The Girl in the Glass

four

Four

Cait was floating in a place so dark that even if she opened her eyes, there probably wouldn't be much of a difference. Beyond her world of darkness, she could hear someone moving around, and for the first time in a long time she felt as if she were firmly in her body. She couldn't tell if her shoulder was still bleeding, but it didn't feel like it.

Finally, Cait fully woke up and opened her eyes. She was in a dark room, no, cave. The celling was inches from her nose and the smell of cooking food wafted through the small space. Cait's stomach churned and a familiar feeling rose in her throat. She rolled over in displeasure, which sent her flailing off of whatever she had been laying on.

She fell to the floor and pain coursed up and down her arm and into her chest.

"Ow." Her voice caught in her throat, and it almost seemed foolish to say something as trivial as 'ow'.

Something dripped down her shoulder. She groaned and tried to roll over but there was something in her way. The heat of another person, warmed her side and as they crouched down, their knees made a cracking sound.

A hand reached out to help her move, Cait took it. She was careful not to use her left arm at all. She got to her knees before her stomach couldn't handle the smell of food anymore, she shoved the hand away from her and tucked her injured arm across her chest.

Cait doubled over. With her stomach empty, all she could do was dry heave. The effort was enough to make tears escape her eyes and a tightness gather in her chest.

When she physically couldn't throw up anymore, she sat back on her heels and wiped her cheeks.

"How do you feel?" Gideon asked, his voice soft as he leaned back.

In humiliation, Cait didn't answer. She just turned away from him and took in their small camp. She had been mistaken, it wasn't a cave. They were actually in someone's attic. Or at least, what looked like one.

"Where are we?" She asked, the dryness of her throat making her voice crack.

Gideon looked at her, seemingly at a loss for words. "Uh, a house. It looks as if whoever had lived here before has been long gone. It was the first thing I could find."

He grabbed a piece of cloth that was resting in a bowl of water and moved closer to Cait. "Luckily for you, whoever was here before us was into collecting herbs. They left behind the majority of their stock and I found some things to help with your wound."

Cait sat on the edge of the cot she'd been laying on before and let Gideon come closer to work on her bleeding arm. The left shoulder and arm of her dress had been cut off, but still covered everything that needed covering. After wiping it clean, Gideon reached for a pile of bandages.

"How deep was the bullet?" Cait asked, as Gideon started to carefully wind the cloth over and under her arm and shoulder. She'd never had to use something so primitive before, a wound back home meant a med-patch and a day of moving a little slower.

"Not too far. It would've gone further if it had been a real bullet, but they must use bullets specifically for stunning. It was made of something sort of like rubber."

Cait gasped as he pulled the bandage a little too tight.

"Sorry." He mumbled "I've never treated a wound like this before...yesterday."

Cait mumbled an acceptance to his apology.

"Hopefully these will hold until we find your...uh, Nova's family."

"Hopefully." Cait echoed.

Gideon added another layer of bandages and pinned it in place.

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden." Cait said, her shoulders falling. So far Gideon had been contributing the most to their journey, and she'd been a whole lot of dead weight.