I got nothing to say about this chapter. Just that I don't own House of Night and to enjoy this story.
*Rephiam*
"I'm gonna help you out okay?" He heard her clear as he could hear her, but he didn't know if he could believe it.
Why was she going to help him?
But before he could speak, either out of protest or to question her why, he would never know, she helped him stand up. The action caused him to gasp out in pain, and he felt her flinch.
"Shit I'm sorry! Maybe if I call an ambulance…" She started, but Rephiam caught her short.
"No…" He managed to gasp out.
"You know… what would happen… if you were… to do that." Rephiam tried to speak but it all came out in painful gasps.
"Well maybe I could get some supplies. I'm sure I saw a drug store somewhere near here." She said, and it sounded to Rephiam, that she had no idea what she was doing.
"Would you… know how to… plug up a… bullet wound?" Rephiam couldn't help but ask, suddenly feeling the blood loss.
"I.. I think. I don't know." She clearly was frustrated, but he could sense that most of it was caused. He wanted to tell her something that would calm her down, but pain radiated through his body. He forced himself to stay silent, but the result was something that sounded like a hiss.
Incredibly, she didn't flinch away from him. Instead she got closer to him, wrapping his arm around her. Rephiam was only given a couple of second of shock from this action until he realized what she was really doing. Giving him support.
"Maybe we can find a deserted place. We can lay you down there and…" She too a while speaking the next part, like she was choosing her words, but didn't know how to say them. "Fix you up."
Rephiam just grunted and nodded his head once.
…
Thankfully they were able to find an old abandoned building just a stones throw away. He watched her examine the room and felt that the most sanitary place was the floor. And he couldn't help but agree with her choice considering the bed had no mattress and the couch looked like it was meant for the dogs.
He tried to lay himself down, but was surprised to find his sense of balance gone, and he nearly fell on the ground if it wasn't for her support.
"I guess this means we're even now huh?" He heard her say with a forced humor in her voice.
"Yeah I guess." Rephiam forced himself to say. Obviously she still remembered him from the other night.
He found himself lying on the floor without much impact. But still it wasn't much comfortable with a bullet in you, or a hole. He still didn't know if the shot went completely through or not.
"Do you know if the bullet came out?" he heard her ask.
"No." Was all he could manage.
Then he felt her tugging his shirt up. But with the strength he had he forced her to stop, and found his voice again, when he asked her what exactly she was doing.
"Helping you. You said that you didn't know if the bullet stayed or came out the other way, so I'm checking. Plus either way it needs to come off if I have to clean and bandage it." She explained, trying to make her voice strong and clear, but to him it almost sounded like she was losing her voice to confusion. And he couldn't blame her.
He released her hands and she managed to lift his shirt up high enough to expose the wound. And there was no denying the look of horror he saw on her face.
And it looked like she was trying to figure out what to do next. Like she knew the answer but not how to do it.
After a moment of hesitation, and looking around the old building, she finally made an action. She pulled out her little bag, that he didn't notice she had on her, and she pulled out a water bottle.
"I got this while going for job interviews out of politeness. At the time I wasn't thirsty, so I thought I save it for later. I guess it was a smart move huh?" As she spoke Rephiam could tell she was mostly speaking to keep herself calm. But she probably didn't realize that listening to her was the only thing keeping him from passing out.
"Uh, Your gonna have to turn over just a bit. I need to check to see if the bullet did or didn't come through." She said a little hesitantly.
Instead he tried to lift himself up, but it almost impossible, if it weren't for her catching on, and helped him up. While he didn't exactly like the fact that this shot could make him so weak, he also couldn't help but take awareness of her touch.
Her hands felt really warm on his skin, but that was probably because his blood was draining, and yet they also felt cool. But he could also feel her shaking through her touch. Next thing he knew he was laid back down the ground, but he still felt her hands on him.
"Well… The bullet did go through you. Which I guess is good. That way I wouldn't have to poke around inside you to find it. 'Cause I honestly don't think I could stomach that." She told him, but again it sounded like she was mostly talking to herself.
"I think I should clean the wound out now. Right?" She said. And it took a great amount of his draining energy not to chuckle.
"Right." He said, to confirm her thoughts.
"That's what I thought. Hold on. This may sting." She warned as she opened the bottle of water she had.
If Rephiam was going to say anything, he was cut off. Because she was correct it did sting. But he knew that it would help flush out any bacteria that would fester his wound that would, and could, kill him.
"Shit I'm sorry. But…" She started before he stopped her words.
