Between The Crystals

Ch 55 Possible Hope for Janette

Ten people gathered around me, mostly relatives or close friends of Janette who were as impatient to return as I was.

"Home."

The air hazed around us, and I ignored the faint ache in my chest as our view cleared to reveal Vermilion Village. Those waiting to carry things away had puffy red eyes. Dread settled in my stomach.

"How is she?" a hunter asked, not having to specify who "she" was.

One of the women wiped her eyes. "Not good. I advise you to go say your goodbyes. She almost bled out. D-don't expect much. Sh-she's too far gone to talk." With a sob, the woman turned away, and two behind her pulled her into a hug as she wept.

We jogged toward the doctor's cave, although dozens of people stood outside the entrance.

Merryl intercepted us and pulled me into a hug. Her shaking voice was muffled against my shoulder. "She's not going to make it. Those dogs mangled her arms and legs. It took most of the doctor's bandages to stop the bleeding. Even if he used all of his herbs for poultices, he wouldn't have nearly enough for all of her wounds."

I hugged her tighter, having no words to express the pain in my heart. "I can try taking a group out to look for herbs for poultices or something. Surely some of the forests near the farms haven't been—"

"This isn't something poultices can fix," she mumbled. "Or I would have already taken a group out."

A nearby villager quietly said, "Her intestines were damaged when a dog bit her side. The contents will already be poisoning her insides. Herbs won't stop that kind of infection."

"She probably won't survive the night after losing that much blood," someone else said with a sniffle. "At least she won't suffer for months like Henley did."

My chest constricted, and I held Merryl closer. This was not what I wanted to come back to. An hour ago, I'd expected a scathing lecture about porting into a potential Saursune ambush in order to save twenty-three people, and now, a porter was dying from an animal attack.

Deeper in the crowd, someone began lamenting over the old-world medicines and hospitals which had been capable of reattaching limbs and fixing organs.

Something in my mind clicked. The Saursunes had such technology, and they seemed to have a vested interest in porters lately. Would they help her? Was it even possible, as different as they were from us? I was grasping at straws, but I'd even take a short straw if it meant not burying a friend.

My grip on my sister loosened as I asked her, "Where's Grant?"

She pulled her head back just enough to look at me, alerted by the shift in my tone. "Somewhere around here. Why?"

"I've got a stupid idea."

"Nat—"

I called out, "Grant, where are you?"

"Over here," he replied.

I pushed my way through the crowd with Merryl and my group hot on my heels.

He took one look at my face and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Running a dumb idea past you. Hear me out. The Saursunes must have good medical technology—you never see one limping, and they never seem to stay injured. Since they want our energy so badly, they might save her. Look at how they bring us food all the time. The next time Janette wakes up, is this something we could mention to her?"

Grant exhaled heavily and ran a hand through his hair, trying to think his way through the proposal and its consequences. The villagers who had been close enough to hear my quiet voice began shifting and muttering.