Bet some of you were wondering when I would get this up, weren't you? I
left you hanging for too long, didn't I? And now I'm boring you with all
this crap at the top, aren't I? Okay, shaddup and read.
~
Pashmina hadn't actually gone home.
She was following Howdy, tracing his scent with each step. He was going to look for Hannah, she knew that much. And Pashmina had realized that she hadn't said a word to Hannah since Howdy had told her what he had seen. It was time to talk things out with her. Give her a piece of her mind.
But Pashmina wasn't expecting what lay before her when she reached the clearing where Howdy's scent mingled with Dexter's and Hannah's. She wasn't ready for what she saw.
In the middle of the clearing, Howdy was sitting, alone, with his face in his paws. She could tell he was sobbing.
Nearby, Hannah was lying flat on her back, motionless. Something awful had obviously happened. Something was terribly wrong.
This became clear to her when she turned her head and saw Dexter, also lying motionless near where Howdy sat. Not only that, but it looked like he had taken a real beating.
Pashmina gasped. What the hell-?
The gasp was loud enough for Howdy's ears to pick up. He looked up and saw Pashmina a few yards in front of him. Her paws were raised to her mouth in horror, and her eyes were wide and staring.
Immediately, Howdy picked himself up and rushed to Pashmina, taking her paws in his. He pleaded desperately with her while tears kept streaming down his face.
"Please tell me you know CPR," he said. "You hafta help me."
Pashmina was frightened out of her wits. She couldn't find the strength to reply.
"Please," Howdy begged. "Hannah, she's - I don't know. I don't even know if she's alive. You hafta help her if you can."
But Pashmina wasn't listening to Howdy. And she wasn't looking at Hannah.
With a tearful cry, she rushed to Dexter's side and knelt beside him.
"Dex," she pleaded, tears falling from her eyes onto his fur. She shook him. "Dex, are you okay?"
Pashmina sat down and propped Dexter's head up in her lap. She ran her paws across his face, tracing her finger through the patterns of blood. Then, with a suddenness and anger that was completely unlike her, she lifted her head and stared Howdy straight in the eyes.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"I, uhhhhhh..." A million excuses raced through Howdy's head. He had fallen out of a tree...a cat had attacked him...he had gotten in a fight with Hannah...And then he realized that a tiny white lie was what had started the whole damn thing. Another one would only make it worse. So instead, he said nothing.
Pashmina narrowed her eyes and glared at him as the tears kept falling. "You did this," she said, short and simple. It wasn't a question. She knew.
"Goddammit, Pashmina," Howdy said, trying to think up a reason. He could say that he saw him with Hannah, and that wouldn't really be a lie, because he had. But he knew how that would sound, and that would only make things worse, too. Then his thoughts raced back to Hannah. She was fading, dying, and here he was, standing around doing absolutely nothing, like a complete idiot, while she slipped from his grasp. "You hafta help Hannah," he said. "Because I can't."
"What do you want me to do?" Pashmina cried. "I don't know CPR! I don't know what I can do to help her!" She looked away from Howdy and back down at Dexter. Slowly, as she watched, his eyes blinked open, and he let out a low groan.
"Ugh," he said. "What the hell happened?" Then Pashmina's face, bending over him concernedly, came into sharp focus. "Pashmina?" he muttered, watching the muscles in her face relax a bit as he came to.
"Oh thank God," Pashmina murmured, and closed her eyes.
"Dex!" Howdy shouted, and rushed towards him.
"Oh no," Dexter moaned, everything that had just happened coming back to him in a rush. He struggled to stand up, but was still weak and dazed, and found that he even lacked the strength to do more than sit up and lean his weight against Pashmina.
"Dex, come on!" Howdy said anxiously, reaching out an arm to help Dexter up. "Hannah - she's - you - you're the only one who can help her!"
Howdy pulled Dexter onto his feet, but he stumbled, feeling as if any second his knees would give out beneath him. Despite this, he did not object as Howdy led him to Hannah's side.
