Authors: Paige Weaver
Tags: #romance, #contemporary romance, #New Adult
“Maddie.”
A dream. I was dreaming again but this time it seemed so real. I
could almost reach out and touch it. The voice wrapped around me,
warming me. I smiled in my sleep, happy to hear Ryder again.
“Maddie.” The rugged voice sounded like sand paper against a
grain of wood.
I love the way he says my
name.
Someone close by coughed. My eyes slowly opened, forcing sleep away.
The first thing I saw were blue eyes staring back at me.
I shot up, my eyes never leaving the ones gazing at me.
Is he really awake? Am I dreaming again?
Ryder watched me, his eyelids heavy, drooping a second before lifting
again. Feeling unsure if what I was seeing was real or not, I slowly
lowered my feet to the floor and stood up.
“Ryder?” I asked, my voice shaking as I took a hesitant step
forward.
Beneath the long hair and full beard, his eyes met mine, never
leaving my face. They closed for half a second before he forced them
open again, focusing on me.
“Say something else,” he rasped, his voice sounding scratchy.
“I want to hear your voice.”
Oh my goodness! He’s awake!
I threw myself
on the bed, unable to contain myself. My arms went around his neck,
tears racing down my face.
He let out a whoosh of air as I fell against him. One of his hands
touched my side, so lightly that I almost didn’t feel it. I wanted to
cry.
Ryder is touching me! He’s holding me!
I
had been afraid I would never feel his hands on me again. To think that
he may never wrap his arms around me again was a fear that had haunted
me day and night.
When he groaned with pain, I let him go, afraid I was hurting him.
Tears flooded my eyes, making it difficult to see. But through the
moisture, I could see the bandage around his abdomen. It was still
white. No blood soaked through.
His hand brushed against my leg then weakly fell on the bed. I
searched his face, seeing the hollow cheekbones and the circles under
his eyes. The cuts and bruises on his cheeks and forehead were slowly
healing, the swelling around his eyes going down.
His eyelids started to drift close but he forced them back open.
“Maddie,” his deep voice said, his eyes trying to focus on my
face.
“I’m right here,” I said, leaning closer.
His fingers brushed across my jeans before resting on my hip.
“Stay with me,” he whispered, his hand grasping my hipbone
surprisingly strong.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said.
“I made it back to you,” he said, forcing each word out.
“Yes, you returned to me.”
“Always.”
The word slipped out just as he slipped back into oblivion.
~~~~
Loud music filled the tattoo parlor. It sounded more
like someone screaming than singing. It was late Saturday night and the
place was packed with all kinds of interesting characters.
It wasn’t my typical hangout but I was here with Ryder. He was
eighteen. I was fifteen. I know – I shouldn’t be in here with him,
being underage and all, but Ryder knew the owner so it was okay. At
least that is what I kept telling myself.
Cringing, I watched as a tattoo artist touched the needle to
Ryder’s skin. The hum of the machine was scary. But whatever.
“Dude, this is going to be cool as shit,” the tattooed man
working on Ryder said. I was surprised he could even say one coherent
word with all the rings this guy had in his lower lip. And his dark
green, spiked hair matched the green in the dragon tattoo wrapped around
his neck. I tried not to stare at it but it looked amazing. Kind of hot
in a weird, really warped way.
“Cool as shiiiiiit,” the man repeated.
“Yeah, that’s what I was going for,” Ryder said sarcastically,
watching as the guy leaned closer to his arm and touched the needle to
his skin.
Imagining how much that hurt, I took a step back, bumping into the
tray of supplies behind me.
Ryder glanced up, the corner of his mouth lifting. “You okay,
Maddie? You’re looking a little pale.”
I gave him a sweet smile, totally fake. “I’m fine, Ryder. Just
admiring this guy’s artwork.”
Ryder’s smile got bigger, knowing I was lying. I had argued with
him about coming here but he insisted, saying he wanted me with him. I
knew it was a bunch of horse manure but I gave in, just like I always
did.
An hour ago he had stood on my threshold, full of sadness and anger.
