she lost? If that bullet had nicked the bone or an artery they were going to be in serious trouble.
If only she wasn’t so pretty. Why couldn’t she have been some fat old hag? He was feeling like a dirty old man for even noticing this one was female.
Taking a deep breath, he undid her buttons quickly. A lacy, white bra that fastened in the front was revealed. He had no intention of touching that! And he carefully averted his eyes from the sight of her small, high round breasts nicely filling the flimsy material. Cade cursed beneath his breath.
This was going to be harder than he’d thought. She lay like a rag doll as he lifted her slight weight and untucked the blouse from her slacks, slipping the white material off her good arm. She moaned softly as he laid her back down.
“Hey. Wake up. It would be a big help if you’d open your eyes and give me a hand here.”
No such luck. Her skin definitely felt warm and dry to the touch. Not a good sign. He’d take bets she was running a fever. He prayed the wound hadn’t gotten infected.
Water boiled on the stove. He let it go and rolled her to one side so he could ease the blouse away from her injured shoulder.
She was as delicate and fragile as a small bird. In back, the material of the blouse had crusted against the wound. He tried to ease it free gently, but the scab broke, starting a fresh trickle of blood.
With a muttered oath, he wadded her sleeve and pressed it against the wound, all the while thinking how badly he wanted five minutes alone with the bastard who’d shot her. At least the bullet hadn’t gone into the shoulder, but it had taken out a lot of tissue as it plowed a groove through her skin alongside the bra strap.
He had no business playing doctor with a wound this serious. He should have driven her back into town as soon as he found her, husband or no husband. But it was no use thinking what he should have done. The important thing was to do the right thing for her now.
He pressed against the wound until the bleeding stopped, then he stood, whipped off the bandanna from around his neck and put it into the pan of boiling water. All the while he cursed himself for a fool.
He made himself wait five full minutes before he fished the bandanna out of the water with a fork and held it over the small sink until it cooled enough so he could wring it out.
Gently, he began washing away the dried blood from around her wound. She shifted restlessly. He had to hold her still so she didn’t roll onto her back.
“Easy. I’m cleaning away the blood. Hold still, okay?”
She was worse than her daughter. Cade couldn’t tell if she heard him or not, but the sound of his voice seemed to soothe her, so he continued talking as he worked.
“This needs stitches, little girl. I’ve got some thread and if you were a man, I might be tempted.” But she was definitely no man and he couldn’t bring himself to stick a needle into her soft, white skin.
“I’m going to pour some disinfectant into the wound. It’s gonna sting, but we need to keep it from getting infected.” He wondered if she heard or understood anything he was saying. “I’ll have to use butterfly bandages to try to pull the skin together. I’ve got tape and gauze so I’ll wrap it tightly. That should hold you until I can get you to a doctor.”
God only knew how long that would be.
There was no way to lower the strap of the bra without jarring the wound. She wasn’t going to like it, but he used his knife to cut the strap before he set some fresh water boiling on the stove and stoked the fire. He couldn’t stall forever. He was going to have to get this over with. He debated between the iodine or the rubbing alcohol. But the alcohol would disinfect the wound and he could put some of the antibacterial cream on it afterward. If this didn’t wake her, nothing would.
He poured a small amount of rubbing alcohol directly into the wound. She cried out and opened her eyes, instantly shutting them again tightly.
“What are you doing?” she demanded in a raw voice as he mopped up the dripping excess.
“We have to prevent infection.”
“I’ll take my chances with the germs.” Watery blue eyes glared up at him. “Get that stuff away from me.”
“Don’t worry, I’m done. I need to put some cream on the wound.”
“No.” Her lips set in mutinous lines of determination.
“Look, you’re in no position to be giving me any grief. Hold still or you’ll start it bleeding again.”
“No. I—Ow! That hurts!”
“All done.”
She blinked back tears as he blotted her chest lightly with his handkerchief.
“How would you like me to do that to you?” she growled, brushing away a tear.
He tried not to feel bad or guilty over causing her more pain. “I’m not injured.”
“I can fix that.”
Cade’s lips twisted in a smile in spite of himself. The girl had spunk. “Let me put on a bandage.”
“Forget it. Let me die in peace.”
“You aren’t gonna die.”
“I am if you keep helping me.”
His lips twitched. Her voice might be weak, but she had spunk. Her grit came as a complete surprise. He’d expected buckets of tears. She had to be in considerable pain.
“It was an antibacterial cream.”
“I know what it was and my shoulder hurts like the devil. Will you just take me to a doctor?”
“I’d love to, but we have a problem.”
Her tired eyes opened again. “What problem?”
“Someone stole my truck.”
“What are you talking about? Where are we?”
“We’re at a line shack on my ranch.”
“Well, call someone!”
“Happy to oblige, but the radio is in the truck.”
“Then use your cell phone.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Everyone has a cell phone these days.”
Cade shook his head. “I’m not real fond of modern technology.”
“Yeah. I could tell from your archaic idea of medicine. What are you doing?”
“Tryin’ to put a butterfly bandage over the bullet hole. And it would be a whole lot easier if you’d hold still and cooperate.”
“I don’t trust you.”
Offended, he pursed his lips. Ungrateful little witch. “Well, get over it. Right now, I’m all you’ve got.”
She glared at him, but held still while he applied the bandages and began to wrap her shoulder. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide.
“You took off my blouse!”
Embarrassed, he didn’t meet her eyes. “Tough to tend your wound with it on. I had to cut the strap off your bra as well.”
“You didn’t,” she gasped.
“’Fraid so, but you can’t wear it over that shoulder anyhow. And your blouse won’t be good for much even after I wash it out. Don’t worry. You’re perfectly safe with me.”
“You’re gay?”
Indignant, he glared at her. “Of course not!”
“Then why should I believe I’m safe with you?”
“Because my taste doesn’t run to