Her Accidental Mafia Husband

Saving him 2

In the small guest room, Mr. Thompson laid the man carefully on the bed and immediately began cutting away the bloodied shirt.

The bullet had passed through the shoulder muscle, missing anything critical, but the man had lost a dangerous amount of blood.

“He’s lucky,” Mr. Thompson muttered as he cleaned the wound with steady hands. “It’s a through-and-through. I can stitch this up and dress it properly. He’ll need rest, fluids, and antibiotics if we can get some from Doc Harlan in the morning. And plenty of prayer.”

Anna stood beside the bed, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.

She watched as Mr. Thompson worked….cleaning, applying ointment, then carefully stitching the wound closed.

The stranger never stirred.

When the older man finally stepped back and wiped his hands on a clean towel, he gave Anna a look filled with pride.

“You did a brave thing tonight, Anna. Most young women would have run for help instead of dragging a grown man halfway across the field.”

“I couldn’t leave him there to die,” she said softly, gazing at the pale face on the pillow.

Mrs. Thompson returned with a basin of warm water and fresh cloths. “You’ll both stay here tonight. No sense walking home in the dark after all this. Lily can sleep in the little room with me, and you can keep watch here if you like.”

Anna nodded gratefully and sat down on the wooden chair beside the bed.

She dipped a cloth in the water and gently wiped the dirt and sweat from the stranger’s forehead.

His breathing had already become a little steadier.

Lily crept to the doorway again, too curious to stay away for long. She peeked in. “Is he a prince, Ana? Like in the fairy tales? Is he going to wake up and be our friend?”

Anna smiled softly and reached out, gently tucking one of Lily’s bouncy curls behind her ear. “I don’t know who he is yet, Lily. And I hope he wakes up.”

Lily walked closer to the bed. She leaned in toward the stranger’s face, her big blue eyes wide with wonder. “Wow… the prince is really handsome, Ana. Don’t you think so?”

Anna’s eyes widened in surprise. “Lily!” she whispered sharply, a flush rising to her cheeks. “Don’t say things like that.”

For a moment, both sisters tilted their heads at the same time, studying the unconscious man with identical curious expressions.

“Hmm,” they said in perfect unison.

The sound of footsteps made them both straighten up. Mr. Thompson appeared in the doorway.

“Alright, you two,” he said gently but authoritatively. “Time for bed. It’s not safe for you girls to be alone in here with a stranger. Go on now, leave him to me. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

A little while later, once the immediate danger had passed and the stranger lay resting as comfortably as possible, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson stepped out onto the back porch together for a word.

The night air was cool, carrying the scent of blooming jasmine from the garden.

Margaret Thompson wrung her hands, her voice low and worried. “Robert, what are we going to do? That poor girl… she’s barely scraping by as it is. Selling cakes and pies just to keep food on the table for her and little Lily. Now she’s brought home a stranger with a bullet hole in him? How is she supposed to care for him?”

Robert sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know, Margaret. I know. The girl’s got a heart bigger than the whole county, and that faith of hers… it’s strong. But you’re right. She and Lily are already living on whatever they can sell at the market. Feeding an extra mouth, especially a grown man who’ll need good food to heal, that’s going to be a real burden.”

Margaret glanced back toward the house, her brow furrowed. “What if he wakes up angry? Or dangerous? We don’t know a thing about him. And Anna… she’s only twenty-two, raising that child all by herself.”

Robert nodded in agreement. “Indeed we know nothing about the man. He has a lot of scars on his body that show years and years of battle and the gold watch on his wrist, his shoes and even his clothes are enough to know that the young man is certainly not a simple man.”

Margaret looked increasingly worried. “So what are we going to do?”

Robert placed a gentle hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We’ll just help as much as we can. I’ll talk to Doc Harlan first thing tomorrow about the antibiotics. But you’re right to worry. Anna’s got more love than sense sometimes.”