The Promise by Dee Davis Read Free Book Online Page B

It's been in my family for generations. Came from
Scotland. But more importantly, it's sharp enough to dig out the
bullet."
    She touched the blade experimentally. A thin line of
blood appeared on her finger. Definitely sharp. "Okay, what do I do
first?"
    He smiled weakly. "I'd say the best thing to do would
be to pull off my shirt. Then you're going to clean the wound with
something. Do you have any whiskey?"
    Actually it wasn't a bad idea. Maybe after a good
stiff drink she could do this. Or better yet, maybe a couple of
good stiff drinks. She pulled herself back to the task at hand.
"I've got rubbing alcohol. It's better than whiskey. And I brought
some Advil. It's not much, but it will help with the pain."
    She put the little knife on the table and opened the
bottle, shaking out a couple of pills. She glanced up at his face,
cringing at the pain she saw etched there. She added a couple more
tablets to the pile on her palm. "Here, take these." She held out
the medicine, along with the water.
    He looked at them with a puzzled expression. "I think
I'd rather have the whiskey."
    She smiled. "Take them. And this one too. It's an
antibiotic." She added another pill to the pile, fervently hoping
it was still potent.
    Again, he shot her an odd look, his eyebrows raising
quizzically. "Antibiotic?" He said it like it was a foreign
word.
    "You know, for infection." His injury must be
affecting him more than he was letting on. He acted like he'd never
heard of an antibiotic. He stared at the pills in her hand, a look
of distrust playing over his face. Men were such babies when it
came to taking medicine.
    "I'll tell you what," she said, placing the tablets
in the palm of his hand. "If you take the pills, I'll get you some
whiskey. Okay?" She wasn't at all sure letting him drink was the
right thing to do, but hey, that's always what they did in Westerns
when somebody got shot, and she really doubted the Advil was going
to do a lot to deaden the pain.
    "Whiskey first."
    She met his gaze and was once more surprised at the
determination reflected there. This was not a man to argue with,
even in his current condition.
    She left the room and opened the cabinet where she
kept the liquor. Whiskey could mean several things, and not wanting
to waste valuable time, she grabbed a bottle of Bourbon and another
of Scotch, the 30 year old kind. If the guy had to drink his
anesthetic, it might as well go down smoothly.
    When she walked back into the bedroom he was in the
process of trying to peel off his shirt. The look of agony on his
face was almost her undoing. Dropping the bottles on the bed, she
moved to his side and carefully helped him remove the shirt. The
muscles in his back were rigid, taut evidence of a pain more
intense than she could imagine.
    She slid an arm around his shoulders. "Here, lean
back." Once he was propped up against the pillows again, she
reached for the bottles. "I wasn't sure what you wanted. Bourbon or
Scotch—" She cut off the sentence. This wasn't a cocktail
party.
    He grabbed the Scotch and after unscrewing the cap,
drank deeply.
    "The pills." She hated to sound like a taskmaster,
but he needed the antibiotics.
    With a grimace, he swallowed the tablets and took
another swig from the bottle, pausing to run a thumb over the
ridged glass at the mouth of the container. His brows drew
together, then, with a sigh, he lay back against the sheets.
    She sat beside him on the bed and carefully began to
peel the bandages off. They were stuck in places and she could feel
him tense every time she had to pull at one. Finally, there was
only the wound. Using the washcloth and the water, she carefully
washed away the blood.
    She could see the bullet hole now, a perfect little
circle, almost as if he'd been hole punched. The edges were black
and the center oozed blood mixed with a greenish liquid. Infection . She could smell it. Swallowing to keep her
stomach in line, she leaned back.
    "Okay, what now?" Her voice was tight and came