Cut From A Tattered Cloth

🌺Chapter 24🌺

Melia's eyes shot open. The air rushed out of her lungs as Oyaji slammed into the pavement, forcing her to bounce off of him. As she rolled onto the pavement she pressed her hands to the ground. Her breathing stilled and her mind quieted. Through her hands and knees, she felt a dull energy throbbing under the concrete sidewalks. It wasn't as strong as what she might've felt if she were standing on dirt, but it was enough to calm her down. She felt renewed, her life force strengthened by her connection to the earth. Even if it came through a filter this time. She exhaled in relief, then turned to Oyaji.

His body had gone limp, arms and legs splayed out in all directions as if he were a plant without water. Blood dripped from his nose. He had flakes of ash in his hair and black smudges across his face. Fingers trembling, Melia felt along the side of his head, as close to the back as she dared to get. She felt no blood in his hair, and from the dull pulses she sensed in the ground, he wasn't bleeding on the pavement, either. While that was encouraging, Melia didn't relax. Just because Oyaji wasn't bleeding didn't mean he was okay.

She rested a hand on his shoulder and called his name. "Oyaji? Oyaji please, please wake up."

She might as well have tried waking a doll, for all the good it did. Oyaji was still breathing, but he didn't respond to Melia's calls or the more insistent way she tried to shake him awake. Panic crawled up Melia's throat again, and she tried desperately to force it back down. This wasn't right. Oyaji couldn't be hurt. She needed him. They still had to go back for–

Oyaji's arms stiffened. His face scrunched up in pain and he groaned.

Melia let out a yelp of relief. She started to throw herself on him. Then, catching herself at the last second, settled for a shallow hug. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally knock Oyaji out again.

If I could grow vines midair, she thought, this wouldn't have happened.

Oyaji had been pushing her to do that for weeks now, and she hadn't even tried. Now, because of her fear and lack of skill, he'd been hurt. Tears welling in her eyes, she cried out for help. Uncertain who, if anyone, would come and whether or not they would even understand her.

"A...yame?" Oyaji asked, eyes still closed.

"Yame?" Melia repeated. She felt confused. That word meant stop it, but she hadn't done anything.

With another groan, Oyaji's eyes fluttered open. He looked at Melia, his gaze oddly vacant.

"Oyaji?" she asked.

"Meh-liyuh," he said, "Omuh...omae Meh-liyuh da." Yuh...you are Meliyuh.

His speech was slurred, and he spoke as if his body were on autopilot. In spite of the pain he'd been in, there was no emotion in his face.

Melia's eyes went wide. "Oyaji, are you alright?"

For a long time, Oyaji stared at her. Then, he blinked, and started to speak.

"We...fell," he said, drawled and delayed as he had seconds before. It was as if he needed twice as long to process what Melia had said, and even longer to form a response.

Oh no, she thought. She'd heard about injuries like this in her training. It happened when someone took a hard hit to the head and had their brain rattled. Depending on how severe it was, it could take him anywhere from a few weeks to a couple months to recover from this. With a sinking feeling, Melia realized Oyaji couldn't help her. At least not with what she needed to do right now.

Paramedics arrived. Two men lowered a hover-gurney next to Oyaji, asking him for his name while a woman bombarded Melia with questions she couldn't make out.