by Cara Lynn
Travis was exhausted. He and his men had just finished a long cattle drive and while his men were probably half soused by now, he had just finished up the paperwork for the sale of the cattle and gone to the hotel to clean up.
The hotel arrangements had already been made so he went to his room, took a nice long bath, put on clean clothes and headed to the saloon. He couldn't wait for his first cold beer. He walked toward the saloon and suddenly stopped.
What was that sound? It sounded like whimpering. Where was it coming from? He stood still and listened carefully. It was coming from the alley between the saloon and the general store. Slowly and quietly he made his way toward the sound.
He took a deep breath at what he saw. There was a small child curled up in a ball, whimpering. Quickly he bent down and picked up the small bundle. Instead of a docile kitten, he suddenly found a scratching, fighting wildcat in his arms. Although it didn't take him long to get it under control, he certainly didn't expect this reaction.
"Settle down right now," he snapped. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you," he tried to explain as he turned the fighting bundle in his arms around so he could see what he had.
"My god, you're a little girl," he said shocked.
"No, I'm not! I'm a grown woman. Put me down right now," she screamed at him.
"Not quite yet, young lady," he replied. "Settle down and I'll consider it."
Still squirming for all she was worth she yelled, "God damn it, put me down right now."
"Watch your language young lady or you'll be getting your mouth washed out with soap. Do you understand me?" he said. "Now, settle down right now or I'll turn you over my knee and paddle you until you do settle down."
She quit squirming and settled down. He guessed she knew he was serious about spanking her.
"That's better," he said as he put her back on the ground. Damn, she was a tiny thing. Probably not 5 feet tall and no more than a hundred pounds, soaking wet with dark hair down to her waist.
"Let go of me," she demanded as she looked up into the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen.
He had no intention of completely letting go of her. He knew she'd take off running and he didn't feel like chasing her down. Instead, keeping a firm grip on her arm, he guided her toward the small café that looked to be still open.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Just over to the café," he replied. "I have a lot of questions that you're going to answer; and besides that, I'm hungry."
"I don't want to go with you. I have no intention of answering any questions. I have to get out of here," she said as she pulled away from his grip and took off running.
'Oh, damn it', he said to himself. He really didn't want to chase her and she was running faster than he thought she would, but he knew he'd have no problem catching her.
She ran as fast as she could into the woods. If she couldn't outrun him, maybe she could hide from him. Her adrenaline was so high she forgot about her ribs and all the bruises she had. She probably had a few cracked ribs and she didn't want him to see her face. She was sure she had a black eye.
Suddenly the injuries caught up with her and she collapsed. She was barely breathing when he found her.
'Oh god, what had happened to her?' he wondered, as he scooped her up and headed back to his room at the hotel.
As he walked through the door with her in his arms he shouted to the manager, "Get the doctor and send him up to my room immediately."
He opened the door, turned on the lights and laid her on his bed. Only with the lights on did he see her face. Son of a bitch, someone had taken their fists to her. He wanted to find the SOB and use his fists on him. Who'd do this to such a tiny woman? He was furious and instantly promised himself he would protect her.
For some unknown reason he felt an immediate connection to this tiny person lying on his bed. Where was the damn doctor? He was getting more frustrated by the minute. Then there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he hollered. The door opened and the manager stood there with another man. "You the doctor?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm Doctor Reynolds," he replied. "And who are you?" he asked Travis.
"I'm Travis Grant," he replied.
"Who's this? If you did this to her, then we better get the sheriff," Doctor Reynolds said looking directly at the hotel manager as he began to examine her.
"Whoa, hold on there Doctor Reynolds. I would never take my fist to a woman. I may put her over my knee, but never would I hit a woman," he repeated in a rather loud voice.
"I found her in the alley and when I tried to get her to answer some questions, like 'why are you curled up in a ball on the ground in the alley crying?' she took off running. I chased her into the woods and when I caught up with her I found her on the ground like this, barely breathing.
Satisfied with his answer the hotel manager left.
Travis watched as the doctor lifted her shirt. It revealed deep bruising. Most of her chest was already black, blue and purple. Probably several of her ribs were broken.
"Doc, are her ribs broken? Have they pierced her lung?" he asked. He had medical training from his years in the service, Special Forces to be specific.
