If anyone is getting married it’s you and me
Who: Nesryn, Brian What: Patching up When: After the brawl in Lucky’s Where: Their trailer Warnings: None
It’s like salt in a wound
Okay. Three steps.
Three manageable, not-at-all steep steps separated Brian from the front door of the trailer he shared with Nesryn. He was still wearing the soaked staff shirt from Lucky’s, sporting a slit in the shoulder, but the sleeve was rolled up to keep the fabric off his wound. Brianna was right: the material was soft, but anything (including air) was too much for an injury which was somehow both knife wound and burn. The puncture in his side, not too bad. As for his ear, Brian had considered lopping it off.
He shook his keychain and turned the key in the lock. “Medic!” he called into the living room. Maybe he could make light of it. Had Nes seen Starship Troopers? Brian looked over his shoulder for the twentieth time before he shut and locked the door. He didn’t see or smell anyone, but he wasn’t crazy about going directly from Lucky’s to his home when there were hunters around. There was something about the way that pink-and-black haired one had checked his name on his shirt.
Nesryn was mid-humming when the shout from the living room came. Her sharp hearing caught something heavy in the tone but it wasn’t until she caught the coppery scent of blood that her eyes popped open and the basket of laundry in her hands met the floor.
They didn’t come home covered in blood in a usual day; even a silly joke between them or a romp never ended with the familiar scent of lifeblood. On the balls of her bare feet she whirled around.
“Brian!?”
Her heart was already pounding by the time she made it to where he was standing. A mixture of emotions ranging from fear to confusion to anger and distress flooded her all at once. Calm. She needed to be calm. Nesryn took a breath. As she came to a halt her hands lifted, hovering in the air over him as if that would tell her exactly what happened, or where he was injured.
“I’m okay.” Brian understood that he looked like reheated shit and Nes was reacting to that, so he touched her hair with his good arm and added, “It looks worse than it is.” He hoped that statement was accurate and not his hopes and dreams doing the talking. He pointed in the direction of the bathroom. On top of being a decent place to bleed and toss dirty clothes, it was close to the linen closet and it had all the first aid supplies. “But I’ve been thinking one of us should take a field suturing class. Probably you.”
He started walking. His legs felt like the day after a long run. Mush. It was the silver. He wondered if a horse-sized dose of Benadryl would do any good. Probably not that kind of allergy.
No shit. She almost said it aloud. Why was she having flashbacks to the first night they’d met? He’d bled on her good towels. If Las Vegas Wal-Mart towels were even good.
“I’d take that class.” She meant it even if her voice was strained and the moisture in her eyes went ignored. She would learn triage and hopefully pass it on to him in case she was ever the one on the other side of the coin.
Her hands took hold of him gently. “Brian. Let’s get you to the bathroom, okay? I can look at you better there.”
“Yep.” He looped an arm around her back and hoped his grip on her side felt strong, reassuring. The trailer was small so it was a short trip, but he had time to notice things, like how it smelled like clean laundry and whatever she warmed up earlier for dinner. Normal things. Home things. During the fight at Lucky’s it never occurred to him that he might not get back there; he was too busy cussing and ducking, diving and punching, to think. But it was hitting him now, and it was doing a number on his stomach. Brian got the basket of supplies from under the sink. He pushed back the shower curtain. The metal hooks scraped the rod. He peeled off his shoes, socks and clothes sat in the tub so she could see what was going on and anything that bled out would go down the drain. There was a thin slice through his earlobe with a burn around it. There was a deep puncture in his shoulder with blistering. There was a third, more shallow cut in his side without any burns.
“Would you believe me if I said I got somebody’s drink wrong?” Brian gave her a half smile.
Her bottom lip trembled.
Nesryn sniffled as she observed his wounds. Her own clothes stripped away and she climbed carefully into the tub with him, willing to help. “I wouldn’t believe that. You don’t forget anything.” Nobody was perfect - even she forgot a thing or two - but things weren’t adding up.
Warm water in the tub. Gently a towel would be pressed against any wounds. She made herself smile. “Hell of an order to forget.”
Brian wiped at the wetness under Nesryn’s eye. “Hey. We're okay. I’m alive and I’m here.” He pulled a small portion of his cheek in between his teeth and clamped down on it so he wouldn’t make a noise or a face when the towel abraded the burn. He could feel himself squeezing his abdominal muscles and he made himself stop and breathe. It was a good idea to wash all the caked up blood and grime from the bar floor off. They’d get around to the other stuff in their kit.
“There were hunters at the bar. I guess that’s obvious.” He sucked air when his shoulder complained.
