"Where is he?!" Connor grabbed someone's shoulder. He didn't even know whose shoulder he was grabbing, but it was the only cleanly-pressed white shirt he could see, other than himself, in the sea of coloured textiles.
"Connor!" Poptarts gasped, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I wasn't there," Connor swiped a shaky hand across his sweaty forehead, "I was helping to do some paperwork at the school."
Connor's heart was still racing, partly because he sprinted all the way from the school, but mostly because of what made him started running in the first place.
It had been a week since they received news that The General was heading their way, but nothing has happened thus far. They were starting to think that he wasn't going to come back at all. Until someone came into the office of the school yelling that he was in the village. All Connor could think about at that moment was 'Please Lord, not the marketplace', because that was where Kevin and Kalimba had brought the kids for their English lesson that afternoon.
Of course, it had to be the marketplace. Sometimes, Connor wondered if their string of bad luck was Heavenly Father's punishment for abandoning their faith.
Horrible scenarios played themselves out in Connor's brain unbidden. All he could imagine was the blood. Blood covering every inch of the marketplace. Kevin's blood.
"Connor, are you listening to me?"
"What?" Connor forgot why he was here for a second, before he remembered. He grabbed onto Poptarts, "Where's Kevin?"
He craned his neck as he tried to see past the villagers who have filled up the town square in front of the clinic.
"I don't know."
"Do you know what happened?"
"I wasn't there, but from what I heard it was chaos. Mutumbo and some of the guys managed to chase them away, for now. But I doubt that Butt-effing-naked would actually stay away, to be honest, he doesn't seem like the type who gives up easy."
Connor surveyed the crowded space, they were some people who had bandages and blood on their clothing, but no one seemed to be too badly hurt.
Connor gasped when he spotted Kalimba. He made his way through the crowd, dragging Poptarts along behind him.
"Kalimba! Kalimba!" Connor had to apologise for bumping into people left and right, "Kalimba!"
"Elder McKinley," Kalimba had a sobbing child clinging to her leg. Connor recognised him as Levi.
"Where's Kevin? What happened?!"
"Butt-Fucking-Naked happened. We heard shots, people yelling. Then we were running with the children," Kalimba sighed, "We were almost outside the market, when we realised Levi was not there, with us. So Elder Price went back."
Levi was obviously unhurt, so where was Kevin?
"And?" Connor prompted impatiently.
"I haven't seen him since. Levi said that Elder Price was running behind him. I'm sure he's here somewhere, maybe helping Gotswana out. Don't worry, Elder McKinley, he runs fast for a white boy," Kalimba kneeled down to Levi's height and wiped the tears off his chubby cheeks, "Let's go find your mama, huh?"
Kevin may be able to outrun his competitors in track-and-field, but he sure as heck won't outrun a bullet.
Connor turned around and Poptarts was no longer by his side.
Where did his companion go?! Didn't Poptarts know that they should stay together in situations like this?!
He spotted another familiar figure in the distance, "Nabulungi!"
"Elder McKinley!" She looked relieved, "I was looking for you!"
"Have you seen-"
"Arnold is with him. Come," Nabulungi pulled Connor towards the crowded clinic.
He was reunited with Poptarts at the entrance of the clinic, "There you are!"
The inside of Gotswana's clinic was even more packed than the town square. Some people were lying flat on the ground, some were propped up against boxes, walls, and other people. Connor struggled to follow Nabulungi through the sweaty bodies, until finally-
"Kevin!" Connor almost collapsed in relief when he found Kevin on the stool, sagged against Arnold.
He wasn't covered in blood, which was a lot better than what Connor had imagined. Kevin's face brightened when he spotted Connor.
Arnold waved, but Connor's gaze was trained on the tie used as makeshift sling for Kevin's right arm.
"Are you okay? What happened to your arm?" Connor's hand hovered above Kevin, afraid to touch him.
"It's kinda dumb. I tripped over some boxes, fell, and I think I broke something."
"What?!" Connor exclaimed, "Has Gotswana-"
He's a bit busy right now," Kevin looked up at Connor, "Hey, is everyone okay?"
Only then did Connor realise that he hadn't even thought of checking on anyone who wasn't Kevin. What a terrible district leader he was.
Poptarts answered, "Church and Michaels should be fine, they were supposed to be cleaning the mission hut today. I haven't seen Neely though, but he should be at Middala's. He mentioned something about helping them with a broken pipe in the morning."
One injured Elder was more than enough for Connor, "Poptarts, why don't you go check and make sure that everyone's really okay?"
Poptarts nodded, and went on his way.
Arnold and Nabulungi were huddled together, and whispering to each other.
Connor tapped on Kevin's knee, "Did you see the- Umm, him?"
"We were on the other side of the market," Kevin shook his head, "We started running as soon as the shots rang out. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground."
Connor didn't fail to notice how Kevin left out a part of the narrative, "Kalimba said you ran back for a kid."
