Adam's POV
"Shit, shit, shit, ah, dude, what the he-"
I sputtered and groaned. Blue light was filtering in through my eyelashes, blinding me as I shifted. Something held me in place around my chest, uncomfortably tight as it dug into my flesh and made it hard to breath. I sucked in another breath and coughed.
"Yeah, I'm in the woods off of Darwin road, and I just found the guy tied to a tree. I don't know, I thought he was dead when I found him but he keeps coughing now. Yeah, no, he's tied to a tree."
Whatever it was, it hurt like hell. I tugged against it, trying to pull away from whatever I was pressed against and sit down. God, did my chest ache.
"No ambulance, got it. My truck is in a clearing not too far off, I could use that, would that work?"
I blinked my eyes open and stared blearily around. Colors immediately assaulted me, a mix of bright blue, brown, and green that swirled in dizzying loops and refused to be looked at. I groaned and nausea rose in my throat and closed my eyes again.
"He's definitely waking up, I need to move him. Got it, no touching the burns and make sure his airway is clear. I should be there in like, 10, 20 minutes or something."
A hand suddenly pressed against my face.
"Hey, buddy? You open your eyes for me?"
I opened them just enough to see and stared at the swirling face an inch away from my nose.
"Great. I don't know if you can even tell what I'm saying, but I'm gonna try and cut you free, okay? Don't go freaking out on me."
A glint of silver flashed in front of me, and then the thing around my chest started shifting. I groaned and tried to wriggle away from it, pushing my hands out. They connected with rough fabric and I clutched at it desperately as the thing shifted again and my chest protested the movement.
"It's alright man, you're good. I've almost got you free."
The thing was suddenly gone, and my legs slid out from under me immediately at the loss of support. I slid down to the ground, gasping for air that the weight on my chest just wouldn't allow. I thought it had been the other thing, but no, that pain was definitely gone.
"Hey, woah, easy there. My truck ain't far, so we're just gonna take it nice and slow. Ready? I'm just gonna pull your arm over my shoulder, you take it easy."
A hand grasped my wrist and tugged my arm up. It laid on something thick and rough, like the fabric I was trying to hold onto, and then my whole body was being pulled upward. A cry of pain slid out as my body immediately protested the movement.
My arm, my arm, jesus, my chest, my side, my arm, what the hell.
"Woah, you're good!" A steadying hand was placed on my chest and I recoiled from it, the pain immediate and blinding as everything disappeared.
When my eyes opened again, I was lying down. I lay still as the soft fabric I was laying on rumbled, vibrating and shifting constantly. I gasped quietly before snapping my mouth shut. Pain lanced through my arm and side with the movement.
"Don't- You can't- Please, noo..." I whispered. The guy driving shifted around to look at me, one hand remaining balanced on the wheel.
"It's good, man, you're good. My name's Kaye, you're in the back of my truck, I'm taking you to the hospital. D'you know where you are?"
"Please, you can't, you don't understand, please, don't take me..." The girl's hand was stretched out back to where I was laying, and I scrabbled at it weakly with the arm that actually seemed to work.
"Okay, I don't know what happened to you, but you're safe now, I promise. What's your name? Do you know your name?" She asked softly. My hand was now securely latched around her wrist, and I tugged it as hard as I could.
"I can't, please, you can't, you don't understand, you don't understand-" My breaths were catching in my throat. Heavy weight sat firmly on my chest. Fire screamed across my arm. Oh, god.
"Easy, easy, come on, man. Tell me what I don't understand. Take a breath and just tell me what I'm not getting." She offered. I sucked in desperately and coughed.
"It's him, please, he made me do it, he wants me in pain, oh god, what did he do, what did he do!?" I screamed, then broke down as my chest ripped open and heavy coughs wracked my body. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I heaved. Everything spun lazily. Faster, faster. Everything was moving. Faster. The agony spread, scraping a path from my chest to my side, down to my arm, up through my head. It stayed there and roared, grabbing me and throwing me from the flat land and deep into the abyss.
"Open your eyes, damn it!"
Hard. Cold. Rough. Warm. Soft. Hands. Sound. Voice. Pain. Ow.
I was propped up against the side of the truck, Kaye kneeling in front of me with her hands around my wrists. She held me there, even as I snapped forward and immediately reeled from dizziness.
"Breathe with me, come on. I know you can hear me breathe, just get with the pattern."
We sat there for what must have been several minutes, her, breathing slow and steady, me, gasping and coughing every other breath. Finally, I looked up at her.
"Just, just kill me. Make it stop. He won't get to me anymore, then. Kill me, please."
She shook her head. "Sorry, man. You pick a hell of a spot for a panic attack. We're in the hospital parking lot, Docs will be here with a gurney in a few minutes."
I groaned and let my head fall back with a thunk against the side of the truck. One of my ears was ringing, but I could hear the sound of voices coming closer and figured I had one last shot.
"Please, you can't let them take me." I managed. "It's what he wants, it's what he wants, it's what he wants, please, please!" Feet appeared and stopped by me, following the pause in wheels screeching. Hands reached out to touch me. I twisted and threw them off.
"He'll kill you too! He'll kill everyone!"
