Rogue Star: Frozen Earth (A Post-Apocalyptic Technothriller) by Jasper T. Scott

Author:Jasper T. Scott [Scott, Jasper T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anthem Press
Published: 2018-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 34

I went straight to the bathroom to check myself in the mirror.

“Logan, wait!” Kate called after me. “Let me help you down the stairs.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

At the sound of our voices, Rachel came running from the living room. “Daddy!”

Alex trailed behind her at a more reserved pace. Rachel stopped abruptly, and horror flashed in her eyes when she saw me. Her mouth popped open and she screamed before turning and running back the other way. Harry’s wife, Deborah, emerged from the living room as well. She and Alex stood off at a distance in the hallway, staring at me like I was some kind of monster.

Fearing that might actually be the case, I darted into the bathroom and hit the lights. My mind instantly rejected the face in the mirror. I stood blinking in confusion at my own reflection. My entire face was stained red. Chunks of clotted blood were stuck in my beard and hair. Sparkling bits of glass pocked my cheeks, and one and two-inch-long splinters protruded like spikes from a dozen different places. My coat was shredded and drenched with blood, dark red stuffing oozing out everywhere.

Kate caught up to me in the bathroom. “Where did all the blood come from?” she asked.

I turned to her with a grimace. “Not mine,” I said simply.

“But you are hurt,” Kate said.

I nodded, wincing as the full measure of those hurts hit me for the first time. Now that we were safe, at least for the time being, my brain was free to nag me about all the niggling injuries I’d sustained—and the not-so-niggling gash in my shoulder.

“I need you to get undressed,” Kate said, looking me over once more.

“Yeah,” I replied.

She pointed over my shoulder. “Get in the shower. I’ll be back.”

I stripped down, peeling away layer after layer until I was naked and shivering. I went to stand in the shower, and Kate came back with the first-aid kit. She opened it on top of the toilet. It was the size of a toolbox. Taking out a sheet of gauze, she doused it in rubbing alcohol and turned to me.

“This is going to hurt,” Kate said. Finding a concentration of a dozen minor cuts on my chest and stomach, she wiped the gauze over them. Alcohol seeped in and trickled down my front. I screamed and slapped the wall. But I’d forgotten about my shoulder. The resulting flash of pain from that injury put me on my ass in the shower.

“Logan! Are you okay?” I nodded and leaned my head back, feeling sick and light-headed. “Maybe I’d better stay seated.”

Kate nodded and quietly went about cleaning my cuts. The puncture wound in my leg was deep and had already clotted, so I told her not to bother. There was no way to sterilize it after the fact. When Kate got to my face she had to use a pair of tweezers to remove the splinters and the bigger chunks of glass. Seeing how bloody the sheet of gauze already was, she laid it aside and soaked a hand towel with alcohol instead.

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