She hated to see him in pain. It made her stomach twist into knots, but she was grateful he was alive. “This looks like silver…” she murmured softly, turning her dark eyes to Brian’s.
A long time ago, when she was a teenager, she stumbled upon one of the wolves in the pack with a bad reputation being hurt with silver. The way the skin bubbled and contorted, the smell of the flesh and metal, it made her sick and she wouldn’t forget it. It was coming back to her now.
“How many of them were there? Was anyone else there? Are they okay?” Another sniffle but she made herself be calm and collected. It was her job to protect him and she hadn’t been able to. So, the least she could do was tend to the wounds. The doctor could come after they patched up the cuts. The burns would need salve.
“It was definitely silver.” Brian cupped his hands under the faucet. He washed his face with the clean water and wiped the drops away. “Uh, Tasha and Marsh were there. Tasha and a hunter with pink hair got into it. They’re both okay, just banged up. The other two hunters, I dunno. I think one of them was normal. Not superpowered. I stabbed that guy in the back. He left walking so he’ll probably be alright. Nobody died. But the whole thing felt off.”
He used some of the water to clean up the cut on his ear. “I think they came in looking for me. One of them checked the name on my shirt.”
The idea that he was a target made her angry and also worried. Nesryn frowned. “What did the one checking your name tag look like?” If she needed to find that bitch she would. Nobody was going to hunt them, or any of the shifters in Searchlight, when she could do something about it. Even if it we’d only keeping an eye out.
Her hands trailed gently over his unblemished skin. She touched his hair carefully. “What can we do?”
Brian shook his head. He flexed his shoulder to see how much movement he had in it. “I dunno. I feel like we’re sitting ducks in here.” The werewolf looked up at the ceiling of the small bathroom. He didn’t think they had the luxury of sleeping at the same time, not when a trailer could go up in flames or get shot up before they had much time to react. He’d never slept under an obvious roof when his old pack was on somebody’s radar unless they were sleeping in shifts. “She had black and pink hair and I think she was Native American. I guess we should text Rhiannon and see if she knows her. I don’t want to be on our heels.”
He touched her chin. “I want to tell you to stay at a friend’s house. Somebody human in case they don’t know about you. But I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”
Her gaze lifted as he took her chin.
“I’m not leaving you to die here.” She wanted to be firm about that. He meant more to her than anything and leaving him to save herself felt like something her father would do. “I can stay up, we can take turns.” And she could text Rhiannon to ask about the woman.
There wasn’t a choice, she was firm in her decision. She wasn’t abandoning her mate. “We’re in this together.”
“Listen. I’m not gonna die, Nesryn.” He picked up her hand and squeezed it, studying the way their fingers fit, then coming back up to her face. “I don’t want to kill anybody, but I’ll do it if I have to. Which might be why she came looking for me. I left a mess back home. If we need to, we’ll shift and crash outdoors. Wolves can survive more than they can.” Brian leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth.
Her shoulders slumped but she felt more confident in the connection. She hoped he was right. Nesryn kissed Brian back and when she pulled away she took a breath. “We can figure this out. If we have to hide we will. But we aren’t doing this alone.” It worked better together. They had a pack of misfits - odd friends and a network of support - and she would call on them if she needed to.
“Okay.” Brian didn’t name what was bothering him: the text they both got meant that a lot of their friends — not just the weres — would be having the same problem as them if they got found out. At least it wasn’t the full moon. He frowned and rubbed his forehead. “What about Echo?” That might be a sore subject.
She understood the volume of the text, the gravity and the implication of warning that leaked down onto others. But she had to trust that everyone was staying vigilant, keeping themselves out of sight and harm. The whole town could be impacted. Her human friends like Ronnie would be caught up in the tidal wave.
Nesryn made a face. “I need to reach out - I wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear from me.” Last time they had seen each other hadn’t gone well. Plus the conversation with her father hadn’t helped. Regardless of their petty feelings at the end of the day they were sisters and Nesryn knew she was just as responsible in ensuring Echo was safe as she was for anyone else.
A text would go out after Brian was tended to, even if it went ignored.
With everything else going on, Brian could still work up a wave of resentment towards Echo for how she treated Nesryn when it came out they were related. Nesryn was the sweetest person on the planet; she didn’t deserve to be blamed for her dad’s latest mistake to come to light. “Why’s she in Searchlight if she doesn’t want anything to do with her sister?” he asked. “If you warn her and she still doesn’t want to talk, there’s no reason for her to stick around. She doesn't have to give notice to leave a motel key at a front desk.”
