Duskwood: Unrecognisable

Part 48

I led Jake back to our building relying on my memory alone to get us back. To my surprise we didn't get absolutely lost considering neither one of us had a phone anymore. If my memory failed me, we would most definitely still be searching the district for our hideout. I chalked it up to the fact I had studied the map so closely earlier when I was trying to find Jake that I practically had the map etched into my memory.

As if the long walk back wasn't quiet enough, Jake went straight to the shower room to clean up without even sparing me a second glance, leaving me in the middle of warehouse to my guilt. Even though he didn't say anything, I knew he was still angry that I had showed up. The night certainly would have gone very differently if I had stayed behind and just waited. What I didn't understand was why he sent me the details for the CCTV login. If he didn't intend for me to find him, why did he send that information to me?

I sighed and looked over the state of my very being. I was an absolute mess of dirt and dried sweat. My clothes were barely hanging on with how torn and burnt they had become. Wincing in pain I lifted my arm to examine my burns. Debris was stuck to my dead skin around blisters that had already starting to form. Examining my wrists more closely, I saw open wounds where the zip tie had cut into my skin. I knew I had to clean my wounds as soon as possible to reduce the risk of infection, but with the adrenaline out of my system, every small movement was excruciating. It would've been best to seek professional medical attention, but that was a luxury we couldn't afford. Never had I missed my old life as much as I did then.

A series of sudden bangs followed by a roar of screaming interrupted my train of thought. I ran to check on Jake and found him fully dressed, standing in the shower. Resting his head against the wall with his eyes closed tight, he let the water run over him, disguising the fact he was sobbing. Stepping closer, I saw he had cracked the tiles with his punches. I jumped into the stall and wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him tight against me. The contact on my burnt skin felt like fire, but I gritted my teeth to endure the searing pain.

As I hugged him, I watched the water running over Jake turn a deep red from his blood soaked clothes. Even though we stood there for several minutes, the water never stopped turning red. It didn't even fade in colour. His clothes were that saturated with blood. Cleaning them under normal circumstances would be difficult. We didn't even have access to laundromat. It was easier to just ditch them and get new ones rather than struggle to handwash these ones.

After a while Jake grew weak and collapsed to the floor. He leant his back against the wall and stared emotionlessly at the red river that flowed from him to the drain. I sat down next to him and rested my head on his shoulder, taking his bloodied and beaten hand into my blistered hand. We sat there so long that the hot water started to turn cold. Somehow I had to get us out of there before we got sick, but finding the words to encourage Jake to get up seemed impossible. After a while Jake lifted our clasped hands and twisted his wrist to have a better look at my burnt arm. Glancing at him, I saw the realisation hit him.

Without a word, Jake stood up, then helped me to my feet. Ignoring the running water, he stepped out of the stall and rummaged through our bag for his first aid kit. Not wanting to waste any more water, I turned it off while he pulled out the tweezers from the kit. He grabbed my elbow and lifted my forearm up closer to his face so he had a better view. Then, one piece at a time, he picked the debris away carefully from the open wounds. He was so focused on making sure he got everything out that he ignored the water droplets running down his face from his wet hair. He did not break concentration once.

Once he was satisfied that he had removed all the pieces of debris, he took out one of his shirts, twisted it up and gestured for me to bite on it. I opened my mouth hesitantly and he put the shirt gently in. Not wasting another moment he poured the antiseptic solution on my burns, letting it wash away the specks of dirt. I bit down on the shirt and screamed at the top of my lungs. Jake gave me an empathetic look, but he gripped my arm tight to keep me from pulling away. As the pain finally started to subside, he moved to the other arm and began the process again. I could no longer keep back the tears as the pain was unbearable. I shut my eyes tight and tried to think about anything else, but there was no way I could ignore the pain. Suddenly the hot burning pain turned to a cooling relief. I opened my eyes and watched as Jake gingerly applied a burn ointment to my arms. As he worked, his expression slowly softened back to the Jake I knew.