Prisoner

Falling stars

Mason looks down at the animals and I grab a branch to steady myself. My shoulder burns. The bullet wound. I slide my coat off pull my sleeve down. I almost retch. The wound is at the top of my arm, almost to my shoulder, and its bleeding. Bad. There is pus and all sorts of gross stuff oozing out from under the bandage. I carefully pull the bandage up. Uh, oh. It looks infected. 

"Uh, Mason? I think we have a problem."

"Huh? Oh, yeah thats bad. Let me see."

He scoots closer and grabs my arm. He sucks in a breath and swings his backpack and pulls out a bottle of something. He holds my arm tighter and pours the stuff over it. I wince and bite my lip. Copper, blood. My lip bleeds everywhere. My shoulder burns, but the healing sort of burn. I take a couple deep breaths and my vision clears. 

"I am getting so sick of this wound." I mutter as Mason wraps it back up.

"Well, it has to heal or it will keep giving you problems." He gives  me a side ways smile.

I hear a shot and the animals run away. I look down to the ground but can't see anything.

"Hello? Mason, ya up there?" A scottish accent.

I jump a little and someone comes into view. Its a short man with short curly red hair. Everything about him just seems short.

"Hey Declan, you made it."

I am so confused.

"Declan?" I ask.

"Hello, lass." He nods to me.

"Hi." I say, I don't smile. "Who is he?" I ask Mason.

"This is Declan Rand, my friend and he will help us.... dissapear so to speak."

I cross my arms and glare at him.

"Now Alex, don't be like that. He will help us. We cannot afford to have anyone following us." Mason scolds me like I am a child.

Child....I never got to be a child. Only a prisoner. All my life has been a prison. I will forever be defined by what I was when I was growing up. A prisoner. That is who I was, who I am and who I will always be. I cannot change the past.  

This thought makes me sad. Sad and tired. I want to lie down. I start to climb down the tree but my vision gets blurry. I feel my hands slipping. I hear Mason yell something. I hit a branch, hard. Then another and another. Finaly, I hit the ground. I can't breath. I take weazing gasps. I can't move my legs. I try to move but it hurts, it hurts so bad. The world spins, my mind goes blank. 

Someone grabs me, carrys me to another car. We go somewhere, I don't know. Everything hurts, the bright lights hurt my eyes. My legs hurt, my shoulder hurts. My ears ring so loudly I feel like they will pop. I wish for the darkness. The blackness. I wish it to over take me. My demons to come. Even the demon of death.

I see stars. Stars that spin and twist and fall. They take me away with them.

                                                                                                                    MASON

I carried Alex to Declans car and whispered in her ear but I don't think she heard me. She had a far away look in her eye, like she was seeing but not comprehending. She looked so frail, so lifeless. I'm scared.

I sit in the waiting room of the hospital in the next town over. Along with worring over Alex, I worry of being found. Word travels fast but Declan assures me that these people will not turn us over, they only care about healing the wounded. Declan has gone to gather some supplies, if we can leave. Alex looked bad. I don't know what is going to happen. The doctors say she looks critical. I sit and wait. I hate it that I can do nothing to help her.

She is in surgery, has been for the last hour or so. I lean my head back and pray. She has to be okay, she has to be. She can't die. 

The doctor comes out. He looks upset. Oh no, oh God please no.

"I'm sorry, Sir. We tried our best but..." 

"No." I choke out.

"She will live," He says, and I breath a sigh of relief. "But,"

I suck in a breath.

"She will be paralyzed from her back down. There was nothing we could do, I am sorry."

They wheel her out of the operating room. She looks so...small. I bite my lip and the tears fall. She has been through so much, now this. Life is never, ever fair.