Driving down the road mostly using her knees to steer Jess reached into the back with her right arm. Keeping her eyes on the road Jess grabbed her first aide bag by feel and dragged it into the front of the truck. Pulling out a roll of tensor bandage Jess started to wrap it as tight as she could around the wound on her arm. Suddenly the bags in the bag shifted and Jess's stow away was reaching forwards and grabbing the tensor bandages. He began to wrap it tightly around the wound without saying a word. Jess put her right hand back on the wheel as she maneuvered the wheel for a tight left turn then went back to steering with her knees as she went digging around some more in the first aide bag. Jess could feel the man's hands tremble as he applied pressure to her arm. Pulling out some thick gauze and another tensor bandage Jess held them over her shoulder towards the man.
"Can you patch yourself up a bit to try and slow the bleeding?" Jess asked making eye contact with the man through the rear view mirror. The stranger gave a sharp nod and took the supplies from Jess.
A voice so soft she nearly missed it whispered. "Thanks...for everything." Watching the man in the rear view mirror painfully struggle out of his leather jacket Jess swerved sharply when she saw the man grit his teeth, and yank the crossbolt out of his side. Frantically pulling the truck over, Jess spun around and scrambling into the back seat she clamped her hands over the wound to apply more pressure. Causing the man to groan loudly.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jess screeched at the shocked man who tried to pull away but found himself cornered, half lying in the back seat with Jess kneeling beside him using both hands to apply pressure to the wound. "You can't just blindly yank out an arrow like that! What if it was in a vital oragan or tangled in your intestines!" Using her injured left arm to continue applying pressure Jess reached for the bag in the front with her right arm and started pulling out supplies. "I can do a quick patch job so you don't bleed out but we need to get you too a Doctor ASAP!"
"Don't want to see a Doctor. Don't trust them." The mystery man ground the words out tossing his head wildly, his teeth clenched against the pain. "Had no other choice. It's fine. It will heal." He hissed out grinding his teeth and groaning again as Jess slapped more gauze to the wound and applied more pressure.
Looking at the intense pain and touch of fear in the man's eyes and hearing him groan drained all the anger out of Jess. Had his actions been stupid? Yes. Had Jess ever done equally as stupid things while injured and panicked? Also yes. Was it stupid of him not to see a Doctor while badly injured? Yes. Did Jess also plan to avoid seeing a Doctor for her own injury? Again, also yes. After using her right hand to tape the bandage over the wound Jess kept a steady pressure on the wound with her left hand. "I know a place where we can get you treated. No doctor's will touch you but I can do an x-ray and stitch you up." Pulling more supplies from a small bag within the large bag Jess used her right hand to draw up a shot of mixed pain meds and sedatives. Capping the needle Jess suddenly felt the man tense under her hand and try to shift away groaning and growling softly. Hearing the growl Jess froze. Turning to the man Jess saw sharp teeth and blue glowing eyes. After everything else that had happened, and all the weird flashes of feelings she had been getting while in the town Jess found that she was not nearly as surprised or scared as she would have expected to be when faced with some kind of Wolfman. Instead she felt the same instincts she usually used when treating feral and wild animals guide her movements. A calmness washed over Jess as she took a deep breath and locked eyes with the Wolfman.
"What the hell is that? Who are you?" The man snarled trying to inch away from Jess in the close confines of the back seat filled with bags. His eyes were wild and his breathing was speeding up and he sounded more then a little frightened.
Slowly setting the needle down Jess held up her empty right hand and slowly forced her tensed muscles to relax. "Hey now, it's alright." Jess spoke softly in the slightly lilting tone she used with distressed strays. "I work for a vet and volunteer treating strays out of my truck." Jess said slowly setting her right hand on the man's leg which was the closest uninjured part of him. "No funny buisness going on here. I always have a stocked first aide kit with me and I was just drawing up a shot of pain meds for you." Slowly stroking her hand up and down the leg Jess made sure to maintain eye contact and keep her voice as soft and soothing as she could. Feeling the tensed muscles slowly start to relax Jess kept stroking his leg and holding pressure on his wound. "Shhh, shhh, shhh. Your alright." Jess cooed softly watching the man's eyes blink rapidly. When the man didn't respond in any other way and his muscles slowly continued to relax Jess stopped petting his leg and slowly reached for the shot. Instantly the man tensed back up and snarled softly. "Hey, hey, hey..." Jess sang softly using her teeth to pull the cap off the needle. The man shifted weakly under her hand so Jess let the needle cap fall from her mouth and started crooning loudly. "It's OK baby. It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you baby. Just a little prick and you will feel much better." The man froze and stared at Jess in shocked disbelief for a moment at the string of sappy words. Blaming the blood loss and head injury for the mushy baby talk Jess took her chance and jabbed the needle quickly into his hip and injected the strong mixed pain killer and sedative into him.
