Downfall - The Incorruptibles #1 (COMPLETE NOVEL)

Chapter 12: Transgression

There was so much hot adrenaline teeming in my bloodstream, I felt like my arteries might melt. By now, dried blood was crusting around Jude's mouth. I shuffled over to place his head gently in my lap while his eyes focused on something distant none of us could see.

"God, what if his spine's injured?" I said to Cain.

"Just keep him still as possible," Cain answered in a low voice. "Owen's driving to the hospital."

Jude tried to sit up. Cain and I held him still, reassuring him so he wouldn't hurt himself further. He remained where he was, resting his thatchy blonde head in my lap, looking up at me in trusting bewilderment. I stroked his hair back from his face.

"How do you feel, Jude? Can you feel your feet?"

"Yeah," he said. "They're cold."

Cain tucked an old blanket shoved in the corner of Owen's van over Jude's legs and I wrapped my arms around him to keep him warm. Liz, unable to resist any longer, unbuckled and crawled over the back seat so she could check him over. She felt his pulse and listened to his breathing.

"Jude, look at me," she ordered. He did so, if a little slowly. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," he said, wincing. "My chest. My guts."

Liz ran her hands over his chest, her fingers feeling his ribs expertly. I cringed to see how hard she was pushing her fingers in, watching spasms of pain cross Jude's face. At one point he sucked air in through his teeth and she stopped.

"That one's fractured," she said. She moved across the other ribs and reported two more broken ribs. Next she inspected his face, feeling around his jaw and looking in his mouth. "Jaw's okay. Tongue's badly bitten. Focus on me, Jude," she ordered suddenly. "Move your fingers on your left hand. Now right. Wiggle your toes: left, now right. Does your back hurt? Your neck?" Jude obeyed in a bewildered way, replying in the negative. "Can you turn your head? Stop if it hurts." He turned his head but stopped, his face twisting in pain. "Neck pain?" she asked.

"No, back of my head," he mumbled.

Liz rolled him gently onto his side. My jeans were stained dark where his head had rested and a nasty, sticky patch of blood was congealing in the hair at the back of his head.

Liz peered at it. "Hmmm."

"Owen should have us at the hospital soon," I said.

"Owen," Cain called. "Did we stop it in time? What did you see?"

Owen glanced back at us, his face still glowing faintly. "Jude's angry," he began, his voice somehow resonant and clear in the noisy van. "The others have been trying to stop him wishing Frankie was his. He's mad at himself because he knows they're right. He wonders why he ever thought Frankie would look at him with Cain around. He knows he's being stupid to keep thinking about her." I flushed angrily, wishing I could cover Jude's ears. 

"Jude reacts to the guy from the bar who's bugging Liz. He doesn't care how much this will rile the guy up. The man is even angrier than Jude. His wife told him earlier that his crappy genetics are the cause of their son's learning disability. He's fuming. He's looking around for a woman. He wants revenge. He wants to rough some woman up. He's scared of his wife. She's so big. She could hurt him in a fight. He thinks Liz looks demure and easy to push around but Jude keeps protecting her so he opts for second best. If he can't get Liz, he can give Jude something to remember. He can see he's tall but thinks Jude's a pretty boy who can't fight. There's an incident—some shoving—and Jude bumps the guy's beer, which spills. It's the perfect trigger. He shouts at Jude to go outside and they fight. Jude's stronger but he's at a disadvantage because the other guy fights a lot. Knows all the dirty tricks. The guy tries to kick Jude's kidneys, brings his fist up under Jude's jaw, gets in some punches.