TOUCHED

TOUCHED - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

 

 

Eric watched as Renee angrily produced a water bottle, scissors, a First Aid spray and a granola bar. Shaking the spray can she knelt next to Eric. She handed him the food and water, clearly trying not to look at him, and started to examine the cuts and burns on his arms and legs that he had only half cleaned.

Eric could only sit and stare at her. He watched this strange rescuer as she cut away torn and burned fabric, wiping off the remaining blood and exposing the larger cuts he had avoided. The glass had not been gentle with him. The first Aid spray soothed and left a protective covering over most of the cuts. One gash in particular was going to be a bigger problem.

As the initial shock had worn off he had felt the puncture his pants were hiding. A much deeper wound was slowly soaking his left calf, a deep throbbing pushing against the pulse in his leg. He was impressed that she was gentle with it even before exposing it with a swift move of the scissors. Without a word she went back to her bag. After a moment of hesitation she seemed to make up her mind about something and returned with a small tissue re-generator.

The white, rubbery device was two inches thick and about the size of an average hand. It could be bent around any part of the body to deliver a single treatment and was the type of device commonly used by EMTs. Eric watched as she turned it on, cleaning around his wound before placing it over the puncture. The device preformed a scan that made his skin tingle before flashing the estimated time to recovery. Twelve hours. Either he was injured worse than he thought or this wasn’t a top of the line model.

It wasn’t going to stay in place by its self. Already figuring that out, Renee produced medical tape. She moved with such confidence he was about to ask where she had been trained. A stiff pull on the tape took his breath away. It sealed the device to his calf but he had flinched hard enough to make her employ both hands in steadying his leg after that.

He was about to offer a reluctant word of gratitude but stopped when he noticed something that simultaneously stopped his heart and made him flinch away. Her hands, which until that moment had been hidden beneath her extra-long sleeves, were not gloved as he had assumed. They were naked, as bare and exposed as the part of him she was touching!

“What the hell!?” He gasped in shock. He pulled away clumsily, suddenly conscious of how exposed his skin had become when she had cut open his pant leg and the layer of Second Skin beneath it. She acted like she hadn’t heard or seen his reaction and continued to reach for his half taped calf, determined to finish securing the devise.

Without thinking he reflexively grabbed her sleeve and yanked her arm away, still careful to avoid her bare skin. “What is your problem?” he hissed under his breath, not releasing her sleeve.

Renee froze, still not meeting his gaze. She spoke quietly through gritted teeth, but the anger behind her words was clear. “It’s not what you think”

“You have no idea what I am thinking but you are no doubt familiar with what I suspect. Am I right?”

She jerked her sleeve away and stood, moving back to her bag. Not what he thought? There was nothing to think about! She was the worst kind of criminal! She had physically assaulted him and tried to hide it! Answers were starting to click into place for him. Obviously she preyed on people who needed help. Taking advantage of them while they were in shock or desperate and violating them through fraud and intimidation.