Crimson Eyes ~ Sequel to: The Valkyrie, An Obi-Wan Story (completed)

Chapter 44: The Valkyrie

"Lyanna, please, run."

It took a few moments for instinct to kick in. Maybe it was the anger that'd previously clouded my mind, or maybe it was the terror that'd wrecked my body the moment I spotted the pool of blood. Still, both vanished within a heartbeat. He wasn't Obi Wan to me anymore, the jedi I'd grown to love and then hate, he was merely a body which I needed to keep alive.

It was a terrifying thing to feel, like a wall that suddenly appeared around my heart, thick and indestructible as granite. It shut down all emotions and brought coldness but also determination and focus. It was all I needed not to break down, or at least not at that moment.

Airway. First things first. My eyes shot to his face, to the way he took in staggering breaths through his mouth. I heard the throaty sound of the water, but it wasn't enough to shut off his airway. There were no wounds around his mouth or on his face. He was speaking, still. There were no signs of spine trauma, so no need to secure his head. Good.

Breathing. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and his lips had turned blue. Still, both sides of his torso were rising, so no signs of a collapsed lung. Still, he had difficulty breathing. Maybe it was the shock or maybe he'd broken a few ribs. There wasn't much I could do here to help him with that, so I went on.

Circulation. There, there was definitely a problem. Within mere heartbeats since I'd started the routine my hands shot towards the wound and secured the branch situated there. It had lodged itself into him a few inches below his left rib. No, no, no. Panic started to erupt from within me. If it'd hit his spleen, there was little I could do to stop him from bleeding out.

There wasn't much I could do right now, anyway, aside from making sure he didn't bleed out there. If I pulled it out, he'd surely bleed to death. I quickly tore off a part of the red cape that was fastened to my back, one that was already hanging in fragments, and secured the branch in its position and did my best to stop the bleeding. With the fabric being red, it didn't seem as bad as it truly was.

Then, my fingers grasped around the protruding fragment and burned it off, making sure that it wouldn't move while I got him out of there. With the other hand I searched for his pulse and counted. Gods, his heartbeat was fast, but luckily they were still strong enough. My eyes ran down his body and noted the paleness of his face. He is bleeding out. He could go into hypotensive shock soon if I wasn't careful.

"Lyanna, please, they're coming." Obi Wan whimpered as his hand reached out for mine, trying to push it away.

Disability, checked. He was still fully conscious but losing it rapidly. No wonder, when the blood was still seeping through the cloth.

I cursed under my breath. Environment. His teeth were chattering against the cold, his clothes drenched in ice cold water. He needed warmth before he'd grow hypothermic, but that wasn't the most threatening factor at this moment, and surely one I couldn't help now that we were being hunted by mandalorians.

My eyes shot towards the sky that was now black with stars, to the figures I could spot in the distance. They would be here within seconds and we'd be defenceless.

My eyes closed as I breathed in deeply. Odin, help us. I sent out a silent prayer as I'd done a million times before, on hundreds of different battlefields. I needed to get him out of there before they'd find us.

"Get up." I growled and lifted his arm over my shoulder before he could protest. My legs buckled against the weight as I pushed us upwards.

"Lyanna, -" His protest was interrupted by another pained groan, his hand shooting towards his wound and covering it.