Kevin shrugged, and then grimaced in pain. He hugged his injured arm tighter to his body, "That boy has no built-in flight response, I'm telling you."
Connor smiled in response to Kevin's attempt to lighten the mood. But when Kevin moaned, Connor finally had enough.
"Where's Gotswana?!" It was like the hospital all over again. Except this time, it was truly a one-man show at the packed clinic.
Arnold and Nabulungi stopped talking and looked down worriedly at their friend. Arnold adjusted his position so that Kevin could lean more comfortably on him.
Connor paced, "Maybe we should take you to the hospital."
It was not that Connor didn't trust Gotswana, but the clinic was not equipped to deal with anything more serious than a cold or a sprain in Connor's opinion.
And if they went to Kitgum, they could escape the whole General situation altogether. It was easier to be brave when The General's arrival was nothing but hypothetical.
Connor waited for Kevin's protest, which never came.
"Hey, so should we?" Connor frowned when he still didn't respond.
Connor kneeled on the floor and held Kevin's face in his hand, "Kev?" His eyes remained closed.
Arnold gently shook on Kevin's uninjured shoulder, "Hey bud?" His eyes widening in terror when his companion was motionless, "McKinley!"
—
It took Kevin passing out for Gotswana to finally swing by and take a look at him. Actually, Connor screaming his head off may have been the main reason why they caught Gotswana's attention, along with everyone else's. Connor could worry about the embarrassment later.
Sadaka, who lived next door to the clinic, kindly allowed them to use her hut, since there was literally no room for Gotswana to treat Kevin at the clinic.
With strength he didn't know he possessed, Connor singlehandedly carried Kevin out of the clinic and into Sadaka's hut.
Before they reached the bed, Connor could feel his hold faltering.
If he didn't put Kevin down now-
"Get out of my way!" Connor snapped when Arnold didn't move fast enough.
Arnold jumped aside, looking mortified. Beside him, Nabulungi looked annoyed at Connor's outburst. But he didn't have the time for that now either.
Connor managed to reach the bed without dropping his injured boyfriend on the ground and injuring him further.
Gotswana took over from there, and the three of them stood back to let him work.
"I'm sorry," Connor flexed his aching arms.
Arnold gave a strained smile, "It's okay."
—
A fractured collarbone was the diagnosis after a brief examination. Gotswana opened what seemed like a first aid kit and fished out a triangular sling.
Connor suppressed the urge to demand why wasn't he more focused on the fact that Kevin was unconscious?! What if it was more than a broken bone? And how did he know what was wrong without an x-ray? What about drugs? Did Gotswana even have enough medication with so many people needing them?
This was a disaster.
They should never have tempted fate by staying in Uganda.
Connor only realised that he was about to pull his own hair out when Nabulungi closed a hand around his wrist.
"Why isn't he awake yet?" Arnold asked meekly.
Gotswana took Kevin's pulse, "Vitals are strong," he reassured them,"Elder Price is going to be fine, it was just the shock."
Kevin only started stirring after Gotswana efficiently reset his collarbone and wrapped his arm snug with the sling, which Connor was thankful for, because he missed what would have been the most painful part of the procedure.
"Hey," Connor was at his side at once when Kevin opened his eyes, "You back with us?"
Kevin's eyes wandered down to his arm, and then to Connor, and then at Gotswana, "What did I break?"
Gotswana adjusted the sling, causing Kevin to wince, "Just your clavicle, Elder Price. Nothing too serious. You should be good as new in a month or two."
"How are you doing, buddy?" Arnold sat down beside Kevin's knees.
"I'm-"
Kevin cried out when Gotswana moved his arm too much.
"Hey, careful!" Connor barked.
Gotswana ignored Connor's biting tone, "I will have to go look for something to give you for the pain. But no promises, the new shipment of pills are not coming in until the end of the month," The doctor started packing up, "Stay here, I will be back," and he instructed Connor, "Get him some water."
—
Connor and Nabulungi sat on the steps in front of the mission hut, under the twinkling stars with steaming cups of tea in their hands.
Gotswana managed to scrounge up some painkillers after all. The three of them had taken turns half-carrying a drugged-up Kevin back to the mission hut, where all the Elders were waiting, unharmed. Thank Lord.
Once again, Kevin had drawn the shortest straw of the lot. For seemingly no reason at all but bad luck.
"Feels like déjà vu," Connor sighed.
Nabulungi turned to him, "What does that mean?"
"Huh? Déjà vu? It means when something feels like it has happened before," Connor explained, "I feel like Kevin's getting hurt all the time. And I-," Connor shook his head.
"You know that accidents happen, right? There was nothing you could have done."
Connor scrubbed at his face, "I know. Doesn't stop me from feeling useless though. And this! This was a close one. He could have been shot, or worse."
"But that did not happen. You need to stop scaring yourself."
"Yeah."
Nabulungi held Connor's hand while they just sat in silence, occasionally sipping at their tea and gazing at the stars.
Connor hoped that it wasn't too late to start praying to Heavenly Father again.