"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod..." I stutter out, my mind unable to focus on the unmistakable blood pooling around him.
"For the love of God, Jess, calm down. Freaking out isn't going to make this any better. Keep him awake as long as possible and keep pressure on the wound. I have to go get some supplies. I think I saw a first aid kit somewhere...." Liz's voice fades out as she excuses herself.
How can she be so calm? Alix could be literally dying in my arms right now, and she's taking her sweet leisurely time to find the right bandages?
A moan escapes Alix's lips, thrusting me back into reality. Keep him alive, Jess.
"Hey, Alix." I say, leaning over him, my heart overflowing with relief when his blue eyes meet mine. He's in pain. That much I can tell. "Hang in there, okay? It's going to be okay."
"Don't...mock.....me." Alix says in response, but I can see how much agony it cost him to do so.
I let out a high pitched, nervous laugh. "Right—okay—um—uh—yeah." Jess Hollens, master of the English language.
"You keeping pressure on it?" I hear Liz's voice call from where she's kneeling, ten feet away, rummaging through the stack of supplies.
I let out a stream of profanities under my breath, and, without answering, tear off a piece of Alix's shirt. Pressing it against his wound, a hiss of pain from him cuts through my ears like a blade. I squeeze my eyes shut and press harder.
Now, I've seen a lot of movies. Like, a lot. And when you're sitting in a movie theater, staring up at screen as someone tends another person's injury from a bullet wound, the first thing that comes to mind is, Wow, I'd hate to be that person. The one thing that doesn't come to mind is, if that ever happens to me, I will totally be prepared. Well, at least, it didn't for me.
Don't get me wrong, I've made some pretty horrendous mistakes throughout my seventeen years of living. Like that one time where I decided it would be a great idea to ride my bike down a hill with my eyes closed. Or when I thought skateboards were the same thing as surfboards. Or maybe even the incident that happened in second grade—the thing that caused the flaming ravine separating Laila and I from being best friends like we were.
But those memories were in the past, and I need to focus on the present. And the dying guy in front of me.
The small piece of Alix's shirt is immediately soaked through, so I tear another piece off, trying to ignore the flash of bare skin that peeks out from beneath it. Seriously, what can Liz possibly be doing right now? Is she having a tea party? Going to a bar with a fake ID? What's taking her so long?
On cue, footsteps thunder towards me. "It's about time," I mutter.
"Yeah, well, it takes me forever when I have to sort through useless junk that someone grabbed." Liz retorts, glaring at me.
I don't respond, just look at the bloodied piece of shirt on Alix's wound, and then her.
"Stop....being such.....men and... fix...me." Alix forces out, causing us both to glance in his direction nervously.
"Tear off another piece of his shirt." Liz says, looking at me with a ferocity I was oh so familiar with now. I obey, my fingers shaking. I doubt it's from the cold.
I watch in awe as Liz pulls up the blood stained hem of his jeans upward, stopping at the middle thigh area. She takes the strip of clothing and wraps it around Alix's thigh, before tying it there. Tight. Her fingers are one-hundred times steadier than mine, so it's probably for the benefit of everyone that she is the one doing the dirty work.
Feeling useless, I tear into the first aid kit Liz had mercilessly thrown to the ground. Inside are the usual: adhesive bandages, cloth tapes, antiseptic and antibiotic packets, roller bandages, gauze pads, and tweezers.
"Antiseptic. Roller Bandage. Gauze." Liz says, reading my mind. I fish them out of the small package and hand it to her. "Keep him awake." She says. "Some people react badly to this."
I nod, moving over to Alix's side. His eyes find mine, and I see something that I'd never ever expected to see in a guy. Especially this one. Pain. The average guy is arrogant, flirtatious, and annoying. AFA. I wish I can tell him it's okay, but it's not.
"Tell....me a story." Alix says, and I bite my lip. "Please."
Liz shoots me a sideways glance, as if to say, what a child, but she doesn't say anything else, she only dips her fingers into the antiseptic and lets out a long breath. My cue.
"Once upon a time..." I begin, surprised to find that my voice cracks. Suddenly, something brushes against my hand, and I tense up, thinking the worst. It's a spider. But, no. It's just Alix's hand, stretching out towards mine...wait, what? I shouldn't let him touch me, but if I was in his place right now, I'm not sure I would care much about who I touch. Before I can regret it, I'm taking his hand in mine and intertwining our fingers, squeezing it gently. Out of the periphery of my vision, I see Liz gently rub some onto the outside of the wound, averting her gaze from us completely. Alix tries not to make a noise, but I can't imagine how much agony he's in. He squeezes my hand so hard it loses circulation for a minute.
