Susan Mallery - Straight From The Hip

Before Izzy knew what was happening, the man was drawing her forward, between him and the snake. The creature’s fury was palpable. It coiled tightly and lunged.

The next few seconds were a blur. Izzy screamed. Something hard slammed into her, pushing her out of the way. The snake made contact with someone, although she was pretty sure it wasn’t her. Then she was falling.

The ground was as hard as it looked. All the air rushed out of her, but she forced herself to roll onto her side, gasping. Even as she sucked in air, she saw the snake slithering back into the underbrush, the guys scattering and Nick standing next to her, two clear bite marks on his left forearm.

Izzy scrambled to her feet. The phrase blind panic suddenly made perfect sense because it didn’t matter if she could see. Nick was going to die, right here, in the semiwilderness and she didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t scream,” she said as she rushed to him. “Don’t scream.”

“I wasn’t planning on screaming,” he told her.

“I was talking to myself.”

“It’s all right,” he said calmly. “I’m going to move to this tree and lean against it. Send Ethan to get Aaron to drive the SUV as close as possible. Then bring back the first-aid kit.”

Her heart pounded so fast, she thought she was going to pass out. The bite marks were deep. Blood oozed out of them. “There’s antivenom serum in the first-aid kit?”

“No. A bandage. You’re going to wrap my arm, then we’ll drive to the hospital.”

As he spoke, he walked to the tree, then leaned.

“Should you sit down? You need to sit down. How can you be so calm. Is it the venom? Is it already in your brain?”

“I don’t want to move around. Lack of movement keeps the venom localized.” He stared into her eyes. “Izzy, you can do this.”

She wanted to run in a circle screaming. She wanted to wring her hands and beg the universe to fix him. She wanted to sit down and cry, then lose herself in panic. Instead she knew she had to take care of business.

“Okay,” she said and took off to find Ethan.

Five minutes later she was back with the first-aid kit Ethan had handed her. She brought it to Nick, who told her to open it.

Easier said than done, she thought as her hands shook. “What kind of bandage?”

“Gauze to put over the bite marks, then an Ace bandage to wrap my arm. See if there’s a sling.”

She didn’t bother reading the contents. Instead she dumped everything on the ground and rapidly searched through it until she found what she needed.

“I’m going to throw up,” she muttered as she grabbed everything and raced to his side.

“Just don’t get any on me.”

“Shut up. Tell me what to do.”

“I can’t do both.”

She looked at him. “I am hanging on by a thread, Nick. I swear, why couldn’t you catch the damn snake like they do in the movies?”

“So this is my fault?”

There was actual humor in his voice. As if he thought the situation was funny. As if he wasn’t going to die.

“Did I tell you not to piss me off?” she asked.

“I hate to disappoint you, Izzy, but we’re not having sex tonight.”

“Yeah, I got that. Tell me what to do.”

He walked her through covering the wound, then wrapping his arm. The work was difficult, what with her fingers shaking and the sense of impending doom sending waves of panic through her. Knowing his life depended on her, she kept going. Slowly, carefully, she secured the sling around his arm and helped him anchor his arm against his chest, his wrist and hand higher than his elbow.

“Go wait for the car,” he told her.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You’re not leaving. You’re checking on the car. Go on, Izzy. I’ll be right here.”

She hesitated a second, then raced to the clearing. The corporate guys were gone. She hoped Ethan had bullied the hell out of them and thrown in a few threats for good measure. She planned to call the sheriff just as soon as she knew Nick wasn’t going to die, but right now she didn’t care about anything but getting him to the hospital.

“Hurry,” she said aloud. “Hurry.”

Seconds later Nick’s SUV raced down the road and slammed to a stop just beside her. Aaron jumped out.

“Where is he?” he yelled, his arms waving. “Oh, God. A snake? A rattlesnake? Is he dead? He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Not yet. Come on.”

She grabbed Aaron’s arm and led him back to Nick. He was still leaning against the tree, looking calm. But she saw the sweat on his forehead and noticed the tension in his jaw.

“You all right?” she asked.

“Fine. We’re going to walk to the SUV. Aaron, I’ll lean on you.”

“Yes, yes.” Aaron sounded as shaky as Izzy felt.

He looped Nick’s free arm around his shoulder and they moved the few feet down the trail. Nick wanted to go slowly, stepping carefully. His breathing was steady. She told herself that was good. It had to be.

When they reached the SUV, she helped him slide into the backseat, then closed the door behind him.

“Are you driving?” she asked Aaron.

“Yes.”

“Do you know where the hospital is?”

“Yes. I’ve already called and told them we’re coming. They’re ready.”

“Good.”

She climbed into the passenger seat, buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.

NICK LAY in the hospital bed. Morning light filtered in through the blinds. His arm hurt like a sonofabitch, but he could deal with the pain.

He glanced over at the woman curled up in the big chair in the corner. No matter how he’d ordered, yelled and pleaded, Izzy had refused to leave. She’d spent the night fussing over him, talking to him when he couldn’t sleep and getting him ice for his water.

Slowly she stirred, then straightened and groaned. “Not exactly comfortable,” she said as she stood and straightened. Then she looked at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“You sure?”

“You heard the doctor. I’m going to be fine.”

“He said you were lucky. It was a big snake.”

“I’m a big guy.”

“And you knew what to do. I would have freaked and made everything worse.”

He didn’t want to think about her being hurt. The memory of seeing that guy dragging her toward the rattler would haunt him forever.

She crossed to the bed and put her hand on his forehead. “Not clammy anymore.”

