A Changed Man (Altered Book 1) Read online

  "Oh, I'm sorry. I can't seem to focus. My name is Remington.”

  Jackie brought the huge sandwich over to the table and sat it in front of Remington. "I'm Jackie, nice to meet you." She held out her hand to shake but before he would touch her he looked down at his own which was bloody and filthy.

  "Can I wash up?" he asked looking embarrassed.

  "Oh, of course." Jackie helped him to the kitchen sink, when he was done washing the dirt and gore from his hands she handed him a towel. He dried his hands and Jackie helped him back to his seat at the table and sat across from him.

  "I really appreciate this." He said, taking a huge bite out of the sandwich. "Not many people would be so trusting."

  "Yeah, well, I guess we'll see just how smart I am."

  He set down the sandwich and looked her right in the eye. "I promise you, with every fiber of my being, I won't hurt you. You can trust me."

  How could she not believe such a sincere affirmation? She looked into his dark blue eyes and that feeling of familiarity ran through her again. She nodded. Remington picked up his sandwich and finished devouring it. After two more sandwiches, a coke, and another glass of water Remington seemed to finally be full.

  "Why don't you go take a shower?” Jackie said, "and then we'll see about bandaging up some of those cuts. They look pretty nasty.”

  "I would like that, thank you." Remington said, "I’m not sure how long I can stand though, do you have a tub?"

  "Sure, let me go start it for you." Jackie went in to the bathroom and started the water running in the tub; getting it as hot as she thought he could stand with all those open wounds. She pulled a fresh towel and washcloth from the linen closet and sat them on the edge of the tub, along with the bar of soap and shampoo so he wouldn't have to stand up to reach for anything. She glanced at herself in the mirror. I look like shit, she thought to herself. Still better than him though she giggled, and left the bathroom. When Jackie returned to the kitchen Remington had his head down on the table and was fast asleep. She quietly picked up his plate and glass and brought them to the sink not wanting to wake him until his tub was full. She put everything away grabbed the rife and went to her bedroom to see if she had anything he could put on after his bath. Laying the gun on her bed she started digging through her drawers. She found a big t-shirt that she used to sleep in but had no clue what she was going to do about covering his bottom half. She would throw his clothes, or what’s left of the tattered material, into the wash once he got in the tub. They would take awhile to wash and dry though. She grabbed the big throw at the foot of her bed. He could wrap that around his waist; it would have to do. She took the throw and shirt into the bathroom and laid them on the sink. The tub was almost full, time to wake up her guest.

  She walked back to the dinner table and placed a gentle hand on Remington’s shoulder. "Remington" she whispered. He didn't stir. She shook him again, a little harder this time. "Remington." His eyes opened and he looked at her like a child waking from a long nap he didn't want to take in the first place. It must have taken him a minute to remember where he was because his eyes held surprise for just a brief second, and then he sat up.

  "I'm sorry, I must have dozed off,” he said sheepishly.

  Jackie let out a small laugh. "It's okay. Your bath is ready." Jackie helped Remington to the bathroom. "Do you need any help getting in?” She asked.

  "You would do that?" He asked surprised. "You would help a naked stranger get in to the tub?"

  There was that half smile again. Reminding Jackie of the cat that ate the canary. She couldn’t help but smile herself. "Well, I don't really want to, but I could close my eyes if you needed me to help."

  "No, that’s okay. I can manage."

  Jackie let out a relieved sigh. It’s not that she wouldn't mind seeing more of this well built specimen, but under the circumstances it wasn't a good idea. "Okay, well I'm going to go rustle up some bandages and ibuprofen. If you set your clothes just outside the bathroom door I will throw them in the wash. I left a shirt and a throw on the sink. Just yell if you need anything."

  Remington was still surprised by this woman’s generosity; living way out here all alone had to be scary for her sometimes. Then having a bloody stranger show up with a crazy story about a kidnapping and wanting to stay the night would have had most people calling the cops without hesitation. He got lucky, and he wouldn't forget it. "Thank you, you're very kind."