Wanting to punch something. Needing to talk. He had another fight with
his parents, this time about breaking his hand in a bar fight. I
listened as he swore and cussed, hating Gavin for being the perfect son.
Hating himself for not being what his parents wanted him to be. When he
finally calmed down, he begged me to climb in his truck and go for a
ride with him. He wanted a tattoo. Yet another way to rebel.
“You two a couple or something?” the tattoo artist asked, nodding
his head toward me but still working.
“Or something,” Ryder’s voice rumbled, his grin slipping a
little.
“Too bad, dude. She’s cute,” the man said.
“Yeah, but she’s a spitfire,” Ryder said, his eyes on me.
“Those are the best kind, man. Keeps you on your toes. Never a dull
moment. You better snatch her up before someone else does,” the man
said, wiping a cloth across Ryder’s skin before lowering the needle
back down.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ryder said hoarsely, his eyes darting
down my body slowly.
I bit my inner cheek, glancing around the room. We were still
surrounded by people, most of them covered in tattoos, but it felt like
it was just Ryder and me. Weird. I thought that only happened in
books.
The tattoo guru started humming, disappearing in a world of his own
that apparently included music that didn’t sound half bad. I was
trying to figure out what song it was when Ryder grabbed my attention,
motioning me over with a nod of his head.
“Come here,” he said, ignoring the needle marking his arm.
The room was so crowded with people and equipment that I had to
squeeze around the chair he sat in. My bare legs brushed against his
jean covered knees, sending a new and unusual feeling through me. The
room had suddenly become very hot. And why was I sweating?
Wetting my dry lips, I stepped next to Ryder. He watched me, his eyes
dropping to my lips for a second.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, pointing to his arm.
“A little,” Ryder admitted, looking down at the needle against
his skin.
I watched the tattoo artist for a second, still in shock that Ryder
was doing this. His first tattoo and I was here for it.
“Thanks for coming with me,” he said, low enough that only I
could hear him. “And thanks for listening to me bitch.”
“That’s what friends are for,” I said, shrugging. I glanced at
the tattoo on his arm again. It was raw and red against his tan skin. It
looked very painful.
He didn’t say anything for a second, just watched me admire the ink
that would be there forever.
“Do you like the tattoo?” he asked, glancing down at his arm.
An intricate design marred his bicep, twisting around him like it
were taking over his body.
“It’s perfect,” I said, meaning it. The tattoo didn’t make
Ryder look dangerous - he did that all on his own - but it was still
pretty cool.
“Good. As long as you like it, that’s all that counts,” he
said, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Nothing else.”
“Hell, man, the girls are going to go crazy over them,” the man
said. “Girls dig the ink, dude.”
“I don’t care,” Ryder said, his eyes glued to me. “Maddie
likes them. Maybe I’ll get a hundred more.”
~~~~
I woke up to shouts of rage. My eyelids felt heavy as I tried to
focus on the thrashing figure in the bed across from me.
I’m dreaming again but this time Ryder’s yelling,
not looking at me with desire.
Voices had me forcing my eyes wide open, pushing away the need for
sleep.
That’s when I found Gavin and Janice rushing toward the bed, one of
them carrying a lantern. The other carrying a gun. Both looked sleep
deprived.
What was going on?
Confusion had me trying to
blink away the cobwebs in my mind.
Without warning, a painfully anguished roar erupted in the room. I
jumped - but not before movement on the bed caught my eye. Ryder was
thrashing back and forth, his movements jerky, knocking a pillow to the
floor.
Janice and Gavin reached the edge of the bed just as my name tumbled
from Ryder’s lips. All thought of sleep disappeared from my mind.
Tossing the quilt off of my legs, I leaped out of the chair, pushing
Janice out of the way to get to Ryder.
“Dammit, Maddie, get back!” Gavin yelled, grasping Ryder’s arms
and trying to hold him still as he flailed.
Unafraid of Ryder’s swinging arms, I laid a hand on his forehead,
ignoring Gavin.
“Janice, he’s burning up,” I said, feeling like I was touching
fiery coals.
“His fever’s spiking,” Janice said, pushing Ryder’s shirt out
of the way to inspect the bandage around his middle. “Maddie, grab
that lantern and bring it closer.”