"Holy—cheese and crackers!" I hear Alix say, letting out a sharp breath in pain.
Jesus, I'm bad at this. Who uses "Once Upon a Time" anymore? Oh well.
"Once upon a time," I repeat, once Alix settles back down again somewhat. "There was a kingdom made of ice and snow. The kingdom was ruled by a ferocious ruler: a tyrant."
Liz daps at another spot, and Alix tenses, squeezing the feeling out of my hand, but his reaction isn't as nearly as bad as the last one. Maybe he's too caught up listening...
"The queen was slowly dying of an illness, and the loss of her would surely have brought the kingdom down into flames. If not for one person."
Liz rolls her eyes. "Let me guess. You."
I smirk. "You wish. Shut up, this isn't your story."
Liz holds back a knowing grin, before continuing her work.
"The boy wasn't anything special... just a stable boy."
"Ohhh....it's Alix." Liz says. "A stable boy. Impressive."
This time, Alix and I both say the same thing. "Shut up!"
"Okay, okay." Liz says, laughing.
Though she has no right to interfere with my story telling, I find a small grin making its way on to my face.
"The stable boy heard of the plague's appearance in the royal kingdom and immediately hopped on his horse and set out in search of a cure. He traveled for two days straight, before coming across a small cottage at the top of a hill. Famished and filled with fatigue, the boy knocks on the door and is welcomed inside by an old man. Desperate, the boy tells the man all about the struggle at the kingdom. Being a nice elder, the man lets him stay the night. The next morning, when the boy wakes up, the cottage has been emptied of everything except for the covers he slept under. It was like no one was home."
I pause for a moment, recalling the same chain of events that happened a few days ago. Alix must sense my hesitance, because his eyes are filled with concern. I clear my throat and continue.
"Confused and bewildered, the boy enters the kitchen, only to find that not everything has been taken. There is a mysterious vial sitting on the counter by the window looking down at the sharp decline of the hill. The boy didn't even need a label to figure out it was the cure."
Throughout my story, every now and again, Alix will squeeze my hand in pain. But he seems more relaxed now, and every time he squeezes my hand, it's like he's not even in pain. It's like he's trying to calm me down. Liz starts on the bandage, slowly lifting his leg up off the ground and looping the roller bandage around his leg after setting some gauze on the actual wound. I'm almost done, anyway. It's not like finishing the story would hurt anyone. Even Liz seems curious as to how the story ends.
"With new energy filling him, the boy fetched his horse and rode back to the palace. It took a bit of persuading, but eventually the royal family realized the queen was too close to death that it wouldn't matter if the vial wasn't actually the cure. Sure enough, it was, and the queen was slowly brought back to health. When the boy was questioned about how he received the cure, he told them about the man, and about how he had just disappeared. Intrigued by this story, several citizens had gone out to try and seek him because of family members that had unfortunately captured the plague. But the man seemed to have vanished off the face of the planet. Yet deep down, the boy knew that the man just simply didn't want to be found. The end."
Liz ties off the bandage and sets Alix's leg back down. "He'll be okay," is all she says.
Alix is strangely silent, and at first I think he's dead. But it isn't long before his stomach rises and falls. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Right now, that's the only thing that matters.
~
"It's late." Liz says, stating the obvious. It's no doubt around midnight. While Alix has been fading in and out of restless sleep, Liz and I took the time to set up camp, no matter how miniature it may be. The tent is surprisingly bigger than both of us thought, so it proves to be extremely difficult to put up. It's like friendship bracelets-- the directions just don't make sense. But, eventually, we got it to stand upright and there's enough room inside for all of us to fit, along with the sleeping bags I found during the raid.
"I know." I say, shrugging. "But I'm not tired."
"Well, I'm pooped. I'm going to bed. When you're grumpy tomorrow, don't come crying to me." She says. I can't believe I haven't realized until now how tired she is. Her jet-black hair is sticking to the sides of her face, her eyes have circles under them, and she's slumping on the log. Normally, she's quite alert. She pushes herself up and drags herself over to the tent. Lifting the flap, she calls back, "Oh, and tell the Prince over there that he owes me for doing his dirty work. Literally. This blood won't come off for days, no doubt."
"Noted." I say, shoving my hands in the pocket of my sweatshirt.
~
There's a full moon tonight, and it shines down on me, casting a long shadow in front of me. I don't know how long I've been up, but I have counted one-hundred and sixty-six snores from the tent. Out of all the things I expect Liz to be, a snorer isn't one of them.
