I am soooo sorry about the wait for this chapter! Pleas don't hate me!
Here's is the promised whump! enjoy!
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We were still walking an hour later with no sign of a road of any sort. The light was nearly gone as the sun set lower and lower in the sky and I nearly walked into several trees.
"Think anyone's looking for us, Gus?" I whispered.
"Hopefully," Gus panted, steadying himself on a tree trunk.
I took another weary step, opening my mouth to respond. But I never spoke because the instant my aching, bleeding foot came down, the ground seemed to vanish beneath me and I was suddenly falling, rolling head over heels down the rocky, muddy slope. I wanted to scream, but my open mouth remained in a silent scream as my body bashed against what felt like every rock and stree stump and tree limb on that hill.
And then my fall ended abruptly as I landed hard on my stomach and all the air was knocked from my lungs. I panicked when I couldn't breathe and rolled over onto my back, twitching and gasping like a fish out of water. After a few minutes, I finally managed to get some air in my lungs and I began coughing. Everything hurt. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck and then stepped on by an elephant. I didn't want to move ever again.
"Shawn!"
Gus.
I wanted to call out to him, but I could barely breathe. I opened my eyes and got my first look at where I was. The hill I had tumbled down from rose high above me and I could see Gus scrambling down toward me, rocks and dirt loosening under his feet.
"Shawn!"
I raised my left hand to wave at him, but cried out in pain when I moved it. Wincing, I pressed it to my chest, willing the pain to stop.
"Shawn, talk to me!" Gus was suddenly right there, kneeling beside me, lifting my head onto his lap.
"Gus, I think I broke my wrist," I gasped, my teeth clenched together against the pain.
Gus pulled me higher so I was leaning against his chest. I found that I could breathe a little easier.
"Okay, okay, don't panic," He said hurriedly, groping around on the ground for something. "Shawn, I'm just going to lean you against this tree, okay?"
Gus slipped out from behind me and I slumped against the rough bark of a tree. Gus kneeled in front of me and I saw that he was holding his belt and a couple of small branches in his hands. I set my teeth as he pressed the sticks on either side of my wrist and secured them with the end of the belt.
"Almost done," Gus said, draping the rest of the belt around my neck and tying it to my wrist. "Not the best but it'll have to do until we get to a hospital."
"Gus?" I said, staring at him in wonder. "You're awesome."
Gus smiled tiredly. "Thanks."
I grabbed his arm with my good hand. "No, seriously. Thanks. You keep saving my life. I owe you."
Gus smiled again, patting my arm and then callapsing against the tree trunk beside me.
"We're almost out of light," Gus said after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah." I said, and suddenly all I wanted to do was sleep. I just wanted to shut my eyes and forget all the pain and wake up and find out it was all a dream. I let my tired eyelids close and everything went black.