The Heartwarmer

Chapter 5

Ow!
Stop it. Stop it!

I don't need your help!

June wanted to scream out all these things at Luke while she limped along with him, weighing down on him heavily. But she clamped her mouth shut. She didn't want to make things with Luke worse. So she just sat there and took it.

------***------

Luke hated it.

He hated blood. He was scared of it. But he hated it more.

He didn't say anything, though. June was hurt. The last thing she needed was Luke making faces at her. He was better than that.

He put one of June's arms around his shoulder and helped her walk. She leaned on him heavily, but he didn't mind. She was seriously injured. Her ankle was swollen and red. Her knee was still bleeding, but showing signs of stopping. He honestly didn't know how June could even stand.

Luke glanced at her. A thin layer of sweat covered her body, and her face was emotionless. Her green eyes turned a shade darker, and her lips were slightly puckered in determination.

He was so proud of her.

------***------

June was so tired. She just wanted to cut her right leg off, if it would spare her the pain.

Where was the damn lake?

Usually, the lake was a twenty minute walk from where they slept. But June didn't even know where they were. Luke seemed to know his bearings, so she just followed him; but it wasn't like she had a choice.

June caught Luke looking at her. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "We'll be there in, like, five minutes." he told her.

June knew that that was a lie, but she really appreciated the effort. "It's fine," she breathed. "I'm fine."

Luke threw her an 'are you sure?' look. June ignored it.

She was too tired to show emotion.

------***------

The lake's clear water came into sight. June suddenly felt all the pain at one go. She wasn't just physically tired, she was emotionally exhausted. There was a huge difference. She couldn't sleep off emotional exhaustion.

"Well," Luke said with unhindered relief, "Here we are. Finally."

June laughed weakly. Luke helped her onto a rock near the bank.

"Oh, crap." he said.

"What? What happened?"

"I don't have a cloth to clean your leg with."

June thought about for a while, and finally brought the hem of her shirt to her teeth. It was fraying and was weakened by constant exposure to the sun. It tore easily. She held up the band of her ex- t-shirt. "Take this."

"Um. Okay." Luke hesitantly replied. He took the cloth and went to the lake to wash it.

June was suddenly very self-conscious. She held her arms around her now exposed belly. But it didn't do too much to help.

Why did you have to run away in the first place? It wasn't Luke's fault. It was yours. You're so stupid. Can't you do anything right?

This whole situation was unideal to June. She just wanted things to go back to how they were. She didn't want things to be uneasy with her and Luke. But she didn't know if it was too late to fix that or not.