Charles Smith x Reader

Thirteen

Sometimes things just went smooth.

Maybe it was just the circumstances or you were just very lucky that night but the chief decided that your reasoning was valid to violate the agreement you've had with his tribe.

It wasn't an excuse but it was an explanation. An explanation he decided to deem worthy.

Without much discussing or begging on your part, since you were desperate enough for help already anyways, he decided to help you however it was possible.

So, with your head pulled in you found yourself back on your horse again, heading for your home in the dead of night.

Behind you thundered the hooves of two more horses. One carries Aponi on its back. The other carried the old woman through the dark.

Her old eyes were glued to your back while you chased along the river bed. Icy rain pinched your skin while thorns and branches made your flesh burn with pain.

Your horse threw its head to all sides. Fear grew inside its eyes. But you couldn't lower the speed. Not right now.

How much time did you waste?

An hour. Perhaps even more.

Judging by Charles' state he couldn't have had more than two, maybe three hours if at all. You needed to hurry. There was literally no second to waste.

"We're almost there!", you gasped with your eyes narrowed as the light of the fireplace shone through the windows of your home. "Tell me what you need and I'll get you everything!"

Aponi threw a glance over her shoulder to meet the old woman's eyes. Even though she was drenched, her naked legs pressed to the sides of her horse, she didn't even seem to struggle one bit.

This was just another night for her.

With a mighty voice she yelled at the old woman in her native language. She replied something, words pulled long and weary.

"We need warm water, bandages. And anything to... handle a wound.", she yelled through the storm.

A cold shiver made your entire skin crawl as if it was about to grow a layer of ice.

"What about medicine?", you asked.

The cabin wasn't too far away anymore. You could see the silhouette of Clarence, how he stood on the porch right out front and barked to urge you to be faster.

"We trust in ourselves.", Aponi assured and jumped from her horse to help the old woman to her down to her feet quickly. "Go. Get what she needs!"

You almost fell over your own two feet as you rushed across the meadow to get whatever Aponi had requested and even more.

You found a few things that could have been useful as well, more blankets, old rags that wouldn't be ruined if someone drenched them in blood and some rope to tie Charles down if necessary.

Although he seemed to be in so much suffering that he wouldn't resist a whole lot anyways.

Sweat ran down your back as you made it back to your house.

The old woman bend over Charles whole Aponi took care of the bandages that stuck to his skin. The stench of raw meat and iron was in the air.

Almost immediately you felt nauseous.

"Here.", you handed the two women everything they had asked for and moved on to boil some water. "There's medicine in the cabinet above the drawer."

"We have medicine.", Aponi said, frowning.

All of a sudden the old woman awoke from her state of silence. Her voice flooded the room like a prayer, soothing to the soul and mind equally.

Your entire body shivered for a brief second.

She said something, one hand placed on Aponi's arm while the other pressed down on Charles' shoulder.

You couldn't understand what she said but it seemed like Aponi wasn't pleased. Her curled and for a moment she thought. Her eyes traveled to you.

"She says that not every medicine the settlers make is evil. You should get something for his pain.", she said towards you. "Something to make him... sleep."

You frowned.

"I don't think I-!", you cut yourself off and ran away to fetch a bottle of dirty brown glass from your nightstand. "This. It's for sleep. But not pain. Just sleep."

The woman grabbed it from your hand to examine the flowers that decorated the label. With a hum, she nodded, opened the container to take a sniff and then spread a few drops onto Charles' lips.

A soft groan escaped him, heavy and tired. He swallowed, only to frown as the bitter taste crept through his throat.

The old lady said something to Aponi who then turned to look at you again.

"She says it's good.", she did a gesture to point with her head towards the kettle that whistled. "Water. Warm, but not hot."

"R-right!", hastily, you got everything ready, steaming water in a bowl, as many bandages as you had managed to find and dirty rags to clean the blood.

Aponi asked you to help her with cleaning Charles. You had made sure to take good care of his wounds when you had first bandaged him but now he was as drenched as before.

Crusts of dirt stuck to his skin.

You kneeled down next to his head to gently wipe his face.

His eyes flickered behind lids and a hand rose to feel for yours. He must have been confused in this moment, trapped by darkness and pain.

With a soft expression you squeezed his fingers in a gentle, reassuring manner.

"Charles.", you whispered into his ear to not startle him too much. "I got help. You'll be fine. I promise."

His lips moved. His voice trembled. Then he huffed all of a sudden only to pull a face and yell with pain.

Muttering something under her breath, the old woman threw a handful of bloody bandages into an empty bucket and reached for a clean towel.

You didn't need to speak her language to understand that she cursed. Obviously, since this situation was far from ideal.

Aponi reached up to grab Charles' cheek.

"He's cold.", she said.

"I know. He's been for the entire time."

Displeasure crossed her eyes.

"That's not good."