Dark as the Night

49

The medical center was quiet, Leila having left for her lunch break, and Odessa hummed happily to herself as she did the monthly inventory. She made a list of what supplies needed to be restocked, and how many of each. It was the third Friday of the month, and the following Wednesday, Leila would need to request funds at the council meeting for the monthly trip to town next weekend.

She looked out the window at the gorgeous spring day, and felt her heart lift. She'd passed both her algebra and geometry tests (with a B and C respectively), and she'd taken the last of her small collection of hand-me-down clothes to the tailor. She could finally start putting her money toward things she needed and wanted to build her life here at Camp McKenna.

Odessa was planning out the small container garden she wanted to plant in her dorm room and all the herbs and flowers it would contain, when she heard the front door open then slam closed. "That was quick," she called out in surprise. Leila had used Odessa's shortened tutoring session to her advantage, going to lunch at the food hall before her 1:00 training, but she'd only been gone fifteen minutes.

There was a pause and Odessa thought she hadn't been heard. She sat her tablet down and turned to step out of the supply room and came up short against a red-haired man wall. A bloody red-haired man wall. James's lips twitched and he replied, deadpan, "Well, I'd offer to come back later, but I'm not sure a knife wound should wait." He pointed with his right hand to the left side of his neck, where he was holding a large wad of blood-soaked gauze. He looked over Odessa's head. "I take it Leila isn't here?"

"What the hell??" Odessa panicked. She reached up and examined the gauze. She saw that the injury wasn't on his neck so much as on his shoulder, near his collar bone. Thank god, she sighed. It had missed the carotid artery. She shoved him out of the supply room. He grinned down at her as she grabbed his arm and dragged him into an examination room. She pushed him toward the bed and he plopped down with a loud fwump.

"How did this happen?" she demanded as she pulled out the necessary first aid supplies from a cabinet across from the bed and slipped on gloves.

James was still smirking, laughter radiating from his green eyes. "One of my knife-throwing students didn't know I was behind him when he lifted his hand to throw. I failed him on the spot for not paying attention to his surroundings." She turned back to him and he dropped his grin, though his eyes still sparkled in amusement. "Speaking of failures, how did you do on your tests today?"

Odessa frowned at him as she pulled the gauze off gently and dabbed at the wound with a damp cloth. She took some scissors from the box and cut his blood-caked shirt to remove it without making him lift his arm. Then she examined his shoulder. The blood sliding down his chest was already sticky and congealed.

"I passed, of course. More importantly," her voice was laced with acid and her scowl deepened. "I get the feeling you took your sweet time getting over here, considering this has already started to clot."

James looked affronted. "I had to show off my battle wounds," he replied slowly, as though it should be obvious.

Odessa scoffed. "Oh yes, because standing behind idiots with knives is so heroic," she said drily, and turned to dig a swaged suture needle from the first aid box. "You need stitches."

"Do I need to wait for Leila?" James peered at her through squinted eyes. "I'm not sure I trust you with a needle." He held his bloody shirt to him like a pathetic ward against her.