Irresistible

Chapter 10

"What happened to her?" Raina demanded as soon as she set eyes on her friend. "She was shot with an arrow," Alec responded to his sister's question as he hurried into the room and gently laid Jade on the bed. "I can see that she was shot with an arrow, Alec. What I want to know is who shot her and why! You, daft man." She shouted now thoroughly frustrated with her brother.

Alec quickly explained what had transpired in the Great Hall to his sister and then got to the point at hand. "Can you help her? She's lost a lot of blood. I don't trust anyone else to care for her in this state. Her blood would be too tempting, but I know you are not controlled by your bloodlust any more than I am." he explained and Raina nodded her acceptance at once.

"Alec, help me strip her out of the gown, I need to see how bad her injuries are. Byron, I need my medicine basket from my room. Blake, I need lots of hot water and clean linens right away." Raina barked the orders and turned back to Jade just as Alec used the knife he always carried to cut away her dress so it could be easily removed. Raina stepped forward to drape a sheet over her friend to shield her modesty and then removed her now-destroyed gown. She then pulled back the sheet enough to expose the wound and the protruding arrow. She visibly blanched when she saw it. "Ah, the poor thing must be in terrible pain. We will have to work fast so we can stop her bleeding. I wish I could give her something for the pain, but I'm afraid it would be useless. This is going to hurt like the devil." She whispered. Alec moved forward to look at the injury. "Thank God you didn't try to remove the arrow yourself. I'm going to need to make an incision to enlarge the entry wound so I can slide a finger down the shaft so I can feel the depth of the wound and determine if the arrowhead is lodged in her bone," she explained as she washed her hands.

Just then Byron ran into the room with Raina's basket and the clean linens she had requested. Next, Blake came bursting in with pails of hot water splashing in his hands. "Bring the water over here Blake and get started on tearing those linens into stripes I can use for bandages," she ordered seeing that Blake needed something to keep him busy. "Alec, come here, I need you to hold her down for me in case she tries to move. I need you to keep her as still as possible so she doesn't accidentally injure herself further while I'm working. This isn't going to be pleasant for her."

Scalpel in hand Raina looked at her brother and noted the tortured expression on his face. "Are you ready Alec? She needs your strength right now." She whispered low enough so only he could hear her. Recognizing the truth of his sister's words, Alec seemed to find his resolve, Jade needed him and he wasn't going to let her down. He simply nodded and moved into position to hold Jade down.

Raina worked quickly, she made the incision to enlarge the entry wound and carefully slide her finger down the shaft. Jade had come awake at the first prick of the blade cutting through her tender skin. Her agonized screams could be heard throughout the kingdom. Raina could see that poor Alec looked as if he was going to murder someone on the spot and felt bad for her brother; until he yelled at her to do something that is. What the heck did he think she was doing right now?! She wondered. She was about to snap that very question at him but she was overwhelmed by the flood of relief she felt upon realizing that the arrow was not lodged in the bone and would be easy enough to remove.

"Alec, keep her still, I'm going to remove the arrow now," Raina ordered and Alec tightened his hold on her. Jade's need to flinch was overwhelming, but Alec's grip wouldn't allow any movement at all. Seconds later Raina pulled the arrow from Jade's shoulder and had clean linens pressed to the wound to stop the flow of blood. "Byron, come here and hold this cloth to the wound while I gather some of my other supplies," Raina ordered and Byron instantly complied. Raina headed to the other side of the room to gather what she needed, then she reappeared a moment later with a pan filled with a foul-smelling concoction she'd heated over the fire. "This is going to hurt something fierce. Jade, if you need to scream..." Raina continued to hover, looking unsure. Jade glanced up. "It's ok Raina, I'm ready." She said a scant second before Alec nodded to his sister and she poured the liquid over Jade's open wound. The pain was instant, awful, consuming. She felt as though she had been flayed open and doused with salt. Her skin was burning, the flames scorched her down to her bone. Her head spun, and her vision blurred. She would have jumped off the bed and ran from the room if Alec hadn't been holding her down. Dear God, the excruciating agony wouldn't end. She tried to take deep calming breaths. No matter how hard she tried she could not hold back her tears, somehow she managed to clench her jaw tight so she wouldn't scream again. Just when she was absolutely sure she couldn't take one more second of the torture, it began to ease.