Adapt (I)

SCARLET

Only fragments of reality come to me.

I am being moved. The soft bouncing of travel sends ripples of pain through my body. Pressure on my stomach. That autumn voice whispering softly to me, beaconing me to stay with him. Can’t he see I am right here?

When I fully come to, I am laying down. I open my eyes to see the inside of a car, lit with the most beautiful shade of soft golden light. Boe’s face comes into my vision and I realize I must be laying in the back seat of a car, my head on his lap. I see his face change from panicked worry that has stained his cheeks with tears, to relief.

“Boe.” I rasp. “Water.”

His brow creases. “We don’t have any water in the car. We had to use it all to flush your wound.” The pressure on my stomach increases a little. A glance down tells me that Boe has a firm hand on my wound, trying to stop me from bleeding out.

“We aren’t far from home.” Trent’s voice comes from the front of the car. He must be driving. “We will get you something to drink then.”

I move my tongue in my mouth and swallow, trying to get some moisture back in my mouth. It doesn’t help much. “What happened?” I swallow again. “After Thomas... took me out, I don’t remember a whole lot.”

“Logan came out of nowhere and killed Thomas. Then a SWAT team from HQ came in and started firing at will. Luckily it was pretty dark in there. We took cover behind the shelves, but you were seizing, and we couldn’t stop it. Then everything went dark. Like someone had flicked a light-switch.” A soft shudder racks Boe’s shoulders. “When Trent and I came to, Logan had brought us all back to the Range Rover. He told Trent and I to get you home ASAP and that he would take care of the rest.”

“Take care of what?” I ask.

Boe’s jaw flexes. “I don’t know, Scarlet. Honestly, I don’t care. You were unconscious and bleeding out.”

The car shifts and I recognize the bumpiness of pulling into Trent’s driveway.

“Let’s get you inside.” Boe says.

Carefully, Trent and Boe manoeuvre me out of vehicle. Once out, Boe tries to pick me up. I protest. I opt to hobble my way in with the help of Trent’s support while I keep pressure on my abdomen. For whatever reason, it feels good to walk, even if it isn’t entirely on my own.

As Trent opens the door, I am pulled into a bear hug by Caron. “I’m so glad you’re home!”

Instantly, I wail.

Caron pulls back, a look of freight plastered on her face. She finally sees the blood coating my clothes and the pained expression my face.

Boe hooks himself under my arm and takes my feet from under me, this time not giving me the chance to reject his offer.

“Where can I lay her down?” Boe barks.

Trent directs him to Clark’s bedroom. Boe swiftly takes me down the hallway and into Clark’s dinosaur themed room. Boe sets me as gently as possible on the bedspread.

I hear voices in the kitchen that sound like arguing.

Boe lays his hand over the top of mine, which is applying pressure to my wound. It helps to relieve some of the pain. I feel my face relax a little. Boe runs his other hand over my forehead and into, what I am sure is, my extremely messy hair.

I watch his eyes, letting them distract me from the pain of breathing.

“I thought I lost you.” Boe breathes.

Give a weak smile. “Not out of the woods yet.” I joke.

Boe’s eyes darken. “You will heal from this.”

“Well then get out of the fucking way, Boe, so I can clean her up.” A shrill voice demands.

Over Boe’s shoulder, Caron appears with a very serious expression on her face.

Boe looks up at her. By the look on his face, he is about to tell her to get lost. Then his eyes land on the paper towels, bandages, a thermos and other medical equipment I don’t recognize in her hands. He looks back at me and gives me a resigned smile.

“I’m going to get you some water. I’ll be right back.” He leans over and brushes a kiss on my forehead. Then his hand lifts from my abdomen and he strides out of the room.