man destroys god || i. malcolm

6

All Aria felt when she woke up, was 'holy shit' before throwing up and nearly passing out again. It took a minute before the ringing in her ears faded and she could open her eyes.

She was lying in the mud again, but there was no car, nobody else around, and no dinosaur. At least the last one was a relief. It was still pitch black outside, unfortunately. Her watch read 10:00 pm. How long had she slept? Panic filled her as she recalled the events of the night.

She pushed herself to her hands and knees, and attempted to stand. Dizziness hit her immediately, but she ignored it. She headed towards what used to be the bathrooms. Maybe a phone or radio had survived the attack. Doubtful, but possible.

Each tiny movement stretched the skin on her back and irritated the deep cuts left by Rexy's teeth.

Aria stumbled in the direction of the straw pile, but stopped when she heard a small groan. She whipped her head around to see what was there, but was very relieved to see that it was simply Dr. Malcolm. She hurried — slowly — to the man and knelt at his side. There was a serious injury to his leg, and Aria shuddered. Injuries were not her specialty. She began removing the scraps left of her overshirt.

Ian's eyes fluttered, then opened. "Well, I hope you weren't planning on ravishing me while I was unconscious. You know, that's a terrible thing to do to a person. I'd like to remember it."

"Oh, shut up, I'm trying to stop the bleeding. Your leg is totally fucked up. Do you know how to tie a tourniquet?"

Ian grinned. "Yeah. You gotta use a belt, though. And I don't see that you have one."

Aria pursed her lips. "Don't say it."

"We'll use mine. You have to take it off, though. I'm so weak, Mayfield."

Aria grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it at his face before going for his belt. He sputtered, giving her the time to unbuckle it without any comments from Dr. Leather Jacket.

It did not help that unbuckling a belt that is not your own while concussed and also deeply traumatized is not easy and it took Aria far too long to achieve her goal.

"Don't touch me there, Mayfield, we haven't even had dinner yet!" Ian protested, grinning. Aria flicked his knee lightly, causing him to inhale sharply with a grimace.

"Shut up. Now, tell me how to tie the tourniquet."

Ian reached his hands out to guide Aria through the process, which wasn't as hard as she expected. It was definitely something he could've just told her how to do without all the handsy 'let me show you' bullshit.

She took out one of her CLIF bars and opened it up. "Eat." Ian didn't protest, simply taking it.

"Wish I had my flask right about now." He looked up at Aria with a smile. She sighed at him. The car that housed the flask was crushed, condemning his jacket and his flask to forever living on this island.

When she turned her body towards him, her face twisted ever so slightly at the movement. Ian sat up quickly, to the best of his ability. "Are you hurt?"

Aria shook her head, batting his hands away. "Forget me, lay back down." Ian was insistent, however, and grabbed her arms gently, stalling her movement to check her over.

She gave in and turned around so that her back was facing him. Ian gasped quietly at her injuries as he pulled her shirt up to reveal her back.. Three long, deep gashes, from shoulder to hip. He traced a finger down the length of one, on the uninjured skin. She still flinched, the skin around the gashes already bruised.

Ian looked around for something to bandage it with, but came up short. Her own over-shirt was already covered in his own blood and therefore useless.

The two eventually agreed that there was nothing to be done. The only fabrics left were their shirts, and neither was eager to be shirtless.

Aria lounged next to Ian as it was clear they weren't going anywhere. Concussed and crippled, the only thing they could do now was sit and keep the other awake. Even though they both wanted to sleep more than anything else.

"Where are you from, Aria?" Dr. Malcolm asked, trying to fill the silence. If they were to be stuck there they would need to keep distracted. And Aria had said no to Ian's first idea.

"I grew up in Maine, but I'm living in Pennsylvania now." Aria smiled at the thought of home. Lord knows she would rather be there right now. Anywhere but this hellish island, really. "What about you?"

"Texas. You ever been?"

The only thing Aria knew about Texas was cowboys. The ridiculous image of Ian Malcolm as cowboy crossed her mind. In her delirium, she couldn't help but laugh out loud at her thoughts.

"What's funny about Texas?" Ian got defensive, but still broke out in a grin at the sound of her laugh. Aria waved him off, her laugh fading into a lingering smile. She tried to lean back and rest on her arms, but the movement hurt her too much.

The two of them remained mostly silent for the next hour, the panic of being unprotected in the middle of the night on a dinosaur-infested island beginning to set in. Aria refused to sleep, however much she wanted to. The thought of being eaten in her sleep was too much. Though getting eaten while awake didn't sound much better.

She leaned against a tree and let Ian rest his head on her lap as he drifted off to sleep. She tried her best not to admire him as he slept, but it was near impossible. His dark curls fell on his forehead frustratingly well. Without his dark glasses hiding his eyes, Aria could see his whole face, free of stress and all other feelings other than peaceful rest. She caught herself reaching up to stroke his hair a few times, but stopped before she could make contact. That would be too weird.

He woke up a mere half-hour later. "Good morning." He winked at her, despite his expression giving away how much pain he was in.

Aria refrained from rolling her eyes and lifted his head from her lap. "I'm going to sleep, if you'd be so kind as to stay up and make sure no monsters come to eat us."

"Anything for you, Miss Mayfield."

•

eep