Banished and 30 Days

13

I woke up to a sting in my leg, I groggily opened my eyes and saw Nate holding a bandage to it. He looked at me like I was already dead when I turned my head
"Nice sleep?" He asked, I knew it was a joke but it was really bad timing
"Define nice" I said with a small smile, I could see his smile but when he lifted the bandage, it faded
"What?" I asked and he cleared his throat
"Nothing" he shook his head, he didn't want me to panic
"I can take it" I said and he looked at me, sighing
"The bleeding hasn't stopped. It's slowing down, but..." he trailed off, I nodded, grabbing my knife holding it out to him
"Take it" I said
"Why?" He asked hesitantly as my hand began to shake
"My wound needs to be cauterized" I said, he took the knife from my shaky hand
"That's gonna hurt, you know that, right?" Nate said as he placed the knife in the fire
"Yeah, but I'll get over it" I said, he turned to the fire, the knife flowed a red hue
"You're one hundred percent sure about this?" Nate asked one last time as he removed the bandage
"Do it" I said as I braced myself for the pain
"I'm gonna count to three" he said, I could tell that he wasn't prepared to burn my leg. He was hesitating
"Remember when I told you about my mom?" I said and he looked at me
"Yeah" Nate replied
"You said that's rough, but I got over the pain her death, pain is just a way of life. Remember, There is no gain from no pain" I said, he nodded
"You just came up with that, didn't you?" Nate asked and I scoffed
"No, it was the prison's motto" I said, making him chuckle
"Alright. 1" he said then pressed the blade to my leg, I let out a scream. Pain flooded my entire body and then it stopped
"You said you'd count to three" I said defensively as he wrapped a new bandage around my leg
"I lied" he shrugged and I glared at him, then Abby came running
"What the hell is going on?" Abby asked
"I had to cauterize the wound" Nate said as he tightened the bandage around my leg and stood up
"Where's Nick?" Nate asked
"He's over there" Abby said pointing left and Nate nodded before going off into that direction, Abby sat down next to me
"How are you?" she asked
"In pain. You?" I replied as I adjusted my position against the tree
"I'm okay" Abby smiled, I smiled too but I tried to push myself up
"What're you doing?" Abby said, I guess I should've waited until I was alone
"Getting up" I replied as I continued to push myself but she pushed me back down
"No, you're not" Abby argued and I rolled my eyes
"We have to get going. We're already two days behind" I said as Nate walked over
"She's right, we gotta get going" Nate said, he bent over grabbing my arm to help steady me
"You know I can walk just fine, right?" I questioned and Nate cleared his throat
"Sure you can, I think I saw Tinker bell, miracles occurred today" Nate said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes
"First of all, that wasn't even good sarcasm and second of all, argue all you want but I can walk fine. I mean, my leg feels normal, I don't feel the pain anymore" I said
"Prove it" he said letting go of me and crossing his arms and stepped a few feet away from me, I took a few steps and winced, it hurt like hell but not as bad as before, so I kept going until I was right in front of him
"You've been proved" I said defiantly and he smirked
"You dragged your leg" he said and I scoffed
"No, I didn't" I denied and he raised an eyebrow at me and I looked back, I didn't even notice it, the path that my foot had dug wasn't deep but it was definitely visible
"Okay, but I can still walk" I defended and Nate looked to Abby
"You gonna weigh in on this?" he asked and she shook her head
"I know how to pick my battles" she said before walking toward Nick
"I can walk just fine" I argued
"Are you seriously going to make me do this?" he asked, he was gonna carry me
"I dare you" I challenged, all of the sudden, I was being carried like a sack of potatoes
"Damn it" I muttered
"Next time, take my word for it, Princess" Nate said
"Can you at least call me by my name" I asked
"Nope" he replied