When they stopped rolling, they stayed still, both protectively holding onto one another. They were breathing heavily, their eyes shut, both their hearts felt like it was going to explode. "My... my ankle." Zadia stuttered, feeling so much pain in her left leg. She wanted to scream so bad at the top of her lungs because the pain was so unbearable. "Roman. It... it hurts."
Roman opened his eyes, slowly letting go of her so he could see the damage of the impact. He moved off her, allowing the air to catch up to her chest. Looking down at her ankle he was visibly frightened. It was dislocated. They could hear the voices of the officers talking from above them. With quick thinking, Roman placed his hands on top of Zadia's mouth, clamping it shut. He inhaled and exhaled, silently begging her to follow his lead. "Deep breaths." He mouthed and looked up, waiting for the officers to leave.
Tears streamed down Zadia's face as she silently tried to keep herself calm. The pain was sheeting through her with a terrible intensity. She didn't know how long she could go through this. She could hear the officer's footsteps retreating and stared at Roman when he removed his hand from her mouth. "How bad is it?" She whispered.
"Dislocated. I've gotta put it back in place." He whispered, looking around for anything he could use, but there was nothing. "They're still near, so we can't make a lot of noise. I'm gonna need you to bite down on the bag strap." He said, removing the duffel bag from around him and placing the strap in her mouth.
He took off her shoe, carefully grasping her foot.
With one hand at the heel and the other hand at the forefoot, he pushed it sideways quickly and the bone aligned back into its socket. Even though she was biting down on the straps, Zadia used her hand to muffle her scream. "How's it now?" She asked.
"Better. I don't have compression tape, so I'm gonna need your shirt." He told her and went into his bag to get out his knife.
Zadia sat up and took off her shirt, before handing it to him. Using his knife, he cut the shirt into certain lengths. When he was done, he wrapped her ankle as tightly as he could and put her shoe back on. "We've gotta go." He stood up and then helped her up. "It's gonna take longer if you try to walk, it's best I carry you." He paused. "You cool with that?"
"Y... yeah." She said, not seeing any alternatives. They were in the middle of nowhere and it's not like she could walk. She looked at his back as he kneed down in front of her. "You're bleeding." She told him, watching as blood oozed from different areas of his back. It was all so red and bruised.
"I'm fine." He said, but Zadia could tell he wasn't.
She climbed his back, trying to leave enough room so she wouldn't irritate his cuts. Roman stood up again, holding onto the back of Zadia's thighs as she held onto his shoulders. She wasn't heavy or light, so it was easy to carry her even though he was in pain. His head felt like it was rammed by a truck, the cut around his forehead, bleeding way more than it should. A part of him was worried, but he tried not to acknowledge it. Right now wasn't the time for that. He placed one foot in front of the other and began walking into the unknown area, wincing with every step.
His only focus was to get both Zadia and him out of here before their faith was doomed.
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"Maybe... maybe we should take a break," Zadia said, her eyes fixated on the sky. The sun had moved positions, the clouds blocking it. It would soon set and they wouldn't be able to see a thing out here. Roman had been walking for hours, going in directions that he thought were best. He was determined to find a way out, but Zadia thought they should be realistic now that their source of light was leaving.
ChApTeR - 11
Start from the beginning
