Family Don't Break

CHAPTER 29

TW: Blood, violence

RACE'S POV:

"ALEX!" She falls to the ground with a thump. I race over to her and slide down next to her. "No, no, no. Alex, wake up." her eyes flutter open for a moment before falling closed. Her side is red with blood, the pool slowly expanding. Her clothing is soaked with red, the brown fabric turning to black. I take off my vest and push it against the wound, remembering what Davey taught me about first aid.

"You tell anyone anything, and I'll make sure I hit the right person next time." he drops the knife and runs off with his cronies. He wants to avoid any blame. If I wasn't here, they could say it was an act of self defense. But there was a witness. Me.

"Race?" her voice is weak but there. "Alex, it's going to be okay. I need to get you to the bed, alright?" I hook my arms under hers and pull her up. She groans in pain and her eyes close again. "C'mon, it's just a few feet. I got you." I toss her arm over my shoulder. All her weight is resting on me, and my muscles shake. Usually I could support her but I'm weak from hunger.

I slowly make my way to our bunk. The room is empty, everyone else working. I lay her down on the bed and she yelps. "I need to see where you got injured. I need to take off your vest." I unbutton it and pull it off her arms. I don't want to hurt her more by lifting her up so I allow her to lay on it. Her shirt is covered in blood, the fabric stuck to her skin. I unbutton the last six buttons on her shirt, stopping just before her chest.

I fight a gasp when I see the wound. It's a jagged cut. Blood is still welling out of the wound, staining the nearby skin red. "I'm going to get Peter, we'll need some extra help. I'll be right back." before I can get up she grabs my arm. "No. Please don't leave me." her eyes are wide with fear. "I have to go get Peter. I won't be gone for long." I gently peel her fingers off of me. I don't want to leave her, but I'm going to need someone to help me with this.

I rush back to the main room downstairs. Luckily, the guards are nowhere to be seen. I search the room for Peter, and I finally see him a few tables away. I run over, dodging between benches and people. "Peter!" I grab his shoulder and he whirls around. "Race, get back to your spot or you'll get in trouble," he whispers. "I need your help. Please." Peter is about to complain, but he sees the blood on my hands. His eyes widen.

When he sees Alex, he backs up a bit. "What happened?" he asks. "The guards wanted to do something bad and when I intervened she ended up getting hurt. Can you go grab me some water to clean it?" Peter is frozen in place, slightly shaking. I can see why this would scare the kid. Alex is white as a sheet and there's blood on the sheets. "Peter. I need you to do this for Alex. Go get some water." he snaps out of his shock and runs off to the bathroom.

I put pressure on the wound again. It doesn't seem to do much, and soon my vest is soaked through. Peter comes running back with a small bowl of water. "Thanks, Peter." I take a piece of my vest and dip it in the water. It's not super clean, but it's the cleanest thing we have. I dip it into the water and gently brush it over Alex's cut. She hisses in pain but barely stirs.

Once most of the blood is gone, I can clearly see the injury. It's deep. I'm not sure that it should be stitched. Plus, if I try to stitch it up, it'll cause her more pain. "We need a bandage or something." I mutter. "Here!" Peter hands me a strip of fabric that he was using as a belt. "This is going to hurt, Alex." I sit her up and she moans. Peter supports her back as I wind the bandage around her stomach. I pull it taut and tie it off. It seems to staunch the blood well enough, but it won't last for long.

"We need to get her out of here, to a doctor or something." Peter shakes his head no. "There ain't no way of getting out of here. You need someone from the outside to help."

"We got people on the outside. I bet they'll be here any day. We'll be getting out." I hope I'm right. I'm not sure how much longer Alex can go without help.