It Travels with Them

Chapter Five - Ouch

I wake up in the room and hear Henry's voice, "There you guys are— What happened!?" My head lolls in his direction and weakling I say, "Kelpie."

"A Kelpie!! Are you kidding me!? And you took it on alone??"

Angrily I try to sit up and fail, "It was either that or let an innocent person die."

He sighs, "Tyler get clean bandages and saline. Michael bring Alex to the bathroom."

Tyler nods quickly running off and Michael follows Henry to the bathroom. He drags a chair in and puts it in front of the bathtub. Then looks back at me.

"This is gonna hurt, a lot but we have to remove the saliva." He turns to Michael, "Sit in the chair and hold Alex still."

[Kelpie saliva can cause infections and permanent damage to the skin if not cleaned off.]

He sits, with me facing forwards in his lap.

Now Henry carefully puts my leg into the tub so when he pours the saline it flows down the drain. Tyler comes in with the supplies.

First Henry carefully pours water onto my leg and foot. I wince. Then Henry gives me a twisted cloth to put between my teeth. I clamp down on it and try to relax my leg. Then he pours the saline. I scream, the sound muffled by my partially closed mouth. I start to writhe and I feel Michael grip me tighter. As Henry continues to clean I throw my head back in agony, accidentally slamming it into Michael's chest. Tears start running down my cheeks as my foot starts twitching, making the pain worse and I moan weakly.

Finally, he's done and starts stitching the wounds. I relax slightly, leaning into Michael, as my breath starts to steady. I notice his grip hasn't loosened.

Henry wraps my leg and foot in bandages and I wince again as he pulls them tight.

"Alright, done." Henry pats my knee.

I smile weakly at him. He smiles back, but I can see his eyebrows tilted up and together, eyes slightly squinted. He's worried about me.

After a moment Michael picks me back up and carries me to my bed. He helps me get comfortable and Tyler gives me a big cup of water. I take it with both hands but almost drop it, so Michael helps me drink.

"Woah there, don't drop it," He forces a laugh.

I finish the cup and, feeling better, ask, "How bad is it?"

I see Henry grimace, "To be frank, bad. It's very bad, but not the worst it could've been. Honestly you're lucky it didn't rip your foot off."

"Yay. Lucky me," I say sarcastically.

There's an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"...well, the three of you should rest. We leave in the morning."

We all agree and prepare for bed. Then Tyler turns off the lights and I stare at the ceiling, thinking.

It takes me a lot longer than normal to go to sleep but I finally do.

My diligence brings me murky aquatic nightmares, starring Kelpies and bloody darkness.