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They apparate to a small forest on the outskirts of a town, a town mostly inhabited by witches and wizards.
Josephine winces again as Evan carefully lowers her onto a large rock.
"Quick, set up the tent before she loses too much blood!" Evan urges.
Regulus doesn't even reply; he merely mutters some spells to set up the tent.
"No, no, stay awake," Evan says urgently, his worried blue eyes locking onto her dark brown ones. "Josette!?"
Through blurry vision, she sees Regulus approach quickly.
"Come on," she hears him mutter. A pained noise escapes her lips as they help her to her feet and guide her inside the tent.
She tries her best to walk.
Finally, they settle her into a chair inside the tent.
Regulus instructs, "Locate the cleansing elixir and the soothing potion," as he carefully raises the fabric of her shirt to get a clearer view of the injury. The wound is situated just a couple of inches above her hip, obscured by the surrounding blood.
Evan soon runs over, holding two bottles in his hands.
"I need you to drink this," Regulus whispers, bringing one bottle to her lips. She opens her mouth, and he pours the contents down her throat. "Stay awake, Josephine," he urges, setting the empty bottle down.
The potion tastes like nothing, but she feels it start to work. It numbs her side, leaving a hazy pain—still there, but less intense.
She winces as they begin cleaning the wound, her head falling back against the chair, stars dancing in her vision.
This is terrible.
The pain persists throughout the healing process. Regulus does what he can, closing the wound enough to stop the bleeding. He then covers it with bandages.
"Josephine?" Regulus cups her face, directing her gaze to his worried gray eyes. He gently runs his thumb over her cheekbone. "Go to the town," he instructs Evan. "Steal some food or something for her; she lost a lot of blood."
Evan nods, grabs his wand, and leaves the tent.
"Love," Regulus speaks softly, "do you think you can walk?"
"Mhm," Josie mumbles. Regulus places his hands on her arm as she tries to stand.
She sucks in a deep breath, forcing herself to stand despite the wave of pain. Merlin, she feels like she could throw up.
Her eyes shut tightly as she steadies herself, Regulus's hands firm on her arms, supporting her.
Josephine takes another deep breath and opens her eyes, attempting to take a step forward.
