Displaced

Chapter 67

In and out. In and out. Like a machine, Sofie pushed the wooden needle through the cloth over and over, slowly assembling a shirt from an assortment of rags and half-ruined other clothes. Though she knew that the results of her efforts would be a lopsided, ugly thing that normally nobody in their right mind would willingly wear, she kept at it anyway. These were not normal times, after all, and besides, she needed something to take her mind off of the-

"Shit!" Sofie swore under her breath as the tip of the wooden needle snapped off. This was the third one she'd destroyed. She couldn't help it; every centimeter of her body constantly pulsed with anxious tension. It took everything she had to keep from shaking.

The source of her anxiety could be found just beside her, lying still on one of the room's cheap beds. After her friend hadn't returned a few hours after the battle's end, Sofie had ventured out into the night to search for her. Even with Pari's nose, locating Arlette in the aftermath of the attack had taken many hours. In the end, they'd found her up on one of the cross-city bridges that served as pathways through the city.

Arlette had been through a lot since Sofie had first met her. She'd been hurt many times while fleeing to Stragma, followed by the long period of malnutrition while being chained to a cell wall or a wagon, and then there were the injuries suffered during their escape when she'd almost bled to death. All of that seemed like a mere scratch compared to how they'd found her two days ago. Given the amount of blood covering her body and the even larger amount pooled around where she lay, Sofie had thought her dead at first. Only after a close inspection had she realized that her friend still breathed, though it came halting and weak.

Due to the overwhelming number of casualties from the last attack, the doctors, or whatever sad excuse for healers passed for such in this reality, had sorted her into the "too much work to save" category—something about critical injuries and internal bleeding—and moved on to others they viewed as more likely to survive. That left Sofie and Pari with little to do but try their best to care for her on their own and hope against hope that she would live.

Sofie picked up her last needle and returned to her sewing. Though she'd kept Arlette fed, warm, dry, and clean, the mercenary still hadn't done anything at all the whole time other than breathe, though the strength of said breathing had improved a bit. Still, Sofie didn't know if that meant Arlette would live. Pari insisted that the Scyrian "smelled better" than before, and Sofie could only pray that this meant something good.

As if to answer her prayers, Sofie heard a small groan come from her side, followed by a cough. Sofie dropped the cloth and needle in her hands and turned to see Arlette's eyes flutter open just a crack. The woman moaned in pain softly.

"Arly-sis!" Pari cried, running over with a wide, gleeful grin on her face.

Quickly Sofie interposed herself between the two, cutting off a potentially-lethal pounce-hug before it could start. "Pari, she's probably really thirsty. Get some clean water for her to drink, please."

As the girl scampered out of the room, Sofie picked up a damp cloth and wiped away the crust from Arlette's eyes. "You're awake!" she said delicately.

"...how long?" Arlette rasped.

"More than two days," she admitted.

The mercenary closed her eyes for a moment, seemingly processing the information. Just as she opened them again, Pari burst into the room with a cup of water. Gently, Sofie held Arlette's head up and helped her slowly drink it. "Do you think you're going to be okay?" she asked. She'd seen the Scyrian's absurd healing abilities before, but never with injuries this bad.

"...eventually," the older woman replied after another moment.

Sofie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good! You were so battered when we finally found you, and you'd lost so much blood from all the cuts, that the doctors didn't even think you'd live more than another day! There's so much I have to talk with you about..."