Broken Without You

Chapter 10

It wasn't easy, but you managed to get Joel's unconscious body to a house on the edge of a nearby town. Ellie had scouted the building and found that it had a basement, so that was where the three of you went.

The horses were put in the garage out of the snowy elements and out of sight from anyone who happened to be in the town. God, you hoped nobody else was in this town.

"What-what do I do?" Ellie stuttered from where she was sitting beside Joel.

"Untie the jacket and press this against the wound." You instructed, tossing over a rag that you found on the dusty bench while trying not to think about how dirty it was. Infection was not an issue right now. Blood loss was the issue you needed to focus on.

You searched the small room for any useful items while Ellie untied the bloodied jacket and lifted Joels shirt, exposing the stab wound properly. You glanced over taking in the deep cut before Ellie put the rag on top of it and pressed down causing Joels eyes to snap open as he groaned in pain.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." Ellie mumbled to herself, holding the rag firmly to the wound while she watched you scour the room, checking every draw and cupboard for a first aid kit.

"Leave." Joel's hoarse voice whispered causing your head to snap back in his direction at his first words since the university. "Leave."

"Shut up, Joel." Ellie ordered, focusing on the wound.

"Take the gun-"

"Joel, shut the fuck up!" Ellie snapped.

He lifted a shaky hand, grabbing the collar of her shirt and pulling her down closer to him.

"You and Y/N go. Go north. You go to Tommy. Go." He instructed, his voice barely above a whisper before he shoved her back with more force than you thought he would have.

Ellie fell backward, a pissed off yet worried look on her face as she glanced over at you, unsure of what to do.

"Listen to her. Shut the fuck up. We're not leaving you." You stated sternly causing his head to tilt over in your direction. "Ellie, keep pressure on it. I'm going to search the rest of the house."

To your relief, Joel didn't try and fight Ellie as she scurried back over to him, placing her hands over the rag once again before you ran up the stairs and started looking around the rest of the house.

It had already been looted heavily which wasn't a surprise, there weren't many places left untouched since the outbreak. But you somehow managed to find a needle and thread in one of the kitchen draws.

You rushed back down to the basement to find Ellie still on her knees beside Joel holding her hands against the rag that was getting redder and redder the longer you stared at it.

"He's shaking a lot." Ellie informed, her voice more worried and fragile than you had ever heard it before.

That was not a good sign. Shit.

"His body is going into shock. I need to stitch the wound." You explained, making a point to keep your voice calm and steady, not wanting to alarm Ellie at how bad this was, but she was a smart kid, she probably already figured it out.

You sat down on the other side of Joel, trying to thread the needle, but his body wasn't the only thing shaking. Your hands were trembling as you tried to line up the thread with the hole making the simple task borderline impossible.

C'mon, Y/N, get it together. It's just a stupid needle and thread, that's not even the hard bit.

Ellies eyes were on you and there was no way you could hide how much your hands were shaking, but she didn't comment on it. You took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled trying to calm yourself before you tried again and by some miracle you got it.