Cursed

29

I put my arm around her waist to help her walk steadier. I'm hoping people will just ignore it and think we're just walking as an average couple.

Trey shoulders our three bags and walks in front of Shay to cover her a little bit. We follow him through the glass doors and head straight to the security check in.

We avoid as many people as possible, only stopping at the security entrance where our group is waiting for us. We hand our tickets to the security guard and he moves us along, handing our tickets back.

We go through the security line, putting our bags through. When we get to the full body scanner, the guard there looks at Shay and I.

She shakes her heads, "Honeys, no. You can't come through here together now. One at a time. Come on, you first sweetie."

I look at Shay and she nods, taking a deep breath. She moves slowly, stopping under the scanner. She moves out of it when the guard nods and stumbles slightly, catching herself on the side of the conveyor belt.

The security woman looks at her, "You okay sweetie? You don't look so well."

Shay glares at her. "I'm fine," She spits out. I make my way through the scanner and wrap an arm around her waist, smiling at the security guard.

"We're all good, just tired from jet lag."

She doesn't look like she believes us but just nods, not wanting to deal with teen drama at three o'clock in the morning.

We make it to the gate a few minutes later, the plane is already starting to board.

We give the flight attendant our tickets and board the plane. Once our group is in the private room, I set Shay down on a couch and go over to Yuri.

"How's she doing?" He asks me.

"Not great. I don't know much about injuries, we need to get this plane moving, now."

Yuri nods, "I'm on it. I'll talk to the captain and see if we can get this plane boarded faster and get going. I can't make it go faster though."

I nod, "That's okay. Bring back a med kit. Are any of your people medics? I don't know if she'll make the flight without some temporary help until we can get back to my compound."

He nods and runs out of the room. I go over to Shay, who's sitting up on a couch, leaning her head against the window. I pull up a chair and sit across from her.

She looks over at me, and smiles. She motions to the couch. I get up and sit next to her. We lay long ways on the couch, her cradled in my arms, my head against the cool window.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

She chuckles against my chest, "Can't say it's been my best night. How are you? Did they hurt you at all?"

I shake my head in disbelief, "Don't worry about me Shay. Just...don't die on me, okay? I need you."

She nods. The door opens again and Yuri comes in with a red box. He comes over, followed by a woman that we got from the Italian compound.

I get up and set Shay back down gently.

"They're boarding everyone as fast as they can. They'll take off soon. This is Manila. She was a medic in training before she went to Italy."

I nod and stand back. Manila kneels down next to Shay. She unwraps the shirt from her torso and places it on the floor. I inhale sharply when I see her the shirt she originally had on.

Even though it's black, I can see how drenched in blood it is. Manila lifts up her shirt so she can see the wound.

She starts picking through the red box, taking out bottles and bandages. She looks back at me as she opens a bottle, "This is going to hurt her a lot."

I nod and kneel next to her, taking her hand. She gives me a quick smile in thanks and squeezes lightly. Manila pours the liquid on her stomach and Shay stuffs her other hand in her mouth to muffle her screams.

But I can still hear them. They're screams of pure agony, I'm sure they'll haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life.

The plane starts to take off a few minutes later. We're up in the air without a half hour and Manila is still treating Shay.

She cleaned the wound a few times to be safe and sent Yuri to get clean towels several times. She finally puts a gauge pad on her wound and wraps it several times tightly. She says she doesn't want to stitch it because of turbulence.

She gives Shay a few aspirin for the pain but I'm not sure it's going to do much for her.

Manila stands up, "You should get some rest. She's going to be alright."

I bite my lip, "You're sure?"

She nods reassuringly, "As long as she stops bleeding, she should be alright."

I nod, relieved. "Thank you."

She goes back to the rest of the group and I sit on the floor next to Shay. Our faces are next to each other and she gives me a weak smile.

Her face is covered in a thin layer of sweat, she looks absolutely exhausted.

"Get some rest." I tell her.