Saved by the Rancher

chapter Eight

SUMMER CAME OUT of the bathroom with a bowl of cool water and a washcloth. Jack sorted out antiseptic, bandages, syringes, medicines, and other things to fix up Jenna, determined to make her well.

Summer knelt next to the bed by Jenna’s head and placed a cool washcloth on her forehead. “What are you going to do with all this stuff?”

“First, I need to clean all the bleeding wounds with antiseptic. It’ll hurt, but I’ve got to clean the wounds. I’ll stitch up her leg. I have some medicine here that will numb it for the most part, but she’ll probably know what I’m doing. Then I’ll bandage her up the best I can and hope she sleeps and her fever breaks. Tell Beth to go down to the barn and ask one of the guys to give her a bottle of antibiotics.”

“The medicine you use on the horses?”

“Trust me, it’ll work. She needs them now before this nasty infection spreads.”

“Shouldn’t we call Doc Stanton and ask him to come and treat her?”

“No. Ben said no hospitals. She doesn’t need anything I can’t do for her. If she gets worse, we’ll have Doc take a look. Now, please, send Beth. The sooner we get the antibiotics into her, the faster we can stave off this infection in her leg.”

Summer took off out of the room. Sally jumped up on the bed and lay across Jenna’s left side and on her arm. Jack tried to get her to move, but Sally wouldn’t budge. It didn’t appear to bother Jenna, so Jack washed out cuts and wounds starting with Jenna’s shoulders and moving down her back. Jenna stirred and moaned a few times, but Sally and he held her arms down. He began a chant of “You’re okay. You’re okay, sweetheart.”

That’s how Summer found him when she returned, Jack crooning softly to her as he tended her wounds. “I don’t know how much more I can take. The anguish in your voice, I hate seeing you so upset.”

“I passed upset when I saw her at the diner. Now I’m just furious with myself for leaving her alone at the cabin when I knew she needed medical attention.”

Summer rinsed out the washcloth and replaced it on Jenna’s head. “You couldn’t have known—”

Jack cut her off with a glare. No excuse in his book for not doing something when he knew it needed to be done.

He’d already tended the worst of the wounds on Jenna’s back and bottom. The abrasions and welts would heal with the ointment he put on them. Summer cut up bandages and Jack taped them in place. Jenna lay silent, her breathing ragged. She gasped in pain sometimes, but for the most part she lay still, too weak to fight them.

“Okay, it’s time to do the cut on her thigh. She will not like this, Summer. Take hold of her feet and make sure she doesn’t kick. I don’t want her opening up the cut even more.”

“Jack, I don’t know if holding her down is a good idea. She freaks out every time someone touches her, or comes near her.”

“We need to finish and clean and close the cut or it’ll get worse.”

Summer grabbed Jenna’s feet and Sally growled.

“It’s okay, girl,” Summer crooned. “I won’t hurt her.” Sally licked Jack’s arm. “What is up with the dog? She won’t let Jenna out of her sight.”

“Sally knows Jenna is hurt and needs help. She’s gone into guard-dog mode. It’s kind of sweet. I’ve never seen her act like this. It’s as if Jenna’s her puppy.”

That brought a smile to his face. It made for a sweet picture in Jack’s mind. Summer smiled too. She pet the dog’s head for reassurance and went back to holding Jenna’s feet.

“Okay, here goes. Jenna, if you can hear me, don’t move your leg. I’m going to clean the cut out. Do you hear me, Jenna? Don’t move.”

Jenna mouthed, “Okay.”

Jack poured some antiseptic on a cloth and began cleaning out the cut. Open about a quarter of an inch and deep. He grabbed the tweezers to remove a few shards of glass. He swore under his breath for each sliver he took out.

“Okay, Jenna. All clean. I need to give you several shots near the cut to numb it, so I can stitch it up.”

Jenna didn’t respond, but tears seeped out from under her closed lashes. Jack brushed them away with a gentle swipe with the pad of his thumb.

“You’re doing great, baby. You’re so strong. Keep it up. Almost done. Then I’ll leave you in peace.”

Jack stuck the needle in her skin in several places along the foot-long cut. He gave the medicine a few minutes to work.

“Why didn’t you use that stuff when you were cleaning the cut? You idiot.”

“Because it only lasts about ten minutes and I want to make sure it stays numb while I stitch the cut closed. Do you know how many stitches it’ll take to close up that cut?”

Bile rose in Jack’s stomach just thinking about it. Training set in, and he got to work. Jenna struggled for a few of the stitches, finally going quiet after number five. He stopped counting after fifteen, disgusted with the whole situation. He died a little bit with each stitch. Looking past all the wounds and old scars, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her green eyes would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Summer’s amazed voice broke the silence. “I can’t believe you’ve done this and so much more to save lives, yet I never really understood what it takes for you to do it. You really care. I’ve never been more proud of you.”

Again, Jack didn’t comment on her words. He couldn’t. His feelings were too raw at the moment. Jenna needed his focus and his strength to endure and get the job done.

“Finished.” He leaned down to Jenna’s ear. “Jenna, can you hear me? I’m done. No more stitches. There’s a bandage on your leg. Don’t move around, or you could tear the stitches. Can you hear me, baby?”

Jenna didn’t move, her breathing slow, but constant. Jack knew she had probably gone inside herself to escape. He didn’t blame her. He needed a drink.

“You’ve seen a lot in the Army. How bad is this?” Summer asked.

“She’ll be all right. What you need to understand is that in combat, or special ops, you know what you’re facing going in. Your enemy assumes the same risk you do. Jenna didn’t ask for this. She didn’t sign up and say, ‘Let’s go fight.’ Someone beat her and tortured her because she’s weaker and smaller and couldn’t fight back. I can’t make sense out of that, the way I can rationalize combat. What this person did makes me sick.”

He shared a look with his sister. They had always been close, but he’d been distant for a long time, keeping everyone at arm’s length. He had never felt closer to her than he did at this moment. He had Jenna to thank for that.

The front door crashed open to the shouts of Lily calling for her mom and him.

“Stop her before she comes up here. She’ll be scarred for life if she sees Jenna looking like this.”

Summer rushed out the door and down the stairs to intercept her daughter and husband.

Caleb took one look at his pale and exhausted wife. “That bad, huh. Pete called,” he answered her unspoken question about how he found out.

“Worse. Go up and see Jack. Don’t say anything, though. When she heard Pete’s voice before, she panicked. Just see if Jack needs any help cleaning up. Tell him I’ll come by in the morning. I’m taking Lily home.”

They shared a long kiss, Summer holding him as tight as she could, Lily squirming between them. Caleb returned the embrace, knowing she needed the support.