"So, my boy, how much medical training have you had?" the doctor asked him.
"Just what I learned in Special Forces, doc. Looks like she took quite a beating; is she going to be all right?" he asked, very concerned.
"I don't think any of her ribs are broken, but a few are definitely cracked. Looks like her cheek bone may be cracked too. And, I'm sure she has a concussion. Can you help me get her out of these clothes so I can check for other injuries?" he asked Travis.
"Sure, doc, no problem; she's light as a feather, I'll just lift her up while you pull her jeans and shirt off," Travis replied.
When they got her clothes off, several bruises were revealed on her wrists and upper arms. There were also marks on her back indicating someone had taken a belt to her back. Her legs had bruises too. All in all she was a mess.
No wonder she had been crying and trying to run away. There was definitely someone she needed to run away from; but Travis couldn't wait to meet up with him. Being 6 feet 4 inches and over 200 pounds, it would certainly be much more of a fair fight, he thought to himself.
"It doesn't look like she has any life-threatening injuries. She probably collapsed from sheer exhaustion. She's dehydrated and probably hasn't eaten in a while. It's going to take her several weeks to recover and she's going to need at least a week of bed rest. Are you going to be able to stay with her that long?" Doctor Reynolds asked him.
"Actually, I'm supposed to leave tomorrow. I need to get back to my ranch. Can she ride in a truck? I can probably get back to the ranch in 3 days and I intend to take her with me. She can ride that long?" Travis asked.
"If she comes to, the trip will actually keep her fairly immobile so that'd be okay. Although, I'm not so sure she is going to agree with your plan," he chuckled. "How about we get her washed up before she wakes up and starts fighting us?" he asked Travis.
"Sounds like a good idea, doc," Travis said as he headed toward the bathroom. He came out with a warm wet wash rag and began to wash her face then her hands. She looked a little better with the dirt off her face, but she definitely was going to have a black eye.
"Okay, son, that's all I can do for her. She should wake up in a few hours. She'll have a nasty headache. Have you been trained in giving injections?" doc asked.
"I know how to give injections, why?" Travis asked.
"I'm leaving you several syringes full of a strong pain killer. She may need that for the next several days, after that Tylenol should be enough for the pain. The most important thing is rest. You'll also have to make sure she drinks plenty of fluid. I didn't start an IV, but if she doesn't drink, that's what'll be necessary. She needs to eat too. She certainly can't afford to lose any weight," doc instructed. "Do you have any questions?"
"No questions, doc. Thanks for all of your help. How much do I owe you?" Travis asked.
"Don't worry about it. If you're willing to take care of her and nurse her back to health, the least I can do is treat her for free," doc chuckled as he left.
Travis stared down at the tiny woman in his bed and shook his head. What had he gotten himself into? He knew she wasn't going to be very happy when she finally woke up. Thankfully she was too beaten up to put up much of a fight.
He needed to eat something before she woke up so he called the front desk and ordered himself a nice meal. He also ordered her some juice, a sandwich and some pudding.
Getting her to eat it without putting her over his knee was going to be a task. He sure didn't want to cause her any more pain, but he'd do what was necessary to get her healthy again.
It didn't take long for the room service meal to be delivered. He had the lad put the meal on the table, tipped him and sat down to eat. The food was very good. Just as he finished he saw her move.
Quickly he moved the chair over next to the bed. Her eyes fluttered and she moaned. She glanced over at him and jumped up, dismayed to find herself in only her underwear.
"Get away from me," she shrieked. "Where am I? Where are my clothes? What did you do to me?" she was still shrieking.
"If you'll calm down, I'll be happy to answer all of your questions," he calmly told her. "Please lie back down and for god's sake cover yourself up."
Not listening to a word he said, she ran around the bed looking for her clothes and then she got really faint. Fortunately he was watching her face and knew just when she'd collapse and was quick enough to catch her. Once again he scooped her up and put back in bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.
Next he went to the bathroom and once again got the wash cloth, wet with cold water this time, and started wiping down her face and the neck. Soon she opened her eyes again.
This time he glared at her and said, "Do not open your mouth. Do you understand me?"
She nodded with tears streaming down her face. Her head hurt so much.
"Honey, what's wrong? Are you in pain?" he gently asked her.
Again she just nodded yes and continued to cry.
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