  Jackie left the room pulling the door closed. She went to the guest room and opened the trunk at the foot of the bed. She pulled out fresh sheets, pillowcases, and a down blanket and made up the bed. She then went over to the closet where she remembered seeing the big white case marked with a red cross that was the first aid kit. She hoped it was stocked for Remington’s sake. Jackie laid the case on the bed and opened it up. It looked like a surgeon stocked it. It not only had a variety of salves and different sized bandages, but it had surgical sutures, scissors, clamps, scalpels, a hemostat, forceps, and a few other tools she had no idea what they were. It held alcohol pads, an EpiPen, and ace bandages. She also found numerous bottles of pills; some for upset stomach, some for allergies, a prescription bottle of amoxicillin, and two prescription bottles of oxycodone with her grandmother’s name on them. What in the world did you need these for gram? She thought. She talked to her grandmother at least twice a month and she never mentioned being hurt or in any pain; she never mentioned owning a shotgun or having a handyman for that matter. Jackie felt like her gram had some double life she didn't know anything about. And who in the hell stocked this thing? Jackie noticed the lid of the case had black cloth stretched over it. It was closed with a zipper. She unzipped the material and there were numerous braces; one for the knee, elbow, wrist, ankle, and a big one you wrapped around your back. Jackie closed the case back up and brought it to the living room, setting it down on the coffee table. She walked back to the bathroom and saw Remington had left his clothes outside the door. She picked them up and made her way to the small laundry room beside the kitchen. She put them in the wash, turned the knob to HOT, and doubled the amount of detergent she normally used. Jackie returned to the bathroom door and tapped on it lightly. "You okay in there?" She asked. She couldn't hear anything coming from the bathroom. She knocked again, this time harder. "Remington? You okay in there?"

  "Yes! I'm fine. Sorry, I must have fallen asleep again."

  "That's okay. I found a first aid kit and some pain pills. I'll wait for you out in the living room."

  "Great! I'll be out in a few minutes," he said.

  Remington didn't want to get out of the tub, but the water was starting to cool off. He was feeling better already; with his stomach full and the hot bath loosening the knots in his back and neck, he didn't feel to worse for wear. His ankle was throbbing though, and the gashes on his legs stung. There were a few that would need stitches he was sure. He stood up slowly, balancing on one foot, and sat on the edge of the tub. Leaning over he pulled the plug to let the dirty water drain. He swung his legs around and out of the water and grabbed the towel to dry himself off. He stood and limped to the sink. Looking in the mirror he hardly recognized himself. The right side of his face was bruised and swollen with a small open wound at the top of his cheek, his shaved head and the stitches protruding through what little hair he had grown back, and he had huge dark circles under his eyes. He grabbed the toothpaste from the side of the sink and put a big glob on his finger and brushed his teeth the best he could. After rinsing his mouth out numerous times, he put on the shirt she left for him. It would be a nightgown on her, but on him it was tight and barely covered his stomach. It smells like her, he thought. He wrapped the throw around his waist and walked out of the bathroom. Remington walked in to the living room and felt like he was punched in the gut. Jackie was sitting on the couch and talking in hush tones on the telephone.

  Chapter 6

  Jackie heard a gasp behind her; she turned around to see Remington standing behind the couc
h staring at her with a wounded look on his face. "Hey Sarah? Can I call you back? Ok, talk to you soon. Bye."

  "Are you okay?" She asked Remington.

  "Uh yea, I just thought..."

  "Oh! No, yeah, that was just Sarah. She's my best friend; she lives in Cheyenne. She called while you were in the tub."

  "You had me worried for a minute." He said.

  "Well as far as I'm concerned we have a deal. You don't do anything stupid and I don't call the cops." She said with a small smile. She really needs to stop smiling at me like that. He thought.

  "Deal." He replied.

  "Okay, come sit down and let’s take care of those injuries."

  Remington walked around to the front of the couch and sat down. "I'm not sure where to start," he said.