"It needs to be done." He said with that unnatural hiss in voice as he said it through his teeth through the pain.
And once again, she seemed unaffected by it.
"Ok. Well I'm gonna have to clean you back too. And then I need some strips of cloth to plug up the wound." She informed him. Then she looked around the room they were currently in, and as even he would expect, she probably didn't find anything that would be useful.
He was about to tell her to run and get some bandages. That she didn't need to worry about any old cloth, when he heard a ripping sound.
He looked up as much as he could without causing him more difficulties or injuries, and his eyes widened when he saw what the ripping sound was.
"What are you doing?" He asked as he saw her tearing off strips from her dress.
"Making do. I know I could just go to the closest drug store. But truth be told, I don't think I would remember how to get back. And I don't want to leave you to die. It's just not right." She said tearing off another strip.
He watched her tie each end of the cloths together to make a long strip. Then she placed her hands behind his shoulders to help lift himself up.
"I know that you might feel kinda stiff, but you need to sit up. I'm gonna wrap this around you to help stop the bleeding. And if I were you, I would take it easy for a while." she said as she started to wrap the cloth around him.
"What about your friends? Won't they notice?" He couldn't help from asking, even though he wished he hadn't.
"I'll just tell them as much of the truth as I can. That I saw someone really you was bleeding badly, and I helped them by wrapping cloth from my dress around their wound to help it heal." She told him as he helped him stand up. But she couldn't hid the unease he saw in her expression.
"I'm fine now. Thanks to you." He said trying to wipe the unease he saw on her face, wondering why he cared.
"Don't say things to try to cheer me up. Your still gonna need help with that wound." She pointing out his wound and the blood stain that was forming, but has stopped.
"I have supplies back where my brothers are. I'll make sure they don't see or know about the wound." He said pulling his shirt back down.
"Are you sure you'll be okay till then?" She asked him with an obvious worry in her voice.
"Yes." He reassured her. "But I should probably go now. My brothers would get suspicious if they found I've been missing all day." He informed her.
"Yeah. I should probably head back too. My friends might go ballistic if I'm not back yet." she told him.
"Do you remember how to get out of this alley way?" He asked her trying to get to the door they entered in.
"Yeah I think." She told him.
"Well you go out that way. Make sure no one sees you leaving the alley way. It wouldn't look good." He told her.
"Why?" She asked clearly not getting the problem.
"The Leader of the Raven Mockers injured and a girl like walking out of the alley way with a ripped dress. You put the pieces together." He said.
"Oh." she said.
He didn't say anything, just nodded his head and started heading out, before he felt her grasp on his arm.
"What about you?" She asked, and there was no denying the look of worry on her face.
"I'll get away from this alley way unnoticed on my bike. With my helmet, no one will recognize me. But I need to grab my helmet and get to my bike in order for that to happen. And I'll leave through a different way." He explained to her.
"Alright. But you watch yourself. I just helped you escape death. I don't want you to face it again." She said, letting go of his arm.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked before his mind could stop him.
"My name is Stevie Rae ok?" She said, sounding like she was trying to be annoyed or at least fearful. But Rephiam saw through it.
"That… wasn't what I was going to ask." He said.
"Oh. Sorry. Uh… What were going to ask?"
"Why do you if I live or die?" Why did he have to bring that question up?
"I-I… I'm just not a huge fan of dieing. Besides. No one deserves to die." She said with a shy look crossing her face.
"Well I thank you Stevie Rae. For saving and spring my life. But for now we must depart." Rephiam said as he walked out of the door and started walking back to where his things were. But then he stopped in his tracks for a moment and turned around.
Stevie Rae was still standing by the door watching him leave.
"My name is Rephiam." He said, knowing that she would know his name anyway.
He just watched her nod her head and say,
"I know." She said a little gloomy.
"I guess this is bye then?" She asked.
"Yes." Was his only answer.
She hesitated answering for a while.
"Well then… Good bye Rephiam." She said as she turned the other way and started heading out of the alley way.
"Good bye Stevie Rae." Rephiam muttered to himself when she was gone from his sight and out of hearing distance.
Goddess was this one hard to type! I mean.. I never healed a bullet wound, and almost every paragraph sounded so awkward in my head. And I had to find a way to have Stevie Rae tell him her name without the usual, normal, boring, formalities. And yes, I will put more depth into it later. And the ending.. I just read a spider-man comic about a new symbiote that just got me so geeked out. So… I hope you enjoyed this chapter. But despite all the flaws I believe are here and as much as I'm ranting on it… this one is actually my favorite.
