When he reached her bed, he fought hard not to let his tears fall. Slowly, carefully, he lowered himself to his knees at her bedside, his hand gently stroking her forehead and brushing her once shiny auburn hair that had now turned dull and lifeless. The area around her eyes was dark, and the bruises and cuts were still fading. But the hardest thing to look at was the severe burn on her arm. It was obvious it had blistered and ruptured, and the skin around the burn had turned black with a few smaller blisters still hovering on the deep red of her arm. Her arm was swollen and he could almost feel the heat coming off of it.
She didn’t respond to his touch, and he could feel the warmth on her forehead and could only imagine the pain she was suffering through. But at the moment, she was oblivious to everything around her. Trevor turned to look at Gabby who stood in the doorway, watching him with sad eyes.
“How long has she been like this?”
“I’ve been treating her burn every day. But by yesterday she was in so much pain I finally had to give her some laudanum. It was the kindest thing I could do.”
Trevor looked back at Serena and fought the emotion that nearly overwhelmed him. “Why have you given up on her? She has more fight in her than anyone I’ve ever known.”
“Captain Daniels, I’ve never given up on her. But she has been deteriorating ever since she arrived. It’s as if all of the fight left her. You are not the only one that is hurt at the thought of losing her.” The thick, emotional quiver to Gabby’s voice made him look back at her. She had tears sliding down her cheeks that she was hastily wiping away.
Trevor stood slowly, wincing at the pain in his side. He moved towards Gabby and took her in a gentle embrace. “We aren’t going to mourn her, Miss Torres. We’re not going to lose her.”
Gabby pulled away from his embrace and looked at him skeptically. “Captain Daniels, you’ve barely healed on your own, as it is. I cannot allow you to tend to Serena. Besides... the best we can do now is give her as much comfort as possible.”
“I’ve healed as much as I need to. First, we need a bigger bed. Because I’m not leaving her side no matter what.”
“That’s highly improper! Do you know what her sisters would say if I allowed such a thing?”
“To hell with what they would say. I’m here now, and I love this woman with all my heart!”
Trevor took a step backwards, stunned at the words that had just left his lips. But as he paused to think about it, he realized just how true it was. He loved the sound of her voice, the sweet twinkle of her laugh, her rebellious attitude, her fierce determination to fight for what she believed was right... her soft and tender touch... her sweet and innocent kisses.
“Trevor?”
He whirled around in shock when he heard her call his name. Was he imagining this was happening? Had he craved it so much, his mind was creating the illusion that it was real? Whether it was real or not, he made it to her bedside and kneeled as fast as he could.
Her eyes were partway open, and he could see some of the magnificent green he had craved to see. “Hello, pixie,” he said softly, taking her left hand into his and squeezing it gently.
“I thought—You were hurt—so much blood...”
“You know me better than that, pixie.” He chuckled. “It will take more than a few arrows to bring me down.” He tried desperately to control his emotions as he stroked her hand.
“I’m so tired,” she murmured, her speech slightly slurred.
“I know you are. I know. But you have to fight harder, Pixie. You have to try harder.”
“I’m just too tired, Trevor. I don’t want to fight.”
Tears burned at the back of his eyes and he gave her hand a firm squeeze and she lifted her eyes up a little more so that she was looking directly into his. “Would Stalking Wolf have given up? Would Talking Wolf have given up? No. Because they were both warriors. And you are the strongest warrior I know. Damned sure the most bullheaded warrior I’ve ever known. You can’t give up this fight.”
“And what about you? There are plenty of other fights you are needed for. You can’t stay here and fight this one for me.”
“No, I can’t fight it for you. You have to fight it on your own. But I have absolute faith that you are going to be the victor.”
She winced suddenly, and a tear seeped out of her eye. “It hurts so much, Trevor. I tried to be strong. I wanted you to be proud of me. But this...”
Trevor nearly choked on his next words. “I’m already so proud of you. So very, very proud of you. But you have to do one more thing to completely win me over.”
“You demand a lot, ranger,” she mumbled again, but there was a lightness to her tone, something he took to be favorable.
“You have to fight your hardest, and you have to defeat this illness. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side.” He leaned in close, pressing his lips to her ear, “I’ll be waiting for you so I can teach you more about how to kiss a man.”
Her lips twitched in a smile, then turned down in a grimace of pain and she whimpered. “She needs more laudanum,” Gabby said reluctantly.
“No. No, we are going to treat this the way Serena would have wanted to be treated. With Indian medicine.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Trevor had gotten his wish and they had carefully moved Serena into the old master bedroom that held a bed large enough for him to be by her side every minute possible, even throughout the night.
It didn’t take much time for Trevor to locate a friendly Indian who lived within the town of Corpus Christi, having decided to give up the harsh life as an Indian for the more convenient lifestyle of the new settlers. But he hadn’t forgotten his roots, and he came to Gabby’s house to visit Serena.
Gabby welcomed him into her house as if she were a southern belle hosting a tea and made sure his every need was met. Cade and Lorenzo watched from a distance, skeptical, but also willing to do anything to help Serena heal.
