Page 2 of Two Risks I'd Never Take Again

What a stupid question! How many people napped on the side of the road in the dark and in the rain?

He grabbed my ankle.

The scream that echoed through the night was mine. But the biggest shocker was that I stayed upright and didn’t land on my butt. “Okay, so maybe warn me before you do that. Please.”

He let go. His eyes were nearly swollen closed. Blood dribbled out of his mouth and was caked to spots on his cheeks. The rain hadn’t washed it all away.

“I need to get you to the hospital.” I glanced back at my car. “I’m going to pull up closer, but I promise not to run over you.”

His head moved back and forth. And his mouth moved.

“What?” I dropped to my knees.

This was a bad idea.

He gripped my wrist and tugged me closer. And to my credit, I squelched my scream before making the man go deaf. He tried speaking again, but I couldn’t understand him. One thing was clear—he was in a lot of pain.

I wiped at one of the spots of blood the rain hadn’t washed away. “I’d never forgive myself if I left you here, and I don’t even know you. But you can’t tell anyone. If Eli—he’s my cousin and a deputy—if he finds out I picked up a stranger again, he will never stop lecturing me.” I shoved the handle of the umbrella into his hand. “Hold this, and that will make it easier not to hit you. Be right back.” I slipped in the mud as I tried to get up and nearly landed on top of him. That would’ve been awkward. And painful for him.

When I found my footing, I ran back to my car. Good thing I had seat covers because my backside was covered in mud. Clutching the wheel, I wanted to do breathing exercises to calm down, but this guy was in bad shape. There wasn’t time for slow breathing and counting to twenty.

I shifted into drive and focused on the umbrella. Inching forward with my car, I pulled as close as I dared.

After opening the passenger door, I scanned the area again checking once more for a delayed burly-guy attack. There was no one hiding in the shadows and no one to help me get the injured man into my car. I’d have to figure out a way to do it alone.

“Okay, so now is the fun part. I have to get you into my car.” I dropped down to my knees and pressed a finger to his neck.

He was so still, I wanted to feel that blood was still pumping through his veins. But he was still holding the umbrella, so likely he wasn’t dead. Yet.

I needed to hurry. “Before we do this, I feel like I should introduce myself. I’m Tessa. And normally I don’t put my hands all over strangers.”

He was probably rolling his eyes at me, but they were closed, so I couldn’t confirm that.

After tossing the umbrella aside—I could grab it after he was in the car—I pulled his arm around my shoulders. He responded with a moan. When I reached over and grabbed his other hand, the moan changed to a scream.

I fell backward. “I’m so sorry. Now I know not to touch that arm.”

He reached out with his one good arm, and I grabbed his hand.

“I’ll make this work. I won’t leave you here.” I moved close to his head. “I’m going to see if I can get your head up and then drag you to my car.” Squatting, I lifted his head and shoulders until I managed to get my arms around him.

His reaction was what I’d expect from someone suffering agonizing pain.

Yanking on him and sliding in the mud, I let go after only a few inches. “That’s not working. I need a different plan.” I knelt beside him, and he hooked his arm around my shoulders. “Okay, good. You hold onto me, and I’m going to wrap my arms around your middle. If you need me to let go, just scream.” I accepted his nod as an agreement to my plan.

But it wasn’t a very good plan.

I slid my hands under him and hoped with everything in me that the reason his shirt was wet was because of the rain and not because he was severely wounded and blood had been pooling beneath him. If I loaded him into my car and he died on the way to the hospital, I’d have a lot of explaining to do.

With my hands clasped together behind him, I tried to stand, lifting with my legs. But my legs weren’t prepared for this. I ended up on my back with the bloody stranger on top of me. This was bad. One thing wasn’t so bad—we were closer to the car.

“Okay, so that didn’t go like I planned. But I learned two things. I need a different plan, and you are built like a brick.” I didn’t have the muscle for this.

He clearly did but was in no shape to be of much help.

“How am I going to do this?”

He shifted as his feet moved.

---