Page 112 of A Wolf's Wound
“Give him space!”she yells.“Ryder, don’t worry, you’re going to be okay,” Hannah says to me in a quieter voice.
“What do you need?”a voice behind me asks.It’s Hannah’s mother.
“Gauze, thread, and sterile needles,” Hannah tells her.
I close my eyes as another bolt of dizziness slices through me.When I open them Hannah’s cleaning my face.“I shouldn’t have let you leave earlier,” she mutters, more to herself than to me.“I should have checked you out first.”
“I wouldn’t have let you,” I tell her.
“Trying to be macho, huh?”Hannah says.“This might hurt.”
“I’m always trying to be macho,” I say as a needle pokes my skin.“Ouch!”
“Sorry.I just numbed the area.This cut on your forehead is pretty deep.”Hannah leans closer and frowns.“I’ll do my best to make sure you won’t have a scar, but no promises.”
“That’s okay.I hear that chicks dig scars.”
“Yes, almost as much as they dig being called ‘chicks,’” Hannah says, and I grin.
“I’ll remember that.”
She shakes her head, but her eyes look amused as she begins stitching.“Let me know if the pain gets too bad or you think you might pass out again.”
“Technically, I never lost consciousness,” I say.
“Technically, I don’t care,” she replies.“You’re a mess, Ryder.”
“So I’ve been told.”I close my eyes.
“No!”Hannah says sternly.
“What?”I ask, my eyes flying open.
“No closing your eyes, no taking a nap until I’ve had a chance to assess you for a concussion.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“So,” Hannah says after a brief silence.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know, I’m trying to think of a way to keep you awake,” she admits.“But my small talk skills are kind of shot to hell right now.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I say and she chuckles.“Hey, do you have a death wish or something?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Hannah says.“Why do you ask?”
“Because jumping in front of Shadow earlier was either the action of an incredibly brave woman or one with a death wish.”
“I wasn’t really thinking,” Hannah says.“I just did what felt right.”
“You shouldn’t have jumped in front of him,” I say.“You had no idea how I was going to react.”
“Yes, I did,” Hannah says seriously.She pauses in her work and stares at me.“I know you wouldn’t hurt me, Ryder.”
I stare back in shock.I didn’t think Hannah trusted me, yet here she is saying she was confident I wouldn’t hurt her?
“Don’t look so surprised,” Hannah says, resuming her stitching.
