ointment.”
Ellyssa went and retrieved the items and handed them to him. “How bad is she?”
“Just a gash,” he answered as he cleaned the area. Blood pooled in the wound and leaked over the torn skin. “She’ll have a headache.”
Ellyssa knelt next to Candy and patted her hand, awkwardly. Candy didn’t pull away with disgust, so she continued. “What else can I do?”
Mathew’s eyes raked her, accusingly.
Why shouldn’t it be she who appeared guilty? She was the enemy. But Mathew? Her delusion of acceptance had been nothing more than that—a delusion. Hurt, she stood and backed away, while the doctor’s trained hands worked on the injured woman. Soft sobs escaped Candy’s lips.
Rein grabbed Ellyssa’s hand and pulled her protectively against him. “He attacked Ellyssa. And Candy,” he said, pointing at her, “was helping.”
“No. That was not what happened. Candy had nothing to do with it. She was as confused as you were,” said Ellyssa.
Rein glanced at her.
“Candy came in after Jason attacked me.”
“That’s a lie,” yelled Jason, his tinny voice high-pitched. “I was defending myself.”
Rein whipped around and took a threatening step. “Why’d you have a knife?”
Jason sputtered, his mind flickering faster than she could perceive, reaching for some explanation. No conclusion decided upon, he refolded the bloody cloth and pressed it against his wound.
Hatred burned in Jason’s mentality as he blamed Ellyssa for his crumbling world. Then a little light flicked on, and his psychological world reformed. Still, he didn’t see himself at fault, his perception of right and wrong tilted in his favor. After all, Ellyssa had invited him to “visit”. She wanted him; he’d seen it in her eyes. It wasn’t his fault she’d changed her mind. Jason was the victim.
“We’ll let the council decide,” said Jason. “Are you going to help me or what?”
“Just hold the cloth to it until I’m done,” Mathew answered, his fingers nimbly picking stray hairs from Candy’s laceration. She hissed every time his fingers grazed the tender spot.
Shutting out Jason’s sick sense of morals, Ellyssa continued, “Rein walked in and…” She trailed off. Rein knew the rest of the story.
“And?”
“Jason tried to attack her with a knife, and I shot him,” Rein said.
“I see.” Mathew’s lids narrowed as he watched the writhing man on the ground. “Tomorrow, we’ll figure everything out.” He wrapped his arm around Candy and slowly helped her to her feet. “We need to get you into bed.”
Candy’s face screwed up like she was going to protest, but as soon as she stood upright, all color drained from her skin, leaving behind a waxy pale green. Her eyes rolled up under her lids, and she went limp.
“Whoa,” Mathew said, struggling to support the deadweight. “Help me, Rein.”
Rein cradled Candy in his arms and laid her on the cot next to Ellyssa’s. Mathew covered her with a blanket.
Ellyssa approached Candy while the doctor tended to Jason, and Rein busied himself with rearranging furniture, dragging one of the cots far away from where Ellyssa slept.
Candy’s eyes opened, landing on her. “Please,” she whispered.
“It is safe with me,” Ellyssa mouthed.
The corner of the redhead’s lips curved into a weak grin as her eyes closed. Soft, even breaths signaled she’d fallen asleep.
“It’s a only a graze. Took a chunk of flesh, though,” Mathew said from behind her. The doctor had torn away the leg of Jason’s pants, and had the wound already cleaned. “Hold this here.” He pushed a bandage against the injury and began ripping off strips of surgical tape.
The male Ellyssa had met in the council meeting, Eric, darted through the door, holding a shotgun. He skidded to a stop, his eyes settling on the pool of blood, then on Doc. “What the hell happened?” he said.
“Long story. I’ll explain later,” Doc replied, as he secured the dressing. “Help me.” He assisted Jason onto his feet.
Eric grabbed Jason’s elbow and helped the doctor walk the injured male to the other side of the room, where Rein waited next to the cot he’d moved.
“Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” Eric asked while helping Jason onto the cot.
“I didn’t…” Jason started.
“If you utter another word,” Rein interrupted, “I’ll finish the job.”
Jason snapped his mouth shut.
“I’ll catch you up to speed,” Rein said to Eric as he poured water from the basin Ellyssa had used into a bucket. Rein’s low voice carried over as he mopped up the blood off the stony ground with Eric.
Mathew approached Ellyssa. “Let me have a look at your injury,” he said.
Ellyssa blinked in surprise. She’d forgotten all about Jason sticking her.
“What? You didn’t think I’d noticed?” He took her by the back of her arm and led her over to his chair. He pulled apart the ripped fabric, exposing a small gash.
“I had forgotten about it.”
“It’s not deep.” Mathew swabbed ointment on it and applied a bandage. “I want to apologize,” he said, patting her knee.
“No need.”
“No, there is. You’re my friend, and I doubted what happened. I’m sorry.”
“I understand.”
“That doesn’t excuse my behavior,” Mathew stated, moving toward Candy. He pulled a penlight from his pocket and shone the light into Candy’s eye.
“Hey! What the hell,” she said, her voice drawn and tired. “I was sleeping.” She batted his hand away.
“I have to make sure you don’t have a concussion.” He repeated the process, against her objections. “Good,” he said, smiling. “You’re going to be fine, but in the morning, you’ll have a headache.”
Candy grumbled something and turned to her side.
“It’s a mistake that won’t happen again,” Mathew said to Ellyssa, slipping the penlight back into his pocket. “Why don’t you help Rein?”
On the way to where Rein and Eric knelt, sopping up blood, Ellyssa grabbed a small pail and filled it with fresh water. She squatted next to them. “Here.”
“It’ll be days before the stain wears away,” Rein said, dipping the rag into the clean water.
Ellyssa glanced at the pool of red that Rein and Eric had managed to smear around. She didn’t want to have to look at the stain for the remaining time she slept there; it would remind her of all that’d transpired, remind her how fragile friendships were. “Yes, I know.”
Then, she thought about Jordan. Neither Rein nor Mathew knew about their beloved leader. Should she tell them?
After a quick debate, she leaned back onto her heels. “I have something to tell you and Mathew.”
“Doc already knows,” Eric stated.
Rein looked from him to Mathew. “Knows what?”
Mathew’s face fell. “I was coming to tell you, when…” He swept his hand in an arc.
“Knows what?” Rein repeated.
“Jordan.” He didn’t elaborate. The look of sadness told the story.
Rein glanced at Ellyssa, his face questioning.
Ellyssa’s stared back at him. What were the right words to tell someone when a loved one died? What was she supposed to do? Comfort? She knew Woody had made her feel better, but her feelings for the dead leader were nothing compared to Rein’s, who’d been raised by Jordan. Something told her she should try though, that the response was right, but instead, she sat there, stupidly. The words were all wrong. She swallowed the consolations down and nodded instead.
The towel Rein had been holding dropped to the floor. Unshed tears glistening in his eyes, he stood and left