"You can help her, right?"
Dexter looked at Howdy. Howdy's face showed clearly his anxiety, his tension, so built up that he might explode at any second if Hannah didn't come back around. He knew perfectly well that at that moment she was dancing along a fine line between life and death, and every second that ticked by brought her closer to death.
Dexter sighed and once again knelt beside Hannah. He hesitated a moment as he prepared to give her mouth-to-mouth, feeling Pashmina's eyes burning into the back of his head. But he didn't have a choice now, did he?
But as he held her head up and began to press his mouth to hers, the blood in his head started rushing like crazy. Everything swirled around him.
"Oh god," he muttered, and fell backwards, holding a paw to his forehead. "I...can't..."
"What?!" Howdy screamed, tears streaming down his face as he imagined the worst possible thing happening. "You can't just give up! She's going to die if you don't help her!"
"I don't have the strength," Dexter stuttered, his eyes closed. "You have to do it."
Howdy looked shocked. "But I can't -"
"Just do what I tell you. It's going to be okay." Dexter watched as Howdy read the look on his face, then sighed and knelt beside Hannah.
"Okay, first things first," Dexter said. "Pinch her nose shut and tilt her head back." Howdy did as he was instructed, then waited for the next step. "Now, deep breath, seal her mouth closed with yours, and breath out."
This was it. Howdy closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to Hannah's, then watched her chest rise as air filled her lungs.
"Again," Dexter said after waiting a few seconds. Howdy repeated the process, hoping against all hope that he would be able to bring her back.
For what seemed like hours but what couldn't have been more than a minute or two, Dexter continued to guide Howdy, both of them watching and waiting for any sign of life. Howdy had almost given up all hope completely when Dexter told him to feel for a pulse.
Trying not to show his resignation, Howdy gingerly lifted one of Hannah's wrists and pressed his finger against it, searching for the tell-tale sign of life, the pulse of blood through healthy veins.
Please, please, please...
And then, as if the sun had just come bursting through the clouds although it was still raining, Howdy's face lit up and a hopeful smile pressed at the edges of his mouth. He squeezed Hannah's paw in his, overjoyed.
Dexter read Howdy's transformed expression and he, too, smiled.
"I think she's going to pull through," he said in a near whisper. Howdy glanced at him through eyes moisted over by joyful tears, then turned his attention back to Hannah, who was still unconscious but perfectly alive.
And then, suddenly, her eyes fluttered open and she was staring up at Howdy, a dazed expression on her face.
"I - wha - Howdy" was all she managed to say before she closed her eyes again and drifted back into unconsciousness.
"Okay Hannah, it's gonna be okay," Howdy told her even though he knew she couldn't hear. Then, with a new surge of confidence, he lifted Hannah off the ground and onto his back, her breath against his fur more comforting and reassuring than anything he had ever felt before. "Let's get you back to the clubhouse. We'll take care of you there."
Without a word to either Dexter or Pashmina, Howdy took off for the clubhouse. Not wanting to be left behind, Pashmina stood, help Dexter to his feet and then the two of them were on their way as well.
All the way back, Pashmina never once let go of Dexter's paw.
~
"What the heck happened?" Boss asked when Howdy threw open the door of the clubhouse, immediately recognizing the girl he carried with him and noting the scars on her side, as well as her state of unconsciousness. They were the only ones there; none of the other Hams had bothered to stop by.
"I'm not entirely sure," Howdy replied. "But she's hurt. And she needs help fast."
"Put her down," Boss said. "I'll have a look."
As Howdy slowly lowered Hannah to the floor, the door opened again and Pashmina appeared, Dexter clinging to her arm for support.
Boss looked up. "And what the hell happened to you?" he asked, surprised.
Great, here we go, Howdy thought to himself. Now Dex is gonna tell Boss how I beat him up when he was trying to help Hannah, and soon everyone will know what a stupid jerk I am and how -
"Eh," Dexter said, scratching the back of his head self-consciously. "I dunno...it's kind of a blur...but never mind. Hannah needs us."
