Page 7 of Dauntless

God, I was dizzy, and my head hurt.

“Joe, help me!”

After that, everything went black.

Chapter 3

RED JOE

“Oh, Jesus,” Eddie Hawthorne said, sitting on a chair in my kitchen and dripping all over the floor.“I fainted, didn’t I?I legit fainted?”

“No, it wasn’t a faint,” I assured him, pressing a clean tea towel to the cut on the side of his head.“It was more of a swoon than anything.”

He winced.“That’s worse.Swoon is definitely worse.”

“It was a very manly swoon though.”

His mouth twitched, and then he winced again.“Holy hell.That hurts.”

Hiccup sat beside him, her head resting on his thigh as she stared up at him, large-eyed and soulful.

“Can you hold that there?”I asked.“I’ll get the first aid kit.I don’t think it needs stitches, but I need a better look at it first.”

“Stitches?”Eddie let out a pained moan.“I can’t go to the hospital!”

“Good news,” I said.“There is no hospital.There’s not even a doctor on the island.But I don’t think it looks that bad.”

Eddie made another small noise, and his cold fingers slid across mine as he took over the task of holding the tea towel.“No doctor?What happens in an emergency?”

“We call for a boat,” I said.“Or an airlift.Don’t worry though.You’re not that bad.”

The medical chest sat in a corner of the kitchen.It was a large green metal box that stayed locked at all times.I kept one key for the chest on the same ring as the lighthouse keys.The spare key hung from a hook on the fridge.I dragged the chest over to where Eddie was sitting, the metal scraping against the stone floor of the kitchen.

“That’s a hell of a first aid kit,” Eddie murmured.

I unlocked it.“It’s a medical chest from the Flying Doctors.Everything’s numbered, so if I radio them up and tell them someone’s symptoms, they tell me exactly what number drug to dispense and how much.”I lifted the first tray out of the chest, looking for the bandages and antiseptic underneath.“But we won’t need any of that.Just the same first aid stuff you have at home.”

“You’re like the island nurse.”

“Nope.”I found the sterile wipes and bandages I was after.“I’m just the guy who can follow basic instructions and be trusted with the key.”

I stood in front of Eddie and put my hand over his.I drew the tea towel away carefully, and Eddie flinched.The cut wasn’t as bad as it had first seemed.The bleeding had slowed to a sluggish dribble, and the wound itself was only shallow.It cut through his hairline and an inch or so down his right temple.He’d have a hell of a bruise and a headache in the morning, but it likely wasn’t anything that would require calling in a medivac.

“This will sting a little,” I warned, and dabbed at the wound with antiseptic.

Eddie closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose.“Ouch.”

Jesus.He was cute.

“What were you doing out of your tent anyway?”I asked, careful to wipe his hair away from the shallow laceration.

“I…” Eddie opened his eyes again, his brow furrowing.“Iwasn’tout of my tent.I was sleeping, or trying to, in the storm, and somebody attacked me!”The colour bled suddenly from his face, and he wrenched his shirt up to reveal a plastic-wrapped package tucked into the waistband of his pants.“Oh, thank God!It’s okay!What if I’d dropped it?”

“What?”I asked.Attacked?Nothing about that made sense.This was Dauntless, not Sydney.“What are you talking about?”

“The diary!”Eddie repeated, drawing the package out and hugging it close.“Henry Jessup’s diary!”

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