The Wolfman jumped and let out a loud snarling roar and manged to shove Jess away from him before curling in on himself around his wounded side. Leaning back to give the man a moment to settle down Jess carefully put the cap back on the needle and packed away the small bag of medicines into her larger first aide bag. Jess felt slightly guilty for forcing the medication on the man but he was badly injured and had lost a lot of blood and Jess didn't think she could just drive him to the local hospital for treatment if he passed out. She was going to have to treat him herself and the way he was acting with the snarling and teeth Jess needed him to calm down so she could properly treat the wound. A small part may also have been her automatically reverting to the way she would behave when treating one of the strays she tended to pick up when faced with a growling animal because of her blood loss and the repeated blows to the head from being slammed against the side of the truck.
Picking up a blanket Jess turned back to the Wolfman and saw that his features had returned to looking like a normal man except for his eyes. They still kept flashing a shining blue as he huddled against the door of the truck panting heavily and eying her with clear distrust showing on his face. Holding up the soft blanket Jess slowly started inching over towards the man. "I'm sorry honey. I didn't mean to scare you." Jess cooed gently. Seeing the man's eyes start to dim slightly and his head slowly lower Jess slowly and carefully laid the blanket around his shoulders. The man's head shot back up and he gave a weak growl. Watching him carefully Jess saw his eyes flash, but his teeth and face stayed normal. Cooing softly Jess placed her hand on his back and started rubbing slow circles. "It's alright baby. Your safe now. Those awful men are gone. Your safe." Jess cooed in a lilting sing song voice the same way she would to a frightened stray dog.
When the man's head started bobbing again Jess decided to try to lay him down on the seat to check his wound. Taking him softly by the shoulders Jess continued to coo and croon to him. But when she tried to push him to lay down he shook his head violently and tensed up. Pulling away from her hands he wrapped his left arm around his stomach and grabbed the edge of the driver's seat in front of him with his right arm leaning his head forwards against the seat and turned to stare at Jess.
Locking eyes with Jess the man blinked heavily and as his eyes cleared slightly he growled out. "What the hell did you do to me? Who the hell are you? Why? Why can't I think straight?" The panic and fear in his voice made Jess's stomach twist.
Holding up her empty right hand Jess crooned softly at the panicked man. "Shhhh, it's OK puppy." When she said puppy the man blinked several times and shook his head sharply again.
"My name is Jess Black. I was hanging out in my truck on the edge of the woods when you came running out of the woods. You were being chased. You were hurt and said you didn't want to go to a Doctor so I gave you some medicine to help you feel better." Jess told him softly. Reaching out she started to gently brush the back of her fingers along the side of his right arm. Watching the man shake his head and squint at her as he tried to process what she was saying Jess asked him. "Do you remember any of that?"
Licking his lips and swallowing several times the man slowly nodded his head before suddenly sitting bolt upright in the seat. "Argent!" He yelled looking around the truck frantically. "Argent is after me! Argent is chasing me and I'm all alone! How can I protect myself if I'm hurt when I'm all alone?!?" The man's voice broke and the last part of the frantic question came out as almost a sob.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jess crooned gently grabbing the panicked man by the shoulder. "Your safe. Argent is gone. We got away!" Staring into his confused, frightened eyes Jess threw caution to the wind and wrapped her arms firmly around the drugged up Wolfman and pulled him against her side.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh. You're safe. You're OK. You're safe now. You're not alone anymore baby. I've got you now." Jess crooned gently rocking the trembling man. Reaching up with her right arm Jess gave in to the urge she had been fighting since she first started trying to help the injured man and started to comb her fingers through his short hair while she continued to rock him gently and croon to him. "Everything's going to be OK puppy. I've got you now. You're not alone anymore. " Slowly Jess felt the man's body stop trembling and she felt him gradually start to relax into her arms. "The bad man is gone now. You're safe. I'm here." Relaxing back against the seat Jess held the man to her left side, slowly stroking his hair with her right hand over and over. Her left arm and her head were both throbbing with each beat of her heart and she was feeling more then a little light headed. Jess recognized that her actions were slightly erratic and wondered just how bad of a concussion she had. Jess had no idea how long they sat in the back seat with the man cuddled against her side with his head on her shoulder. Occasionally he would tense up against her side. But a soft wordless croon and her fingers stroking though his hair would usually get him to shift and press his face closer to her neck and sniff deeply before he relaxed again and settled back down.Anne had calmed down once they got away from Argent and his men, and had fallen asleep curled in the front seat ages ago. At some point Jess was sure the man had fallen deeply asleep as well but she didn't want to risk waking him up trying to move herself back to the front seat and driving them back to the clinic.
