   Lee guess that emergencies at this time of night in their area were few and far between.  He took charge of the paperwork, automatically filling in her information quickly and efficiently.  He surprised himself by knowing almost all the questions about her. 

He returned the clipboard to the reception desk and turned back to Willy. Getting her to the emergency room seemed to have been the hard part.  Once here she’d huddled, frozen, in the burnt orange chair.  Her good arm supported her injured arm.  Her face had taken on a sickly green color, and she looked as if she’d shatter into a million pieces if someone bumped her. He prayed the nurse would hurry with the paperwork. 

A short time later, a pretty dark haired nurse with her hair piled atop her head came to assist Willy to the exam room.  The nurse took one look at Willy and asked Lee if they needed a wheelchair.  Willy, who rallied a bit, insisted she could get herself into the exam room under her own power.  While he was happy to see her spirit return, he watched her follow the nurse out of sight with a sense of foreboding. 

Lee paced the waiting room and wondered if there were things he could’ve done differently or better this evening.  He sent Kirk a phone message to see if he and Camille had gotten back safely to the ranch.  Kirk didn’t respond.  Lee sighed and paced some more.  He hoped Camille and Kirk hadn’t run into any trouble.    

Ten minutes later the nurse returned and asked him for assistance.  Surprised and confused he began to ask questions, but the nurse refused to explain.  All she told him was that the doctor had asked her to fetch him.  When he entered the room, he found Willy perched on the edge of the bed looking completely terrified.  An aide scrambled to pick up pieces of equipment that had been scattered everywhere across the room.  He could see the tattered remains of his shirt in one corner next to a pair of scissors and guessed that Willy had allowed them to unwrap and clean the wound.  Somewhere after that, things appeared to have gotten ugly.  The doctor stood a few feet away from Willy with a sympathetic look on his face. 

“Willy?”

“I can’t do it.  I can’t do it,” she repeated over and over, rocking back and forth as if in a trance. 

Lee had never seen her in such a state.  She had always been tough, resilient, and fearless.  His heart broke for her.  He took a steadying breath and then stepped into the situation.  “What do you want me to do?”

Lee listened to the nurse’s instructions and then climbed onto the narrow hospital bed, reclined back against incline of the bed, and then let the doctor and nurses maneuver Willy into a position between his legs.  Once again, now with a package of clean tools, the doctor and nurse set about cleaning her wound.  When the needle came into view, Willy bolted upwards. 

“I’m going to be sick!” 

The nurse barely got the pan into place before Willy heaved out the entire contents of her stomach.  The nurse wiped her face and then gave Lee a cold compress.  With an arm across the front of her chest, he eased her back against his.  She rocked her head back and forth in distress and he could feel her whole body quivering against his.  He applied the cold compress to her head and strove to keep her quiet.

“Sssh, baby.  It’ll be okay.  Just let them do this.”  He kept up a steady stream of comments while the doctor worked desperately to first numb and then stitch up her arm before she reacted again.