Terra Natus

VII

He wondered how long he should wait before being worried.

He was already worried, of course, but he didn't know how long before it was reasonable to be so.

By this point, the only thing holding him back was the fact that checking on her could prove painfully embarrassing for them both. Something he definitely didn't want to have to endure unless absolutely necessary.

Yet, should it be necessary now, than this hesitating could prove dangerous for her.

He shifted irritably on the boulder where he sat, at the head of the path that led to the bathing spring; purposefully, far enough away not to see anything, but close enough to hear something, should she manage to cry out before slipping into unconsciousness.

As unlikely as that may be.

He set his teeth. This had not been a wise decision. Why had he agreed to this?

Thinking back, he had to admit it was possible that his judgment had been clouded by his attempt to escape an awkward moment.

*

He decided to let the wounds be, as her speaking before Sequoi had been strain enough for one morning; her unfocused gaze and heavy feet, as they finally broke through the trees to their resting place, solidifying this idea.

She stumbled down onto her mat and was out before he had even made it all the way over to the fire.

He squatted there, on the far side of the fire, watching her; pondering.

He would have preferred she'd had more time before having to go through that, more time to heal and rest. But it was what it was.

And she had done brilliantly.

He looked down, pleased, the image of her standing before them all, head held high, replaying in his mind. Honestly, he had been surprised by how strong and confident she had been; surprised and impressed.

She was constantly at odds with his previous beliefs of what her kind were like.

Though, what exactly that meant about his beliefs, her, or her kind he couldn't even begin to untangle.

She slept until much later in the afternoon, he giving her the medicine immediately.

He could see it on her face now, when she needed it; a grimness in her eyes, a tenseness in her jaw, a paleness to her face.

She drank and then ate, he being glad of how much she was able to eat now. She had been so starved before he'd injured her, and had only gotten worse since. It hurt him to look at the sharpness in her features; brought out a worry, a tension inside of him.

If all went well with the cleaning, meaning it didn't almost kill her like last time, he'd try to introduce some other foods into her diet; get her body some vitamins and protein.

She went back to sleep, the pain having been the only thing to awaken her, and he figured she'd be out for the night now. Which was good, as her body needed the sleep more than anything he could do for her right now.

He had never nursed anyone to health before.

He had much knowledge of such things. He just...did. But doing something and knowing how to do something were two very different things, he was realizing.

He thought back over the sleepless nights and tense days past; there had been times when he wasn't sure she could even...that she wasn't beyond what anyone could do.

That familiar ache hit his stomach at the thought of it, and he breathed his way through it, willing it away.

He had been a fool when he'd thought before that she couldn't affect him from her sleep. In fact, it seemed there were few bounds her Power couldn't penetrate, if any!