The Indian didn’t take very long to examine Serena’s wounds to know exactly what she needed. He gave the list to Gabby, enjoyed the tea and biscuits she had made for him, then politely excused himself. As he left, he pulled Trevor aside and warned him, “She very sick. My medicine strong, but maybe not strong enough. It will be her heart that decides whether she lives or dies. That is where the poison is headed... she must block it from reaching her heart.”
With that cryptic message, Trevor set about to find the ingredients the man had given him, and soon had the poultice made. As he smeared the poultice into Serena’s wound, she whimpered and moved on the bed, but showed no other sign of awareness of her whereabouts.
Trevor knew he was hoping for a miracle far too soon. But he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to see her happy again, with a smile on her face and joy dancing in her eyes.
He used the poultice on her burn, as well as several vicious slashes across her back. He remembered her rubbing a pot of something onto the back of Stalking Wolf and wondered if she still had the same pot. He was thrilled when he found it in her saddle bags and began to use it on her back and the other poultice on her burn.
Each day, he would carefully wrap her wounds and try to get her to drink water, which he was marginally successful at doing. But every little step, he hoped, was a step closer to her being healthy.
His days and nights revolved around her. He had completely lost track of time until Cade and Lorenzo came in one day, saying they had to get back to San Antonio. Trevor was shocked to learn they had been there two weeks already, and realized he was neglecting his duties as a ranger and tending to his team. But they could fire him for all he cared—Serena was what mattered.
“Don’t tell her sisters about her condition,” Trevor asked both of them as they stood on the porch. Gabby had already returned back inside, teasing Cade that she would see him again soon.
Lorenzo took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair, then slapped it back down on his head. “If we don’t return with her, there will be questio
ns. We have no choice.”
“I recall you made an excuse for why Olivia didn’t come home with you right away, Lorenzo. I don’t see any difference here,” Cade chimed in.
“The difference is that I knew Olivia was coming home,” Lorenzo said softly.
“Serena will be coming home as well. You need to have faith in how strong she is.” Trevor had tension building in his shoulders.
Lorenzo crossed his arms over his chest and frowned darkly at Trevor. “We want her to be healed just as badly, if not more so, than you. She’s our sister-in-law. We don’t even know what your intentions are with Serena, should she survive!”
Cade, who had been standing off to the side, rocking back and forth on the heels of his boots interjected. “Look, we’re all concerned about Serena. But if Trevor has an inkling that she might pull through this, then I say we listen to him. He’s obviously smitten with her.”
Trevor opened his mouth to protest, then snapped it shot. It was the truth. He was smitten with his sweet pixie. “All I ask is for you to not upset her sisters—your wives, unless it is absolutely necessary.”
Gabby had been standing in the corner of the foyer and stepped into the circle of men, immediately drawing their attention. “What he says is actually good advice. Cade, you can’t afford to upset Olivia tremendously at this point, given that she is in the delicate stages of her pregnancy. We don’t want to risk any undue stress on her or the baby.”
Lorenzo sighed heavily. “Cade and I will identify some sort of story to explain her late return. But so help me, if she doesn’t make it—”
“She’s going to make it. She’s stronger than her little size would make you think.” Trevor’s face was determined.
With well-wishes, hugs, and goodbyes completed, Cade and Lorenzo took off towards San Antonio, and Trevor wished with all his heart that he was with them, escorting Serena home. But it just wasn’t to be. Not now at least. Soon enough he would return with Serena. In his mind, there was no other option.
The air was cool and fresh, blowing softly across her body, and in the distance the sound of sea gulls tugged at her. But then there was pain, horrible, burning pain that erased all of the calm and beauty she had been surrounded by.
Yet, nearly as soon as the pain had burst forth, a soothing sensation made it more tolerable and she could feel her muscles beginning to relax again. Someone was speaking to her. She could hear a voice from a distance, muffled, but kind. She strained harder to hear it.
“C’mon, pixie. I know you want to open those beautiful eyes. I know you want to go walk down onto the shore with me. I bet I find more seashells than you do.”
Very, very slowly she became aware of her surroundings. She felt the soft bed she lay in and the smooth linens that touched her skin. And she felt the pain—all over, it seemed—but most of it was in her arm. And she could almost feel the rich timber of his voice as he spoke to her.
She couldn’t stop the smile that spread to her lips. “Trevor.” She had meant to just think his name, but instead she had whispered it aloud, stopping him in his smooth, one-sided conversation with her.
“Serena? Can you hear me? Open your eyes, pixie. Open your eyes for me.”
She felt as if the sand from the beach was in her eyes. They were stiff and hard to open, and the brightness of the room was almost a shock to the blackness she had been in for so long. Slowly, slowly she was able to crack her eyes open halfway, and was rewarded by Trevor’s smiling face. That one moment, that one second seemed frozen in time for her, and she never wanted it to end. She wanted to wake up every day and see his face.
“Trevor,” she said again, trying to speak more clearly.
He brought a mug of water to her lips and she drank from it as if she had never tasted water before in her life. It was the sweetest nectar to touch her lips. When she’d finally stopped, she lifted her gaze back up to his.
