He walks back over to the stream and pushes the cloth back under the water, rewetting it. He crouches down beside me and starts wiping the blood from under my nose and mouth, cleaning off my chin and neck as well. His face gets angrier and angrier as he looks me over and finds more injuries.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you earlier,” he whispers.
“You found me though and at a perfect time.” I shudder at the memory; he clenches his fists and grinds he his teeth together.
“If I ever see him again….I’m going to….”
“Hey, jump in line buddy.”
He caresses my forehead, brushing some hair that had fallen into my eyes away from my face. “Are you able to walk?”
“No, I’m too weak. I used all energy to try and get away from you earlier.” He reaches down and lifts me up again. I snuggle into his chest, my eyelids feeling heavy.
“I’m going to pick up the pace. It’ll take all day to get back. I’m sorry if this hurts.” He starts running. It did hurt. My head keeps swinging to the side, increasing the intensity of my headache. The movement causes the cut on my neck to rip open and start bleeding again. I don’t say anything to Liam though. The sooner we get back, the better. I can endure the pain until then.
I must have fallen asleep, or passed out, because the next thing I know people are screaming my name; their thoughts just as loud.
“Oh my gosh, Ryanne!” She’s back!
“What did they do to her?” She looks horrible. I can’t believe anyone would do that to someone.
“Someone go get Logan!” I’m going to kill whoever did that. I should have stayed beside her.
“Everyone move, clear off the couch.” Dravin. She was gone longer than me. I can’t imagine what they did to her. She looks so much worse than I did.
I groan and slowly open my eyes, surveying the room around me. My left eye is still swollen shut, so I can’t see too much. I am back at Claire’s. Everyone is in the room, except Tom and Logan. Liam is walking over to the couch in the living room, where Claire told him to put me, and gently lays me down.
Once I am out of his arms, Colton jerks him away from me and slams him into the wall, “Who are you?” he yells—his face turning red; the veins in his neck bulging.
Claire turns towards him, “He just saved Ryanne and returned her to us and you’re going to berate him?” Liam just stares at him, shocked that he is being questioned.
Colton, using more force than necessary, pushes him back into the wall again, “Name!”
“Liam. I’m Liam.”
“Liam? Like the Liam?” I can tell that Colton doesn’t believe him. Without loosening his grip, he asks, “What does Ryanne have of yours?”
“My pendant necklace. The flamed pendant necklace.”
I whisper, though barely audible, “Colton, leave him alone. He saved…me.” Because my throat is so dry, talking scratches it, making me cough uncontrollably. The movement of my stomach hurts my ribs, causing me to cry out in pain.
“Where is Logan?” I hear David ask frantically.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Logan and Tom run into the room. “Where is she?” Everyone who is standing around the couch moves out of the way. “Oh,” he says when he finally sees me. My coughing fit has finally subsided. He walks quickly over to the couch, “Hey sweetheart.” He is trying to lighten the mood in the room, since everyone is so tense.
I try to smile back at him, but it feels more like a grimace. He reaches his hands out over my torso and closes his eyes, concentrating. I look towards Colton, who is standing behind the couch looking at me. I can’t form any words, but he understands what I am asking.
“He’s seeing everything that they did to you. He needs to know where the worse injuries are.” I close my eyes and start shaking my head, trying to move away. I don’t want anyone to see what I went through. I don’t want them to know.
“Someone go get a bottle of water. She has a concussion, three broken ribs, many bumps, cuts, and bruises; she’s malnourished and dehydrated. Oh…” He shakes his head, mumblings obscenities to himself. His hands start glowing and he places them over my ribs. I feel the bones pop back into place. I arch my back and gasp in surprise. It hurts momentarily, but then the