Summer's Loss

Chapter 5

Abigail

When they got back to the head quarters Brice carried her inside to his office.  He got out the first aid kit and put an anesthetic on it then wrapped it tightly.  The shirt he had wrapped around her leg was stained with blood so he threw it away and got a sweatshirt out of the small closet in the corner and pulled it over his head.  Abigail looked out of the corner of her eyes at him.  His chest was broad and he had a scar by his collar bone.  His muscles were toned and had been hard when he carried her.

"You're lucky it wasn't deep."  Brice said to her.

"Ya," she was sitting on his desk with her leg held up on a chair, "my uncle's going to flip when he sees this."  Abigail looked down at her leg.  The cut wasn't as bad as she had thought at first, she could walk fine and it only hurt if it was touched.

"Speaking of your uncle, I better go call him."  Brice walked out the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Abigail alone.

She thought of the truck ride here.  Brice had seemed so guilty, as if he hated himself for her getting hurt.  She thought about how she had touched his arm.  She didn't know why she had done it, but she didn't want him to feel like it was his fault.  The way he had looked at her made her blush.  He had seemed so upset that she was in pain and there was nothing he could do to make it stop.

Brice came back in a few minutes later.  "Your uncle said he'll try to come get you."

Abigail nodded at him and then looked at the clock.  It was already 2:40.  "Time flew by."

"Oh heck, I didn't even see what time it was.  You hungry?"  He walked behind his desk where she was sitting and pulled out an ice pack.  "I made sure I got these out of the truck."  He passed her a sandwich  and a bag of chips.

She took them and opened the chips.  "What did my uncle say?"

"Just that he would be here soon."

"Oh."  She didn't really know what to expect her uncle to say, she didn't really know him that well.

A knock came at the door and Brice got up and answered it.  It was a woman with red hair pulled up into a tight bun.  "Tom just called for you, Brice.  He asked if you could take his niece home for him."

"Ya, that's fine.  Thanks Karen."  He shut the door again.  Abigail watched him walk back and sit across from her.  "Looks like I gotta take you home."

"Okay."  Abigail got up to walk to the door but Brice caught her wrist.

"Abigail,"  Her breath caught in her throat and she felt butterflies when he said her name, "are you okay enough to walk?"  Brice looked at her, concerned.

Abigail let her breath out again, "Ya, thanks."  Brice let go of her wrist.  His hand was rough and calloused, but it was also warm and his touch was gentle.  As she walked out the door, she hit her leg on a table by the wall in the hallway.  Abigail cried out as a shock wave of pain flew through her leg, "Never mind."

Brice jumped forward and caught her, pulling her close enough to smell him.  Abigail almost forgot about her leg, "Thanks."  She let go of Brice and walked down the hall.  "Like I said, heck of a first day."  Abigail complained, and she heard Brice laugh behind her.

"There's always tomorrow, Killer."  Abigail smiled when he called her Killer, and Brice smiled back at her.

"Come on, lets get you home."  Abigail walked to the truck and let Brice drive her home.