Aftermath of the Reckoning

Chapter 14

Patch awoke and immediately wished he were dead.

His entire left side felt like a school of piranhas decided to feast on his flesh, only to swim away at the last moment, cruelly leaving him to suffer in a terminal state of deterioration.

Except it went beyond that. Surely his left arm had been slashed a thousand times with a small pocket knives before being submerged in a vat of sulfuric acid.

What happened to me?

Blinking away a strange film on his eyes, he looked down and to the left, only to find a short, bloody stump of a shoulder where his arm should be. A gruesome mess of clotted flesh, dirt and bone existed there now, serving as a landing pad to a few brave flies in the area.

Patch leaned over to the right, caught himself with his arm, and dry heaved as nausea made itself at home on the couch of his empty stomach. This continued for a few seconds until, lightheaded and dizzy, he lay down on his good side, and stared into the distance.

In the midst of his misery, he concentrated on the cool dirt against his cheek while taking slow, deep breaths. Minutes passed and he reached a plateau of displeasure that at least no longer seemed to increase with every waking moment.

Finally taking some interest in his surroundings, he peered at the blades of grass before his eyes and beyond. For the first time, he realized that he could see, at least short distances. He could detect great detail on the foliage directly in front of his head, though things became blurry he gazed further into the distance.

Well, at least that’s something.

Then full memory of the previous night’s events hit him, causing his breath to hitch before he coughed out, “Zoey!”

Sheer willpower drove him to his feet. He staggered around in a circle, trying to make sense of the blobs before him. He could definitely distinguish large trees now, especially as he moved closer to them.

Something dark lay heaped against the ground and as he headed toward it, Zoey’s form clarified before his eyes. He dropped down beside her and sighed deeply when he heard her breathing.

He placed his hand on her forehead and searched for injuries. A bit of dried blood from her left nostril and a few broken ribs, but no internal bleeding or anything more serious.

As he pulled his hand away, Zoey’s eyelids fluttered and she imprisoned his eyes with her gaze briefly before bolting upright. “Patch! You’re alive!”

Zoey drew in as if to hug him and then stopped, staring at the massive wound on his side for the first time in daylight. She burst into tears. “I’m so sorry Patch! This is all my fault.”

Patch shook his head, he was not expecting to hear those words. “Zoey, if anything, you saved my life last night.”

“You don’t understand Patch, that thing was after me, he wanted the Bloodflower — ”

“Zoey, none of that matters now.” He reached around her shoulders with his arm and pulled her close. “What matters is that you’re alive and so am I.” 

Zoey buried her face in his jacket as sobs racked her body. Patch could feel the warmth of her face on his chest mixed with the wetness of her tears through his shirt. She must have been through a lot after he passed out.

He rubbed her arm and just held her for a while, giving her time to get it out of her system.

Zoey spoke into his chest, in between sobs. “Patch...that thing...it was eating you. If you had died —”

“Shhh. I didn’t die, Zoey. I’m here. Everything is going to be alright.”

Zoey wiped back the tears with her free hand. “Patch, you may not be able to heal your arm.”

“Listen, I’ll be ok, I’ve healed from worse,” he half lied and suspected she knew it. In an attempt to strengthen his argument, he said, “On a good note, I can see again, well, kinda. Nearsighted I guess.”

Patch didn’t understand when he acquired such feelings for this girl, but at the moment reassuring her was more important than anything else. He fought hard to remain calm as waves of nausea and dizziness assaulted him, soon followed by a hammering headache.

As if sensing his discomfort, Zoey leaned out of his embrace and examined him carefully. 

Patch rested his hand on hers and squeezed gently. He looked around a bit, squinting. “I need to find us some water, I’m sure you’re thirsty.”

Zoey smiled genuinely, almost concealing the look of concern in her eyes. “Wait right here, we’ve got some water over by the clearing. I’ll be right back, less than a minute this time I promise!”

Patch released her hand and sat down fully, the mild jolt causing him to reel with pain. He watched her run off until she no longer remained distinguishable from the other shades of color floating before him.

This is going to be a long day. 

But for now he had to live and get better, for Zoey’s sake if nothing else.