Justus Read Online Free Page A

For now she needed to find out just where he was
bleeding and stop it if she could.
    With a grunt, she heaved his
body onto the blanket. Blood coated the floor. She stood and gave
several hard tugs on the blanket.
    Slowly, the heavy man moved
inside the door. She winced as she pulled him over the hump of the
door frame. His head thumped loudly, and she knew there would
likely be some tenderness later. Still, it was much better to have
a bump than to die outside in the cold.
    Once she had him inside, she
closed the door and raced to her kitchen to get her first aid
supplies.
    The cabinet by the sink
thumped loudly as she grabbed out the meager first aid kit. Paige
placed a metal bowl in the sink and turned on the hot water. It
wasn’t going to be sterile, but it would still help.
    She prayed that the hybrids
had super-immune systems to go with everything else impressive
about them. She’d just have to make sure she cleaned the wound as
best she could.
    While the bowl filled, she
pulled out the supplies: alcohol, bandages, scissors, antibiotic
ointment, needle and fishing line.
    Paige placed both hands on
the counter and took a deep breath. Damn bottle of wine. If she’d
known things would end up like this, she would have never indulged.
She needed to ensure she didn’t make things worse for Justus.
    She gave a loud bark of
laughter, nerves getting the better of her. Still, it was more than
a little unexpected. What was it people said? Things came in
threes? Well, they certainly had today.
    She bit her lip and
considered trying to contact the hospital. Pointless. She was too
far out, and after what had happened with Kelly, Paige wasn’t so
sure someone at the hospital wouldn’t take the opportunity to kill
Justus in his sleep. So many people were terrified of the hybrids
after all.
    She took in another deep
breath and steadied her nerves. Just another day at work. Just
another patient. She could handle this. It wasn’t like she hadn’t
seen worse. Burns. That was the thing she hated most, the patients
so wrapped in the deep pain they felt. It made her ache in a way
she’d never known.
    Paige flipped off the hot
water and dumped a little in the sink. She ran to the dryer and
pulled out a few fresh towels and a sheet. It was her favorite, but
now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
    Carefully, she draped them
over her arm, trying to keep them as clean as she could. When she
stepped back into the kitchen, she picked up the box and returned
to the living room.
    His still form lay where she
had placed him on the floor. Paige’s stomach knotted over the
amount of blood soaking the blanket under him.
    She set her box next to her
on the floor and the bowl of hot water on the other side. The
towels were placed safely on the coffee table.
    Blood soaked his side, the
red and bleeding muscle visible through his shirt. She cringed as
she lifted his shirt.
    Gunshot wound.
    It wasn’t the first time
she’d seen a bullet graze the skin. Somehow in the movies they
always made them seem so simple, like they were nothing more than a
nasty cut, but in truth, a graze represented a line of torn
flesh.
    She dipped a washcloth into
the water and wrung out what she could.
    When she placed the cloth to
his battered side, Justus groaned.
    On instinct she placed a hand
against his damp forehead. The soothing gesture seemed to help.
    She held the cloth there for
a moment before pulling it away.
    The wound was puckered in
areas, likely where the bullet had burned a little. It was luck
though that it hadn’t ended up lodged inside. Things could have
been much worse.
    She stared at the wound for a
moment. Although he’d lost a chunk of skin, it would heal without
stitches. Besides, his stiff muscles would make it hard to pull the
skin together.
    Paige placed some ointment on
the wound and taped a bandage to the skin.
    She glanced down at his leg.
The amount of blood alone indicated it was bad.
    Her hands went to the hem of
his shirt. It