A World Without Trust

Chapter Six

I’m lying on my back looking up at the blue material ceiling of my tent, counting the raindrops as they splatter softly on top of the roof. Harry sits at my feel drumming an empty plastic water bottle on his knee, staring blankly ahead of him. Ashton has been unconscious for the past few hours and all I can do is lye next to him and hope that he wakes up. If those dumb arses didn’t get into a full on brawl, Ashton’s bullet wound wouldn’t have torn open further and he wouldn’t have lost so much blood. I stare at my finger nails picking the dried blood out from underneath them. All I can think of is how much I crave a shower!

“What will we do if he never wakes up Harry?” I ask the curly headed boy who has now managed to squeeze in beside me in my one man tent.

“Burry him I guess, give him a proper funeral?”

“Why do I feel so emotional though? I don’t even know him!”

“Because you’re human Essie! Death is an emotional thing.” Harry says turning his head so his face his only inches from mine. I stare into his eyes longing to kiss those full lips of his. I am soon pulled away from the thought when a movement from the other side of me makes me sit up so fast that my head spins.

“Ashton?” I quietly say as I place my hand lightly on the side of his cheek. He groans and opens his eyes slowly before those gorgeous dimples grow prominent on his face. I smile back at him relieved that he has finally woken up.

After Harry and I haul Ashton up into a comfortable seating position, we feed him some canned fruit and force him to guzzle down half a bottle of water before he announces that he needs to lie down again. I place his head in my lap to make it more comfortable for him while Harry flimsily attempts to change Ashtons bandage.

“I think I can see the bullet.” Harry announces with his face extremely close to the grotesque wound. “I could probably get it out!” He adds looking at Ashton for approval. Ashton nods weakly and gives Harry a thumbs up.

“Wait, not a good idea! What happens if you make him bleed more?” I say stroking Ashtons hair out of his eyes.

“Well the bullet is what’s causing the pain and preventing it from healing faster. I say we get it out with those tweezers you have in the first aid kit, give it a wipe with an antiseptic, stich it up a bit and your good as gold!” Harry replies a little too enthusiastic. I look down at Ashton who looks back up at me giving me a small smile.

“Okay.” I say with a large sigh.

Harry prepares by putting on a pair of rubber gloves and setting out all the tools that he will need in the process. Ashton grabs for my hand still speechless and holds tightly. I rest my other hand on his head stroking his hair off his forehead in the hopes that it will help calm him. We gave him some pain killers fifteen minutes before we were going attempt this home jobby surgery to hopefully help with the pain.

“Take a deep breath buddy!” Harry announces as he places his left hand down on Ashtons chest to steady himself. He brings the tweezers down slowly towards the wound with his right hand and slips them inside the bullet hole. Ashton tenses and the muscles on his torso look like they are going to tear through his skin. As for my hand? I’m pretty sure it’s broken. After what seems like a decade of prodding and digging, Harry finally pulls out a small metallic ball the size of an almond and a smile of achievement spreads across his face. Ashton releases the tension on my hand and wipes a bead of sweat dripping down his face with his other. At this point a lot of blood is seeping out of the freshly tortured wound and I have to remind Harry that he hasn’t finished the job just yet. Harry glide an antiseptic wipe over the wound which makes Ashton grip my hand again which in turn makes me flinch.

“How do you know how to do stiches?” I ask Harry as he begins the third stich.

“I don’t.” He replies. I doubt he is telling the truth though because the crisscross pattern of black wire eroding from Ashtons skin looks pretty darn perfect, as if he has been taught how to do it. Ashton has his eyes tightly shut and I can see his gritting his teeth each time the needle pierces his skin. After a couple more stiches Harry announces he is done and places a bandage over the wound after he cleans it again with an antiseptic wipe.

Ashton is now sitting up sipping away at the rest of the water bottle, whilst Harry leaves the tent to clean up and dispose of the bloody cloths and wipes. After about fifteen minutes of silence Ashton is the first to speak up.

“Sorry about your hand.” Ashton comments weakly.

“That’s okay.” I reply with a smile not noticing that I have been rubbing it and stretching it out these past few minutes.

“So you mentioned that you were from Salt Lake City?”

“Yeah! I was on my way there before I got shot. I want to get back to my family… that is, if they are still alive.”

“I’m sure they’re fine!” I say trying to sound enthusiastic, when in hindsight I have a feeling Ashton may never see his family again.

“What about you? Where is your family?” Ashton asks smiling at me. I look down at my hands unsure as to whether I should tell him or not. Suddenly Harry bursts into the tent with a huge smile on his face, his clothes and hair damp from the rain.

“What?” Ashton and I ask in unison.

“I found us a vehicle!”

“What? Where?”

“A few hundred metres from here on an old dirt road. Essie, do you have that map still?”

“Yeah, in my bag.” I reply before Harry rips my bag open, hastily searching for the map. He pulls it out and opens to a section that shows a heap of back roads leading into each state.

“Utah.”

“What?”

“We need to go to Salt Lake City in Utah.” I repeat.

“What?”

“Do you have ears?” I reply sarcastically.

“Why Utah?” Harry asks frowning.

“We are going to Salt Lake City, that’s where Ashton can find his family and you and I can carry on from there.” Harry seemed to have got my hint and nods approvingly.

“Salt Lake City it is!” Ashton chirps. I look over at Harry to see him giving me a wicked looking smile.