blind. 2 | styles (hariana)

XXIV. Five Years of Rainfall, The Rivers Are Flooding

The skin by her knuckles were slowly becoming purple, seeping down the sides of her hand to her wrist. The bluish area around the bone seemed to hurt more as I pressed a finger to the area gently.

"We should get you home. It looks like you might have done a number on your hand."

She nodded silently as she carried her swelling hand with the other. Her eyes were trained on the purpling skin, observing its pattern out of curiosity. I allowed her to be lost in her own world for a few moments while I told Marcel what had happened.

He glanced over my shoulder and at Ariana who was wiggling her hand in her face with a bitter smile.

"Babe don't do that; you'll risk hurting yourself even more." I warned her.

"I don't feel anything anymore. It's quite a warm feeling and numb." She said.

"Okay, that's not a good sign." I muttered, quickly walking to her. She sighed deeply and took hold of my arm. "I feel a little light headed." She murmured. "Is it cold?"

Like I feared, she was going into shock.

"No babe it isn't. This is your body reacting to your hand being injured. Do you feel okay enough to walk home or should I carry you the rest of the way? The appartment isn't too far of a walk from here."

"I'm fine, let's just go." She urged as she held onto me tightly.

"Hey Marcel be useful for once and help me bring Ariana home instead of standing there like an idiot."

"Is that anyway to speak to the man who brought you and the girl you love together, twice?"

"Yeah whatever you say Marcel, just help me out here." I rolled my eyes. Brothers.

Ariana was growing weaker and weaker which was no surprise since she wasn't typically a violent person and besides, anyone who exerts that amount of force through an inaccurate punch would break or fracture their hand unavoidably.

From experience I knew she hadn't seriously injured herself and most likely had just broken one or two of her fingers. An x ray would be able to determine exactly what was wrong but it would cost her money that I wasn't sure she was willing to spend since she wasn't exactly dying after all.

Her growing faintness resulted in me voluntarily carrying her the rest of the way. As we entered my apartment, I carefully set her down on the couch and kissed her forehead before walking into the kitchen. I gathered what I needed, though there was very little I could do. Luckily there had been a first aid kit that was placed in all the apartments, including my own.

I carried the items to Ariana who laid against the cushions with her eyes closed.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me." I told her.

"I'm not, I'm meditating. My counsellor told me that meditating is an excellent way to stay calm and right now I'm trying to find my chi so I can ignore the fact that I'm dying."

I chuckled, "You're not dying babe and besides, I'd never let you leave me so easily."

"When I die I'm taking some of Mr. Ho's Emporium's dumplings with me."

I laughed at her ability to be witty even while in pain. I assumed it was her way of handling the pain and taking her mind of her hand which was good. I gently lifted her hand and inspected it once again. There was definite bruising around her fingers and wrist, more so around her knuckles than her wrist area which was just a bit of red.

I felt each of her fingers carefully, observing her reactions for any sign of pain.

"No matter how hard you pull on them I ain't farting." She murmured.