He gripped the sides of the tub and stood up. Good thing the nearest towel wasn’t a favorite.
Nesryn frowned at the question. It echoed her own thoughts and curiosity. She wasn’t sure exactly who to be upset with solely - her father had brought this on the both of them without their knowledge, Echo hadn’t seemed responsive or willing to make up for lost time, and she hadn’t been the best sibling as far as making amends. Respecting Echo’s time and giving her distance to figure out what she needed seemed best.
Her dark eyes cut to her mate. “I don’t know. I’m not really sure what she expected to happen after we found each other.” There was a sadness in her tone that she tried to hide though she knew he would pick up on it anyway.
With Brian, Nesryn also stood up. She waited until he was out and then grabbed a towel for herself, pushing away the moisture on her skin.
Quickly the towel would wrap around herself and she made for the first aid kit, intending on bringing some relief to Brian even if it wasn’t much.
“Maybe she wants an arranged marriage, too. I know a wolf who’s single.” From the set of Brian’s mouth, he didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. He dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist. Radek would be over to sew up anything that needed it, so his goal was to get her to squirt some saline in the silver injuries and wait on the rest. “Too soon?”
He leaned against the sink and vanity.
Nesryn set her jaw firmly in reply to that quip. Instead of letting the comment idling on her tongue escape, she snapped up the first aid kit and opened up the latches. A soft sigh of a breath through her nose and Nesryn dug around for the saline.
“If anyone is getting married it’s you and me,” she teased, trying to make light of the situation even though the warmth of tears were flooding into her eyes again. Her smile trembled but she bit back any emotion, opening up the saline.
“This is going to hurt.”
“Hey… Stop stop.” Brian took hold of her arm. The bottle of saline could wait a few more seconds. “I’m sorry. That was a bad joke. I was thinking you didn’t have it easy, either. You had to leave the state! Then I pictured Echo with Tanner and it was… not as funny now that I’m saying it out loud.” He could be an idiot in his pursuit to keep it light. Brian thought he ought to try twirling around like Nesryn next time. He ran his knuckle across his forehead and looked around for gauze and tape so he could keep things dry until the doc arrived. “Anyway. If you wanna scare me, you’re gonna have to try a lot harder than that.” He held still for the saltwater solution to be dumped on him, fist tightening around the roll of gauze.
She knew he didn’t mean it but it still ached deep in her chest. Then she did manage a laugh, wrinkling the end of her nose at the mental image of Echo and Tanner together. “She’s too much woman for him.” There was no doubt in her mind that Echo could have anyone she wanted but Nesryn wanted it to be her choice. It did get a bit of a giggle out of her though.
Nesryn was also relieved he hadn’t flat balked at the idea of a future together. That helped to ease some of the tension and discomfort about her family. “I just want to love you, silly. The world is scary enough already.”
And then she began to apply the solution to his arm, face contorting in a wince. That had to sting.
Brian directed his attention to the ceiling. He took a shallow breath and held onto it. “Just don’t make me wear a white tux,” Brian said. Based on the photo albums wedged in a box in the attic of his parents’ house, his dad’s was powder blue. What a look. After the saline flush, sje out some salve on the blisters. “Yeah I know that’s supposed to help but I’m having a hard time understanding why.” He waved her off after a while.
Nesryn bit at the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing again. She needed to focus on the task at hand. “I took you more for a powder blue tuxedo type,” she offered, then made a face, “Or maybe a tuxedo tee shirt.” When she was finished with the salve, Nesryn drew back and set the item aside where they could find it again. Salve was a staple product in any shifter home.
“Understanding why, what?”
Tuxedo shirt?!
He grunted. “Sometimes home remedies feel worse than the problem,” he said. Brian gave it a second to settle and then got Nesryn’s help putting gauze and tape loosely over the injuries. “Radek’s coming by to see if it needs stitches. Since I didn’t let him give me an x-ray last time, I figured I better listen to him.” He did a rundown of the contents of his closet. He had a couple of button downs that might work. “I’m gonna get dressed. I’ll let you send those texts.”
Brian buried his fingers in her fragrant hair and kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”
Nesryn simply nodded. She helped Brian with the bandaging, staying careful and delicate. “Okay, that’s a good idea.” Radek was a good man, and it was wise to listen to the Doctor when they told you something.
The little box with their bandaids and salve in it would be eased closed. She latched it and then finished drying herself off.
“Okay,” she murmured but her smile was more genuine at the feeling of his mouth against her forehead. Then she stepped back, twirled around, and began the process of getting dressed as well.