The Runaways

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning before dawn had even attempted to break in the horizon. I had dreampt that Cory had died. His breathing let me know he was quite alive, however, and that calmed me a bit. But I knew that I would never get back to sleep, so I didn't try.

I sat up, fumbling around in the dark for my canteen. When I found it, I tried to open it and spilled water all over myself. I sighed. So it's going to be one of those days, huh? I thought to myself.

I sat there, twiddling my thumbs until I saw the first ray of sun break the horizon when I peaked out of the portal. As soon as I saw that, I was up, dragging my pack out and rummaging through it to find the book. It was at the bottom, of course. I opened it, flipping through and squinting to see it in the dim light. When I found a section that seemed to have pain relievers, I was disappointed to find that they were very complicated remedies that would require a lot of skill to make. But I decided to try anyway.

Cory woke up when the sun had fully risen. He called out for me, his voice a bit croaky. I went in and saw him sitting up. I frowned at him.

“Really? You need to stay still. You could pull your stitches out! They may not be that good, but they will help you heal, and you need to heal,” I said.

“I'll be fine, Ally. Stop worrying,” Cory said.

“Cory, you are not the one who had to sew up your best friends chest yesterday, are you?” I asked. When he didn't say anything, I continued. “The attack may have hurt you physically, but it hurt me just as much mentally. I couldn't survive out here without you! I wouldn't last two seconds. So please, just rest. I need you to get better,” I pleaded.

He gave me a look of sympathy, and laid back down. I placed my hand on his cheek.

“Do you think you can stay here by yourself for a little while and be a good boy?” I joked. He gave me a smile and a nod. “Good. I'm going to try to find the plants that are needed for an herbal remedy in that book Andrew gave us. Maybe I can get your pain under control, and you can focus on getting better then,” I said.

“Be careful please,” Cory pleaded. “If you have to, take my bow,” he suggested.

“I'll be careful,” I said, grabbing the bow. I turned to leave, but when I got near the portal to the outside, I turned back around. “It's our bow now,” I said.

I went off to find the herbs. Luckily, there were detailed pictures of everything I needed, along with what type of place I would find it in. I found most of the stuff I needed, with the exception of one that only bloomed in the night time.

I went back to Cory and found him sitting up against the rock wall. He had a notebook and a pen on his lap, which surprised me because I hadn't seen him pack it.

“What's that?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “It's just something that Andrew gave me.”

I let it go. No use in arguing with him and getting him all flustered when he felt so bad. “I got all of the stuff on the list, minus one thing that only comes out at night,” I told him. “It's kind of problematic, though, considering that we don't have any lanterns or anything.”

“Well, I guess that I'll just have to do without, then,” Cory said with a sigh.

“No. If I can help you be pain free, I will do whatever it takes,” I said firmly.

Cory just smirked. He knew that when I put my mind to something, I went through with it.

That night, I fed Cory some of the preserves that Andrew had given us. I washed out the mason jar, and lit a fire inside of it, like a little lantern. It wasn't overly bright, but I could see, so I was happy. I left Cory asleep in the shelter, setting off to look for the plant. I wasn't gone long when I found it. I picked as much as I could, and then went back to Cory.

When I got back, I heard Cory cry out in pain. He was sitting up and his face was covered in sweat.

“What did you do?” I demanded, rushing to his side.

“There...was no...water...” he said breathlessly.

“Cory...I can't believe you would do something so stupid!” I exploded. He shrank back a bit.

“If it's any consolation, I think I pulled out a few of my stitches,” he said bitterly.

“Why would that be a consolation?” I practically screamed. He shrank back even farther, as if he were trying to become one with the wall.

“I'm sorry, okay? Do you know how hard it is to sit here and do nothing all day, while you go out there and brave the wilderness? I just wanted to see what I could do. I didn't want you to be doing it all by yourself,” he said.

I went and sat next to him, giving him a big hug that may have pulled out a few more stitches. “I don't need your help. Not right now. What I need you to do is rest. You need to get better. That's how you can help me, okay?” I asked.

“Fine,” he agreed.

“Let me look at your chest,” I said.

He laid on his back. I unbuttoned his shirt, then carefully unwrapped the bandages. Sure enough, two of his gashes were bleeding. I sighed. When did I become a nurse? I thought to myself. I cleaned him up, then examined the stitches. They seemed to be where they should be. The bleeding must've been the result of the stitches being pulled when he got up, I thought. I cleaned him up and then I wrapped him back up with new gauze. It was a good thing the first aid kit that Andrew gave us had so much.

When I was finished, Cory closed his eyes, taking yet another nap. I didn't know how he could sleep so much.