Chapter Two

Desie

"How bad is it?" Seth rasps as soon as Ben and Michael are out of ear shot. "I"m pretty sure it went straight through."

I grab the scissors from the silverware drawer and cut up the center of Seth"s already ruined shirt and pull the fabric away from his wound. My lips press together when I lean him forward and see no bloody wound anywhere on his back. I grab a handful of towels from the cabinet and soak some of them in hot water. "This will hurt," I warn as I press one of the wet towels against the wound.

He hisses but I ignore it. I have to see if we need to get him to an actual hospital. I can pull foreign objects out of people, but it"s a little different when it comes to my people. It takes a minute, but I eventually get most of the blood cleared away and the hole in his side has gone from a steady trickle to a slow drip, but it"s still bleeding too much for me to see the shape and size of the damage. "This is going to hurt worse."

I take one of the dry towels and wipe away as much blood as I can. It"s such a messy entrance wound. I was really hoping I wouldn"t have to dig around to find a bullet.

"Did it go through?" Seth asks through gritted teeth.

"Hang on," I order and wipe away the blood one more time and press around the site, frowning when it becomes obvious that I"m going to have to pull out the bullet. "No, it didn't pass through. It"s not deep, but I have to take it out. This is going to hurt. A lot. I"m sorry."

To his credit, Seth doesn"t move or pass out and I get the bullet out without causing any more damage to his body. He"s lost a lot of blood though, and the wound is in a really inconvenient place. It tore into the muscles in the side of his torso, just under his rib cage. We"re lucky it wasn"t even half an inch higher.

"I should have been more helpful," Nathan says, turning away from the window. "I"m a trained medic. I"ve got plenty of experience with bullets. I"m sorry."

I shake my head, collecting my instruments for cleaning. "Don"t worry about it, Nathan. I wouldn"t have let you touch him right now anyway. You don"t need to worry about anything but Iris right now. They"ll bring her back. Ben and Michael will find her. It"s going to be okay."

He nods, but doesn"t say anything and turns back to the window.

I return my attention to Seth. He needs to be in bed. I know that alphas heal faster than omegas or betas, but sitting at this table isn"t going to do his body any favors. He"s already in a lot of pain, our bond is tight with it. I"m just glad I"m able to help him carry it as well as I am, otherwise removing the bullet and stitching him up could have been a disaster.

He"s so pale, almost gray in color, and his hands are starting to tremble. "Are you cold, Seth?"

He shakes his head, then nods.

"Okay. I"m going to go get a blanket and put it around you. Unless there"s a chance you"ll go lay down?"

"Not until they bring her back," he says, clenching his jaw when his teeth start to chatter.

Nathan turns back around and assesses Seth as much as he can. "You need to be in bed. It"s going to get worse if you don"t lay down."

"I"m not getting up from this chair until they bring Iris back. I"ll be fine." He starts to roll his shoulders but winces and stops the motion. "Will you get the quilt, Desir"ee? From the couch, please?"

I sigh and go to the living room for the quilt Michael and Ben"s mom made. It"s the one Seth always goes for so I"m not surprised he wants it now. He sags when I wrap it around him and I tuck it more securely into place. Hopefully Ben and Michael will find her and get her back here before he passes out into the floor.