Howdy's eyebrows rose, and he glanced at Dexter with a look that said "You're not gonna tell him?"
Dexter smiled, shook his head and mouthed the words "Forget about it."
Howdy shrugged and turned his attention back to Hannah, leaning over her limp body anxiously. Then he looked at Boss.
"What should we do?" he asked.
Boss sighed. "The best we can do for her burns right now is to cool her down. Make her comfortable. She's been through a lot, and we shouldn't move her around any more right now."
Howdy nodded and watched as Boss disappeared into his room, then reappeared a moment later with two bags of ice.
"Turn her on her side," he told Howdy. Once he had done this, Boss placed one of the bags of ice on her burns to soothe them. The other he put on her forehead.
"There," he said. "Hopefully that will help. But I don't know what else to tell you. All we can do is hope for the best, I guess."
Howdy nodded silently, then sat down beside Hannah.
"Well, I'm staying by her side until she's better," he announced, not even thinking about the possibility that she might not get better.
Dexter sat down next to Howdy with a sigh. "Can't leave her now," he said.
Pashmina said nothing. Of course Dexter couldn't leave Hannah's side, seeing as how he was madly in love with her. It was then that Pashmina remembered how much he disgusted her. But what could she do? It would feel wrong to leave both of them here, wondering if Hannah would pull through. Besides, despite the fact that she had stolen her boyfriend, she couldn't help worrying about Hannah as well. Pashmina took a deep breath, feeling as if she would start crying any second, and sat down beside Dexter.
He surprised her by gently taking her paw and squeezing it in his. Then she couldn't help it any more. She just leaned against him and cried. She wasn't even sure what she was crying for.
~
Weeeeheeeeeeeeeee I'm on a high on a high, there's nothing more to it! We are the sea and the sky and the blue that runs through it, yeah! Oh wait, that's a Duncan Sheik song. Okay, just uhhhhhh just review it OKAY?!
~
Pashmina hadn't actually gone home.
She was following Howdy, tracing his scent with each step. He was going to look for Hannah, she knew that much. And Pashmina had realized that she hadn't said a word to Hannah since Howdy had told her what he had seen. It was time to talk things out with her. Give her a piece of her mind.
But Pashmina wasn't expecting what lay before her when she reached the clearing where Howdy's scent mingled with Dexter's and Hannah's. She wasn't ready for what she saw.
In the middle of the clearing, Howdy was sitting, alone, with his face in his paws. She could tell he was sobbing.
Nearby, Hannah was lying flat on her back, motionless. Something awful had obviously happened. Something was terribly wrong.
This became clear to her when she turned her head and saw Dexter, also lying motionless near where Howdy sat. Not only that, but it looked like he had taken a real beating.
Pashmina gasped. What the hell-?
The gasp was loud enough for Howdy's ears to pick up. He looked up and saw Pashmina a few yards in front of him. Her paws were raised to her mouth in horror, and her eyes were wide and staring.
Immediately, Howdy picked himself up and rushed to Pashmina, taking her paws in his. He pleaded desperately with her while tears kept streaming down his face.
"Please tell me you know CPR," he said. "You hafta help me."
Pashmina was frightened out of her wits. She couldn't find the strength to reply.
"Please," Howdy begged. "Hannah, she's - I don't know. I don't even know if she's alive. You hafta help her if you can."
But Pashmina wasn't listening to Howdy. And she wasn't looking at Hannah.
With a tearful cry, she rushed to Dexter's side and knelt beside him.
"Dex," she pleaded, tears falling from her eyes onto his fur. She shook him. "Dex, are you okay?"