The next time the man tensed up beside her Jess moved on auto pilot. Lifting her hand Jess carded her fingers through his hair and cooed softly to him. When he still didn't relax or move to sniff at her neck Jess continued to stroke his hair and spoke softly to him. Mindlessly repeating the same few phrases that seemed to calm him the quickest. "It's OK puppy. You're safe. Shhh, shhh, shhh. Go back to sleep baby. I've got you. You're not alone anymore. You're safe now." To Jess's surprise the man started to tremble again.The sudden change pulled Jess slightly out of the brain fog she had sunk into from blood loss and her head injury. "Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong baby?" Jess cooed softly. Reaching for another blanket Jess tucked it around the trembling man. "Are you cold?" Pressing her hand to the skin on the back of the man's neck Jess tried to feel his temperature. The trembling stopped but the man was extremely tense. Realizing it had been a good while since she started cuddling with him Jess started to worry that the injury in his side was causing problems. Stroking his hair over and over Jess began to gently rock him again. When he still didn't relax Jess gently shifted him off her shoulder and back against the seat. "Does your side hurt puppy?"
Reaching down Jess lifted his shirt and felt for heat or swelling around the injury. Cooing gently Jess caught the edges of the tape and warned softly. "I need to take this off to check on things baby. I'm sorry puppy but it might hurt a bit. But I have to make sure everything looks OK."
Before she could undo the tape and lift the bandages to check it, the man lifted his head and turning to Jess he scowled darkly and answered her for the first time in hours. "No." Catching her arm he gently pushed it away from his side and slowly uncurled himself from the ball of cuddly puppy that he had become when Jess started holding and petting him.
"My side does not hurt...and my name is Derek. Not baby, or puppy." Rubbing a hand over his face he groaned. "While I am grateful for the assistance. If you ever drug me like that again..." The man spoke in a hard voice and let the sentence trail off threateningly.
Jess froze for a moment shocked at the sudden change in behavior. A small voice in the back of her mind told her that the drugs wouldn't have suddenly stopped working so abruptly and drastically. Which likely meant that some part of the man had enjoyed and welcomed the cuddling and cooing. But her mind was so clouded with pain she just blinked sluggishly. "Welcome back to the waking world then, Derek." Jess said softly making sure not to accidently slip and call him by a pet name. The angry eyebrows and slight pout actually made her want to cuddle the man as much if not more then when he was frightened and confused. "I'm sorry for the confusion the drugs caused you. They should have just numbed the pain and made you a little more relaxed. I blame the pet names and any and all baby talk that you can remember on my blood loss and concussion. It may also have had a hand in my rash decision to give you the meds without your permission." Moving slowly Jess carefully placed her hand on Derek's arm and asked softly. "Are you feeling OK now? Is it alright if I take a look at your side? I'm so sorry about the shot. My normal filter seems to have been knocked loose by the repeated blows to my head."
Derek blinked a few times then shook his head and cleared his throat. "Not a problem. As long as you don't ever do it again." Sitting up even straighter he continued. "And there is no need for you to check my side."
Jess frowned and tightened her grip on his arm slightly. "Please Derek? I'll be as careful as I can. I just want to get some antibiotic cream on it and a fresh bandage. After everything that has happened tonight I couldn't forgive myself if it got infected and you got seriously ill from it." Showing Derek the tube of cream and the fresh bandages Jess pushed the rest of the bag way over into he driver's seat out of easy reach and put her hand back on his arm. "No more needles." She promised softly while starting to gently stroke his arm.
