Alone Together

Chapter Eight

        "We have to get you back to camp," he says, sliding his arms around me and lifting. I'm too heavy, though, and the movement sends a jolt of pain that makes me cry out. He gathers me up into his lap, blood still flowing from the wound. "Sssh, it's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here," he assures me, and he surprises me. I hadn't talked to him much, and I never expected to die with him. I especially didn't expect him to do what he did then; reaching up and pushing my hair out of my face with his bloody hand in an effort to comfort and soothe me. It seemed like my death was full of surprises for me. He falls silent, desperately looking around, as if the bare trees or the fallen leaves would give us an solution, a way out of this horrible mess I'd found myself in. 

        "How long?" I ask, after awhile. I lick my lips only to find them slick with the metallic taste of blood. "I don't know how long it'll be until we can get you back to camp," he answers, almost hopelessly. I shake my head slightly, turning my face away from him and coughing. Another fine stream of blood sprays from my mouth. "That's not what I meant. How long until I bleed out?" I ask. He shakes his head before I even finish speaking. "No. You're not. I'm going to save you somehow. The tribe needs you, dammit," he mutters. "There's no way. You can't carry me back," I say. I try to sound brave, but I fail miserabley. 

        "I...Fine. I've got another way to save you," he says, and he lays me back down on the ground. He uses one hand to support my upper body and he grips the handle of the dagger in his other. "I thought you said I'd die faster!" I say frantically, launching into another coughing fit. I start to double over, but it hurts, and dammit, I just want to get dying over with at this point. I'd never imagined it'd hurt this bad for this long. "I've got another way. You won't like it," he says. I furrow my brow, but seconds later he jerks the knife out in one clean pull, and my hands are automatically pressing against the wound. Agony flares through me, more than what I should have expected from the removal of the knife, and my eyes flutter shut as a supernova of pain flares up behind my eyelids, centered in my stomach. 

        I don't know what's happening, but dimly I can hear Helios gasping and panting as if he's in pain, and the fresh blood streaming across my fingers slows down. When I open my eyes, Helios has a very similiar wound, which he's cluchting his hand to. Did he stab himself? "What the hell?" I ask. "It's a very unique power I have. I can take on the wounds of other. We should be able to walk back to camp, or at least closer before we collaspse. We have to move fast," he gasps out. "What the hell?! You...don't ever do anything this stupid again!" I yell. I'd also never imagined that I'd be yelling at the man who saved my life. "If you don't want my help, I can transfer it back to you and leave you to die," he snaps. I take a shuddering breath and force myself to my feet. He's in the same shape I am now, but I have to make sure he survives this. I owe it to him.    

        How strange we must look, our hands clapsed against identical wounds, our arms around each other. My face must be covered in smeared blood, and from the last coughing fit that had wracked my body, he had specks of blood on his face too. He was in much better shape, having lost realetively little blood compared to me. We end up dragging each other in the direction of camp, leaving a bloody smear of blood behind us. I ignore the haze of pain and struggle on. 

        We collapse just outside the gates. I focus on Helios, his warm body next to mine as he lands on his hands and knees. I'm being held up by his arm around me, and I can hear people running and yelling around us. My vision narrows and darkens, the ground twisting and fading in front of me. I can feel myself being pulled away from Helios and I reach out in his direction. I feel myself being laid down on a soft surface, and I think I'm in the sick bay. The rest of my shirt is being peeled off, and then Helios is lying next to me again but I can barely see him through the haze. I feel his fingers fumbling with mine and I try to wrap my fingers around his hand before the darkness claims me. I just want to make sure he survives.