Laughter Lines

Who's Gonna Hold You Tonight?

Observation kicks in only when Kay yelps, yanking her hand out of yours. Alarmed, you reach after it, palm open, a silent request to see the damage you did not realize was there. She places it back in your hand, muttering that it's fine, that she's getting along with it okay she just has to be careful with it.

The palm of her hand is a network of scrapes packed with dirt and granules. Her wrist is the size of a tennis ball. How did we both manage to skip over this? You lift your eyes to her face and see the firelit side is no better than her hand.

You were looking right at it. We were both looking right at it. What kind of husband are we? She dragged us here and tried to light that fire and took care of us while we couldn't care for ourself. Still can't care for ourself, we need food. We are too weak to do much. We need protein, and quickly. But not so quick we don't start taking care of her. Yes. Ourself can wait.

You loosen the apron tied around your chest and tear it. You cast eyes around for anything that might work as a splint, but it is night and the firelight from the closed-up stove is not enough to see much. The splint will have to wait. You fashion a crude sling. She accepts your efforts, allowing you to tie it around her neck and settling her arm in it.

"Do we have water?" you ask.

"We have a well," she answers. "I drew one bucket. It... isn't a very full bucket, but I can get more."

She would have splashed out a lot if she didn't have two hands to steady a rope and bucket, but she still tried. Oh, Kay. Your chest is tight. "Where is it?"

She drags a steel bucket over from the stove area, sloshing more water on the ground, and sits next to you again. You tear a thin strip off the end of the blanket and wrap it around the four fingers of your right hand.

Arcturus faded to the background. Even seated, Arthur weaved, unsteady. Arcturus had pulled back to manage their exhaustion as best as he could, but they needed food. Protein to help replenish their strength.

But first, Kay.

He dipped his wrapped hand into the bucket and brought it up to her face. With his left hand, he plucked out larger bits of gravel and with his right he gingerly swabbed the torn skin, washing out the dirt. Her teeth sank into her lip, her cheek muscles jerking, but she held still. Silent.

When he had finished with her cheek, he moved on to her palms, taking extra care with the injured hand. He ripped another two strips off the blanket.

"We're going to need to sleep under that," she mumbled. "Not too much."

He didn't respond, using the strips to wrap her palms. After this, he settled her injured arm back into the sling.

A quick test confirmed he could not stand up from the bed at this point. He pulled the cloth off his fingers and signed, Food stored here?

"I didn't check yet." She rose and crossed to the part of the room where the shadows had congregated, hiding from the dim light of the stove. She clicked on her phone, passing it over cabinets as she checked each.

"Can you call anyone?" You exert yourself to speak. It is urgent to exchange information with the others as soon as possible. Find out if Mystery is still following. Or if anyone had been captured.

"No reception. We'll need to conserve the battery for when we get in range. I don't have a charger and I doubt this place has electricity anyway. Ah." She pulls a can out. "Pork and beans. Looks like a lot of canned pork and beans. Oh, hey." She pulled out a metal tin and finagled it open. "Not sure if this is any good, but it looks like jerky, maybe."