Page 13 of Escaped (Snowbound with a Stranger #3)

Angels and Demons

Owen

How many years had it been since we’d seen each other, yet suddenly, there she was. My little sister was on my doorstep with an unconscious stranger who’d apparently suffered a gunshot wound.

“I really need you to help him.”

Erin hopped from one foot to the other, anxiety rolling from her in palpable waves.

“Please, Owen. I know it’s a huge ask, but we’re desperate.”

“Hold up.”

My hands rose as my head struggled to keep up.

“This isn’t a hospital, Erin. If your friend’s been shot, then he needs proper medical facilities. This is my house.”

“We can’t go to hospital.”

Her brows knitted, and for the first time since I’d opened the door, I looked at her properly.

Disheveled and dirty, Erin looked weary, as though the weight of the world had been foisted on her shoulders. If she didn’t yet know about our mum, then I wondered what the cause of her apprehension could have been. My attention slid to the motionless stranger in the front seat. Somehow, I suspected he was to blame.

“Is he a criminal?”

I motioned to the car when my gaze returned to her.

“Is that why you won’t go to the hospital?”

“It’s complicated, Owen.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes as her desperation amplified.

“We were abducted by some shady characters from his past and he got shot. That’s all I know. I haven’t known him that long.”

“Then go to the police!”

My tone implored her to see sense.

“Let them deal with it.”

“He needs a doctor.”

Her tone was even, despite the tears making tracks along her cheeks.

“Please, help us.”

Staring into her eyes, I knew I couldn’t refuse her. There was little more than a year between us, yet I’d always been her big brother, the one she’d come to for help when we were younger. I couldn’t let her down. After all, Erin was the only family I had left.

“I’ll help,”

I assured her.

“But for you, not him. Are you sure this is the kind of guy you want to be hanging around with?”

“I know it sounds insane, but…”

She wiped at tears with the heel of her hand.

“I really like him. He’s not a bad man, Owen. He just came from a bad place.”

My focus flitted back to the sleeping man as she concluded. I could hardly keep up with the things she was telling me. She’d been kidnapped by the kinds of men who carried guns? What the hell had happened to the happy-go-lucky girl I remembered?

“How long ago was he shot?”

I walked toward him.

“And where did the bullet end up?”

I assumed it was nowhere too serious or the guy would have already bled out in the front seat of the expensive car parked on my driveway.

“His shoulder,”

she answered.

“Probably four or five hours ago now.”

“Has he had any pain relief?”

It must have been fucking excruciating for the guy dealing with a gunshot for that long.

“No.”

She pulled in a shaky breath.

“We were trying to get away, and then we were driving.”

She grimaced, presumably recollecting whatever they’d been through.

“I’m worried he’ll get an infection if you don’t act.”

“Jesus, Erin.”

Closing the distance between us, I flung an arm around her. I’d been so glad to see her when I’d opened the door, so certain that she’d got wind of my messages and had come because of our mother, but evidently, Erin had been going through an ordeal of her own.

“I know.”

She pulled in a breath, as though steeling herself.

“I haven’t even started to process it all yet. I just want him to be okay.”

“You care about him?”

“Yes.”

She stared up at me with watery eyes.

“He saved me, Owen. He doesn’t deserve to die this way.”

“Okay.”

Walking toward the passenger door, I was already rolling up my sleeves.

“You’re going to have to help me get him into the house. What did you say his name is?”

“Eli.”

She rushed to my side as I opened the door.

“I didn’t know if it was a good idea to let him sleep or not, but he seemed exhausted.”

Peering into the car, I was thankful my property wasn’t overlooked. The nearest neighbors were almost a mile in any direction, which meant no one had to witness the suspect car outside my house or the bleeding man we were about to haul inside.

Falling to one knee, I reached for his wrist and checked his pulse. Satisfied there was a steady rhythm, I lowered his hand and shook him gently.

“Eli,”

I coaxed.

“Eli, wake up.”

“Hmmm?”

He turned his head toward me, but his lids stubbornly refused to open.

“Eli!”

My tone was curter that time. “Wake up!”

“Huh?”

Eli’s eyes flickered open, bewilderment gleaming in them as his gaze settled on me.

“Where am I? Who the fuck are you?”

“Charming…”

I muttered as Erin pushed in beside me.

“Eli, this is my brother, Owen.”

Reaching for the side of Eli’s face, she caressed him gently.

“Remember?”

“Oh, right.”

Eli’s attention darted back to me.

“Sorry. It’s been something of a day.”

“Yeah…”

My gaze traveled between them. “I heard.”

“We need to get you into the house,”

Erin soothed.

“Owen and I can help you, but you need to move.”

“I’ll try.”

Eli pulled in a breath, pain glinting in his eyes as he shifted on the seat and flung his feet out of the car. It was obvious he was struggling, but asking for help apparently wasn’t Eli’s style.

“Come on.”

I caught his arm as he gripped the car door and attempted to pull himself out.

“Hold onto me.”

I could tell how little that thought pleased him, and to be honest, the feeling was mutual. I didn’t know who the man was. Thanks to the suspicious story Erin had weaved about him, I wasn’t sure I wanted to, but he needed help. Years of medical training kicked in as I heaved him to his feet.

Taller than me by an inch or so, he was a similar stature, and hooking his arm around me, I forced him to lean in my direction.

“Get on his other side, Erin,”

I instructed.

“Let’s get him to the lounge.”

