As Eve walked back into the bathroom to begin examining the injured Samantha, she looked back to make sure Rachel was doing what she’d asked of her.  She knew Rachel was very upset about what had happened and the last thing Rachel needed was to see more of her injured friend as her mother tended to her wounds and fixed her up.  The best thing for Rachel right now would just be to lie in bed and rest until all of this was over.  Eve smiled as she looked back and saw Rachel turning to her side and pushing her head against a pillow.

She walked into the bathroom and knelt down next to the bathtub.  The blood all over the floor sent chills up Eve’s leg as her feet and toes touched it.  She set her bag down next to the tub and pulled out a small First-Aid Kit.  She set it on the edge of the tub and then turned towards the girl.  Samantha looked terrible.  She had dry tear marks on her face, her breathing sounded like wheezing, there was blood bleeding through her blouse from the streams that had come from her cut wounds.  She was just a mess.

“Well, dear, let’s see if we can’t figure out what’s wrong with you.”

She threw on a pair of medical gloves and put a hand on the girl’s forehead, feeling the heat coming from it.  Taking a look around, she saw the damp wash cloth that Rachel had put on the girl’s forehead.  It was wrinkled up in the tub, next to her head.  Eve picked it up and realized that it was still warm and damp.  She softly set it back across the girl’s forehead and over her ears to cool her off. 

She then took two fingers and placed them over Samantha’s neck.  She closed her eyes and listened through the feeling in those fingers.  A slow, but steady heartbeat pushed against her fingers.  After waiting a moment to see if there was any inconsistency, she removed her fingers and began talking, as if Samantha were awake for this.

“Steady heartbeat, yet you’re heating up and you’ve got a big breathing problem.  I’d better check those wounds of yours and see how bad they are.”  

Reaching into the tub with both hands, Eve started to pull up the ripped blouse.  Folding it as she went, she stopped and set the rolled up piece of the blouse directly below Samantha’s chest.  Her bare belly was exposed, showing 4 small bandages and four partially dried streams of blood that came from the wounds beneath them. 

Slowly, she peeled each bandage off.  Once all four were gone, Eve tossed them into a small trash can that was nearby.  Around each wound was a large ‘stain’ of wet blood.  Looking around, Eve found another small wash cloth, lying in the bathtub.  She slowly stood up and walked over to the sink.  She ran water over it and rung it out, making sure it was damp, but not dripping everywhere. 

“This is going to hurt, dear.  I hope I don’t wake you.”

As she knelt back over by the tub, she began to wipe the cloth around and over each wound.  She wasn’t quite sure how big the actual wounds were, due to the blood stains around them, but she was to wipe with quick, soft strokes, trying to find where the wound ended so she wouldn’t agitate it too much.  With a couple wipes, she did find them.  They were roughly an inch wide and 1-2 inches apart from one another.

When she finished cleaning them off, she took a good look at them.  The wounds themselves were fairly small, yet a few things concerned Eve.  They were stab-like wounds, but the angle was a little off.  There were also scratches on her skin, which led directly into each wound.  It didn’t look like she’d been stabbed by anything; more like these four objects were digging at her from the side.  She then started to remember something she’d seen in one of her medical classes in college.  She started getting more concerned about Samantha and how these injuries came to be.

Shaking her head, she got back to what she’d been called there to do.  She dug through her bag and found some medicine to use on cut wounds.  It was some sort of cream.  Opening the lid of the bottle, she poured a good amount into her hand.  Rubbing her hands together for a moment, she spread the cream all over her and then reached into the tub, preparing to apply it to each wound. 

Rubbing in a circular motion, Eve slowly spread the white medicinal cream over each of the four cut wounds, carefully trying not to dig into the wounds themselves with her fingers, but also making a massage-like motion.  After a few minutes, she’d covered the four wounds in the cream, and stood up.  She quickly walked over to the sink and tossed her gloves into the garbage can.  Picking up another pair, she knelt down by Samantha again and started digging through her bag.

She pulled out a small box of bandages and pulled a handful out.  Opening them up, she began placing them over the creamed wounds, making sure the bandages were placed horizontally across the girl’s stomach, ensuring that they wouldn’t wear down when she would bend forward. 

“There, you’re all patched up.  Now, let’s get rid of these blood-stained clothes.”

After getting that patched up, she lifted up Samantha’s back with one arm.  With the other, she began to grip the blouse the girl had been wearing.  Slowly moving her arms, Eve slid the shirt up, past Samantha’s chest, revealing a white bra and the girl’s cleavage.  Sliding up further, the shirt slipped past her shoulders and over her head.  Once the shirt was off, Eve threw it up, towards the sink. 

Still holding onto the girl, Eve took her free hand and started digging through her bag again.  She pulled out a small towel and placed it under Samantha’s head.  Setting her down on the towel, Eve stared down at her.  Placing her hand on the girl’s chest, she tried to feel her breathing.  It was still a little inconsistent, and she started to think about what to do.  Looking up at the girl’s face, she noticed that her lips were starting to dry out.  Then, an idea hit her.

Leaving her for a moment, she opened up the cabinet above the sink, looking for something she could get some water in.  Fortunately, there was a small cup in the cabinet.  Grabbing the cup, Eve ran some water into it and walked back over to the tub.  Kneeling back down, she lowered two hands towards Samantha’s head; one with the cup, and one with nothing. 

“Take this water, dear.  It might help you feel better.”

She slowly used her free hand to part the girl’s lips and then poured a small amount of water into her mouth.  Her lips, on instinct, closed and she swallowed the fluid.  As the water was sent down her throat and into her system, her eyes began to move.  They slowly opened as she woke up from her head-thumping, to see Eve looking over her, with a cup of water in her hand.

Eve smiled down at the girl, happy that she’d woken up.  She had many questions to ask her, some about how the girl felt, and some based on the suspicions that she’d been forming in her head…