Caterina

I jolt up from a deep sleep, feeling alarmed at the commotion I can hear coming from the bathroom, the door left open and the lower light on within it.

Tossing my blanket off of me I scramble to get up, instantly missing the warmth as I dangle my legs over the side of the bed before setting my feet flat on the floor. I think I hear something shatter as I inch closer to the door, trying to decide if it's wise of me to enter or not, knowing it's Dolion inside.. or maybe at this point I'm hoping it's the big meathead of a man.

The door is already partially open, and I decide to slowly open it the rest of the way, revealing a scene similar to one I've seen in horror movies.

A trail of blood can be seen leading to the shower that's currently running. A large bloody handprint on the wall, showing signs of struggling to stand.

In the corner near the toilet sits a broken bottle of vodka. So that's the sound I heard.. I swallow nervously before letting my eyes rest on the shower, knowing Dolion must be in there, and apparently injured.

"Dolion?" I question quietly.

Everything remains silent as the water is shut off to the shower. The silence seems to stretch on forever before Dolion suddenly smacks the shower open, revealing his bare and bloody form to me.

"Oh my God!" I shout, my eyes refusing to look at any other part of his body other than the bloody wound on his left forearm.

I grab the towel hanging from the back of the door and rush over to him, not thinking my actions through as I help him sit down on the floor, covering his lower half as I take in the damage that's been done to him.

"What the hell? What's going on?" My voice comes out shaky and scared, but I'm too stunned to care.

"The Russians.. fuck.." He pauses to cough before continuing. " A Russian found our hide out. We're lucky it was just one scout, but if he managed to get word out before I killed him then we aren't safe here."

Killed him?

The hair on my arms raises up, my fear starting to feel overwhelming. Suffocating.

"He.. he shot you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, fortunately it's not deep, I think you should be able to get it out and sew me up before we pack up and leave here."

"You want me to do what?" I hiss out, mortified.

He glares at me. "I can't do it myself, especially if the pain makes me pass out. There's a first aid kit under the sink, everything you need should be in there."

I eye his side, and then my trembling hands. "Dolion I'm not a doctor or even a nurse, I don't know how to do this.. We need to get you to the hospital."

"Fuck no, we can't go to a hospital, they'll ask too many questions about the fucking bullet hole in my arm. Don't be a damn wimp, and help me." Dolion seems furious, but I know his anger is just a mask to hide the amount of pain he's in.

Standing I walk over to the sink, opening the cabinet underneath it and grabbing out the first aid kit. Luckily he was right, this thing really does have everything I'll need. I kneel down beside him again, grabbing out supplies from the kit. I grab the wound cleaning solution first, planning to pour some directly on him before I start. I look up at his face, his brows wrinkled up in pain, the faint stress lines on his forehead creasing as he clenches his jaw shut tightly.

As soon as he hears me pop open the bottle of wound cleaner his eyes snap open to eye it wearily.

"Don't."

"I need to clean it first before I start, I'm not a medical professional but I'm not a damn idiot."

"I already cleaned it with alcohol." He says bitterly. I turn my eyes to the broken bottle of vodka, then turn my eyes back to him so he can see me roll them.

"You want my help, then zip it."

He glares at me but says nothing else as I begin to slowly pour the liquid on his wound.

"Shit!" He shouts out in obvious pain, making me flinch. I finish cleaning him and then eye his wound, then the long metal tweezers, wondering how to go about getting the bullet out.

"You can't use those, you have to use your fingers."

"What the fuck? Excuse me?"

"You won't be able to feel the bullet with those things, you'll just be shoving them around blindly inside of me."

He's right.. but that doesn't make this any easier.

I'm gonna barf. I swallow hard as I begin pouring the cleaning solution on my hands, cleaning them before I go digging around in Dolion's bloody arm.

God why? Why me? I inhale deeply, preparing myself mentally.

"Lay down flat." I instruct, and he does so without complaint, adjusting the towel on his lap as he does, keeping his lower half covered.

"Don't stop till you get it out, even if I tell you to stop." He says to me through gritted teeth.

Great. I bring my trembling hand to his arm, unsure of how deep the bullet truly is.

Oh God what if I accidentally kill him? I don't like him but I don't want to be the reason someone dies.

But if I sit here and do nothing he might die anyways. I take another breath as I stick my index finger into three bullet hole, my gag reflex automatically kicking in. I'm gonna accidentally vomit on him while trying to save him.

His body goes absolutely rigid as I begin trying to find the bullet lodged into his arm, my finger tip briefly grazing something that feels like what I'm looking for.

"I found it but.. I can't get a hold of it, it's too slick." I look up at his face to see it twisted in pain, his jaw clenched so tightly it looks painful.

"Now you use those things to grab it out." He spits out harshly, and I can tell he's trying hard not to cry out. I grab the metal tweezers again, keeping the tip of my finger where the bullet is.

This is going to hurt like hell.

"I'm sorry." My voice comes out shaky and weak. I try my best to just get it over with, trying to retrieve the bullet as fast as I can while also being careful.

It takes a few tries but finally I have it, slowly I begin to remove the bullet from his arm, and that's what does it for him.

His agonizing scream fills the bathroom as I remove the bullet, thankfully it all comes out in one piece.

Everything is quiet as I toss the bullet onto the floor nearby, looking up at Dolion's face I realize why he grew quiet once again.

He's out cold.

Well.. might as well sew him up while he's unconscious.. right?

I continue to clean his arm before getting the needle ready. I take my time and try my absolute best, I've sewed a few clothing items of mine that had holes in them but I couldn't quite part with.

