Hi! This excerpt is from my first novel Scars of the Bifrost

I am so excited to show it to my readers! :)

I put it under Percy Jackson because they are both sci-fi/fantasy/mythological realism

Come check it out on Amazon!

First Aid (From Scars of the Bifrost)

"Hey, you all right? I asked softly. He was out cold.I frowned and took out my first aid kit, waterproof winter blanket, and third tarp. I opened the first aid kit and laid out what I would probably need: scissors, gauze, dental floss, needle, alcohol, iodine, antibiotic cream, rubber gloves, and duct tape.

I pulled the pair of rubber gloves over my hands and wrists covering the top of my thermal sleeves. He had managed to take off his own shirt, but must have passed out before he could remove his pants.

Of course, I thought. I unbuttoned his muddy, wet, bloodstained jeans and squinted my eyes half closed as I shimmied them down off of his body along with his river soaked underpants, and threw them and his shirt on the other side of the incline, away from my clothes to avoid his blood. I blew out a breath – this guy was ripped with muscles.

Probably a quarterback, I figured.

I covered him with my blanket from his torso to his thighs, then went about checking his wounds. The bullet had entered his right leg and exited perforating through the first few layers of flesh and leaving two round holes. I washed the wound off with some ofmy drinking water, then saturated it with iodine. I dabbed it dry with a pad of clean white gauze.

Next, I sterilized my needle with the alcohol, threaded it with the dental floss and proceeded to make tiny stitches in the strangers skin to bind and close the wound. He moaned a little but otherwise, didn't stir.

Nice and tight, my mother's voice in my head coached.

When I was satisfied, I smeared the wound with antibiotic cream, covered it with fresh gauze, and duct taped it in place. I attended to the second wound the same way, and felt

more comfortable that it wasn't fatal. I removed the bloody gloves and set them into his clothes pile. I covered his full body with my blanket and laid the second tarp over that to trap in his body heat. Then I put my stuff back into my pack and dumped the contents of his carefully, hoping their were some extra clothes in it. Sure enough, he had a few sets of clothes: jeans, t-shirts, a hoodie, raincoat, a couple pairs of socks and underwear, along with sweat pants and a sweat shirt.

I warmed my hands with my breath and reached under the blanket and tarp to feel his arms and was need to disturb him or cause him pain by trying to yank up sweatpants, so I set them out to the side, close to his head for later. I did slide on a pair of clean dry socks onto his feet, then I took a moment to peek into the main pocket of his pack. He had a toothbrush in a travel case, toothpaste, and a trial size mouthwash, a comb, wallet, and swiss army knife. Good, he takes care of his oral hygiene and doesn't have anything weird. Seems normal.

I put everything back into his pack, even though I was curious... I didn't even know his name and here I was performing surgery on his body.

I hadn't heard anyone crashing through the woods towards us but I wasn't taking any chances. I rummaged through my pack again ,took out a black silken bag, and dumped it's contents. From so many years of practice, I had my Take Down bow assembled in less than two minutes. I snapped together a dozen bolts and set them in my cloth quiver next to me on the floor for easy access. Then I pulled my belt around my waist and fastened the buckle with my hatchet and hunting knife looped through it.

That Taker attack was the closest one ever. A few minutes earlier, they would have had me for sure. Really, this handsome stranger had just saved my life, and he didn't even realize it.

I settled down for what was sure to be along evening. I decided against using my iPod. I needed to hear every sound tonight.

I had never seen nor heard of Takers chasing like that. They usually grabbed their victims then evaporated like in some sci-fi flick. People had been speculating for five years about what foreign enemy had invented the strange new was taking the credit.

I considered the bookstore guy. He had been also drove like he was a professional race car driver. It had been impressive.I took a deep breath into my lungs and blew it out slowly. His skin was the color of dark hair and lashes framed his face dramatically. The dried blood and dirt on his forehead and cheek only enhanced his features. I noticed a couple of small scars – one on his forehead, and one at his jawline. His muscles were built as if he were a trained athlete, and considering the endurance he showed getting here, that seemed to make sense. He couldn't have been much older than I was – we could have been the same age – seventeen...maybe he was a year older.

I sat into the late evening until the March cold drove me underneath the blanket with the boy.

Purely survival, I told myself. After constructing a blanket-tarp barrier between our two bodies, I laid facing away from him and listened intently to our surroundings. Soon the lullaby of cold and darkness settled me to sleep.