Page 91 of Pain
Matt rushed after him, his heart pounding as he tried to see through the darkness.
Dyson rushed out of the driver's seat and around the car. "It's a shoulder wound, right side. He lost a lot of blood, but hasn't lost consciousness."
"I'm fine." Xander's voice rang out, filled with pain.
Hearing his voice helped ease Matt's mind, but there was still so much that could go wrong. How bad was the wound, and how much blood had he lost? "Xan?" He stood back as Dyson and Bryon helped him from the car.
"I'm good." Xander nearly fell as he tried to stand, the cigarette he had in his mouth falling onto the ground.
"Here, I've got him." Dyson hefted Xander over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and rushed for the front door.
All Matt could do was follow, trying not to notice how much blood covered the front seat of the car and Xander's body.
Once inside, Matt followed Dyson upstairs.
"I can walk," Xander grunted.
"The hell you can. You almost collapsed on me," Dyson argued back. "Shut up and let us make sure you're okay."
Matt smiled, glad the rest of the team was here to deal with Xander's attitude. If he'd been alone, he would have struggled to force Xander to relax and let them work.
Dyson carefully set Xander on the bed, and they all stood back, allowing Beau to get to work.
"What do you know?" Beau asked.
"Just give me something for the pain. It hurts like hell." Xander squinted as he arched his head back.
"I'll get there. I have to know what I'm dealing with first." Beau was cutting the already torn material of Xander's shirt from his body.
"Careful." Xander glared.
"Shoulder wound. Didn't see an exit. Lost a lot of blood. I managed to get pressure on it, but not much else. I had to secure the scene. He walked to the car, but barely."
"Because it hurts," Xander screamed.
Out of nowhere, Faith pushed past the group, moving onto the bed. "Xan?"
"Faith, you shouldn't be here." Matt went to grab her.
"No, he needs me." She reached out and gripped Xander's beard in her hand and forced him to turn his head toward her. "Look at me." She used her free hand to make a V with her fingers and pointed to his eyes, then to hers. "Focus on me." She still had his beard tightly in her hand. "Breathe." She started to trace the tattoos on his non-injured side gently. "Count with me." She moved her fingers along his tattoos.
Matt paused, leaving her alone as he watched Xander's eyes focus on her as he seemed to relax. He was stunned at how calm Faith was. With the amount of blood all over Xander and the very visible hole in his shoulder, she seemed to only focus on his eyes, staring at him.
Each time Xander tried to look away or cringed from the pain, she pulled on his beard. "Count the stripes." She worked her finger over one line of tattoos, then another.
Xander took a deep breath that seemed to calm him.
"I'm giving you something for pain now," Beau told him.
"Thank God." Xander still stared at Faith.
"Is she in the way?" Matt was torn whether to get Faith out of the room or let her stay since she did seem to be calming Xander the more she ran her fingers over his arm.
"She's fine if she is okay with the blood. This isn't going to be pretty." Beau was setting up an IV.
"Faith?" Matt touched her shoulder.
"I want to help. The blood doesn't scare me." She never tore her eyes from Xander's or released his beard.