Pashmina sat down and propped Dexter's head up in her lap. She ran her paws across his face, tracing her finger through the patterns of blood. Then, with a suddenness and anger that was completely unlike her, she lifted her head and stared Howdy straight in the eyes.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"I, uhhhhhh..." A million excuses raced through Howdy's head. He had fallen out of a tree...a cat had attacked him...he had gotten in a fight with Hannah...And then he realized that a tiny white lie was what had started the whole damn thing. Another one would only make it worse. So instead, he said nothing.
Pashmina narrowed her eyes and glared at him as the tears kept falling. "You did this," she said, short and simple. It wasn't a question. She knew.
"Goddammit, Pashmina," Howdy said, trying to think up a reason. He could say that he saw him with Hannah, and that wouldn't really be a lie, because he had. But he knew how that would sound, and that would only make things worse, too. Then his thoughts raced back to Hannah. She was fading, dying, and here he was, standing around doing absolutely nothing, like a complete idiot, while she slipped from his grasp. "You hafta help Hannah," he said. "Because I can't."
"What do you want me to do?" Pashmina cried. "I don't know CPR! I don't know what I can do to help her!" She looked away from Howdy and back down at Dexter. Slowly, as she watched, his eyes blinked open, and he let out a low groan.
"Ugh," he said. "What the hell happened?" Then Pashmina's face, bending over him concernedly, came into sharp focus. "Pashmina?" he muttered, watching the muscles in her face relax a bit as he came to.
"Oh thank God," Pashmina murmured, and closed her eyes.
"Dex!" Howdy shouted, and rushed towards him.
"Oh no," Dexter moaned, everything that had just happened coming back to him in a rush. He struggled to stand up, but was still weak and dazed, and found that he even lacked the strength to do more than sit up and lean his weight against Pashmina.
"Dex, come on!" Howdy said anxiously, reaching out an arm to help Dexter up. "Hannah - she's - you - you're the only one who can help her!"
Howdy pulled Dexter onto his feet, but he stumbled, feeling as if any second his knees would give out beneath him. Despite this, he did not object as Howdy led him to Hannah's side.
"You can help her, right?"
Dexter looked at Howdy. Howdy's face showed clearly his anxiety, his tension, so built up that he might explode at any second if Hannah didn't come back around. He knew perfectly well that at that moment she was dancing along a fine line between life and death, and every second that ticked by brought her closer to death.
Dexter sighed and once again knelt beside Hannah. He hesitated a moment as he prepared to give her mouth-to-mouth, feeling Pashmina's eyes burning into the back of his head. But he didn't have a choice now, did he?
But as he held her head up and began to press his mouth to hers, the blood in his head started rushing like crazy. Everything swirled around him.
"Oh god," he muttered, and fell backwards, holding a paw to his forehead. "I...can't..."
"What?!" Howdy screamed, tears streaming down his face as he imagined the worst possible thing happening. "You can't just give up! She's going to die if you don't help her!"
"I don't have the strength," Dexter stuttered, his eyes closed. "You have to do it."
Howdy looked shocked. "But I can't -"
"Just do what I tell you. It's going to be okay." Dexter watched as Howdy read the look on his face, then sighed and knelt beside Hannah.
"Okay, first things first," Dexter said. "Pinch her nose shut and tilt her head back." Howdy did as he was instructed, then waited for the next step. "Now, deep breath, seal her mouth closed with yours, and breath out."
This was it. Howdy closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to Hannah's, then watched her chest rise as air filled her lungs.
"Again," Dexter said after waiting a few seconds. Howdy repeated the process, hoping against all hope that he would be able to bring her back.
For what seemed like hours but what couldn't have been more than a minute or two, Dexter continued to guide Howdy, both of them watching and waiting for any sign of life. Howdy had almost given up all hope completely when Dexter told him to feel for a pulse.
Trying not to show his resignation, Howdy gingerly lifted one of Hannah's wrists and pressed his finger against it, searching for the tell-tale sign of life, the pulse of blood through healthy veins.
Please, please, please...
