If You Only Knew- Chapter 9

It took a long time for Lucy to be able to breathe again. Between Flynn's sudden appearance at the gas station and Wyatt bleeding out in her car, she wasn't sure who was the biggest priority right now. Deciding on Flynn, Lucy tried to stifle her uneasiness about his current whereabouts. Adjusting the rearview mirror again, she continued to check the traffic behind them, making sure they were not followed. This could be a disaster in the making if Flynn tried to get the upper hand on them with Wyatt so badly injured.

"You look worried."

"…What?" Lucy asked, taking in Wyatt's appearance for the umpteenth time today. He was pale, sweaty and leaning heavily into the seatbelt, which looked like the only thing that was keeping him upright. "I would say it's more concern than worry."

Wyatt pulled the edges of his open jacket tightly together, trying to ward off the cold against the bare and damp skin underneath. "Talk to me Lucy," he asked speaking to her rational side. "but if your concern is about me, then no worries; I feel fine."

This was the opening Lucy was waiting for. She turned the words over in her head, debating on what to admit or omit about her run in with Flynn and their safety. Lucy was never one to overreact and was usually calm about most situations, but she had to be vigilant right now; she owed him that much. After a little consideration she took a few deep breaths and settled on, "You should really be in a hospital."

Wyatt tiredly turned his head towards Lucy, trying to reassure her by giving her his trademark smirk. "You are right, I probably should be in a hospital, but I appreciate that you did what I asked. Thank you for trusting me."

Five minutes later…

Wyatt was dead on his feet by the time they stumbled into his apartment. His steps became increasingly unsteady as Lucy held him by the waist and guided him towards the bedroom. As they moved across the room, Lucy could feel Wyatt's weight shift against her as he struggled to remain upright.

"I thought you said you felt fine?"

Wyatt breathed out a little chuckle and crooked smile lit his face. "Well I lied… This hurts like hell. Wait until I see Flynn again, that bastard's a dead man."

"I know Wyatt, we will take care of him," Lucy said to appease him, feeling a rush of uncomfortable guilt about keeping her talks with Flynn a secret. "But first, let me take care of you."

Lucy sat down on the bed and helped Wyatt to stretch out by placing a pillow under his head. She didn't take the time to help him ease out of his jacket before she guided him slowly towards the mattress. Dried blood and several purple colored bruises littered Wyatt's torso as the cotton fabric of the jacket fell away exposing his bare skin. Lucy tried not to gasp, but lost the battle quickly. This was her first good look at Wyatt's chest since she found him collapsed on the bathroom floor back at Mason Industries.

Wyatt heard Lucy's distressed sound and tried to lift his head to look at his naked midsection, but the pain shooting up his neck was too much. Dropping his head back on the pillow, he tried to make light of the situation by talking through fast and harsh breaths. "That good, huh?"

"Just relax," Lucy said removing her sweater. "I need to check the bullet wound."

Wyatt sighed softly, allowing his eyes to shut resignedly before nodding in understanding. He just wanted to get this over with.

Lucy gently pulled back the edges of the tape that kept the gauze pad over Wyatt's wound. She could hear Wyatt hiss and felt him move weakly when she tried to remove the large square bandage from his hip. The fibers from the gauze pad clung to the wound in the dried blood and it was pretty obvious that the removal was going to be painful. Lucy touched Wyatt's thigh softly, "I am going to need to get some water to remove this."

Wyatt nodded slowly, tightening his grip on the comforter underneath him as the pain continued to beat in conjunction with his heart. "Just hurry."

After what seemed like forever to Wyatt, Lucy finally appeared next to him with a bowl of hot water and a few wash cloths. "Are you doing okay?"

"Peachy."

Ah, there was the Wyatt that Lucy was growing to know and love. Ringing out the water from the wash cloth, she said "I'll try to be quick." In absolute silence, Lucy began to thoroughly but gently clean the dried blood that covered the right side of Wyatt's abdomen and hip. He moaned weakly as his eyes shut tightly when the rough fabric touched his pale skin. After a few minutes, Lucy was satisfied that she could remove the gauze pad without further injury and began to pull at the edge.

"Son of a bitch!"

"I'm so sorry…" Lucy whispered to him, running her hand up and down the fabric covering his thigh, trying to calm him, "I'm almost done." With trembling fingers, Lucy pulled the last piece of gauze free from Wyatt's abdomen exposing the stitches. Feeling relieved but completely spent, she sat down on the floor next to the bed and held her head in her hands as the tears started to fall freely.

Wyatt's death grip on the comforter lessened when the last piece of the gauze was finally removed. The fatigue, the pain, the cool air on his skin was all too much when his senses finally came back into focus. He felt completely disconnected from his body, like he was floating over the bed. Tears welled up behind his eyes and he squeezed them shut, unable to do much of anything else, until he heard soft sobs…it was Lucy. Like a beacon in the night, Wyatt searched for where the sound was coming from. He quickly realized that she was sitting next to him on the floor of his bedroom. Placing his hand over the side of the bed, he found the top of her head and ran his fingers down her long brown hair. Pulling together enough energy to form a sentence, he whispered faintly, "Thank you."

Lucy didn't respond but the cries became a little more noticeable as the seconds ticked away. Her shoulders heaved, pressing hard against the mattress when she finally realized that she had to pull it together. Wiping the tears from her eyes she stood up next to the bed overlooking Wyatt's still form. He looked very ashen and pale and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent now. His chest rose and fell with short breaths as the pain of the earlier ministrations were etched across his face. Lucy studied the criss cross pattern of the sutures along the side of his hip and swallowed hard to avoid losing what she had in her stomach. Quickly composing herself, she turned back to comforting her new patient and said, "I'm going to rewash my hands and then I will redress this."

Wyatt reached out to take Lucy by the elbow, his eyes reaching into her soul. "It's been a long time since anyone has taken care of me. But, I know this makes you uncomfortable so I can take it from here."

Lucy sat down next to him on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on his chest, offering comfort. "I am exactly where I want to be."

TBC…

A/N: Thanks again to everyone! I hope you enjoyed! :)