I woke up to the creaking of the floor. It was made of wood and old enough to make a sound with every step. It was already getting light outside, but the light hadn't filled the room yet. Turning around on the bed, I didn't find Troy next to me, so I immediately raised myself on my elbows and peered into the darkness. After a couple of seconds, I managed to make out Otto's silhouette. He was sitting dressed on a chair and tying his shoelaces.
"Where are you going?"
He started at my voice, apparently not expecting me to wake up so early.
"Good morning, sunshine, I'm going hunting," the voice was soft and calm, as if he hadn't said anything special.
"Are you crazy?! What time is it now?!"
"Four o'clock in the morning," he shrugged, "go back to sleep."
"Troy, you can't go anywhere!"
He got up from his chair and spread his hands, wincing slightly: "I'm healthy!"
"Stop suffering nonsense!"
"Della, I'm not a little kid! I'll figure it out myself!" His voice became rougher.
"Troy, you still need peace, just yesterday I pulled a bullet out of you!"
"That's exactly what happened yesterday. And today I already feel great and in general: I want meat!" He slowly approached me and with a little effort sat down on the edge of the bed, but trying not to show that he was in pain. Only a furrowed brow and a slightly open mouth made it treacherously clear that Troy was far from recovering.
"You're not going anywhere!" I abruptly jumped out of bed and ran to the door, blocking it with myself.
"Della," he sighed wearily, "what are you going to feed Alan? And you yourself, what are you going to eat?"
"We haven't run out of supplies yet."
"And what is there? A couple of chocolates?!"
"In fact, there is porridge, nuts, dried fruits and so on....."
"And all this is not meat!" He raised his voice: "Since we have such an opportunity, we need to try to find a normal meal. Tell me, when did you eat anything after El Bazaar? Just don't think about cookies and chocolates!"
"Troy, you're right, but you can't leave, you're still here..."
"And who will go? Maybe you? And what can you find?! Not a damn thing! Because it's not your job! You're a woman! It's not you who should be thinking about how we survive!" He grabbed his side with his right hand and made a sound like a groan. I ran up to him and was about to take off my shirt to look at the wound, but he pushed my hands away and, turning to a whisper, continued:
"You've already done too much for yesterday! I'm ashamed that it wasn't me who found the house we're in right now! I didn't go for supplies yesterday! It's not enough that you and I are wandering because of me, so now I'm not capable of anything!"
He tried to get up, but the pain completely shackled him, again there was a painful moan, which he tried to suppress. Gathering his last strength, he began to raise his voice, as if he wanted to finish as soon as possible:
"When we left the ranch, I swore to myself that you would be protected. I promised myself that I would do everything to make you feel good, since you sacrificed affordable comfort for me! And now what?! I'm not doing anything... " He couldn't keep talking. It became too painful. I, holding him by the shoulders, lowered him onto the bed. He was wincing.
Carefully, I began to take off his shoes first, then his clothes, accompanying this process with the words:
"Is that all? Are you done? Now listen to me: you're not going anywhere, okay? Not because I want to do everything myself. I don't want to do anything myself at all. You did everything for me two days ago. And as soon as you come to your senses, I will rely on you in everything, as it was before. Do not hesitate, if you stay in bed for a couple of days, it does not mean that I will let you do nothing longer than you should! And don't think that if you get sick, you won't be needed. I really need you. But alive and well."
Unbuttoning his shirt, I was horrified: the entire bandage on the front was soaked through with blood.
"What a fool you are! Look! Look at this! Where were you going to go?! You wouldn't leave the house with this!"
"Della, don't shout! You'll wake Alan up!"
After these words, I began to grumble more quietly.
"Honestly, how much does it hurt? How many out of ten?"
"Eleven," his face twisted more and more.
"There is only one syringe and an ampoule with promedol. Can't stand it at all?"
"If," he paused between words, "there is only one, then leave it... You never know what...
"I see. Lie still, I have long forgotten how to give injections."
"Don't... I can tolerate it. It doesn't hurt that much!"
"Shut up already, you fucking hero!" I wiped the injection site with cognac. I decided to stab him in the stomach with a syringe, this is the closest to the wound, it will surely work. Having typed 2 milligrams out of 5 available in the ampoule, I gave an injection.
