Red

12: Tears

It took all my willpower not to cry as I stumbled along the overgrown dirt path. Tears seemed to be all I had left. Tears and Hansel.

I had no strength anymore. Emotionally and physically. I just wanted to collapse into a ball and sleep for a hundred years. But that's Sleeping Beauty's story. And I got stuck with the tale of Red Riding Hood. My foot suddenly fell into a pothole, snapping me out of my thoughts. I let out a scream of pain as I plummeted towards the ground. At the sound, Hansel stopped running and swivelled around to face me. His face was red and glazed with sweat. His concerned eyes widened, and he crouched next to me.

"Are you alright?" From then on, the pain became all my mind could register. It filled my brain and started thumping around my skull, making my head numb. I let out shuddering breaths, squeezing my eyes shut even tighter not wanting to look down. I lay down. Resting my head on the dirt. I rubbed my right wrist with my opposite hand. I had landed on it and it felt like a needle had been forcibly lodged up my vein. Hansel was speaking to me but my mind wasn't comprehending the words. It was taking a vacation in another world. Another world filled with pain and fire. I lifted up my head from the ground, quickly daring a peek at my ankle. In the two seconds I had looked, I could tell I wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. My foot was twisted awkwardly 90 degrees. And even though I'm not exactly a qualified doctor, I could tell it wasn't supposed to look like that. Fresh bruises were already visible, and they were slowly starting to creep over my foot. My brain slowly started to translate Hansel's words from a dull muffled blur in the background, to sharp clear words drilling into my eardrums, instantly making them throb.

"It looks broken." I felt a light touch sprinkle over the delicate area. He touched a bump that had appeared. He pressed down on it making me scream. "That's the bone." He stated simply.

"Why'd you touch it then?" I shouted angrily. Why would he deliberately cause me pain?

"I had to be sure. Try to keep it straight." He moved my foot straight again. He sounded so professional. Then I remembered, he always sounds professional. "I'll be right back." He stood up and quickly dashed into the outskirts of the forest. He was digging around in the bushes. I saw him forcibly pulling on something. Some sort of plant. He ran over to me with a handful of long flax leaves.

"What are those for?"

"Shhh." He hushed. I growled slightly. How dare he hush me. Wait! I just growled. Oh no. That can't be good. Hansel was quickly starting to get to work, wrapping my ankle up in the flax, making a temporary cast.

"Oh." I said simply, sounding like dork.

"Your body is changing." He suddenly reminded me of my mother when she first tried giving me 'the talk'. My chest tightened at the thought of my mother. Was she looking for me? Surely she must have realised something is wrong by now. Why did I have to leave things so bad with her? "The transfer to wolf transformation should make the healing process faster." I had almost forgot he was talking "Keep the foot straight, the bone should heal quickly." I nodded as he tucked in the last pice of flax, finishing the cast.

"How quickly." I paused, waiting for him to answer. When he didn't I began to panic. "Hansel-" I said, sounding like a angry parent "answer me." I saw his small Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed thickly.

"Not fast enough." He said quietly. I felt my hope shatter into a million pieces.

"I have to walk." I desperately staggered to my feet. I let out a loud short cry as I delicately applied pressure, I began plummeting towards the ground again "Red!" Hansel's hands shot out to support me, stopping me from falling "Don't be daft. You can't walk on that. It will slow the healing process even more."

"I have to." I said stubbornly, trying to walk through the glass being stabbed into my ankle. Metaphorical glass obviously.

"Red. Listen to me." I tore my arm from Hansel's hands, and managed to run forward three steps before falling against a conveniently positioned tree for support. I let out a long low moan. I slid smoothly down the trunk, until I was sitting on the ground. I moved my knees to my chest and began to cry, burying my eyes into my knees. I felt Hansel sit next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't cry Red. Please." I looked at Hansel. His eyes were pleading and desperate. I was zapped with a wave of realisation as I remembered how young Hansel and Gretal really are. They seem so dependent and strong. But really they are still barely teenagers. To young to be living in the forest alone. To young to have to hunt their own food. To young to have to constantly fight for survival. To young to have to risk their lives for a wolf girl far beyond help.

These thoughts just made me cry even harder.

●●●●●

Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Please don't forget to vote if you think the story deserves it