Struggling to Connect: The 6th Book

Chapter 4: Stepping Up

A month later and things in the woods and out by the bridge are coming along. There's been some rough days, some last minute changes and cutting it close deadlines but Eugene is doing well keeping us all on track. Siddiq is watching over my shoulder as I stitch up Cyndie's cut, clearly an oldish wound she tried to hide. As I stitch her palm, Siddiq tells her, "you're lucky it's not infected. Next time, come see us right away."

"I know. I just felt stupid. Peeling a potato's a pretty dumb way to end up in the infirmary." She replies.

"Yeah, well, it's an even dumber way to get gangrene." I make sure to inform her of the outcome that almost came to be.

Rick walks over and asks Siddiq, "how's the star student doing?"

"Ready to take on anything." I reply, feeling good about being out here and putting some of the things I learned alongside Hershel to good use. "You remember when I stitched your hand up back at the prison?" I call out to Rick.

"Sure do." He assures.

"This needle thing isn't as pretty as what I used back then, but I'm pretty good at it."

"Good." Rick smiles, "you're gonna get your chance to shine." He looks to Siddiq, "I'd like you to head back home. There's a bug going around."

"Okay. I'll head out with the next escort." He nods back.

I get a little nervous and say, "wait. He's leaving?"

Just then my needle work pricks Cyndie and she shutters out an, "ow!"

I quickly mutter, "i'm Sorry." And assure Siddiq and Rick, "Uh, it's fine. I— I've got this."

Rick answers, "yeah, I know." With a smile as he walks away. Siddiq leaves an hour later and I spend the rest of the morning tending to the minor wounds the builders are getting while rebuilding the bridge.

Things get chaotic real fast later that evening when Daryl rushes in with Aaron slung over his shoulder, "where's Siddiq?"

"He's gone. It's just me." I inform him, wondering what the hell is going on.

He lays Aaron down, who's grunting in what I can tell is immense pain, "it's just you, then." Daryl and I work together to unwrap the sloppy bandage job and I get a look at what happened. Aaron's arm is mangled, crushed and completely useless to him.

I stand up straight, knowing what I have to do, "I have to amputate." I say it as stern as I can, wanting to sound as confident in this decision as I can.

"What?" Aaron yells out through a labored breath.

"There ain't no other way?" Daryl asks. I move away from him and grab a book, the same book I ironically grabbed last month at the hilltop the night Maggie was attacked.

I flip through some pages as I explain, "the only way to stop the bleeding is to amputate and cauterize the wound."

"What?" Aaron mumbles back.

I quickly grab a few things I need and hand Daryl the rubber string, "here."

"Wait. Wait." Aaron begs us to pause for a moment.

He grunts as Daryl ties the rubber string on the top of his arm, to slow the bleeding. Daryl asks me, "you got something for the pain?"

I grab the knife and saw I need among a few other things as I inform, "It wouldn't kick in fast enough. We have to do this now.

Daryl keeps tightening the rubber, "oh, sorry, man."

Aaron pants and cries in pain, maybe also fear as I come down next to him. "I need you to hold him down for me." I tell Daryl, as I look at the graphics in the book on what exactly to do.

I look at Aaron who through a labored breath says, "you can do it."

"Do it!" Daryl yells and I exhale harshly as I push the knife into his skin. Time moves fast but slow at the same time. I try and focus on each cut individually but I know I can't take my time, the pain Aaron is in with each cut increasing. As soon as I feel a bit of bone, I switch to the saw. I saw as fast as I can, and as soon as I get through the last bit of bone, I slice the over side of the arm with the saw as well, wanting to save time. Daryl is shaking as he holds Aaron down, using all his strength to do so. I grab the torch, turn it on and heat up an iron quickly. As soon as I can, I press that to his wound and he screams louder then he has before passing out from the pain. I spend the next hour or so carefully tending to his wound, wrapping it up and getting him situated for a long night. When I'm done needing Daryl, I let him know, "I'm alright here now, he should be out for a bit." Daryl stands up and storms out without another word. It's quiet in the woods that night, everyone talking in muffled voices about what happened. Daryl comes back an hour or so after he left, sitting at Aaron's side. When Aaron wakes up, they talk and in whispered voices, and I let them be. Occasionally checking on the wound, or Aaron's fever, making sure I do whatever I can to prevent infection.

Sometime later Rick comes in. He eyes Aaron on the bed, "well-done. He's gonna be all right?" He asks.

"Yeah. If we can keep the wound from getting infected." I'm suddenly brought back to the prison, remembering trying to prevent the same thing from happening Hershel. Things were different then though. I wasn't the one who cut off the leg back then. I come back to reality and add on, "but he's still in a lot of pain.

Daryl says, "he's holding on, though"

Aaron whispers from the bed, "damn right I am."

Daryl stands and let's Rick sit where he was, next to Aaron. He lowers his head slightly, "I'm so sorry this happened to you. We were all supposed to be working together. I thought we were."

Aaron chimes in, "you couldn't have known."

"I've been pushing everyone hard." Rick sighs and goes on, "I know I have. I put this project first. And you paid the price."

"It was worth it." Aaron gets out, "when the dead started to rise," Aaron exhales sharply in pain, "I thought I was seeing the end of everything. But you changed all that, Rick." He breathes out hard again, "it's not the end of the world anymore. It's the start of a whole new one." He pauses to breathe out one more time before telling him, "I'll always be glad I was here to be a part of that."