  "Well what’s bothering you the most? The ankle?" She asked.

  "Yes."

  "Then that’s where we'll start." Jackie couldn't get over the difference the bath made. Even with the side of his face bruised and swollen the man was gorgeous. He looked like he stepped off the cover of GQ; well, fell off the cover, then landed on the street and got run over by a semi. Jackie opened up the case and started pulling things out. First was the bottle of painkillers. "Here, why don't you take two of these, it will take the edge off." Then she handed him two of the amoxicillin and a glass of water. "Some of those gashes are pretty bad; these should help in case of infection."

  "Thanks." He said, popping the pills in his mouth. "That’s quite a collection. Where did you get all this stuff?" He asked, digging through the case. "This looks like a military field case."

  "Um, I'm not sure. I found it in the guest room closet when I moved in." She answered.

  "You just move in?" He asked. "Maybe the previous owner was in the military."

  Jackie looked at him, trying to decide how much to divulge to her new guest. After all, he wouldn't be here long. "Actually, it was my grandmothers." She said. "She passed away earlier in the year and left me this house."

  "I'm so sorry." Remington said sincerely. "Were you close?"

  "She raised me." Jackie answered; "I miss her terribly."

  Remington could see her eyes turning glassy. He gave her an understanding smile. "Well she sure knew how to stock a kit."

  "Yeah!" Jackie laughed wiping at her eyes. "It seems she was just full of surprises. Now, lets see that ankle."

  Jackie had never seen bruising this bad, but she wasn't a doctor so she couldn’t know how serious it actually was. She had his foot in her lap and was feeling around for any breaks in the bone. "I don't feel anything protruding, but it’s so swollen it may be hard to tell." She said. "Could be fractured, but I can't feel a break." She continued running her hands up and down his ankle softly pressing on the bones. Remington winced.

  "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" she asked concerned.

  "It's a bit tender," he said. But trust me, I can endure it if you'll keep your hands on me. He thought.

  "Let's get it wrapped up." Jackie took the ace bandage out of the case and very gently wrapped Remington’s ankle just tight enough to keep it immobile. "I have a brace as well, but lets wait and see if the swelling goes down first." Jackie grabbed a pillow from the couch and set it on the coffee table. "Rest your foot on this." Remington did as she told him, his ankle feeling better already with just having the bandage on.

  "Okay, now the cuts. Some of these look pretty deep; you must have lost a lot of blood." She said. Jackie pulled out some antibiotic salve and used a Q-tip to rub it on his wounds. Putting bandages on the smaller ones; butterfly bandages on the bigger ones, and not quite knowing what to do with the really big ones. "I think a few of these need real stitches, I've never done that before." She said feeling a little embarrassed.

  "That’s okay." Remington laughed. "Why would you have? Hand me the needle and suture thread."

  "You’re going to do it yourself?" Jackie asked surprised.

  "Yea, it's okay. I've done it before."

  Jackie looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Are you a Doctor?" She asked.

  "No, but I took some medical training in the military."

  "Oh! I'm not sure if I can watch this." She said, afraid of getting nauseous.

  "I would love a cup of coffee." Remington said flashing her a bright smile.

  Jackie understood what he just did for her, and she appreciated it. "That I can do." She said, and got up and headed for the kitchen.

  Slade Thompson sat in his office going over security camera footage. He'd arrived back at The Den around nine A.M. He spent half the day in a meeting trying to figure out what to do with the incompetent chimps he called employees. He threatened their jobs and their lives. He also put them all on twelve-hour shifts and in teams of two to tighten up security. There weren’t any cameras in the cells, but there were in the hallways. He watched Remington Cross make his way down the corridor that led to the cliff exit. He watched him take down that lazy guard Mike and break the handle off of the door before escaping through the cave tunnel. That’s where it ended. There were no cameras in that particular tunnel, no reason for them. That was a suicide escape attempt for anyone stupid enough to go out onto the cliff. He didn’t understand how Remington could have broken the handle seeing how the operation was a failure with him. Or was it? He thought. Either way, he's probably dead now. There was no way he could have made it across the cliff face, and falling into the raging icy river below was a sure death sentence. Slade rewound the footage; trying to get a good look at how Remington escaped his cell, but the camera was at the far end of the dimly lit hallway. Therefore, he had no view of him actually leaving the room. Just then, his phone rang.

