When Given a Lemon

Part 25

“A bit.” She said honestly, “but nothing we can't fix.”

“Who's screaming?”

“Don't worry about them, let's get you taken care of first, love.”

The placement of the clouds in the sky rapidly moves, twisting about as they turn me. Tree branches and gusting leaves pass by as they start to move me forward, away from this horrid place. I silently stare at the sky, feeling a mix of heat and nausea rising and abating, rising and abating with each movement of the fabric carrier. Then a low hanging branch comes into view just overhead, red and irregular, and dripping fluid.

But it's not a branch.

“Saiya.” I state, “it's Saiya.”

“Don't think about Saiya, let's worry about you for now.”

“No, it's Saiya.” I can't point and it only frustrates me more. I try to raise my voice to show the sincerity of what I say but it's too hoarse to do much more than break.

“Just think about sleeping or the trees overhead.”

“Not–”cough, cough “It's not a tree! That's her leg.” It's dripping. If they're not careful it'll get all over us when they walk underneath the tree canopy.

“Ehhk!” The medic’s surprised voice shrieked out ahead before being quickly muffled. Other voices spoke in whispers where hers had disappeared from. I ponder what had happened, guessing she may have found Saiya, the unfortunate way. I didn't see or hear her again until we reached our camp.

“Get that down out of the gods be damned tree!” Someone roared from behind. It sounded vaguely like the captain with shouts spewed like half molton gravel as he barked orders no one dared disobey. “And soldier, wipe that shit off you and get back to your post! I don't wanna see any of you—” I let the words fade away as we moved farther from him, the ringing in my head quieted a little, as if glad to have more distance between us.

The trek back, with me hoisted up by bulky soldiers takes a lifetime even on this manmade path. It is arduous for all of us, painful for me. Even more disconcerting because I am tilted, making me feel like I could fall off at any moment.

There are times when everything fades and blends into each other as I breathe through a whirlwind of jarring to agonizing sensations piercing my body, especially my back and neck. My whole being feels like it's burning up. With corrosive flames all along my spine, and the mounting desire to puke my soul out, kept me incredibly uncomfortable.

With each lurch or stumble from my farriers, sharp pain shoots into my chest, my tailbone, my neck, my core; intensifying my discomfort everywhere else from my head to the tips of my fingers and toes. Yes, even my toes burn, I wiggle them and nerves shoot up my leg telling me it's a bad idea to move. But hopefully that means that whatever injury I've accrued, won't end with the loss of them.

We are forced to stop when someone shouts in surprise and I am half dropped onto the hard ground in time to see a giant bug dash over my field of vision, as if it had descended from a tree or boulder to surprise  attack us.

The clashing sounds of weapons ring out around me along with grunts and wet thuds of bodies colliding and cutting into each other. I'm trapped here, immobile on the ground, helpless if a bug gets through their ranks to find me here. I can only hope that my side comes out victorious, otherwise I am defenseless like this.

When the fighting has ended –the creatures lie dead nearby– and they've picked me back up, I quickly come to notice that one of my carriers is limping, causing a lurch to each movement that sharpens my pain and nausea. I want nothing more than to pass back out, just so that I can escape this jerking agony for a little while, but my body refuses such a kindness.

All the while, the burning sensation is intensifying. My head is an inferno and my vision is only of spinning leaves and smoky haze. I feel like I will burst from the pressure and at some point, I succeed in making them stop to give me water, not sure if I could last another minute without any. More of it spilled all over my face than into my mouth because I couldn't sit up and even holding onto the water took tremendous effort.

When I closed my eyes and slept it wasn't much better.

The monstrosity…

It kept popping into my mind, as I lie here, momentarily panicking me into believing that it had reappeared before us again, returning to finish the job. Until the grunt of a soldier or flailing of the bullied tree branches brings me back to the present.

Saiya… the thought of her burns me. Her neck snapped back. Her agile body, so able to climb trees and scale rock faces, split in two… bile rises again and someone stops us to wipe it from me.

…Saiya and Bill had been some of our most able squad members. To be taken down so easily… I overhear that her body is being carried by another that walks carefully right behind us. As for Bill, I wasn't sure what had happened with him, whether he had made it or not.

The ringing slowly grew inside again, mixing with the throbbing of my head wound and my thoughts began to fade as I blinked in and out of consciousness before seeing that we were now inside the medic tent.

Lemon’s voice stayed with me until they weren't allowed to anymore, holding tightly onto one of my hands to keep me grounded. I had already been moved off the carrier onto my own cot, placed face down on the bedding and surrounded by too many voices. I don't remember much that happened after that.

A long time later, I woke up feeling intense discomfort, and parched like the desert. It hurts to breathe, when trying to move, even when lying still. I am positioned partly on my side, with a cushion in front of me. Moving my back at all hurts tremendously. The screaming and crying I had heard has followed me here. It is more subdued now; a whimper more than a scream.

As quiet as it is, it grates on me, making the ringing in my ears worse. I wish I could shut it off and go back to sleep, pretend I am a thousand miles from here. Eventually I get my wish, but only after someone comes by and places their hand on my forehead.

Sometime later I resurface and can see several medics including the one from earlier surrounding another bed. This time she wears a golden armband and everyone gives her space to work. I don't know what the arm bands mean, I want to ask Lemon. If I remember I will when I see them. But I quickly lose track of my thoughts as I watch them caring for the occupant.

All of them were leaning over the patient they were treating, intensely focused on their work. Soothing voices were speaking lowly, softly, but the howling patient wasn't listening to them and my head was starting to hurt badly enough that I wasn't really making any sense out of what was happening there anyway.

Then the golden arm-banded person raised her hands and everyone went silent, including the patient. She had somehow managed to coax the screaming and crying back down to a whimper until it melted into a whisper then was a shallow breath before silence. I don't know if the patient still lived or simply slept. Honestly, I don't know much of anything afterward. Sleep is starting to pull me back under as well. A few words slipped through my clouded thoughts as I drifted off; it was the woman speaking,

“We don't have long. Do what you can.” and “get the medicine, thread, my instruments,” someone ran across the room, knocking their knee against a table and mumbling a curse as they did.

“More rags, hurry–” then everything truly faded.