Amaranthine

Chapter Thirty Three

© Copyright 2011
All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal.

Affliction: (uh-flik-shun)

a state of pain or distress

cause of mental or bodily pain

 

He walked in the direction of the ditched car, but his body wasn’t as solid as it usually was. It didn’t feel right. “Put me down,” I told him, “I can walk.” He didn’t argue. He didn’t say anything at all as he set me on my feet. He grabbed his shoulder and winced. I watched as his olive skin began to pale. His eyebrows furrowed, and he clenched his teeth.

“Orion?” Rather than respond to me, he continued to walk. “Orion?” Nothing. I scurried ahead and stood in front of him, blocking his path.

It was the first good look I got at the damage Damien had inflicted. His right eye was black and had a gash that extended out to his temple. I guessed this was from the kick to the head Damien had landed before Orion threw him. His top lip was swollen, with a similar slice running across it. His cheekbone was sunken where Damien’s foot had pummeled him.

Frantic, I pulled him down so he was sitting on the ground. I yanked his t-shirt over his head abruptly, which made him cringe again. “Sorry,” I mumbled. Orion’s chest, stomach and arm revealed the true brutality of Damien’s onslaught. I gasped. His abdomen and chest were unrecognizable, a mass of dark bruises. It was hard to distinguish contusions from the soot that covered his skin. The filthy carbon was a result of rushing into an inferno to save me. There was a massive hole in his arm where Damien’s fiery spear had penetrated it. It was blistered.

He managed to shuffle so his back rested on a tree nearby, but then he slumped, defeated. I fought back the tears and reminded myself that at this point, I was the stronger one. I brought my hand to my mouth to cover it, to hide my trembling lower lip.

“Orion?” I repeated his name but it was like my pleas were falling on deaf ears. He closed his eyes. “Orion?” My voice was manic. I wanted to shake him, but I worried that may hurt him even more. He still wouldn’t respond. I placed my hand on his chest and could feel the faint beat of his heart. “Orion?” He didn’t even acknowledge me.

I curled on the ground next to him and lay my head on his chest, sobbing loudly. It didn’t matter because he couldn’t hear me. “I love you. I love you,” I kept repeating myself, hoping it would bring him back. “Please don’t leave me.” I lay there bawling. All of this was because of me. He was slipping away because of me. The tears fell relentlessly from my face. They burned my eyes before falling onto Orion’s bare skin. I thought they might never end.

It felt like I had been sobbing forever when, suddenly, I felt his hand on  the back of my head, running through my hair. His voice was faint, so much quieter than I was used to. “Don’t cry, Tiger,” he whispered. “It kills me when you cry.”

I sniffled, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. “Orion! I was so sure, I thought...” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.

“Shhh,” he said weakly, putting his finger across my lips. “I’ll be okay.”

I ran my fingers through his hair and looked at him. His eyes were dimmer now, but still unnaturally blue. “I love you,” I told him.

“I know.” He moved me gently off of his chest as he sat up slightly, but he still needed to rest his body against the tree.