Derek froze for a moment before pulling his arm away and shaking his head slightly again. Reaching down he pulled up his shirt with one hand and ripped the tape and bandages away in one hard yank. "See for yourself." He grumbled.
Jess gasped and reached for him in concern when she saw him yank off the bandages. Freezing Jess stared at the spot on his side that had been wounded. There was no sign of the wound. Just clean skin with no sign of an injury or even a scar. Reaching out Jess lightly trailed her fingers over the smooth skin.
"One of the many perks of being a werewolf is the extremely quick healing time." Derek told Jess with a slight smirk watching her gently examin the skin on his side. Suddenly Derek sniffed the air and slowly turned his face around in all direction before he stopped to stare at Jess. "You aren't a werewolf." Derek stated loudly suddenly grabbing her right arm and pushing her gently back from her inspection of the skin on his side. Staring at her left arm and it's clumsy bandage Derek scowled fiercely. "You need a doctor."
Jess blinked at the sudden change of topic until she saw the way Derek was staring at the messy bandages on her left arm. "Huh..." Jess grunted staring down at her injury herself. "Now that you mention it I do recall thinking that my injury looked like it would need some kind of treatment at some point." Looking at the time on her watch Jess saw it was after Midnight. "Oh, crap!" Jess panicked. "I was supposed to be back at the vet clinic hours ago." Pulling away from Derek Jess pulled out her cell phone and turned it on. Watching as message after message popped up on the screen she groaned. Tossing it to the side Jess grabbed her first aide bag and started cleaning up anything with the slightest trace of blood, shoving it all into the bag. "I need to get back there ASAP in case Dr. Deaton is still waiting for me!" Looking around the disastrous mess in the back seat Jess groaned. "But I need to clean up all this mess first or anyone who looks in my truck will think someone was murdered back here!" Turning to Derek Jess bit her lip and hesitated. "Um...do you want to come with me back to the vet's office? Once I explain everything to Deaton, and I will probably need to report this to the police or something...I can get you an x-ray if you want one?"
"Not necessary." Derek said calmly, helping to gather up the mess.
Jess blinked slowly a few times and pressed the palm of her right hand against her head groaning from the pounding headache. "Ok... is there somewhere safe from that crazy Argent guy that I can drop you off?"
Derek shook his head at the girl in disbelief. "Me? You're worrying about me right now? You need to worry about yourself." Derek grabbed her phone and started to rapidly flip through it. After a moment pf typing he clicked one last button and Jess heard a chime sounding from the leather jacket that was lying in the floor of the truck. Derek handed Jess her phone and grabbing the jacket he slipped out the door of the truck. "You saved me tonight. Even if I didn't like all your methods. And you did it even after being hurt because of me. I owe you one." Derek said frowning at the first aide bag. "I think we can both agree to blame any craziness that happened between us on the combination of your head injury and my bad reaction to my unwilling drugging." Helping Jess to slip down out of the back seat and frowning when she swayed slightly for a moment before finding her balance Derek finished cleaning up all the mess and shoving it into her first aide bag.
Reaching around Derek Jess hit the hidden latch on the underside of the bench seat and lifted it up showing a large hidden compartment under the seat.
Smiling at her sneaky hiding place Derek shoved the first aide bag into the space and lowering the seat he pushed down firmly and heard the latch click into place. Stepping back Derek gently closed the back door of the truck. Taking Jess by the arm he guided her towards the driver's door. Opening the door he effortlessly lifted Jess up to sit perched on the edge of the driver's seat. Anne woke up and stretched on the passenger seat tail wagging and not seeming at all bothered by the stranger. Unwrapping the tensor bandage Derek gently removed Jess's bloody blouse leaving her in just her tank top. "Sorry." He said softly when the dried blood came loose and the wound started bleeding heavily again. "But my blood is all over this shirt. If the police are involved and take it for evidence it will cause a lot of probing questions I would rather avoid." Wrapping the bloody bandage back into place over the wound Derek tucked the shirt under his arm and stood staring at Jess.
Shrugging her one uninjured shoulder Jess brushed off the apology. "Meh, all this isn't even that bad of a set of injuries. Nothing at all really compared to the shit show that was the beginning of the summer of 2007."
Raising en eyebrow Derek scoffed. "Stab wound on arm, bruised and possibly fractured ribs, strangulation marks around your neck likely with light damage to your throat, concussion and head wound from slamming repeatedly into the truck? You call these injuries not so bad?"