And then, as if the sun had just come bursting through the clouds although it was still raining, Howdy's face lit up and a hopeful smile pressed at the edges of his mouth. He squeezed Hannah's paw in his, overjoyed.
Dexter read Howdy's transformed expression and he, too, smiled.
"I think she's going to pull through," he said in a near whisper. Howdy glanced at him through eyes moisted over by joyful tears, then turned his attention back to Hannah, who was still unconscious but perfectly alive.
And then, suddenly, her eyes fluttered open and she was staring up at Howdy, a dazed expression on her face.
"I - wha - Howdy" was all she managed to say before she closed her eyes again and drifted back into unconsciousness.
"Okay Hannah, it's gonna be okay," Howdy told her even though he knew she couldn't hear. Then, with a new surge of confidence, he lifted Hannah off the ground and onto his back, her breath against his fur more comforting and reassuring than anything he had ever felt before. "Let's get you back to the clubhouse. We'll take care of you there."
Without a word to either Dexter or Pashmina, Howdy took off for the clubhouse. Not wanting to be left behind, Pashmina stood, help Dexter to his feet and then the two of them were on their way as well.
All the way back, Pashmina never once let go of Dexter's paw.
~
"What the heck happened?" Boss asked when Howdy threw open the door of the clubhouse, immediately recognizing the girl he carried with him and noting the scars on her side, as well as her state of unconsciousness. They were the only ones there; none of the other Hams had bothered to stop by.
"I'm not entirely sure," Howdy replied. "But she's hurt. And she needs help fast."
"Put her down," Boss said. "I'll have a look."
As Howdy slowly lowered Hannah to the floor, the door opened again and Pashmina appeared, Dexter clinging to her arm for support.
Boss looked up. "And what the hell happened to you?" he asked, surprised.
Great, here we go, Howdy thought to himself. Now Dex is gonna tell Boss how I beat him up when he was trying to help Hannah, and soon everyone will know what a stupid jerk I am and how -
"Eh," Dexter said, scratching the back of his head self-consciously. "I dunno...it's kind of a blur...but never mind. Hannah needs us."
Howdy's eyebrows rose, and he glanced at Dexter with a look that said "You're not gonna tell him?"
Dexter smiled, shook his head and mouthed the words "Forget about it."
Howdy shrugged and turned his attention back to Hannah, leaning over her limp body anxiously. Then he looked at Boss.
"What should we do?" he asked.
Boss sighed. "The best we can do for her burns right now is to cool her down. Make her comfortable. She's been through a lot, and we shouldn't move her around any more right now."
Howdy nodded and watched as Boss disappeared into his room, then reappeared a moment later with two bags of ice.
"Turn her on her side," he told Howdy. Once he had done this, Boss placed one of the bags of ice on her burns to soothe them. The other he put on her forehead.
"There," he said. "Hopefully that will help. But I don't know what else to tell you. All we can do is hope for the best, I guess."
Howdy nodded silently, then sat down beside Hannah.
"Well, I'm staying by her side until she's better," he announced, not even thinking about the possibility that she might not get better.
Dexter sat down next to Howdy with a sigh. "Can't leave her now," he said.
Pashmina said nothing. Of course Dexter couldn't leave Hannah's side, seeing as how he was madly in love with her. It was then that Pashmina remembered how much he disgusted her. But what could she do? It would feel wrong to leave both of them here, wondering if Hannah would pull through. Besides, despite the fact that she had stolen her boyfriend, she couldn't help worrying about Hannah as well. Pashmina took a deep breath, feeling as if she would start crying any second, and sat down beside Dexter.
He surprised her by gently taking her paw and squeezing it in his. Then she couldn't help it any more. She just leaned against him and cried. She wasn't even sure what she was crying for.
~
Weeeeheeeeeeeeeee I'm on a high on a high, there's nothing more to it! We are the sea and the sky and the blue that runs through it, yeah! Oh wait, that's a Duncan Sheik song. Okay, just uhhhhhh just review it OKAY?!