Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 47

CAINE’S P.O.V

She tried to hide it, but I could see just how worried she was.

I glanced over at Dan who gave me a silent nod. I pulled my shirt off easily, letting her see that I wasn’t hurt- not badly at least. Most of the blood wasn’t mine. I was fine. I couldn’t say the same about Dan though.

"Dan?" she turned to him and he hesitated. "I need to look at your wounds. You’re clutching your side."

"You need to cut off the shirt. I can’t lift my hands."

I saw the worry on Nadine’s face despite the fact that she tried to hide it. Her hands were shaking slightly so I made my way over to her and took the dagger from her hands.

"Let me."

I knew what I would find, I was there when it happened, but it was one thing to know something and another entirely to see it. I cut the shirt off slowly, trying my best not to hurt him as I did, and when I peeled it back, it revealed a vicious looking cut on his side.

A gasp went through the small room and Jennifer cursed under her breath.

"It can’t be that bad," Dan joked. "It’s just a cut."

"Was it from them?" Jennifer spoke up for the first time since we arrived.

"Where else do you think I got it? I didn’t fall on my own dagger."

His voice dripped with a mixture of disdain and frustration. Even his usual humor couldn’t protect him from this, not when he knew exactly what it meant. No one survived a cut from the monsters.

It was the first thing we were taught. He knew that- we all did.

"I need something to clean the wound. I have cotton pads in the bag but it won’t help much. Can I get a rag?"

Nadine was on her knees beside him furiously searching for something to clean him with.

"Princess-"

"Don’t," she cut me off. "Please, just get me what I need. He needs it cleaned and disinfected."

"You can’t-"

"I don’t care," she snapped. "Get me what I need or get out. I mean it."

I pursed my lips, hating how desperate she sounded but I couldn’t just leave her so I obliged. I searched around the room until I found something that looked remotely clean. I handed it to her and she grabbed the rubbing alcohol from the bag.

I watched as she shoved the cloth I handed to her into Dan’s mouth before pouring the liquid directly over his wounds.

His groans were muffled by the cloth but I could hear the pain in them. I gripped his shoulders, keeping him in place while Nadine carefully cleaned up his wounds. I wasn’t sure to what end, seeing as it wasn’t going to heal, but I let her do it.

I let her work in silence as tears blurred her vision.

I watched her because if I didn’t, I’d have to watch Dan and I couldn’t, not when his eyes were filled with unshed tears. The least I could do was give him the dignity of crying without being watched.

Once Nadine was done cleaning it, we had a clear view of what we were working with. It was deep- deeper than I originally thought and it was already an angry shade of red.’

"We could go back to the pharmacy," Nadine began. "Maybe we could try some antibiotics."

"Please," Dan stopped her with a single hand, his voice shaky and uneven. "The last thing I want is to be pumped full of drugs that I don’t need."

"You’re going to die."

"Thank you for stating the obvious," he drawled before looking over her at Jennifer who hadn’t moved an inch. "Are you going to stand there the whole time? I didn’t peg you for a coward."

Her face crumpled and for the first time since I had known her, I saw a tear drop down the side of her cheek. She slowly made her way over to Dan before crouching next to him. They didn’t have a romantic relationship, not by a long shot, but there was mutual respect, and in my opinion, it was a greater thing.

"I’m sorry," she whispered, her head laying on his chest. "If I was awake-"

"It doesn’t matter."

I tugged Nadine gently by the arm and guided her away. They needed privacy, or at least, a semblance of it.

She didn’t protest as I led her away, she didn’t even speak, at least, not until we had left the office. It wasn’t until I had shut the door behind us that I heard her voice.

"There has to be a way."

"If there is, I don’t know about it."

I hated how her face fell, I hated not having all the answers. Dan was good to her, he made her laugh and she enjoyed his company. It wasn’t easy for her, I knew that.

"If you had led us stay behind to help, this would never have happened," she pointed an accusing finger in my direction. "He would be fine."

"Maybe, or maybe someone else would have gotten hurt."

"You don’t know that for sure."

"I don’t, but neither do you. If you hadn’t gone ahead and gotten the supplies, he would have bled to death and you know it."

She clenched her jaw stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked away, not wanting me to see the stubborn tears in her eyes.

"Princess," my voice was soft as I pulled her close.

"I don’t want to hear it. He can’t die. It’s Dan."

"I know."

"We should have taken the watch."

"We were exhausted, we would have fallen asleep just like they did. It isn’t anyone’s fault."

A small sob broke free from her lips and I cursed. It felt like someone was taking a dagger straight to my heart.

I couldn’t go back into the office, so I led us to a smaller one and shut the door behind us. I was aware of the fact that I was still covered in blood and exhausted, but that didn’t stop me from pulling her into my lap as I sat down.

My fingers ran through her hair in a comforting manner, gently calming her until she could find it in herself to speak.

"Maybe if we can find a bunker first, they will know how to help him," she offered.

I didn’t need to speak for her to realize it was a bad idea. They would kill him on sight. They wouldn’t risk the lives of everyone inside just for him.

"We can wait it out, maybe the cut won’t get infected. Anything could happen, right?"

"It doesn’t work that way."

"Well something has to work!" she exclaimed, her voice a little too loud for comfort. "Sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. I just- I don’t want him to die. I want to try."

"I know that, princess, I do, but I don’t know how to help him. I’m sorry, but this is the one thing that I’m clueless about."