“What happened? Where are we? Cade and Lorenzo—”
“Shh, shh. I will get to all of your questions in time. But you need to heal. That is the most important thing.”
“Heal?” She lifted her head slightly and saw the soft blue linen that covered her from the chest down, but one of her legs had been pulled from beneath the sheet so that a bad cut could be wrapped properly. And her right arm, the source of the blinding pain, lay across her body with a special ointment rubbed within a large, circular spot.
Suddenly, images began flashing before her eyes, the beatings, the terror-filled nights, the lashes of the whips. She was so engrossed in what she was seeing in her mind’s eye, her body reacted as if she was still in the great danger she had been facing.
“No. No. No!” She wasn’t aware she had been moving until she felt Trevor’s warm hands on her shoulders, holding her still so that she didn’t aggravate any of her injuries.
“It’s over, Serena. They’re all gone. We won the war.”
Slowly her eyes refocused on him and she wondered what he thought of her. Did he think she had lost her mind while she was with them? Did he think they had raped her and abused her in unspeakable manners?
But her mind latched to one thing he said. “We won? We truly won?”
He smiled and brushed her hair off her forehead. “Yes. We won. The Comanche have scattered. They follow no one identifiable leader any longer. At least, not yet.”
“You think they will be back.”
Trevor sighed and pulled her left hand into his hands. “I don’t know. But I’m not going to worry about it until someone tells me I need to. It’s all we can do. Always stay prepared, but live happy, beautiful lives while we can.”
Serena pulled her hand free of his and ran it down the side of his face. “You shaved for me.”
“Every day. And every day I prayed I’d get to see those pretty green eyes. Finally, all of my hard work has paid off.”
She was beginning to feel drowsy again, but this time, she had a feeling her dreams would be pleasant and not as frightening as they had been. “Where are we?” she asked as she drifted off to sleep.
“We are safe, pixie. We are at your cousin’s home in Corpus Christi.”
“Gabby? We’re with Gabby?”
“Yes, and I know she’d like to talk to you—”
Serena was already slipping back into sleep, but this was a healing sleep. She had made it through the worst, she was certain.
“I hate to see you go, but it is time you were back with your family,” Gabriella said as she gently embraced Serena. “And I know there may be things that you want to talk about and just can’t with your sisters. Write everything down, your thoughts, your feelings, all of it, and send it to me in a letter.”
“And then what? You’ll have a good laugh at my expense?”
“Precisely! Now you’re starting to understand some of my motives.” Gabby laughed softly. “Oh, but I will miss you. It is so quiet here with the boys off on the ranch somewhere most of the time.”
“Have you ever thought about coming back to San Antonio?”
“I’m not sure San Antonio would be as warm and receptive to me as the way Corpus has embraced me.”
“San Antonio would love you! We haven’t had a good doctor in years. I don’t even know if we have a doctor right now. Having a true healer join us will be a welcome thing, I’m sure of it.”
Gabby smiled again, and her dimples showed. “It would be wonderful to be back there. I’ve missed it so much.”
“Well, regardless, we’ll be seeing you soon, anyway. Olivia wouldn’t allow anyone else deliver her baby.” Serena was smiling, but she could feel tears burning the backs of her eyes. She loved Gabby dearly, and hated to say goodbye. Yet, at the same time, the thought of being reunited with her family made her heart swell with joy.
Trevor stepped forward and nodded to Gabby. “It has truly been an honor to spend time with you, Ms. Torres. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“A nod will not suffice, ranger,” Gabby said in a firm tone, and Ser
ena nearly laughed at the expression that crossed Trevor’s face. “Only a hug will do from you since I’ve had to put up with you for so long.”
A smile broke out across Trevor’s face, and Serena remembered when he used to smile at her that way, and it made her heart ache. Now all he did was look at her with worry and a frown.
“Yes ma’am,” he said obligingly, and pulled her into a soft embrace and released her. “Take care of yourself. And don’t let those brothers of yours try to tell you what you can and can’t do.”
Her eyes widened slightly as he stepped away from her. “How did you...?”
“I just know how brothers can be,” he said, tipping his hat. “Oh, and thank you for tending to that young woman, Jerelyn. I heard her father was mighty pleased to have her returned to them.” He still had the smile on his face when he turned to face Serena, and her heart tripped over itself. Unfortunately, though, the smile did not last long and the look of concern crossed his features once again. “Are you sure you’re ready to make this trip? You don’t have to until you feel—”
“I’m fine. It’s time for me to return home.”
A strange look crossed his face at her words, and she couldn’t tell whether it was good or bad. The man was so damned perplexing! She hadn’t imagined him there at her side when she first woke up and the joy in his face as he had looked at her. And even during the early stages of her recovery he had been right by her side. But now he seemed to be pulling away from her, and she didn’t know why.
He helped her onto her horse and quickly mounted his and they started off, both turning back to wave a fond farewell to Gabby. Serena sat back straight in her saddle and cast a sideways glance at Trevor. His face was determined... focused.
Was she just a package he had to deliver before he could get back to his own life? Was that all he saw her as? It made sense. He had his personal life and professional one to return to, and she was only slowing him down.
Texas Heat Page 25