much.
The nanopaste won’t do shit here. It just fights infections after I’ve stabilized the patient. The strips I tore aren’t designed to absorb anything, just to cover the wound after I’ve treated it.
I press my hands against her thigh, applying as much pressure as I dare. Blood just keeps coming.
“Fuck!” I growl, reaching for the hot knife.
I hold it on the fire for a few seconds, and with tears in my eyes, I press it to the wound.
23
Catherine
I wake up in the cold, but there’s something warm all around me.
The fire crackles.
Oh, did I sleep through my watch shift?
I try to get up, but I’m wrapped--swaddled--in blankets.
Krakon is asleep, just a few feet from me. His scent is there, and smelling it is like coming home after a long time away.
Away. I was away?
The arrows. I killed two people. I got shot.
“Krakon,” I whisper.
Can I get up?
I fight against the blankets, freeing my arms. God, it’s cold.
We’re not where we were before. We’re...inside?
The fire dances along stone walls. We’re in a cave.
“Krakon,” I tap him now.
He jolts up.
“You’re awake,” he says. “Keep your arms in the blanket!”
He tries to swaddle me back in, but I bat him away. “I’m okay.”
“You had a fever,” he says, touching my forehead. “It’s broken.”
“How long has it been?”
“Three or four days. Do you feel cold?”
I nod.
“Keep the blankets on then.”
I fight him again, at first, but then I just let him do it. God, it feels good for someone to actually take care of me.
“We’re in the mountains,” he says. “The cave stops most of the wind and traps in a lot of heat, but it’s much colder outside at this elevation. We stay in here.”
After the big battle we had in the forest that almost got us killed, I have no desire to leave the cave.
“How does your leg feel?” he asks.
I look down at myself, wrapped up like a mummy. I try to move my legs. They move, but there’s a dull pain in the one that was hit.
“It still hurts. Not too bad, though.”
“The medicine did a lot,” he says. “Still, it’s taking a toll on your body. You need rest.”
“Okay.” I smile at him, and as the warmth wraps back over me, I fall asleep again.
I wake up to a bitter cold. Am I getting sick again? Do I have a fever?
No. It’s just really cold.
“Krakon?” I ask.
I don’t see him.
He’s not here.
I unswaddle myself and sit up. Cold hits me hard, seeping all the warmth away from every tiny spot that the blanket can’t cover. I wrap it around myself as tight as I can, staying near the fire. The fire is dying.
There’s a pile of wood stacked in the back corner of the cave. I throw some more wood onto the fire.
My leg hurts when I walk, but if I limp and keep most of the weight off it, I can still move around.
There’s an ominous howling outside. A storm?
I limp toward the cave opening, and the cold gusts hit me as I near the open air.
I risk a peek outside, but the icy wind is so cold I feel my eyelashes almost flash-freeze in the few seconds I’m outside. There’s no visibility anyway. I can’t see a thing. It’s all just grey and dark, as if the storm has swallowed up the whole planet and this cave is the only warm place that still exists.
I crawl back to the fire.
It takes several minutes before I’m not shivering anymore.
Once I’m warm again, I worry about Krakon. Where did he go? What if he doesn’t come back?
I throw another log onto the fire. The big stack of wood looked like a lot, but if I keep throwing wood onto it at this rate, it will not be a big stack for very long. Even with the fire, it’s so damn cold. Could I even survive in here without the fire?
I doubt it.
It’s maybe an hour before Krakon comes back.
He throws a big bundle down in front of him. He’s covered in snow, and his whole body is shivering.
He hauls the bundle in behind him.
“God, you’re okay?” I say. It’s half statement, half question.
“Of course,” he says. “I got more wood.”
He throws the bundle open. Dozens of thick logs fall out. He stacks them up with the rest, rebuilding the supply.
“You’re so cold,” I say.
Then I realize my hand is on his chest.
We look at each other. It’s too long. Any longer and we’ll--
He pulls away, grabbing his blanket. He