A Dangerous Woman

Chapter 27

Blaise Taylor

"Blaise?"

I rolled my head away from the noise, resting the side of my head on the floor. I was using the rest of rapidly fleeting strength to keep my eyes open.

"Blaise? Amore, I need you to stay awake."

Aidan's hands covered my shoulder as he began to apply pressure to the wound, I had just sustained. Blood was oozing out at a moderate speed, through the gaps between Aidan's fingers, which was dyeing his hands a deep red.

I coughed faintly but proceeded to voice my sarcastic reply, "Yeah, no s**t Sherlock."

A feeble smile appeared across his face.

"Thank god you told me to stay awake though because until you said that I was about to just take a quick nap."  My sarcasm grew thicker alongside my irritation at the situation.

"Only you would take a bullet to your shoulder and still manage to gather the strength to reply in fluent sarcasm." He started to take off my jacket and removed my arm from the sleeve of my shirt to expose the wound.

He then wrapped a bandage made from the torn fabric of his shirt, tightly around my shoulder, ensuring that my injury was tightly compressed and limiting my blood loss. "We have to get you home, so I can properly fix you up."

Aidan supported me while I got to my feet but my eyes could only focus upon my attacker, who was now lying dead, with a knife lodged into his chest. The fucker had received a better death than I would have given him, he deserved to suffer.

With Aidan's arm looped around my waist, we unhurriedly walked together, back to the car. A few steps in and the lack of blood caused my legs to fail, and give away to my body weight. I prepared myself for the hard impact of the ground but instead found myself in Aidan's arms, a cliché I would have rather not experienced.

"I should carry you; it would save time and just be easier." He stated, already preparing the placement of his arms to lift me.

"f**k off, I'm not a p***y, I can make it to the car on my own!" My tone inadvertently spiteful.

He put his hands up in surrender, while he rolled his eyes. Independently, I found my way back to the car.

The journey home passed by in the blink of an eye, all I could focus on were the blur of trees outside the window and the melodic lull of Aidan's deep voice, which commanded me to 'stay with him'.

My first vivid awareness since being shot, appeared when I finally settled down onto the sofa, whilst Aidan clattered around clumsily, for supplies to help me.

He handed me a bottle of whiskey, which I poured over my exposed shoulder in order to disinfect it. I then began to take a massive gulp out of it.

Aidan's weight pulled down on the sofa, as he positioned himself to the side of me and began carefully sewing up my wound. I had protested to him sewing up my shoulder and me doing it myself but I was easily overpowered by Aidan's authoritative stubbornness

I luckily, could not feel the pain as everything was numb and sewing up a wound was a common experience for me.

My eyes began to close and reopen as they grew heavier, while Aidan finished off my final few stitches. My brain was effectively convincing me that I needed to satisfy the exhaustion that was quickly creeping in.

"You okay?" 

I could only manage a slight nod.

Aidan had finished attending to my injury and gently moved me back to lie on the sofa. His gentleness was a side of him that I constantly craved to always be present, but before my thoughts could go further, I fell asleep almost instantaneously.

The bright and cold day, filled the room. I painfully turned my head to my left and saw the large outline of Aidan asleep on the floor next to me.

I gently poked him awake.

"Whatcha doing down there?"

He rubbed his eyes and blinked, to adjust to the morning light, "I was um...worried about you, so I thought I should stay here. I didn't want you to pull a stitch and I had to clean your wound every few hours anyway."

I was silent for a second, as his words of him being worried about me settled in. My face then betrayed me and presented an involuntary smile, "Well Doctor Romano, do you think I'll make it?"

"I do believe that you will just about make it." His voice was slurred slightly, showing how tired he was.

I opened my mouth to thank Aidan for all he had done, when he spoke first, "Why did you do it?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Do what exactly?"

Aidan voice was free of his previous exhaustion and had become serious, "You jumped in front of me, you took that bullet for me."

I had been hoping to avoid this topic as I did not want to accept the truth as to why I had done it. I had feelings for Aidan or I thought I had, but I couldn't bring myself to believe that's why I did it. I couldn't have my feelings for him confirmed but ironically, I think already had confirmed them by jumping in front of a bullet that was meant for him. I had risked everything I've worked my whole life, for in a split decision based fully upon my feelings towards him, some might say it was the ultimate declaration of love.

Aidan's eyes widened with curiosity, the longer I was taking to answer his simple question, "Comradery?" My tone was unconvincing, despite my effort to make it convincing.