Take Me

2JAIDE

It wasthe warmth that woke me up. Warmth and a hell of a lot of pain.

But I was alive. So, you know, things could’ve been worse even if it didn’t feel that way just now.

There was no fogginess on first waking, no moment where I had to catch up to reality. I remembered exactly what had happened, and exactly what I expected to happen afterward. Was there such a thing as an afterlife? Plenty of people seemed to think so. There were entire religions built upon the premise of life after death. Considering everything I had seen and been exposed to in just a few weeks, was it really so hard to imagine a world of the dead on the other side of the veil?

But I wasn't on the other side of any sort of veil.

I was very much still alive, warmed by a small fire, which became visible after I slowly opened my eyes. I didn't exactly want to be awake, not when nearly every part of my body hurt like I'd been stomped by giants wearing heavy boots. I wanted to go back to sleep where there was no pain. Maybe I would have a happy dream then.

“There you are.”

I didn't sense him nearby, so the sound of Elliot's voice made me jump, which I decided was the worst idea in recent history. He heard my moan and came closer, crouching over me. The light from the flames danced over his face and revealed what could only be worry.

“I was afraid you would never wake up,” he murmured. His face was scrunched up in what looked like regret. “I did my best, but I'm afraid it wasn't good enough.”

I opened my mouth and tried to ask what he’d done, but my lips were dry as sand, and my throat felt like someone had scraped their nails down the inside. All that screaming hadn't done my vocal cords any favors.

I tried to wet my lips with my tongue before whispering, “What did you do?”

“I tried to heal your wounds. Some of them I managed to help, such as your arms. You broke both of them on the landing.” His brows drew together, his eyes full of concern. “Why would you try to break your fall with your arms? Did you think that was going to help?”

“Call it an old habit.” I said. “It wasn't a conscious thing. You're falling, and you're about to hit the ground, or in my case, jagged boulders. You put your arms out to try and stop yourself. It’s the reason they say you shouldn't walk down the stairs with your hands in your pockets.”

He only scowled. “Anyway, I've wrapped them up after knitting the bones together. It wasn't easy.”

No, I imagine it wasn’t, and now that he mentioned it, I noticed how drawn he looked. Wrung out like an old dish rag…if dish rags had washboard abs. “I did the same with your ribs and your pelvis, both of which were badly broken. I'm afraid there isn't much more I can do, though. I can’t bandage what’s inside you.”

“At least I'm in one piece.”

“You are.” He reached down and touched the back of my head.

I winced and tried to jerk away, but my sudden movement only made it hurt worse than before. It seemed like the only way to avoid the intense throbbing, the kind that made my teeth ache, was to stay completely still. I couldn't even breathe too hard.

Thinking didn't help either, but I had to try. “I fell. But...why?”

“Do you really not remember?”

“Gee, maybe it's the head wound.”

He scowled. “Even now, you have to be a smartass.”

Still, that didn't stop him from looking concerned when I shivered. The fire was nice, but there was a chill in my bones that nothing could reach.

He settled in beside me, stretching out on the ground with a grunt before curling his body around mine. Right away, his warmth leached into me. My breathing immediately slowed, and the tension in my aching muscles eased.

Still, I grumbled. Nobody wanted the person they were irritated with to be the one thing they needed the most. He might have knitted my bones together or however he described it, but that didn't mean I'd forgotten why I’d been pissed off at him in the first place back in the cave.

Remembering the cave made me remember who I'd left behind. “Where are they?” He didn't need me to explain.

“They’re still up there. They don't know about what happened.”

“Why not?” The heat coming from him intensified.

“I'm sorry, would you rather I had left you alone in this terrible state to go up and check on them? It seemed to me that you were the more pressing concern.”

He had a point.