Not that I relished the idea of some stranger bleeding all over my beautiful reception room, but he had to go somewhere until I could sterilize the tools to cut out the bullet.

Lodged between me and Erin, Eli inched forward, though each step was, evidently, agony.

“How much further?”

he panted as soon as we maneuvered him over the doorstep.

“I’m exhausted.”

“We need to get that bullet out.”

I signaled in the direction of my lounge, guiding them both toward it.

“It’s the first left.”

Dragging Eli the few feet required to make it into the vast room, I motioned to the couch.

“Let’s get you on the sofa, Eli. I need to examine you.”

It took some effort, but we made it to the leather upholstered furniture I’d hand-picked, steering Eli onto the soft cushions on one side.

“What now?”

Erin looked at me, wide-eyed.

“Tidy up outside,”

I told her.

“Lock the car and the house, then get back here. I’ll need your help.”

“Got it.”

The compliant woman nodding beside me was nothing like the sister I remembered.

The girl I’d grown up with had been loyal and loving, but she insisted on being stubborn and rarely did anything she was asked. It seemed being around Eli had changed her.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

Watching her turn and dash from the room, I wandered toward my cabinet and selected three glasses. It was just as well I wasn’t supposed to be working because, all in all, the last day had been pretty emotionally draining.

“What’s your poison, Eli?”

I glanced over my shoulder at the man in agony on my sofa, thankful I’d had the foresight to order the piece in easily-cleanable black leather.

His brow furrowed.

“Sorry, what?”

“Alcohol.”

I lifted one of the glasses at him in clarification.

“It’s the best sedative you’re going to get. Do you drink whiskey or brandy?”

Eli blew out a pained breath, the hurt making his countenance reminiscent of someone far older than the age I suspected he was.

“Whiskey. Thanks.”

Reaching for the appropriate decanter, I poured three even levels of the amber fluid as I heard the front door close.

“All done.”

Erin hurried back to Eli’s side, her brow rising as she eyed me.

“What’s this? Shouldn’t we retrieve the bullet before we celebrate?”

“Anesthetic.”

Collecting the crystal tumblers, I carried them across to where she stood and placed them on the table beside the couch.

“You can’t be serious.”

She looked from the glasses to my face.

“He’ll need more than that.”

“That’s all I have.”

My tone was even.

“And by the time this is over, I’ll need one, too.”

Easing Eli upright, I handed him one of the glasses.

“Sip at this.”

Erin was right, it wasn’t a conventional way to sedate a patient, but then, nothing about that day had been normal.

“Thanks for this, Owen.”

Eli scowled as he shifted his weight.

“I know you don’t know me.”

“I know her.”

I gestured at my sister.

“And she’s the one I’m doing this for.”

“Fair enough.”

Eli met my eyes.

“But I’m grateful.”

I nodded at his appreciation.

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m not a surgeon.”

“But you can do this, right?”

Erin’s worried voice interjected.

“In theory. I did a surgical rotation years ago, and I deal with wounds at work.”

Though, not necessarily gunshot wounds… “I suggest you and I wash our hands, Erin. Better we don’t invite any further infection into the wound.”

She nodded.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

“Come with me,”

I told her, already pacing in its direction on the other side of the substantial entrance hall. “There.”

Motioning for her to go ahead, I waited as she washed and dried her hands before I moved to do the same.

“Because I love you, I’m not going to call the police.”

My voice was low, ensuring my guest couldn’t hear me.

“But I really think you should consider it.”

Erin shook her head slowly. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

I was sure I didn’t want to hear the answer.

“I’m in too deep.”

Her voice trembled.

“The car?”

I suggested.

“I’m guessing that’s stolen?”

“Something like that,”

she mumbled.

“But it’s worse than that.”

Her eyes fluttered closed.

“What happened?”

Drying my hands, I turned to face her.

“I had to…”

Her words trailed away, but her forlorn expression conveyed her despair.

“What, Erin?”

“To get out with our lives …”

She inhaled, her eyes filling with fresh tears.

“I had to shoot someone, Owen.”

“What?”

Of all the things I’d imagined her divulging, that was not top of the list.

“I know.”

Her face crumpled into more tears as she turned away.

“The guy was a brute who’d tied me to a chair and tried to…”

Her voice trailed away, letting me fill in the blanks.

“All because of him?”

I signaled toward the lounge.

“It wasn’t his fault.”

She mouthed the words.

“Without him, I’d be dead.”

“How the fuck did all this happen, Erin?”

She smiled at me sadly.

“It was Chelle’s idea to go hiking. Eli was our tour guide.

The more she told me, the less sense she seemed to make.

Reaching into my closet, I selected a bundle of dark-colored, clean towels, a box of medical grade gloves I kept at home, plus antibacterial gel. Turning, I thrust the pile at her before I selected the medical tweezers from my first-aid kit.

“Once this is done, I want the full story.”

“Okay.”

She took the bundle from me.

“That’s fair.”

“Plus, there’s something else.”

My attention slid to the door as I considered how to break the bad news.

“Can it wait?”

She sighed.

“I’d like to help Eli first.”

“Sure.”

Accepting the reprieve, I bit down on my grief.

“Let’s get back to him.”

We crossed the hallway, finding my patient clutching his empty glass.

“I’ll need your shirt off, Eli.”

Staring at the two remaining shots of whiskey, I considered helping myself to one, but thought better of it.

“Let’s see what we’re working with.”