Bloodlust | lrh

28. Dog tags

Luke didn't take no for an answer when Jenson told him to wait outside. He brought the unconscious girl up to his room where all of Jenson's supplies were already laid out. He stayed by her side while Jenson was doing chest compressions. There was a short window where he didn't even think he could start her heart up again, but somehow it started pumping again.

Luke didn't let go of her hand the entire time she was getting stitched up. She lost a lot of blood, but it wasn't enough to be a problem. She's just going to be weak for a few hours while her body replenishes it. That's even if she wakes up before then.

"You're getting a bonus, Jenson." Luke chuckles and shakes Jenson's hand after he finishes saving his second life this week.

"I fucking better." Jenson lets himself out of the room to leave the blond alone with her. He's only seen the pair together a couple of times, but that's enough to know there's something going on between them. He didn't think it was possible for Luke to love someone, but what he's seen the last few hours proves him wrong.

Luke sits with Soka like she had for him just days before, waiting anxiously for her to wake up. He checks his own stitches and sees that he popped a couple of them, a patch of dried blood covering a part of his stomach. The bleeding stopped on its own, so he doesn't feel like it needs to be looked at.

He's exhausted, the fear of losing her being something that drained him completely. The sight of her in his bed is something he could get used to though, even though he knows what he has to do now. He knows he needs to cut the heart strings she's hung in him, the ones that were never there before her.

Luke sits on the cusp of losing everything. His compound is compromised, his trade routes are in jeopardy of not having gas, there's a new mystery enemy that he didn't see coming. His mind lingers on the last one as he tries to figure out who could have attacked the house. Amelia wouldn't have set it up, he's certain of that even without asking her. Which is good because her body is rotting at her house.

There aren't many groups big enough to pull something like that, none actually. No one has the men and firepower, and balls, to pull an attack. No one is Chemin at least.

Soka squirms in the bed, pulling his mind back to what's in front of him. It's only been an hour but her eyes start to flutter open. He's surprised that she's waking up so soon, and also concerned that the pain is going to still be fresh.

"Don't move. You're fine." Luke brings a hand to stroke the top of her head, comforting her as best as he can.

"Everything hurts." She whimpers as tears start to fall again. She may not be bleeding out anymore, but she still feels like there are knives stuck in her. Her eye is now swollen from the wound above it, the poor girl barely even able to open it.

"It's my turn to give you pain meds." He chuckles, reaching for the same bottle she had grabbed for him. He shakes one into his hand and gives her it with a new glass of water. It's peaceful in the room, which is good for her. She wouldn't be able to handle the kind of blowout that Luke dealt with when he first came to.

Her weak hands pass the glass back to Luke, both of them falling to her sides immediately after. Now she's conscious while her body replenishes blood, and she feels weaker than she ever has before. They sit in silence while Luke takes everything in, every bruise, cut, and scrape.

"She killed Leah." Soka whispers, her voice cracking as she starts crying again. Luke doesn't realize who she's talking about at first, but when he puts it together he grabs her hand. "I shouldn't have left. I should've stayed in the van like you told me to and none of this would've happened." She keeps herself from sobbing, but her voice is still cracking with every other word.