Broken

Although, I still wasn’t exactly sure that this was going to end well for me, but my pride and sense of decency couldn’t allow me to do nothing, so I quickened my pace to reach the cabin.

All the way, though, I grumbled at this knowledge, wishing that I didn’t feel this way. I couldn’t say that I was exactly ashamed that there was a part of me that wanted to leave her and let her fend for herself.

It wasn’t like I had anyone but the dog to judge me and I fed him, so he’d get over it. Yet, ultimately, I knew I had to do it and that pissed me off, almost as much as the situation I found myself in.

I knew that if it ever got back to me that she was hurt or found by the man who had attacked her after I left her to fend for herself, I would never forgive myself.

It’s already a long, shitty list, but I would rather not add to it.

So, I continued my trek to the cabin, wishing things were different.

When I finally saw the clearing through the woods, I grumbled as Jake ran ahead, now happy to be home. I thought about it, but I didn’t call him back. I knew he was as pleased as I was to be home.

After all, at heart, Jake was a lazy hermit, just like his owner. He enjoyed the freedom of the mountains and the seclusion but rarely ventured out to take advantage of it.

When I was able to finally get back to the house, I finagled my way in the tiny door, which I had thankfully left unlocked.

I sighed out of relief when I was able to place the woman down on the bed. She wasn’t heavy, by any means but I was exhausted and still depressed. Therefore, all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

However, I knew that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, as I looked her over, trying to figure out which injury needed the most immediate attention.

She didn’t look too beat up, but she certainly wasn’t having a good day. I realized soon enough that her ankle was hurt, but didn’t appear to be broken, so I decided to focus on her head wound first.

I found gauze and tended the wound as best as I could, given my limited medical knowledge, fueled solely by the basic instinct to try to stop the bleeding. I knew that it needed to be cleaned and did this as best as I could, before packing the wound and wrapping it. The gash was deep. I hoped it wouldn’t end up requiring stitches, because while I could do it, I didn’t want to. So, I was going to hope that the bleeding would stop and take it from there.

Once her head seemed to be all right, or as best as I could make it, with the knowledge that I had, I moved on to her ankle. Without her being awake to tell me exactly how much pain she was in, or what it felt like, I was guessing, basing everything off the amount of swelling. I didn’t feel any broken bones, but the swelling was pretty bad, so I was certain I wouldn’t really be able to tell until the ankle had a chance to rest.

So, I searched the cabin for items that would make a decent, makeshift splint.

After carefully pulling the leg of her pants up past the swelling, I secured the splint and again, hoped for the best.

Once the splint was in place, I propped pillows underneath her foot to give it some height and I covered the woman with a blanket.

It took me about an hour to tend to her wounds and ensure she was as comfortable as possible, all against my better judgement, before I felt I was finished.

When I felt it was safe to turn my back to her for more than a few seconds, I went to the closet and grabbed a fresh shirt. In all the commotion, I had forgotten that I had used my other shirt to stop the bleeding and because of it, was marred with a hundred scrapes on my upper-body from running through the woods shirtless.

When I was dressed in something at least somewhat reputable, I dug around to find the shirt and realized that it was completely unable to be saved.

“Dammit,” I muttered, throwing the shirt into the fire. I didn’t want the blood to attract animals, after all, so this seemed like the best way to get rid of it.

I watched the flames roar up, licking the shirt for a moment, before consuming it, almost entirely.

The shirt created a lot of smoke that made the house smell funny, but eventually, it dissipated, leaving only remnants of the fabric behind.

Before finally settling into my chair to go to sleep, I checked on the woman one last time.

Her head wound seemed to be doing okay and the swelling in her ankle also appeared to be shrinking.

I was happy to see that, of course, but having her here, in my cabin, created a shitstorm for me.

I knew that the thoughts I was having presently were only the beginning.

What made it even worse, was that as I observed the sleeping woman, I felt a twinge of something that I hadn’t thought I was capable of.

I felt, attracted to her. She had beautiful blond hair, clear skin and a gorgeous physique, so the thought that she was beautiful, didn’t bother me all that much.

What bothered me, was from the moment I saw her in the light, after I had done all I could to make sure she was going to be okay, I wanted her.