10.
1127 Words
CHAPTER 10
LYALL POV
Have you ever felt your heart beating so hard that the pulse became a drum line? That’s how I felt as I made it to Rini’s prone form.
Her dark blonde hair crashed over her back and shoulders like a wave, her limp hands by her ears like she had been pressing them against her head when she passed out. Vibrant, red blood pooled underneath her.
“Is that blood?” Suzie shrieked.
Rafe pushed past me and got there first, lifting Rini with a gentleness I had no idea he was capable of, he turned her so she faced the sky, her head in his lap. Ralph yanked his jacket off and tucked it around her like a blanket.
“Is she breathing?” I asked almost too quiet to hear.
Silas moved past me and took Rini’s wrist, closing his eyes and he held it firmly but gently.
“There’s a pulse,” he said. “But her breathing is pretty shallow.”
“How do you know that?” Suzie asked him.
Silas gave her a charming smile. “Go out with me and I’ll share my secrets with you.”
Suzie rolled her eyes but there was a faint smile on her face.
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked Silas.
“Blood loss from hitting her head I think,” Silas replied. “She will need to be checked for a concussion and maybe need some blood but her pulse is strong enough I don’t think she’s gonna die on you or anything.”
“Don’t even say that!” The twins and I all snarled as one.
Silas held his hands up again. “Okay, okay, I was just trying to reassure you that she will probably be fine.”
“Probably’ is unacceptable,” I told him. “We need to get her to Doc, are we fine to move her or do we need to call him here?”
Silas knelt down to inspect her a bit closer, moving her head each way, when he went to probe the wound with his fingers Rini’s eyes snapped open and she began to thrash.
“Holy f**k,” Rafe grunted. “She’s actually strong.”
Ralph tried his best to help Rafe but her movements were so panicked, so violent that even with both they were struggling to contain her without having to use too much force.
A wild idea struck me and I took to my knees, facing her.
“Be still,” I ordered, using my Alpha voice.
Her eyes snapped to me, an unearthly glow shimmering behind them, an ancient sort of magic hiding away.
She blinked and the glow was gone and Rini slumped still, eyes shuttered.
What the hell was that? Was that… magic? Or was I imagining it?
“Little Rabbit, open your eyes,” I commanded again, this time without my Alpha power.
“Lyall?” she asked weakly.
Rafe silently passed her over to me and I stroked strands of blood-stained hair away from her face. “I’m here.”
“Why?”
Because I can’t seem to stay away from you, because the thought of you being badly hurt made me want to burn this world to the ground.
I didn’t say that aloud though.
“My head hurts,” she whimpered.
I clutched her tightly for a moment before forcing myself to keep my grip casual. “I bet it does.”
“That’s what happens when you take off against health advice,” Rafe told her.
“Absolutely moronic,” Ralph agreed.
“You’ve ruined my old sweater too,” Rafe said again, tugging at Rini’s blood-stained collar.
She rubbed her clammy forehead and sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Suzie shoved past them all, throwing herself into Rini’s arms. “Oh my god I was so worried! Are you ok?”
Rini winced but wrapped still shaking arms around her friend. “Suzie? Jesus I must have hit my head hard unless…. Suzie, are you really here or am I dreaming?”
“Do we star in your dreams often, Rabbit?” I asked with a smirk. “Shall I start taking my clothes off to really make your dreams come true?”
Rini groaned. “Too annoying to be a dream. What happened then?”
“We were hoping you could tell us,” Suzie said. “Maybe start with why you lied about going to the nurse’s office?”
Guilt flooded Rini’s face and she avoided eye contact. “It was a shitty day and I wanted it to be done without bothering anyone else.”
Suzie gave me an I told you so glance before rubbing Rini’s back. “You’re never a bother, I’ve told you that! What happened next?”
“Well I started walking home and then I heard…. I mean…. Well then my head started to really pound and it was all I could focus on before the darkness came.”
“If you left at lunch time and were unconscious until we got here, you’ve likely been passed out for a solid 90 minutes,” Silas said. “You should definitely get checked out.”
Rini looked at him for a few moments before asking. “Sorry, why are you here?”
Silas grinned, reaching down to pull Suzie to her feet. Suzie shrugged out of his grasp but stayed standing next to him. “I had to make sure this little treasure had back up.”
Rini hung her head in her hands and kept them there, seemingly too exhausted to lift it again. “I really must be dreaming, this is too bizarre.”
Suzie snorted. “If only. Come on, let’s get you cleared and then I’ll help you clean up.”
Rafe opened his mouth and Suzie poked a small finger into his chest. “Alone!”
“Spoilt sport,” he muttered with a smile.
Ralph ignored his twin’s ribbings and lifted Rini into his arms.
“I can walk!” she protested.
“Yeah?” I asked, worry making my tone come out harsh. “And how did that work out last time?”
“Dude,” Ralph said quietly. “Now is probably not the time.”
“Never would be the right time to scold me,” Rini put in, but her inability to lift her head from Rafe’s shoulders undercut her tone.
“Put her in the car,” I said firmly, turning away before I shook the stubborn fool.
“I’ll sit with her,” Suzie offered.
“No,” I told her. “Silas will take you back to school, we’ve got it from here.”
- Writer
