Chương 2 - THE IMPROVISED BANDAGE
The icy rain beat down mercilessly, washing the blood from Roman’s hands into the swirling drain six inches from Naen’s knees.
Naen didn't run. She looked at his pale, sweating face, then at the dark red pool expanding beneath his charcoal overcoat. She had spent enough time in emergency waiting rooms with her son to know what arterial bleeding looked like.
"If I walk away," Naen said, her voice shaking but resolute, "you die right here on the bricks."
Without waiting for his consent, Naen reached down, grabbed the front of her clean white work apron, and gave it a sharp, violent tug. The cheap cotton fabric tore with a loud SNAP, ripping away in a thick, folded strip.
Roman reached out with his right hand, his ink-tattooed fingers wrapping around her wrist like a clamp of cold steel. His grip was surprisingly heavy for a man losing consciousness, his jaw muscles clenching in warning.
"Don't touch me, girl," he growled low in his throat.
Naen looked him straight in the eyes, refusing to pull her hand back.
"You can choke me after I stop the bleeding," she retorted, her practical, desperate bravery overriding any fear of his intimidating build. "Otherwise, you're going to bleed out in a grease trap."
She pulled her wrist free from his weakening grip, folded the clean white cotton apron into a thick, firm compress, and shoved it directly against the wound under his charcoal coat, applying the full weight of her upper body.
Roman let out a sharp, choked gasp, his head snapping back against the wet brick wall. His eyes flared with a mixture of blinding pain and profound, shocked disbelief. No one had ever touched him without permission; no one had ever spoken to him with such raw, unvarnished defiance.
May you like
"Press hard," Naen instructed, grabbing his large, bloodstained hand and forcing his fingers to hold the cloth in place. "Keep pressure on it. I'm going to run inside and call an ambulance."
Before Roman could form another word, the sound of screeching tires echoed violently down the alleyway.
