Found

Chapter Eight: Raven

I wake to Josh asleep with his arms around me. I feel better than I did yesterday. I don't feel like I'm dying anymore that is. I sit up and try my best to move without putting myself in pain. My wounds sting a little bit, but not that much. I get up on my knees, I'm regaining feeling in my legs. I crawl over to get my wheelchair but fall face-first into the ground, feet away from it. I put out my arms in front of me. They absorb some of the impacts and my right arm makes a cracking noise, I think I may have just broken my arm.

"Raven?!" Josh sits up and looks at me ashamed.

He gets up out of bed and comes to pick me up, I push him away.

"Get away from me!" I say, sternly. I don't want his help, I want to do it on my own. I push myself back up on my knees. I grab the wheelchair and unfold it, ignoring the aching, sharp pain in my right arm. I push myself, using all my strength into the wheelchair. I place my feet in the rests at the bottom of the chair. I push the wheels with my arms to the mirror Josh installed a few days ago, I lift my shirt off my torso and look in the mirror, the black vein is almost gone.

Josh and I have been in here a few days. Nobody has come looking for us, which means they have given up or they're waiting for us. That fact makes me nauseous just thinking about it. Josh sits down on the ground, he is staring at me through the mirror.

"Can I look at your arm?" Josh asks. I roll around, a purple and blue bruise is starting to form on my right arm. I lift it and give it over to Josh. When he touches the bruise, I flinch from the pain. "Raven, I think this may be broken."

"Okay. Can you fix it?"

"I can try, it's going to hurt though."

"Just fix it, I can handle it." Josh takes my arm in both hands and gets a piece of wood, I'm guessing to stabilize it. He presses it hard on my arm. I grind my teeth together because of the pain. He takes a long piece of gauze and wraps it around my arm and the piece of wood. He cuts the gauze and puts a small piece between my thumb and pointer finger. He sticks a needle in my arm,

"Pain killers." He says. Josh is avoiding talking to me.

"Josh, I'm sorry, I just don't like not being able to do my own thing. I don't like you helping me all the time. I love your wanting to help but you've got to let me try some things on my own, let me be a little independent. I love you with all my heart and I will respect and honor your love for me and I know that is why you are trying to help me, out of love. I get that and love that about you. What I'm trying to say is, can you help me a little less? I love you so much, please remember that."

Josh leans over and kisses me. He lifts me out of the wheelchair and onto his lap, I frame his face with my hand and smile at his embrace. I pull back and put my forehead against his, smiling.

"I'm guessing that means you're not mad at me," I whisper.

"I don't think I could ever be mad at you, Raven Harper." He smiles and kisses me. He pulls me against him and I smile. I'm so happy that I didn't die, I may not be back to myself yet, but I know that with time I will. I just hope that Josh and I are not in prison when that time comes. I know that we will beat this enemy like all the other evils that we have beaten we will make it through together.

Together we can overcome anything. I think.