Part 6 (1/2)

”Kenny, get that first aid kit. Marshall, get a towel and a wet bath cloth. Then get those boots off of her so we can get her fully in the bed.”

Jeb carefully moved her hair around the wound to see how deep the cut might be. She had a pretty large b.u.mp on her head. The cut appeared to be fairly small, though. He'd know more when he got some of the blood off.

Marshall returned with the towel and the wet bath cloth. Jeb took the towel and laid it over her pillow to protect it from the blood when he finished cleaning her up. Marshall eased her boots off and then waited while Jeb cleaned around the wound in her head. Kenny returned with the first aid kit.

”Give me that bottle of peroxide in there, and I need another towel, Marshall.” Jeb took the opened bottle and waited on Marshall to bring the needed cloth.

”Hold it right here next to her head. I'm going to pour this over the cut to clean it up some.”

It boiled and cleared out some of the blood. The wound began to seep a little once again. He folded the wet bath cloth and held it to her head to stop the bleeding. He didn't think it needed st.i.tches. If it did, he would take her to the hospital. He wasn't going to sew up a head wound.

”What do you think?” Kenny asked.

”I don't think it's a large enough cut for st.i.tches. She has a nice size goose egg, so there shouldn't be any pressure inside to worry about. I think we wait and see if she wakes up on her own in the next couple of hours. If she doesn't, we take her to the hospital.” Jeb picked up the cloth and checked to see if it was still bleeding. It appeared to have stopped.

”Let's get her out of these clothes and under the covers.” Jeb began unb.u.t.toning her coat and pulling it off of her. They took off her gloves and socks. Then Jeb began unb.u.t.toning her blouse.

”Um, I'm going to go start the biscuits for dinner. You two can handle undressing her without me,” Kenny said.

”Fix a pot of coffee while you're at it. We're going to need to try and wake her up around the clock. Gonna take coffee for us to stay awake to do it,” Jeb told him.

”I'm on it.” Kenny walked out of the bedroom.

They could hear his steps as he descended the stairs. He muttered the entire way down.

Marshall unfastened her jeans and pulled them down her body. They left her panties on, but Jeb unhooked her bra and pulled it off. They turned her on her side and covered her with the blankets and comforter. Jeb wasn't certain if she'd end up sick at her stomach or not from the head wound.

”Do we try and wake her up or leave her be?” Marshall asked.

”Let's leave her alone for an hour, and see what happens. We did enough to her that if she were going to wake up now, she already would have,” Jeb told him.

”Someone hit her, Jeb.”

”I know. We know it wasn't one of us or Kenny, as we were all together with the herd. Her body was cold enough she'd been out there for at least thirty or forty-five minutes. She needs something warm in her belly, but not until she wakes up and we know if she's going to be sick at her stomach or not.”

They left her alone with the door open, so they could hear her if she called out. Marshall followed Jeb down the stairs and into the kitchen.

”We all know someone had to have hit her,” Marshall said.

”Why knock her out?” Kenny asked.

”To make sure she doesn't see them. Then she would know who had been behind all the trouble she's been having lately,” Jeb explained.

”So what were they doing out in the old barn for her to catch them?” Kenny poured three cups of coffee.

”I don't know, but hopefully whatever it was they were up to, she scared them off, and they left without doing it.” Marshall took his cup and wrapped his hands around it.

”It's too dangerous to leave her alone anymore. From now on, one of us will be at the house with her at all times. There's always something to do around the place, so we won't be slacking while we watch after her,” Jeb told them.

”Better not let her know you're watching out for her,” Kenny said. ”She'll throw a fit like you've never seen before.”

”She can throw a fit, but she can't stay by herself anymore. None of us need to be out by ourselves until we figure out who the culprit is behind all the accidents and cut fences,” Jeb said.

”De we need to try and get her to the doc before the snow sets in for good?” Kenny asked.

”Let's check her and see if she'll wake up for us before we decide.” Jeb took a sip of his coffee before leaving it on the cabinet.

They all hurried back upstairs to her room and walked in to find her sitting up on the edge of the bed in nothing but her panties, holding her head and moaning. Kenny backed out of the room and closed the door. Even as quietly as he closed it, it must have jarred her head, because she moaned and looked up at them.

”What in the h.e.l.l happened to me?” she whispered.

”You don't remember?” Jeb asked in a quiet voice.

”I wouldn't be asking you if I remembered, now would I?” She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed.

”Grouchy, isn't she,” Marshall said, a relieved smile across his face.

”Someone hit you over the back of the head out in the old barn. Do you remember going out there for some reason?” Jeb asked.

”I remember checking all the buildings and stringing the lines...” Her voice faded away as she seemed to be thinking. ”I remember getting the snow shovels out from there, but I don't remember why I would have gone back.”

”So you don't remember someone hitting you on the head,” Jeb said again.

”No, not at all. How bad is it? Did I need st.i.tches again?” she asked in a resigned voice.

”No st.i.tches, but you might have a pretty bad concussion, so we're going to be waking you up all night,” Marshall told her.

”Don't act so happy about it,” she fussed.

Then she grabbed her head again and bent over. Then she suddenly realized she was naked and grabbed the covers.

”I'm naked! What happened to my f.u.c.king clothes?” she demanded, staring a hole through Jeb.

Chapter Seven.

Then she grabbed her head with one hand and groaned.

”Your clothes were all wet, so we stripped you and put you to bed with the electric blanket,” Jeb explained.

”You could have been gentlemen and turned your backs when you saw that I wasn't covered,” she complained.

”We aren't gentlemen. The only one here left as soon as he saw you were sitting up.” Marshall snorted.

”That would be Kenny, bless his heart.” She sighed and closed her eyes. ”I think I need a nap. Can I have some Tylenol? It's in the bathroom in the medicine cabinet.”

Marshall disappeared into the bathroom while Jeb watched Drew hold her head in her hands. He returned with the bottle of Tylenol and a plastic cup full of water. He shook out two pills then handed them to her, along with the cup. She swallowed them and handed the cup back to Marshall.