Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 43. Bleeding

"Mom..."

At first, the voice was small, timid like a whisper, but it soon grew louder. Shortly afterward, rushed footsteps and heavy breathing accompanied the yells, and someone flung open the door, slamming it against the wall.

"Mom!"

"Sweetheart? What's wrong–"

The words Gulnas was about to say never came out, forever stuck in her throat. Unconsciously, she took a step back in fright and covered her mouth with trembling fingers, forgetting she was holding a glass of water.

It crashed onto the ground, shattering to pieces.

The boys, who were in their bedroom preparing their backpacks, were startled by the noise. After glancing at each other, they peeked into the living room, sneaking half of their heads through the door. The moment their eyes landed on Masha, the whole world seemed to break apart.

Gabriel dropped the backpack he had been packing and bolted to her side while Misha froze, unable to take a step forward. His mind blanked out.

Masha was standing in the doorway, holding her bloody wrist against her chest, staining her white T-shirt with red. The blood dripped onto the floor, slowly forming a tiny puddle at her feet. Her face was deadly pale, and her eyes darted everywhere; she was at a loss as to what to do.

Snatching a towel on the table as he ran to the teenager's side, Gabriel wrapped it around her wounds and lifted her arm above her head to decrease the blood flow and slow the bleeding. Meanwhile, he applied some pressure on the most severe injuries with his fingers.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice calm but firm.

"A raccoon bit me," Masha wryly smiled. "I reached out to help it, I didn't think it'd actually bite me."

The animal didn't react to her approaching arms, only staring at her with its round eyes, so she hadn't realized it was wary of her. But then, the raccoon snarled and attacked as soon as her fingertips brushed against its fur, its teeth sinking into her flesh as it violently shook its head. She had never thought that a raccoon's bite could hurt so much; the pain was such that she thought it had crushed her bones.

Gabriel furrowed his brows, carefully examining the injury. The most striking thing was the two identical holes oozing blood. The raccoon's sharp fangs had almost pierced through Masha's thin wrist, probably severing an artery and injuring her bones in passing. There were also scratches scattered here and there on her forearm. Some were relatively deep, while others were shallow, but the skin around every cut had already begun to swell.

Although the wounds looked a little gruesome, it wasn't life-threatening. From what Gabriel knew, Masha didn't have a blood clotting disorder, and she wasn't immersed in water, which would keep the blood flowing. Therefore, once handled correctly, the bleeding would soon stop. The wound only looked frightening.

However, she still needed stitches, and most importantly, what had bitten her was a raccoon. Those scavengers carried many diseases, their mouths full of bacteria, and it wouldn't be surprising if the bite and scratches got infected in the next few days. Moreover, raccoons were a well-known primary carrier of rabies, a deadly infection; thus, the wounds had to be treated with the utmost care as they could quickly develop into something much more severe.

He also didn't know whether her bones had been touched or not, and only an x-Ray could clarify the extent of the damage done by the raccoon's teeth.

"Mrs. Brown," Gabriel called without taking his eyes off of Masha. But he didn't receive any answer despite waiting for a few seconds. His voice grew louder as he repeated, "Mrs. Brown! Mrs. Brown! Gulnas!"