“He’s my brother,” Conner said stubbornly. “I know what it feels like to be unwanted, but my mother, rather than kick me out, left the old man and gave me a good life. I’m not letting that bastard ruin this boy. I want him,” he said fiercely. “Isabeau is with me on this.”

“And if she wasn’t?” Rio asked.

Conner looked at him. His eyes burned bright gold behind the red. “Then she wouldn’t be the woman I thought she was. I’m not leaving him behind.”

A slow smile softened the hard edge of Rio’s mouth. “You’re a good man, Conner.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Well. Probably.” Rio grinned at him. The grin turned into a moan, and Rio put his head down. His face was gray-white.

“You planning on dying on me?”

“If those idiots take much longer,” Rio said. He groaned again. “Damn this hurts.”

Conner didn’t like the way he was breathing. He couldn’t push himself up onto his hands and knees, so he dug his toes into the vegetation and propelled his body forward an inch at a time, using elbows and toes to push himself along the ground to get around Rio to the medical bag. It was the first time he wished certain parts of his anatomy were smaller. Dragging his very sensitive cock along the ground wasn’t a great idea.

He wasn’t that far away from the medical kit, but the distance seemed like miles. He had to rest frequently. Sweat broke out to mingle with the blood covering his body. There was a roaring in his head, his pulse thundering loud enough to drown out the natural sounds of the forest. His mouth was dry and his arms like lead.

He left a trail of blood behind him, but he managed to make it to the kit. It took longer to push himself into a sitting position. His hip screamed a protest and for a moment, everything swam in a dizzying circle. He rummaged through the bag, searching for the field IV equipment and more painkillers. Rio was trying to stay focused, but it was obvious he was becoming disoriented.

“You fucking decide to die on me, and I’ll put a bullet in your head,” Conner muttered.

“That’s helpful,” Rio pointed out.

Conner’s hand trembled as he tried to wipe Rio’s arm over the vein. He smeared blood on Rio’s forearm and cursed.

“I’m thinking that you could be just a little more sanitary about this,” Rio added.

“You have bugs crawling all over you. You’re lying in dirt and rotting leaves.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” Rio coughed. The effort to talk was beginning to weigh on him. “I was trying to ignore the bugs.”