The Dark Side

Chapter 22 - Stitches

We finally make it to the bottom of the tree. I jump off the last branch and land perfectly on the ground as Drew does the same, landing beside me. "So, you're fast going down the tree, but you become an old lady when you climb up." Drew says.

"Oh, shut up." I laugh lightly.

As we walk back to camp we grab as much suitable firewood as possible, as to not make Vincent or Zachary suspicious. I hold some firewood in the crook of my elbow in my left arm, but with my right I fiddle with the necklace around my neck, occasionally reaching down and grabbing some more firewood to add to the stack. Through the silence I begin to think. What are we going to do now? Will my father be staying with us? Will Vincent stay with us? How could we kill the IX? What if we-

My thoughts are cut off as I feel a hand touch my waist from behind. I jump out of surprise and drop all of the firewood I had. "Drew!" I exclaim.

"What? It's funny when you zone out and I can scare you like this!" He laughs. His hand is still wrapped around my waist on my good side that isn't injured. My left side.

"Well, it's mean." I state.

"No it's not." He says.

I slap his hand away. "Yes it is." I say, picking up the firewood I dropped. As I pick up the last one I yelp in pain as it scrapes against my injured side. I drop it and clutch my right side.

"You okay?" Drew asks.

I nod, "Yeah, I'm fine." I give him a small, reassuring smile. He raises an eyebrow, completely not believing me. But, before he can say anything I speak, "C'mon. We gotta get back to camp."

He sighs, but continues walking by my side as we make our way back to camp.

Once we get there Vincent raises an eyebrow at us as we drop the firewood we got. Zachary seems kind of annoyed. "What took you so long?" He asks us almost immediately.

"We went a bit further and ran into a few I4's." I lie, as I continue to hold my wound with my right arm on my waist. Just from a single, small scrape it burns with pain.

"Jessica, being so far up North we would only find I1's and I2's." Zachary says doubtfully.

"Spill it. Where did you both go?" Vincent demands.

"To get firewood." I gesture to the pile of firewood with my left hand. He pulls a doubtful face and I manage to keep a serious, 'I'm totally not lying.' Face.

Drew sits down, leaning against the closest tree. Vincent starts up a fire, and Zachary sits opposite Drew. I walk over to where Drew is sitting on his left and I lean my back against the tree as I carefully sit down. Yet the pain in my side increases as I do so. I let out a long breath as I try to relax a bit more. "Jess," Drew says.

"What? Don't ask again. I'm fine." I say, still holding my side.

"Let me just check." He says.

I turn my head to look at him. He looks at me expectantly. I sigh, "Fine. But, I'm still okay, so don't ask anymore."

"Okay, okay. Yes, ma'am." He chuckles quietly, as he moves off to the side and taps the spot he was so I can lean against the tree properly. "Please, take a seat on the inspection table." He says, causing me to laugh a bit as I move over.

"You're such an idiot." I mutter.

"And I'm just so offended by the harsh choice of words." He mutters as he carefully pulls up the right side of my shirt to reveal the full side. "Oh, shit." He mumbles.

"What?" I ask and glance down at the bandages. The bandages are completely bloodied to the point of dripping blood every now and than.

"Do you know when it started getting worse again?" He asks.