Laughing softly Jess lifted her hand and put up a finger per injury as she recited proudly. "Arm broken in two spots and shoulder of same arm dislocated, three broken ribs resulting in one very punctured lung, injured throat, and a much more serious head injury needing staples to hold my shifting broken skull in place. Happened the summer after I turned 13. I spent an entire summer in the hospital recovering. One of the best summers I can remember."
Tilting his head to one side Derek asked confused. "Not entirely sure what questions I want to ask and have answered first." He began hesitantly. "What happened? Car accident?" He guessed.
Jess barked out a short harsh laugh. "Hell no! My one and only car accident in life left me with very little physical injuries. Just a boatload of psychological ones. I got to watch my parents die in front of me. No, the summer after I turned 13 Social Services wanted to bribe me into better behavior before High School started so they finally caved and put me in a home that had a dog. Everything went great for the first few months. The foster dad was a dog trainer and I was his shining little protégé. Right up until the moment the dogs stopped listening to him and decided to only listen to me. He was convinced I had somehow used a spell on them with magic and decided to beat the magic out of me. Spent the summer in the hospital being pampered and spoiled by the nurses before being moved to a new area in the fall and a note going in my file to never allow me in a home with pets again." Jess finished her story calmly as if she had been simply telling about something that had happened to somebody else. "That is a big part of why I decided to leave the foster system the day I turned 16 and never go back if I could help it. Been rambling along for nearly a year now."
Lowering his head Derek clenched both fists and growled long and low. "Well foster care sounds freaking delightful. I am glad I never had to deal with them. " Taking a few careful measured breaths he slowly lifted his head his flashing bright blue and pointed a trembling finger at the phone still clutched loosely in her hand. "If you EVER need my help. No matter how minor or major your problem is. You call or text me and I will be there. I already added me contact info to your phone." Derek shot her a grin with slightly more teeth then was socially acceptable. "Especially if the problem is with Argent. I have a feeling the creep isn't done messing up either of our lives." Turning to walk away Derek called back over his shoulder. "Wait a few minutes for me to get away then call someone for help. You shouldn't be driving with such a serious head wound." Walking backwards away from her he grinned. "I already just kind of adopted myself a younger brother who needs help only I can provide with wolfy problems so I might not always be instantly available. But I will try my best to always get to you as quickly as possible. Tonight you're quick thinking in an emergency has managed to win you a big brother figure. Welcome to the Pack! Remember, just give me a minute or two to get a bit of distance then call someone for help before you pass out." He said while he disappeared into the trees.
Sitting alone in her truck still holding her phone Jess stared down at her phone at all the text messages and missed calls from Dr. Deaton and a bunch from unknown numbers. Suddenly a new text appeared saying it was sent by Derek Hale. Laughing to herself when she realized that until just now she hadn't even known the man's last name Jess read the text.
Big brother checking in. I am far enough away now. Call someone to come help you! Now before you pass out. Or I will come back and drag you to a hospital myself! -Derek
Chucking at the bossy message Jess pulled shut the door of the truck and buckled up her seat belt. There was no way she was going to call someone for help when she was just a few minutes drive away from the clinic. She would just drive to the clinic and head inside. If the vet was still there she would try and come up with some sort of explanation of where she had been for the past few hours. Hopefully she could just blame her concussion and say she got lost and dizzy and pulled over to rest until she felt safe to drive again. Maybe she would get lucky and the vet would have simply given up on waiting for her and gone home for the night.
Thinking about everything that had happened Jess started weighing the likelihood of her chances of ending up back in the Foster Care system if anyone noticed her injuries and forced her to see a doctor. Deciding that she needed to make sure her new brother figure had his story straight Jess opened her messages and sent a reply to Derek.
Pretty sure I am going to end up back in Foster Care after tonight if anyone notices these injuries and makes me see a Doctor. Which means Social Workers and officials being nosy. So if you ever have to tell someone you are my unofficial brother tell them you ran away from foster care and it is what gave me the idea to try running away. Tell them it is the reason you were not allowed contact with me for the past few years until I ran away myself because I was so miserable and wanted to see you so badly. Hopefully most normal people will try not to mention your time in Foster Care to anyone official if we stick to that story. - Jess
Made up back story in place Jess carefully put down the phone and started the trip back to the Animal Clinic.