Lost

Chapter 10: Painful Wound

Zayn opened his eyes, sensing her presence and blinked against the intensity of the light.

"Help me out!" he cried through his gritted teeth.

"Ho-hold on!" Salma stammered. "Let me remove this thing."

Trying hard not to panic, Salma quickly placed the flashlight on the ground to free her hands. She got a firm hold of the rock and heaved. It was heavier than she had bargained for. The mass of concrete only moved a tiny bit. While Salma struggled to lift the rock off of Zayn's leg, she heard his sigh of relief. The weight was too much for her to manage. She felt it slipping past her sweaty palms.

"Zayn! Try to get your leg out of the way!" Salma cried urgently. "I can't - hold it for long!"

Salma saw him sit up hastily and drag himself away from the rock. His foot got stuck in the hole. The sudden jerk it experienced inflicted a fresh dose of pain on his leg. She saw him bite the back of his hand to stifle the scream. Salma's breathing got heavier and her hands started shaking under the weight. She put every ounce of her strength to keep the rock from falling on his leg but she knew it was not possible. Unless he was to get his foot out of the hole, he would be in for a double dose of pain.

"Zayn!" Salma cried out, desperately.

There was nothing he could do.

"Zayn! It's slipping!" Salma yelled as she felt the rock slipping out of her sweaty grip.

He hissed in pain struggling with his foot.

"Zayn-"

The rock slipped.

Letting out a startled cry, Salma made a grasp for it. Miraculously the rock stopped. Salma looked down at it with wide eyes. It took her sometime to realize that Zayn was holding it with his left foot, mere centimeters above his injured shin. His foot was shaking under its weight. Salma grabbed it more securely.

"Heave! Now!" Zayn said through clenched teeth "Come on!"

With their combined effort, the two of them were able to roll the rock out of their way. Zayn laid down on his back, closing his eyes. His chest rising and falling as he let out heavy breaths of air. Struggling to get her breath back to normal herself, Salma looked down at her hands. Her palms had deep indents where the sharp edges of the rock had cut against the soft tissues. Rubbing them together, she threw a glance at Zayn's leg, it was bleeding, just as she expected it would be.

His shoed foot was still stuck in the hole. Salma figured if he tried to yank it out, the strain would cause him a lot of pain. She got up and looked around. Near the steps, she found a jagged piece of rock.

Zayn sat up in alarm when he heard the sharp crack of a rock hitting the wood. He relaxed back upon realizing Salma was trying to widen the hole around his foot. Once his foot was free, he pulled it out of the hole and slumped on the floor.

"Oh my God . . ." Zayn sighed in relief and placed his fists on his eyes, allowing his leg to rest.

Tossing the rock aside, Salma leaned against the damaged wall, wondering what else was in-stored for her on this trip turned nightmare. For a while, none of them said anything. While Salma wished she could just find her brother and go back home, Zayn was lying motionless with his hands curled on his eyes.

As a gust of wind blew through the veranda. Salma got up to get the first aid kit. It was getting colder by the minute and Zayn would freeze to death if he stayed out in the veranda in just a shirt full of holes.

"Zayn?" Salma said softly. "Let me take a look."

Zayn removed his hands from his eyes and released a long breath.