Drea

Chapter two: Complications

I stand over Cyan in complete shock as he screams and curses. I stand there trying to comprehend why he's screaming. The tree missed him and the snow wasn't very hard where he landed, so what could possibly be so painful. Is he in shock or something? Tears run down his face as he strains to speak, "My leg Drea, my leg!" I stammer before drawing the pocket knife from my jacket pocket and kneeling down next to the leg he's clutching in a death grip. I cut a tear into the knee of his pants and rip away all the fabric underneath that tear. I'm confronted with a pool of bright, red blood and the bone of his shin protruding in a slanted angle out of his calf. My hands fly to my face in horror. I was expecting a cut or a sprained ankle, not this. I swallow the bile rising in my throat and think. What do you do when someone has a broken bone? I lean over and snap a few thin but sturdy branches from the fallen tree. I take my gloves out of my pocket and shove one in between Cyan's teeth. "Bite down on this." I put the other back in my pocket. His eyes are filled with pain and confusion. "I have to put your bone back in place so it doesn't start to heal like that." I say gesturing toward his calf." He starts to shake his head in fear. "I have to Cyan, the town is at least three days away and by the time we make it back, your leg will have already started to heal, which means they might have to amputate it if we leave it like this!" I finish with a huff. He quit squirming at the word amputate. "Now bite down on that glove and try stay still." I put my left hand under his knee and get a firm grip. I place my other hand just under the part of the bone that's sticking out. I can only just hear Cyan's soft wails over the beating of my heart in my ears. "Sorry bro." I say this before pressing down on his shin and popping it back into place. I hear the snap of the bone even over Cyan's muffled screams. I rummage through my backpack and pull out the small first aid kit we bring on our hunting trips, just in case. It doesn't have much things for serious injuries like this one, but it does have bandages and that's exactly what I need. I snatch six of the sticks off of the ground and break pieces off until they're about the same size as the length of his calf. I put three under his calf and three on top over his shin and wrap the bandage round and round his leg until the bandage is holding the sticks in place as a makeshift splint. I glance over at Cyan to see if he has passed out yet. His eyes are hooded and they are rolling back in his head, but he's still conscious...... Barely. I crawl over toward his face and set his head in my lap. His eyes flutter closed. Finally passed out I guess. I stroke his sweat soaked hair off of his forehead and a tear rolls down my cheek. 'Town is three days away.' I think, my lip
starting to tremble. "What're we gonna do brother?........ You can't walk."