Troy was still writhing in pain. I started patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.
"Well, be patient, my dear, a little more, soon everything will pass. Hush, hush."
After about ten minutes, he calmed down. The injection began to take effect.
I put the syringe back in the package and went to get water. When I returned, I did the same thing again as yesterday: I poured water on the wound, wiped everything from the blood, then treated it with brandy and bandaged it. It was almost five o'clock in the morning. After putting away the first aid kit, I climbed back into bed. All this time I was only in my underwear. Troy was definitely not healthy at all, as he still didn't want to fuck me. I voiced this thought to him.
"Yes, I'm a jerk that I decided to go somewhere, stop mocking me!"
"I have carte blanche to mock you today because of lack of sleep, my love!"
He looked at me guiltily.
"By the way, it should be as easy as possible for you now, the injection should already work, and it will seem to you that you can do anything. But no. It's just a plug, it doesn't heal the wound, so don't do anything that comes into your head, okay?"
He nodded silently. I started running my finger over his shoulder, connecting the birthmarks. It turned out to be a rhombus. I do not know how many times I did this, but my eyes quickly closed. I fell asleep again.
Opening my eyes, I saw a room flooded with sunlight. Troy wasn't around again. What a jerk! In the end, he left! Taking the clock from the bedside table, I found that it was about ten in the morning. Well, it's time to get up.
I put on a robe hanging in the closet and went out into the hallway with the idea that I should look at Troy and hit him in the face!
When I was coming down the stairs, I smelled oatmeal. Troy was sitting at the table with Alan and telling him some story, they periodically interrupted for laughter. I exhaled calmly: so he didn't go anywhere.
The kitchen was buzzing with a mixture of Troy's voice and children's laughter. Alan noticed me first:
"Della came!"
I smiled back at him.
"We made porridge! Look!" Alan showed me his plate. "It's with nuts and honey! Very tasty! At first I thought that porridge on the water was a complete suck, but Troy convinced me!"
"Yes, Dell, and we also found a pond, but most importantly, there is a well here. And you know what," Troy got up slowly and limped to the sink, "there's water and light here!
"But how? There is no electricity!"
"There are solar panels on the roof. Therefore," Troy flipped the switch: the light came on, "This house is just an amazing find! But it's still worth not spending unnecessarily, the sun here is not the same as in California."
"I'm just in shock, how could we be so lucky?!"
"I don't know... A white stripe?"
I was just thrilled. When I found the house, I could not even think that everything would turn out like this. There was a light here all this time, and I didn't even flick the switch, I thought it was useless.
After breakfast, I examined Troy. The bleeding has already stopped. It got a little better.
"I'll go look for a new store. Maybe I'll be lucky, I'll find more medicines."
"I'm with you!"
"No, it's not worth shaking the wound once again, it will bleed again. And it's better not to take Alan with you, in case his father returns. Somehow everything is too great in this place for it to be empty before us."
"I thought about it too. But Alan says there was no one... And since no one has come yet, then they won't come, I think."
"I don't know, it's better not to take any chances, Troy. I've already driven alone, it's okay if I drive again."
"No! Don't you dare leave alone anymore! I'm going to go crazy! I'm not letting go! Just stay home for me! We have everything! Don't push your luck!"
In fact, I understood how Troy felt. He was afraid of losing me, because I was like a painkiller for him. And he was my personal painkiller injection. When I met him, he certainly did not heal the wound from Aron, but he removed the symptoms, and after that I got hooked on him. Non-chemical addictions, according to the principle of action, differ little from chemical ones. When you are in love, it resembles drug addiction. Even if the relationship is healthy... Although... Have you ever seen a really adequate couple? The one that can be called fully "healthy". Personally, I don't. And if I met something like that, it means I didn't know these lovebirds well. Everyone is looking for a painkillers. Even if they don't need it at all... People hurt each other. But, if you're lucky, the pain from these wounds will be less than the buzz you get from the "analgesic".
Therefore, Troy was afraid of losing this buzz. I was afraid too. So I stayed at home, as he asked.