Free Finally a Bride by LISA CHILDS Page B

thought it was him—that nurse. He’s trying to kill me.”
    “No, he’s not,” Eric assured his uncle. The paranoia and mood swings were worse than the confusion. “He’s trying to help you.”
    If only someone could…
    The old man blinked his gray eyes, and his gaze focused beyond Eric’s shoulder. “It’s that girl—the pretty little one you always followed around.”
    Eric turned his head to where Molly stood in the doorway, next to the broken glass. “Molly?”
    “You’re bleeding,” she murmured as all color drained from her face. Then her legs folded, and like a rag doll she dropped to the floor.
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Chapter Six
    Eric’s hand trembled against her face. “Molly? Molly?”
    Her lashes fluttered then opened. “What happened?”
    “You fainted.”
    She lifted her hand to his face. Then she pulled back, her fingers streaked red. “You’re bleeding…”
    Her brown eyes rolled back, and her lids closed again while her body went limp in his arms.
    “You’re bleeding, too,” he whispered, wiping a drop of blood from her cheek. She’d fallen in the broken glass on the floor. His heart hammered against his ribs. He saw blood all the time, so much blood. But when it was hers it was different.
    Was that why she had fainted? Because it was his blood? He half closed his eyes as he remembered a story Abby had told, of Molly passing out in the delivery room when Abby had given birth to her daughter, Lara. Maybe the sight of anyone’s blood caused Molly to faint.
    A smile tugged at his lips. Poor Molly. She was far too sensitive to be a doctor. The smile slipped away. Poor Molly. She couldn’t do what she’d vowed to do when her dad died. She couldn’t carry out her promise to her father. Eric stroked her cheek and a shard of glass bit into his fingertip.
    He had to get her cleaned up. “Molly? Come on, wake up…”
    “Eric,” she murmured his name, her lashes fluttering again.
    Torn between concern for Molly and concern for his uncle, he turned toward the major. But the man appeared to be fine now, his paranoia and rage forgotten. “Uncle Harold?”
    “Take care of the girl, boy.” A grin brightened the major’s face. “You’ve been taking care of her since you first came to live with me.”
    His uncle could remember twenty years ago and farther back, but minutes after Eric left he wouldn’t remember his nephew’s visit. Eric lifted Molly’s limp body into his arms, forcing a smile for his great-uncle. “I’ll be back soon.”
    “To take me home?”
    Eric swallowed a sigh. “We’ll see what the doctor says.” About his uncle throwing things.
    “That quack…”
    Maybe the old man hadn’t calmed down yet. Eric listened to his uncle rant as he carried Molly into the bathroom and propped her on the sink against the mirror. He gently washed the blood from her face, and she came around. Before she could faint again, he scrubbed the blood from his shallow scratches. “You okay?” he asked.
    She nodded. “What about your uncle?”
    “He doesn’t usually throw things. I shouldn’t have brought you here….” He closed his eyes and could see again the color draining from her face. “I’ll take you back to Cloverville now.”
    “No. I want to stay.”
    He opened his eyes to meet her determined gaze. “Molly, you just passed out.”
    She wriggled down from the sink, brushing her body against his before she walked back into his uncle’s room. In moments she had Uncle Harold laughing and smiling and acting like his old self. She not only entertained his uncle but all the other veterans who found an excuse to stop by the major’s room to see what the ruckus was about.
    Molly.
    With her warmth and kindness, she drew people to her like flowers were drawn to sunshine. An hour later, as they walked back to his truck, clouds hung low in the afternoon sky. Eric opened the passenger door and helped her inside the cab.
    “You’ve been quiet,” she said as he slid behind the