My mind wanders, and unintentionally, it ventures over to a restricted area of my brain. Jax. I know I should be focused on my parents. They're close... I can feel it. But, I miss him. I can't help it. He was my past, my present, and my future. That's not what my mind is thinking of, however. I'm remembering the way his hands shook when he ran his fingers through his hair after shoving me into the janitor's closet. The way his eyes seemed to lose their usual sparkle of thought he always had when he was around me. The way his personality seemed to glaze over when he spoke to me, ridding him of his normal, goofy persona. Something changed in him... and it wasn't intentional.
"Hey, Fireball. Why are you still up?" Alix's voice calls out from where he's lying against a tree, his uninjured leg pulled up close to his body. Liz and I had decided it wouldn't be a good idea to move him into the tent so soon, for fear of his leg saying nope and bleeding again. It just sucks for him, but I think he's been spending so much time conked out against that tree that it doesn't matter to him that much. His eyes are alive and full of the wonder and curiosity that's always there, but it's impossible for him to hide the pain he's in.
"Because I'm not tired." I say, slumping down and laying my chin in the palm of my hand. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Fire away." He says, shifting around to get comfortable against the tree, wincing when he moves his leg in a weird direction.
"Okay, so why do you keep calling me that?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"What? Fireball?" He inquires. I nod. "Well.... it may or may not have to do with the fact that your hair is basically the color of fire. Or maybe that you have such a fiery temper."
"You got a problem with my sass?" I ask him, rolling my eyes.
"Not at all, Princess. Not at all."
Silence filters in between us, causing me to tense up. It isn't until now that I realize how many creepy things could be stalking us right now. Alix chuckles, before holding up a hand towards me.
"Come here."
I have no problem obeying his command, seeing as the hairs on the back of my neck are starting to rise, and a strange feeling is making it's way through my body, starting at my toes. As soon as I accept Alix's extended arm, he pulls me down next to him.
"I just wanted to say thanks. For earlier."
I shift uncomfortably beside him, my back scratching up against the tree, which I've decided is called Grayson. "Um, sure, no problem."
"I don't think you really understand what I'm telling you here. I've had a difficult life, past anything like what you've been through. I can almost guarantee you that. So really, I'm grateful."
I'm silent for a long, long time. Partly because I'm not sure what to say back to him. It's just now that I'm realizing that I don't know a lot about him. I guess I just kind of assumed... the normal. Or whatever made up backstory my brain decided to push into my head. It will take time to get information out of him. Baby steps.
"We're being anti-social, are we?" Alix eventually says.
"I'm not anti-social, I'm just thinking." I say, biting my bottom lip. There's a rustle behind me, and I jump so bad I'm surprised I don't scream at the top of my lungs. Halfway between a standing and kneeling position, I'm startled when something warm brushes my hand. I jerk away, alarmed, but it's just Alix's hand. He suddenly looks extremely uncomfortable.
"Uh, sorry. I thought you were an animal come to tear me apart." I say, my voice shaking. Man, do I hate the dark.
"It's okay." He says, but his mind is elsewhere.
"Do you have any siblings?" I ask softly, knowing that I probably don't have any chance of receiving an answer.
"I did." He says. My breath catches in my throat.
"Brother or sister?" I ask tentatively.
"Sister."
Oh, shoot. "What was her name?"
His next words surprise me, though some part of me is expecting his answer.
"Amelia."
Both of us are silent again for what seems like another eternity. When the silence becomes loud, and I can hear every beat of my heart, I speak again.
"Tell me a story." I ask him. "I told you one. Now you tell me."
At first I think Alix has fallen asleep, and I'm actually just talking to myself. But after a long thirty seconds, his voice clears and he starts to speak.
"Once upon a time, there was a kingdom of sun..."
His words lull me to sleep, causing me, against my will, to lay my head on his shoulder in exhaustion. After a long while of listening to him speak, his words blur together, and my eyes drift closed. The last thing I see before slipping into sleep is a black cat, prowling around the edges of camp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellooooo! It's been a HECTIC week, let me tell you! My goodness gracious! If you were one of the readers who were caught up in the little mix-up earlier, that was a mistake on my part, and I apologize. For those of you who have NO IDEA what I'm talking about.... good. Just keep being beautiful little readers.
This chapter is dedicated to the fabulous Rooroolilly for helping me out with details for this story eons ago and helping me finally get it written. I love you, Kelsie ;).
Please vote and comment your thoughts and feels below!
~trebleclef18