This is nothing like that.

But still, I do my best, finishing with a good knot on the end before grabbing the scissors and snipping the thread.

I clean his wound once more before putting a large bandage on him, though I wish I could tend to it better, this will have to do for now. I nod to myself, pleased with my work, before making my way over to the sink to wash all the blood off of my hands, trying to scrub the filth from underneath my fingernails and where it also settled into my nailbeds.

After cleaning myself I get to cleaning the bathroom, wiping blood up and cleaning broken glass from the bottle of alcohol.

Hours seem to pass and Dolion remains asleep, I check on him every few minutes to make sure he's breathing and not burning up with a fever.

So far, he's just sleeping. I decide to go and make some soup, nothing fancy, just something fulfilling and nutritious.

Something to help this poor oaf upon waking up again.

After about forty minutes I have warm food ready for us, the smell making my mouth water. I quickly dish out two bowls of the soup and bring them to the bedroom. I return to the kitchen to grab bottles of water and some bread, returning to the room to find Dolion sitting on my bed in nothing but the towel I had tossed on him, already eating his bowl of soup.

Once he notices I've returned he stops eating for a second, swallowing before speaking. "You could have taken the key and left. Why didn't you?" I stand there stunned, realizing he's right. As soon as I was done with his wound I could have taken the key dangling around his neck and been out of here..

So why didn't I?

"Sorry I'm not a shitty person. Do I hate you? Yeah. Do I hate you enough to let you sit here alone and possibly die? No. I don't think I hate anyone that much."

He smirks at me. "You're too sweet, Cat."

"Don't call me that, that's what my friends call me." I walk over and plop down on the bed beside him, grabbing my bowl of soup and eating it happily.

"So, you made me soup?"

"I was hungry, I made us something to eat."

"Sure. If you were simply hungry you would have popped the frozen pizza in the oven I got." I can feel my face blush at his insinuation, that I went out of my way to make something to help him feel better upon waking up.

Why'd I do something stupidly thoughtful like that? Is this that Stockholm syndrome they warn people about?

"I just prefer to eat food worth eating. If I'm gonna eat pizza it's not gonna be some nasty frozen one simply tossed on a pan and into the oven."

He raises a brow, but says nothing as he begins eating his soup again. I relax and begin eating again as well, the room is silent except for the sounds of our silverwear on the bowls as we eat.

"Is there any left?" He asks, breaking the silence.

"There's a whole pot of it on the stove, I might have made more than I meant to." I admit.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not complaining, more for me to eat." He takes a drink of his water before standing with his now empty bowl, the towel on his hips hanging loosely.

Making me nervous. He seems not to notice and starts making his way to the door, heading for more food.

His back is covered in tattoos, just like the front of him. It's like his entire torso is covered in ink, trailing down both of his arms, his hands, and even his fingers.

Ink decorates his muscular body, drawing my eyes to certain ones I know have meaning. Numbers indicating important dates. Scriptures written in different languages. Skulls and other dark symbols coating his large muscular body.

His body is a work of fucking art.

My heart seems to pick up its pace as I eye Dolion's sculpted back, unable to deny this man is fucking beautiful.

Yes. Beautiful. I don't use that word often to describe men, but when you look like you were designed after a Greek god, beautiful is the word I would use.

This man is dangerous, I remind myself.

It takes me a moment to realize he had stopped walking, being too distracted checking him out.

"Cat?" His voice comes out weak.

"Yeah?"

"I need to sit back down.." I jump up and toss his uninjured arm over my shoulder, helping him over to the bed to sit back down.

"I can get you more, you just sit. Shouldn't have been up walking around already, anyways." I grumble out at him.

"Careful, you sound concerned." He teases weakly.

"Don't flatter yourself. If you've forgotten you kidnapped me, and I have absolutely no idea where we are, nor how to leave this area, and apparently the Russians already managed to find us. If we're lucky they weren't tipped off to our whereabouts and we'll be safe for at least a little while longer.. Going out there by myself would be idiotic." I state in a sour tone.

He eyes me before nodding once. "Smart girl." I roll my eyes at him. "Do you want more soup or not?" He looks at his bowl before setting it down on the nearby table, then proceeds to lay down in my bed.

"I don't think I'll be conscious much longer.. But we need to pack up and leave when I wake back up. It's not safe here, and I don't feel like getting shot again." Dolion mumbles, his voice slowly growing quieter.

"I'll get things ready as best I can. You rest.."

His eyes are already closed, but he nods slightly, letting me know he heard me. Dolion's breathing slows down and becomes more even, signaling he's fallen asleep.

Instead of my eyes devouring his bare chest and six pack, they land on the bloody bandage on his arm.

This is because of me.. Dolion got shot protecting me.

Despite how annoying he is, this man literally just risked his life to protect mine. I know it's his job, he's getting paid.. But still..

I rest my head against the wall for a moment before getting up off of the bed. I cover Dolion's body with my blanket, better safe than sorry, would be a shame if his towel fell off in his sleep. I grab my duffle bag and begin making my way around the place, packing all of my things and anything else I feel would be helpful, like the first aid kit.

After packing up everything I could, including Dolion's things I came across, I lay down on the couch, feeling exhausted and needing to rest.

The couch and blankets smell like him, and I want to hate it. Instead I find myself enjoying the smell of whatever cologne it is the man uses.

I settle in, promising I'm just going to rest my eyes, but even I know that's a lie as I feel myself drift off to sleep.