Keep Your Eyes Open

Playing Doctor

My fingers shook as Vaseva gave me the tourniquet. I couldn't speak; my mouth was too dry and I had my lips pulled in a tight line.

"Pin him down," I said, I couldn't get it on his arm. Rhys, with his eyes filled with worry, pinned Harri down. I nodded in satisfaction and began to tie on the tourniquet. I tightened it until Harri's arm was completely pale. "I love you Harri, this will hurt. We didn't find any anaesthetic. I'm sorry, just keep calm, it's going to be okay." Vaseva gave me an instrument that I couldn't fully see, I didn't care what it was, I just needed to make sure Harri survives. "Vaseva, get the bandages ready."

I kissed Harri quickly on the forehead. He was pushing and wriggling, trying to get out of Rhys' hold. I took a deep breath and began the procedure.

I knew it was working, my dad had told me how it works. As I cut deeper, more and more blood spreads across my hands. It wasn't as much as what it would be if he didn't have a tourniquet, but never the less there was still some.

His cries of pain curdled my stomach in ways I never knew possible. I took a deep breath and finished it.

As soon as it was loose, Vaseva handed me bandages upon bandages. With my fingers shaking and my heart racing, I begun to bandage up the new wound. Harri's cries lessened but were still running past his lips. His heavy panting only gave me hope; he was still breathing. I didn't quite understand how I managed to create the perfect bandaged wound, but I did. After I added a few more layers, I spoke.

"Harri? Are you alright?" He grunted sharply and moaned before replying.

"Yeah..." Harri's voice was coarse, strained from all the cries.

"On a scale of one to ten how painful is it?"

"Ten, ten, ten," he said hurriedly.

"But do you feel alive?"

"Yes, very much so," he groaned.

"Get some alcohol," I said.

"What? He's underage!" Rhys replied, looking down at his brother' bloody limb.

"Do you want him to feel less pain? He don't have any anaesthetic, so give some alcohol!" I nearly yelled. "It's in the frosted glass cabinet in the dining room," I said, turning my attention back to Harri.

"I'm so sorry Harri..." I whispered, tears formed in my eyes. He shook his head slowly.

"You saved me, I owe you my life," he said, looking up at me. His face was pale, yet there were still flecks of life jumping about in his eyes.

"You don't owe me anything, just be a good person and make looking after you easy," I joked.

"We should get rid of that," Harri said, looking at his arm.

"I was going to ask if you would like to keep it but alrighty then," he laughed. Prasan and Lennon were sat on the stairs, observing everything. I stare at the limb without a body, wondering how we would dispose of it. "Prasan, you have a good throwing arm, why don't you throw this beauty outside?" I pick up the limp limb gingerly. A sick feeling erupted in my stomach, but a part of me was curious. "Actually no, we could run tests on the venom," I said, looking closely at the wound.

Rhys came back with a glass of alcohol of some sort and helped Harri drink. After a few splutters, Harri began to drink it normall.y

"That should be fine," I said. "Can you guys help me bring Harri upstairs?" They nodded and lifted him up carefully. As a group, they ascended the stairs. I heard Lottie and Albert whining on the inside of the study door. I looked down at the arm in my hand.

I cut it off, I did it, I cut my boyfriend's arm off.

I shook my head, trying to clear away everything that just happened. A clear container is what I need. We had one in the kitchen.

After having put away the limb, I run upstairs to see Harri lying on the bed, a glass of alcohol next to him on the bedside table.

"Hey babe," I said quietly.

"Hey," he smiled from his position. "Come over here," He patted the space next to him. I do as I was told, and lie down next to him. "That was incredible by the way, granted it hurt, but you didn't kill me," he held me close to him using his arm.

"It's going to be difficult adjusting to only having one arm," I said.

"Yeah, it is," he replied, nodding his head. "Where did you put my arm?"

"In a plastic container in the kitchen," I stated simply. A low laugh erupted through his chest.

"Of course you did," he said in a happy voice.

"Well where else would I put it if I wanted to study it?" I said.

"True, true, but why would you want to study it?"

"To see what effect the venom has on a human body and how it can be reversable."

"Won't you need a microscope?"

"I picked up one when we were at camp."

"Of course you did," he said again. We lay like that for a long time, still slightly shocked.

"I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, kissing my forehead lightly.

"How is your arm?"

"Rhys took the tourniquet off, that hurt slightly, but it's surprisingly alright considering there is a mahoosive hole in my arm."

"Fair enough."

"It is stinging and throbbing quite a bit," Harri said with a thoughtful look.

"Of course it will be. How much alcohol have you had?"

"Almost a full glass, I do feel slightly drunk to be honest."

"I was going to ask if you want some paracetamol or IB profin or something but I'm not sure if they work on amputated limbs."

"We could try." I laughed and stood up to get the medicine. I gave two paracetamol tablets to Harri and left the rest by his alcohol glass.

"I'll get you some more alcohol," I said, picking up the glass and getting some more.

When I returned, Rhys was standing by Harri's side. I stood in the doorway, listening to their conversation. They talked briefly about their sister and their parents, but mostly about Harri's arm. When there was a break in their conversation, I set Harri's glass by his head and left the two to talk.

Me, Vaseva, Lennon, and Prasan all sat in the living room, discussing food until Prasan said;

"That was amazing Tabs, like really. You should be a doctor."

"Well, you can be anything right now and no one will care," I shrugged, "I don't quite know how I did it."

"You reminded me of Prim from the Hunger Games when she was treating Gale, you had that look of pure concentration, it was pretty incredible."

"Thanks."

Later that night, I checked up on Harri again and found him sleeping. I worried about his bandages, I'll need to change them soon.

But that can wait. I'll do it tomorrow. I need to sleep; I need to rest after my very hectic day.

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Wooooo, hey guys! Short chapter, yes, nothing too big happens.

Thanks for 80 reads!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Taby x