Gavin used all his strength to keep Ryder immobile while I held the
lantern. Janice peeled away the bloody bandage, causing Ryder to moan.
Yellow pus oozed from around the small bullet wound in his side.
“It’s infected and he’s torn the stitches open,” Janice said
under her breath.
“You think he’s becoming septic?” Gavin asked, trying to keep
Ryder prone as he continued to twist and jerk.
“God, I hope not. If it is, the antibiotic I have may not do the
job,” Janice muttered, poking around at Ryder’s side.
He cried out, trying to knock her hands away.
I placed my cold palm against his forehead again. He stilled, my hand
cooling his heated flesh.
“There’s only one place that will have stronger doses of
antibiotics if sepsis sets in,” Janice warned.
“The hospital,” Gavin said, flatly.
“Yes, the hospital that was overrun with insurgents days ago if the
reports are true.” Using the back of her hand, Janice pushed her grey
hair away from her face. The circles under her eyes were dark in the
lantern light, making her look more ragged.
“We can’t go to the hospital,” Gavin said. “It’s too
dangerous.”
“I know.” Janice glanced at me, her eyes bleak.
A knot entered my chest, the look on her face frightening me.
“I’m going to stitch him up,” she said, solemnly. “I’ll get
Roger to heat some water. Let’s keep a warm compress on his wounds,
thirty minutes on then an hour off. If that doesn’t help…”
I nodded, tears burning the back of my eyes. The words didn’t need
to be said out loud.
Ryder may not live through
this.
The infection could travel through his body like a tidal
wave, destroying everything in its path. Taking him away from me.
The one man that had always saved me may not be able to be saved.
“So how is he?”
I glanced over at Eva as I walked into the kitchen. She was sitting
at the table, her hands around a steaming mug of something hot. She was
wrapped up in a huge coat that probably belonged to Roger.
There were seven of us and not enough coats to go around. So we did
what we had to do; we shared everything. It was either that or freeze to
death. Our options were very limited but we made the best with what we
had.
Janice’s washer and dryer now sat in the barn, gutted by Brody for
the wires and hoses inside. He was our in-house engineer, capable of
building anything with his hands. Our bathroom had running water, thanks
to his design of collecting rainwater and piping it inside. Our
hand-held radios still worked because of him and he was also trying to
convert one of the vehicles to run without gasoline.
Guess those years of engineering classes were paying
off.
“Hello? Earth to Maddie? You gonna answer my question or ignore
me?” Eva asked again, raising one blonde eyebrow.
Walking past her, I balanced a bowl of dirty water in my arms, trying
not to let the water splash over the edge. I had just finished cleaning
Ryder’s wounds, hoping to staunch the infection from spreading
throughout his body. So far it wasn’t working.
“He’s better, I guess. His fever isn’t as high but his wound
still looks infected,” I said, finding it impossible not to crumble
and break. The last few days, I had managed to stay strong, putting up a
solid front even though all I wanted to do was cry.
Eva lifted the cup to her lips but paused before taking a drink.
“Don’t worry, Maddie, he’ll pull through. He’s too much of a
stubborn S.O.B. not to.”
I knew she was right. Ryder was too stubborn to give up easily but I
was scared this time he might have met his match with the infection and
his injuries.
I stifled the anguish that rose in me. “Where is everyone?” I
murmured.
Eva shrugged, her thin shoulders barely moving beneath the oversized
coat. “Scattered around. Gavin and Brody were going to ride down the
road and check everything out. Cash is AWOL as usual. Janice and Roger
are trying to catch some fish for dinner.”
I held onto the bowl with one arm as I reached for the door
handle.
“I’m going to go dump this water then I’ll be back,” I said,
stepping outside. A brisk wind blew against me, tangling my hair into
knots and flinging it into my face.
I was halfway across the yard when the hairs on the back of my neck
stood up. I slowed down, listening to my gut warn me that something was
wrong.
Maybe it’s just Cash returning, sneaking up on
me in his quiet way.
I turned my head and caught a glimpse of
someone following me.
It wasn’t Cash. It was a stranger.
“Hello! You there!” he called out.