Aftermath

4

  
  I woke up in the middle of the night because of a burning pain in my side. It wasn't the first time I had experienced pain there, but this time it was ten times stronger and I had to do my best to not scream out in agony. Em and I had curled up together on the recliner and she was still curled into my chest. I did my best to pry her off without waking her before sliding off of the chair. The pain was so unbearable that I was having a hard time catching my breath.

     "Oh, God. Please make it stop." I begged quietly clutching my side. I feared that I would wake the man who was sleeping in the bed to my right. He may have let us stay, but who knows what it would take to provoke him. If he new I was injured he may strike me down just to ensure I wasn't infected.

     I tried to walk towards the door in order to go somewhere where I could verbalize my pain, but I only got within a few feet before I collapsed on the stairs. I couldn't keep in the pained yelp that escaped my lips. It was too much. I closed my eyes letting myself silently cry hoping that the pain would soon subside or make me pass out.

      Not long after I fell I felt small hands on my face. "Elsa?" Em asked me concerned.

      "It's okay, Em. I'm fine. Just go back to sleep." I whispered to her in the calmest voice I could.

     "You're not okay. You're crying." She stated before leaving me.

      "Em, no." I called after her, but it was too late.

     "Wake up. Elsa is hurt.  you have to help her!" I heard Em's small voice shriek. She was scared and that made me feel even worse.

      "What's going on?" I heard a deep voice grumble groggily. I saw his outline sit up in the bed of the train car.

     "She's hurt. Please, help." Em begged and I could just imagine her tugging on his arm like she had done to me many times when she wanted something. I heard rustling and then his voice.

      "What's wrong with you?" He asked kind of harshly.

      "Nothing." I groaned. "I'm fine."

     "Obviously something is wrong." He spat.

      "Let me rephrase this. Nothing you need to worry about. It will pass. It always does." I grumbled as another wave of pain went through my side.

      "This has happened before?"

     Em chimed in. "After that man hurt her."

      "What man?" I was going to tell him again to leave it, but I couldn't talk anymore. Really the only thing I could do was feel the burning in my side.

      "A bad man hurt her side when she knocked him over. Some days it hurts really bad because she cries." Em continued and that's when I felt my shirt being raised.

      "Get off of me!" I screamed at him trying my hardest to move away from his reach. "Don't touch me!"

      "Stop before you make it worse. I need to take a look. This may hurt a bit." The man ordered before scooping me up in his arms before carefully laying me down on the bed. He was right. It hurt like hell.

     "Please, sir, don't hurt her." I heard Em cry when I groaned.

      "I will try my best not to sweetheart." He told her gently. In a moment he had a torch kit and I squeezed my eyes shut at the sudden brightness. "Elsa, I need to look at the wound on your side and I need you to not freak out." He said to me. I nodded  reluctantly before he rolled my shirt up. "Shit." He cursed under his breath.

      "What's wrong? It can't be that bad." I whimpered. I couldn't afford it to be bad.

      "How long ago did this happen?"

      "A... few... weeks ago."

      "Jesus, did you not think to take care of it?"

       "I... haven't really had the.. time or resources to do so. Kinda been running for my life." I sarcastically remarked through gritted teeth.

      "It's infected. Badly, might I add." He said before walking away. "I'm going to have to re open it and clean it." He said coming back after grabbing a bag out of the cupboard that was built into the wall.

     "No," I said trying to slide away from him, but I didn't get very far before he pulled me back. "I don't even know you! how can I trust you to cut my side open?"

      "I'm not going to kill you. If I was going to do that then I would have already done it. Now hold as still. This is going to hurt so bite down on this. The last thing we need is for you to break your teeth." He said handing me a cloth. I took it an did as he advised.

       To say the pain was unbearable would be an understatement. It was so painful that I kept fading in and out of consciousness never quiet lucky enough to fully pass out and get away from the pain though. I could see that my pain wasn't pleasing this man either. He actually looked distressed when I cried out and constantly shushed me saying it would be over soon. Em had cried with me as she was laying on my good side. She got so worked up she soon fell asleep from pure exhaustion. I honestly envied her. To be completely unaware of what was going on was what I wanted more than anything.

      After an unbearable number of minutes I couldn't take the pain anymore. I grabbed the man's arm and pulled it away from my wound before spitting the cloth out of my mouth so I could talk..

       "Please stop. I will do anything, just please stop. I can't take anymore." I whimpered meeting his eyes in the dim lighting. The pain was getting to my head as I studied him fully for the first time. He was very attractive. His eyes, his lips, his jawline even his long, curly hair that fell messily around his face.

      He gave me a sympathetic look while brushing away a few stray hairs that had fallen into me face. I knew it was meant to be comforting, but my blood on his hands made it anything but. "I'm almost done, I promise. I just have to stitch you up."

      I shook my head vigorously, "No, please. No more. I can't." I cried. My whole fave was soaked in tears and I just wanted it all to be over.

      "You can. I promise. Just a little longer." He urged holding the cloth back up to my mouth. I opened my mouth so he could put the cloth back in and then waited for the pain. It was just as bad as I thought it would be, but as he had promised it was over quickly. The last bit he did was poor a liquid that burned on it and wrapped the wound. He took the cloth out of my mouth and dabbed the sweat off of my forehead before throwing it to the ground and turning his attention back to me. I could feel the drowsiness slowly taking over now that it was all finished. "I told you, you could do it." He said grabbing my hand and giving me a warm smile. I did my best to return it, but I was having a hard time staying awake.

      "Thank you." I whispered as my eyes fluttered shut. I was trying to fight off the sleepy feeling, but I was losing the battle quickly. I was scared to fall asleep to be honest. I couldn't feel my side anymore. I couldn't feel much of anything. It was all just numb now and that scared me. The man must have seen the struggle on my face because he began to try  to calm me.

      "It's okay now. You can go to sleep. You're safe here." He assured me. I felt the bed shift slightly before he started to play with my hair again and he began to hum in my ear a nice, calming tune. It was then that I realized he had crawled over me and was now laying on the other side of Em. If I had been in my right mind I would have protested, but in my weakened state all I could do was pray I would wake in the morning unharmed. For so long I had been looking after and taking care of Em, but right now someone was caring for me and I was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

      I was almost fully asleep when heard him speak one more time. "My name is Noah by the way."