Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 51

There were exactly two rooms/examination tables in Brett's clinic, so Jo found herself forced to occupy one while Blake was deposited in another. Forced being the optimal word since she hadn't been given much of a choice even though she'd wanted to stay near Blake to make sure his burns weren't too bad.

"Brett will tell you everything as soon as he comes in here," Ryker said, carefully helping her pull her shirt over her head according to Brett's instructions. He was trying to be respectful and very fixedly staring at the wall behind Jo's head.

"Doesn't make me like waiting in here anymore," Jo grumbled, watching as Ryker tossed the shirt in a corner. It was useless now. She grinned a little at the way he was now determinedly staring at their feet.

"Ryker," she said, reaching for his hand. "I'm not going to get offended if you see me in my bra. It's not much different from a bathing suit."

"Which I haven't gotten to see yet either," he grumbled, "you should have moved here at the beginning of the summer." Jo laughed as he finally looked up, eyes raking over her torso before settling on her face again. She hadn't missed the sharp intake of breath though.

"This is um..." Ryker turned to go through the cabinets. He was probably hunting for the clean cloths that Brett said he should use to slow the bleeding from her shoulder, which Brett had berated him over not doing something about when they came in. "Um..." He seemed rather distracted.

"Difficult?" Jo smirked. Well, at least Ryker was taking her mind off the throbbing pain in her shoulder. She felt exhausted yet charged, and it made her feel jittery and crazy impatient all at the same time.

"Yeah, that," Ryker said, finally gathering his thoughts. He pulled a couple cloths out of the cabinet and stood behind her. "I'm sorry, this'll hurt..." As carefully as he could, he pressed a cloth to her shoulder. Pain shot out from the wound, and she gripped the edge of the table. "Jo?"

"I'm good," she hissed, "I just want to know what's happening in the other room."

"I know...I just...it's taking everything in me to stay calm while that idiot is right next door. I won't tell you that you can't go in there but...I want you to stay with me. Especially when you're like this."

"It's okay," Jo said, closing her eyes against the pain. "It would've probably broken some kind of doctor-patient confidentiality rule for me to be in there anyway."

"Something like that," Ryker said, reaching forward with his free hand to wrap it around hers. He seemed tense and uncertain, and when she looked back at him, he kept glancing at the door as if he half-expected the other werewolf to come barging in. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Jo said, forcing a gritted teeth smile that must have been dazzling in how false it was. The pain radiating out from the claw marks was gradually growing worse, but the wounds didn't seem that deep.

"Are you telling the truth, Jo Scott?" Ryker rumbled, his eyes dark as he looked down at her.

"Pretty much," she said. It was probably her worry about Blake and concern about keeping Ryker calm that kept her from feeling how bad it really was, but hey, maybe it really wasn't too awful. Blake hadn't seemed like the biggest werewolf she'd ever seen or anything. "Can you go check--"

"Don't ask me to leave."

"It's not like I'm kicking you out this time." It wasn't like last time, when she had barely known him and thought he was a grumpy anti-hiker mountain man. "I just want to know how he's doing."

"Brett can tell you when he comes in," Ryker said, "Which should be any second now."

"He should take care of Blake first," Jo said, frowning, "He's worse off than me."