Savage (The End 1)

“He needs help. He can’t do it by himself.”

“I’ll take care of it. You need to rest.”

“I’ve rested all the time. I want to help.”

“Then go and rest. Eat some of those crackers we have in the backpack. I’ll deal with this.” Sasha kissed her sister’s head, and then Lucy ran over to where they’d set up their pallets for the night.

Sasha grabbed the gauze and the alcohol and walked over to where Malachi stood. She wrapped her fingers around his arm and began to clean up the mess.

He watched her work, her hands steady as she cleaned up the cut.

“That’s a nasty one,” he said.

“You shouldn’t lie to my sister.”

“I wasn’t lying to her.”

“You can’t make promises that you’re not able to keep.”

“Okay, what promise did I make?”

“The one about not letting anything happen to her. You don’t know what the future holds and I’d rather she not rely on you. Look at what happened today.”

“Today was a fluke, okay? I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

“Not only that, Malachi. You can’t stop her from getting sick or being ill. Please don’t give her false hope.”

“Did your parents not give you false hope growing up? Did you not believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny?”

“This is not the same.”

“It’s exactly the same. I will protect you both. I’ll make sure you both don’t fall ill and if you do, I’ll be there. Not all sickness needs a doctor, and besides, with what happened to this fucked up world, doctors are overrated.” He growled as Sasha put the alcohol wipe directly over his cut.

“You’re going to need stitches. This is deep. We’re going to have to cover it.”

“We’ll go looking for stitches tomorrow.”

“But it’s bad.”

“It’ll be fine. Believe me. I’ve had worse. Slap a bandage over it, wrap it up tight, we’ll be good.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Nothing else to like. Soup smells like it’s burning,” he said.

“Shit!” Sasha left, running out of the room to go and deal with her sister.

He looked at the wound in the mirror. To some, it was deep. He’d had a lot worse and survived without a single stitch. This one would be more than fine.

“I burnt the soup,” Lucy said, coming back into the room.

“It’s okay. I’m a lousy cook as well. You want to help me out with this, kiddo?”

She followed his instruction, putting the bandage over the wound, and then wrapping gauze around it as well. It wasn’t the best job but it would work for the two of them.

“You should be a nurse,” he said, following her out of the room.

“I always wanted to be one.”

“Be one what?” Sasha asked.

“A nurse. You said I had the caring skills, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, you also have the patience to pull it off. I had to trash the pan you used, Lucy. You literally boiled soup dry. Didn’t know someone could do that,” Sasha said, winking at her sister.

“I’m sorry. I tried.”

“I know you did. Don’t worry about it. I’ll teach you and it’ll all be okay.” Sasha wrapped her arm around her sister, kissing her head.

Malachi didn’t say anything.

Their food was a precious commodity. Neither of them had any to waste. Lucy wouldn’t be able to cook for them.

Sitting around the table, he glanced between the two girls. Their sisterly bond was clear to see. Sasha held on to Lucy’s hand even as they slurped at their soup.

When they finished, he did the dishes haphazardly, pouring some water over them and wiping them off with his hand, Sasha put Lucy to bed. They were all sleeping close together. It was safer for them all to be together.

Sasha walked back into the kitchen just as he finished pouring them both a cup of tea. There had been a small box in the cupboard and they appeared in date.

“She’s out like a light,” she said.

“Does she always sleep this much?”

“Sometimes. When she’s had a rough couple of days she always sleeps afterward. She tends to recharge then exhaust herself before doing the same thing. Mom always called her a little battery.” Sasha smiled and then he saw the pain cross her face.

He went to her side as she fell apart. She didn’t make a sound as the tears fell.

Stroking his hand down her hair, he tried to offer her as much comfort as possible. The kiss still played in his mind and he’d much rather be doing a lot of other things to her, but he pushed them all out of the way. Sasha didn’t need sex or a man lusting after her.

She’d been pushed to the very limits of her being, and now she was exhausted. She needed someone to hold her, to protect her. Even as she fought him every single day, and tried to tell him how strong she was, he knew differently.