  "Smith." He answered curtly.

  "Mr. Smith, it's Josh. The search team just pulled in."

  "Send Austin to my office as soon as he comes in."

  "Yes sir, Mr. Smith."

  Slade hung up the phone. He would wait to hear from the leader of his search team before deciding how to proceed. He turned back to the monitor and restarted the footage.

  "Cream or sugar?" Jackie asked from the kitchen.

  "Just black thanks." Remington had just put the knot in the final suture and was covering it with a bandage when Jackie walked back over to the couch and handed him his coffee. "Smells great, thank you.”

  "I should thank you, for giving me a reason not to have to watch what you were doing." She said; looking at him with her nose wrinkled up. "I made the guest room up for you. You should probably get some sleep."

  "Yeah, I'm exhausted, and the pills are starting to kick in."

  "Okay, lets get you up then." Jackie stood and held her hand out for Remington to grab. She helped him up and put his arm over her shoulder. She walked him to the guest room and helped him sit down on the bed. "Do you need anything else?" She asked.

  "Maybe another glass of water." He answered looking up at her.

  "Okay, I'll be right back." Jackie left the room and went to the kitchen. She filled a glass at the sink then went to the laundry room and put Remington’s clothes in the dryer. She took the glass back to the guest room and when she entered her heart started to race. Remington was in the bed; his head propped up on two pillows with the blanket pulled up to his waist. His shirt and the throw he was using to cover his bottom half were folded up lying at the foot of the bed. He looked like a Greek God lying there with his tanned skin, wide muscular chest; his fingers laced together resting on his bare rippled stomach. Jackie just stood there holding the glass of water with her mouth hanging open.

  "You okay?" Remington asked.

  "Uh, yeah. Yeah, sorry, I got you your water." Jesus Jack. She thought to herself. Try not to drool all over yourself. Jackie walked over and set the glass down on the nightstand. "I'll be in the living room for a while, just yell if you need anything." She said, trying not to stare at all that glorious exposed skin.

  "I will. Thanks again."

  Jackie turned and left the room, pulling the door to. She left it open j
ust a crack so that she could hear him call out if he needed her. She made her way back to the kitchen and finally fixed herself a sandwich. With all the excitement, she'd forgotten to feed herself. Her growling stomach was an uncomfortable reminder. After making her plate she grabbed a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass, then went to the living room to eat in front of the television while she watched the six o'clock news.

  Remington laid in bed and just looked around the room. It was decorated in different shades of blue; from the curtains to the cozy down comforter he was lying under. It was sparsely decorated; a few pictures on the walls of various mountain ranges, all with prominent blue tones, two nightstands that each held a lamp with a dark blue base, and a trunk at the foot of the bed. He liked it. The colors were soothing. Thoughts of what he would do next were running through his head. Not sure of whom he could trust, he didn't really have any family and most of his friends were military. He wasn't sure if the people who had held him were part of a government operation or if it was privately funded, but his gut was telling him it was a government installation. The closest friend he had, and the only one he thought he could trust, was Rick Davis. They had served two tours together. I'll call him first thing in the morning. He thought. Maybe he can help me figure out what to do. Although it wasn't much, Remington was relieved he had some sort of plan. Growing more tired by the second, he resigned himself to the fact that he was safe, at least for tonight, and rolled over and went to sleep.

  Jackie laid on the couch watching TV and tried her hardest to figure out why Remington seemed so damn familiar. Something about his eyes, and the way they drew her in every time he looked at her. She just couldn't put her finger on it. Today really stressed her out, maybe she just needed some rest. She knew it would come to her eventually.