He grabbed her wrist. “You should go home. Get some sleep. Take a shower.”

“Are you saying I’m not at my best?”

“I’m saying I’m okay. You don’t have to monitor me.”

“Maybe I like monitoring you.”

There was a knock at the half-open door, then Lexi and Skye entered.

“Hi,” they said together.

“How are you feeling?” Lexi asked as she hugged Izzy.

“You look pretty good for a guy who wrestled a snake,” Skye told him.

“Thanks. I’m fine. I was telling your sister she can go. I don’t need her hovering.”

Lexi and Skye exchanged glances, then turned back to him.

“Poor man,” Lexi said. “You don’t actually think she’ll listen, do you? Have you met our sister? She’s fairly stubborn.”

They were both carrying tote bags. As Lexi talked she pulled out a large plant and a colorful blanket she spread across his feet. Skye removed two big boxes from her tote.

“A robe,” she said. “I got blue because it’s a traditional guy color. And these are cookies. Erin and I made them last night.”

Lexi put the plant by the window. “They’re chocolate chip. I could smell them the whole way here. Torture.”

There was another knock, then Dana entered with a tall, thin man.

“Hi,” she said. “This is Sheriff Rogers. He’s going to take your statement.”

“We’re pressing charges,” Izzy told him. “At least I am.”

“There’s no law against being an idiot,” the sheriff said as he shook Nick’s hand. “But we draw a line when an idiot hurts someone else. How you doin’, son?”

“Good,” Nick said, a little stunned by the invasion.

Skye and Dana disappeared for a few minutes, then reappeared with more chairs. The sheriff was eating cookies and talking with Lexi. Izzy stood next to him, holding the hand on his uninjured arm. Apparently no one was leaving anytime soon.

“Oh, Aaron called while you were asleep,” Izzy told him. “He’s taking care of everything. Steve came by to help. The corporate guys are very subdued and following orders. The beer is locked away and everything is good. But we’re still pressing charges.”

He didn’t know what to make of what was going on. He’d never had family before, and while Garth had been his friend for years, neither of them ever fussed over the other.

The Titan women fussed. Even as they spoke to him and each other, his blankets were straightened, his pillows fluffed. They discussed his meals, his color and asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. When the sheriff was ready to talk about what had happened, they sat in the corner with Dana, talking quietly, constantly glancing at him as if to make sure he was all right.

It felt good and at the same time made him feel like crap. Because Izzy wasn’t going to be the only one hurt by the revelation about Garth. They would be devastated, as well.

He had to tell her, and quickly.

He looked at the women. He would tell Izzy as soon as they had a moment alone. He had no choice-he was running out of time.

“HAVE YOU TASTED Skye’s cookies?” Aaron asked as he followed Izzy down the hall. “Silly question. Of course you have. How could you grow up with cookies like that in the house and not weigh four hundred pounds? They’re fabulous.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t tell Norma I said that. She’d cut me off her biscuits for weeks.”

“I won’t say a word,” Izzy promised, staring at the half-closed door to Nick’s bedroom.

She wanted to check on him. The doctor had let him out of the hospital that morning only after Nick had promised to take it easy, including staying in bed for a couple more days. She’d agreed to make sure he followed the doctor’s orders. But she had a feeling he wasn’t the type to do what he was told, which meant he was probably doing jumping jacks right this second.

She had to go make sure. The only problem was, she couldn’t seem to bring herself to walk into his room.

“Would you look in on Nick and make sure he’s resting?”

Aaron frowned at her. “Why? Aren’t you two speaking?”

“We’re fine. The man saved me from a rattlesnake. He gets a free pass for at least a month. I just don’t want to hover too much.”

“Okay.”

Aaron poked his head in the room, then backed out. “He’s either asleep or faking being asleep,” he said in a low voice.

“Good. He’s lying down, which is important.”

They walked to the living room.

“Tell me what happened during the rest of the weekend,” Izzy said. “The guys were gone when we brought Nick home.”

“I kicked them out Sunday morning. They didn’t seem all that upset to go.”

“I’m sure they’re sorry they ever signed up for the retreat in the first place,” she said. “They were all morons. I just hope they aren’t working on something important, like third-world financing.”

“I’m with you on that,” Aaron told her. “I don’t know that Nick is going to go forward with wanting to press charges.”

She looked at him. “He has to. He could have died.”

“I think he’s more concerned that you could have died and doesn’t want to put you through that.”

His words made her feel funny. All hot and squishy on the inside. And a little sick to her stomach. “We can talk about it later.”

“Are you all right?” Aaron asked. “You’re acting very strange.”

“I’m fine. Just dealing with the stress of what happened.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Did something happen that I don’t know about? You know I hate being the last to know anything.”

“I’m not keeping secrets,” she promised, knowing it was true. She couldn’t keep a secret about something she wasn’t willing to admit even to herself.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked.

“Take care of the horses.”

“Not look after Nick?”

“I’ll check in on him later. He’s a big boy. He can survive a few hours by himself.”

“A few minutes ago you said you were worried about hovering too much.”

“Right. Well, I can’t hover in the stable. I need to go or Rita will be screaming.”

“Rita never screams. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

She made her escape and ducked outside. But once there, she didn’t feel any more comfortable. The need to run, to hide, to move, to do something was as powerful as it was unexplained. She felt like jumping out of her skin.

It was the whole incident with the snake, she told herself as she walked toward the barn. It had been terrifying. Her delayed reaction made perfect sense. She’d never seen anything like that in her life. Nick could have died. She could have died. She would be better in a few days.