Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down Read Online Free PDF Page A

knee with another piece of gauze, and I was relieved to see the wound already knitting together for the most part.  “You’ll need an ultrasound or an x-ray to see if I’ve gotten all the metal out, but I reckon Jenessa could be the one to handle that if you’d rather.  Should be enough to get you home without too much discomfort.”
    I extended my leg gingerly at first, with growing confidence, finally laying my hand over the site with gentle pressure.  The deep pain was completely gone. 
    “Where did you learn how to do that?”
    “In the trenches,” he replied, dropping down to mop up the worst of the blood from the floor.  My clothes weren’t too badly splattered, but his shirt was ruined.  “Course none of it went so smooth for them as it did for you.  You’ve a lotta bottle, you know that?”
    “Huh?”  My head tilted to one side, he’d lost me on that one. 
    “You’re one brave lady,” he clarified, tossing the mess into the garbage.
    “I don’t think bravery has anything to do with it.  It’s not like my knee healed up on account of any particular virtue of mine, it’s just one of the vampire perks.”  
    “But it was brave of you to sit through it without so much as a peep, so learn to take a compliment, yeah?”  Rob offered me his hand, and I jumped down, wary at first, but my knee cooperated fine.  “You should have more blood, you’ve been th rough a lot.”
    For a split second, I thought he was offering, but we both knew what a bad idea that would be.  Besides, physically I was in pretty good shape, and after spending just this small amount of time alone with him, my psyche was well on the way to recharging as well. 
    “I could say the same thing for you,” I pointed out.  “You’re the one who doesn’t have supernatural healing.  Are you sure you’re completely recovered from… what happened?”  I still couldn’t bring myself to spell out his actual injuries.
    “I’m alright, Jakob’s blood fixed me up good.  Just another scar to add to the mix.”
    My fingers found the pucker of flesh under his shirt.  I wanted to see how bad it was, but it would probably look kind of strange if anyone happened to walk in.  “Is there anything I can do to help that?” 
    Rob was silent for long moments as my fingers undid one of the buttons and slid across the skin over his heart.  There were people moving around outside in the hall, shouts in the distance, the sounds of activity all around us.  Our haven was definitely compromised.  “Nah, it’s fine,” Rob shrugged it off, taking a step backwards to refasten the button, his face shuttering as we heard voices outside the door, probably Winter coming to check up on me. 
    But it was Bishop who gave a single knock and poked his head in, not the doctor.  “Everything okay in here?”  He’d managed a change of clothes, looking more like his old self in dark jeans and a slim fitting shirt.   
    “Yep, all better, thanks.  Remind me never to get shot again .  It’s definitely not on my top ten list of fun things to do while visiting England.”
    “I’ve been there,” Bishop returned with a rueful grin, looking up at Rob, noticing the smears of dried blood all over his hands and the spattered shirt.  “You okay, Rob?”
    “I’d better go wash up.  Keep an eye on her for me, and yell if everything starts to go pear shaped again, yeah?”
    “She’s in good hands with me,” Bishop promised, and I could practically see Rob trying to work out if Bishop meant anything by it. 
    “I’m safe enough here, Jakob saw to that,” I reminded them both.  If anything, it was Jakob’s hands Rob should be worried about, not Bishop’s.  I was still slightly fuzzy on what Jakob expected in return for his assistance. 
    “How are you?  Are you okay?” I asked Bishop once Rob slipped out.
    “It wasn’t the best couple of days, but I’ve had worse.”
    My jaw dropped.  “Please tell me you’re kidding.