but there was an edge of uncertainty to his walk. I worried that I'd ruined his confidence with my distance, and resolved to remedy that immediately.
"Try not to kill Jules," he said with a kiss on my cheek. "I'm going to go and get some sleep before patrol again tonight."
He turned to leave, but I wrapped my arms around his waist. "Sweet dreams, Patrick," I whispered into his back as he stroked the tops of my hands. After a moment, I reluctantly let him go and entered the crowded medic tent.
Although Lilly and I were able to stitch up Mia's stab wound and make sure that no vital organs were punctured, it was her fever that had us worried.
The Scavenger medic tent was already small, barely big enough for Lilly and me to shuffle about. But with Huxley, Kemper, Jules, and Aarav all fussing over Mia, I sensed that it was only a matter of time before Lilly snapped.
"Hovering over her won't help her heal faster. She needs to rest," she scolded, swatting at Huxley who was thumbing a vial of rosemary. "The only person who should be here is Agrio, and even she gets on my nerves. Out with you." The guys left with small frowns, Huxley and Kemper pausing to kiss me on the cheek goodbye, but Jules remained. I wondered when she and Mia became so close. Thinking back to their petty rivalry back in Dormas, I'd never imagined that they would become friends. But five months was a long time, and disaster breeds companionship. Fear makes you cling to people you normally wouldn’t. We all just want to feel like we belong. Like we’re safe. Lilly was getting tired of her hovering though. Jules might have grown more compassionate towards the Scavengers, but she was still the same old ray of critical sunshine I'd come to accept.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing? What is that stuff anyway?" she asked Lilly as I made quick work of getting set up at the lab table and grinding the Kava root I just collected into a wooden bowl. It was commonly used for pain but also could be used to fight an infection.
"It'll help fight off the pain and help fight off the infection," I answered.
"Keep asking questions, and I'll have Aarav remove you from my tent, Malakas," Lilly sneered.
"Paliá trelí gynaíka," Jules responded with equal venom, causing Lilly's eyebrows to shoot up in shock. "I can insult people in the native Scavenger tongue too. Worry more about Mia and less about what I’m doing, and we’ll be good." Jules threw Lilly a self-satisfied smirk. I wanted to urge Jules not to tempt Lilly. She'd openly described how she poisoned her deceased husband when she caught him with another woman. Lilly was not someone you wanted to mess with.
"Just stay out of my way. She won't get any better if I have to spend time maneuvering around you," Lilly finally said. Jules tapped her foot against the floor of the tent, crossing her arms over her chest to stare at Mia before moving to a nearby chair.
After a while, Lilly ventured back into the meadow to collect more Kava root as well as another leaf I'd never heard of. My plant identifying skills were basic, and Lilly somehow always managed to find the rare medicinal herbs with ease.
Mia let out a moan, and Jules quickly grabbed a cloth to wipe her brow. "That pain relieving root doesn't seem to be working," she murmured, teeth clenched.
"It's not foolproof, unfortunately. We need a real clinic. A healing pod. They don't have the same technology as Dormas, but they make do." I was pretty impressed with how the Scavengers managed to survive. Despite every disadvantage, the Scavengers still persevered. Little to no food, no electricity, and no clean water made them resilient, but it also made them defenseless.
"Is she safe for transport? We could be at Dormas within a day." Jules stood up to pace the floors of the medic tent once more. My eyes watched her pacing, and I found myself smiling a little. There was a time that she criticized me for pacing and worrying about my men; it made me happy to see that she’d found people she cared enough to worry about.
"I shouldn't risk it until her fever has gone down, and even so, Dormas is taken over by Ethros guards. It's not safe to go there."
Jules let out a throaty humorless laugh. "It's not safe