Chapter Thirty Two – Day Fourteen – Afternoon to Evening

I try to pull his shirt up so that I can inspect the wound that must lay beneath but he stops me. "It's nothing. No big deal."

"You are bleeding through your shirt!" I point out.

He shakes his head. "It's just a scratch."

"Scratches do not bleed that much. Just let me see it," I continue trying to get at his shirt.

And he is still being difficult. "I'm fine Babe, really."

"Jason Wheeler, I am not going to ask you again. Let me see it." I am not letting this go, I do not care what he says.

He raises his hands in surrender and I pull up his shirt. What I see shocks and frightens me. "Chyort voz mi Wheeler! 'Scratches' do not require such large bandages! And yours are saturated with blood! I need to change them for you."

"I can do it Linka, you don't need to…" He is back to protecting me, it has to stop.

Cannot he see that I need to protect him too? "What did I tell you before? If I am supposed to let you take care of me, why cannot you trust me to take care of you?"

"I trust you. I just…I don't want to worry you." He finishes lamely.

Worry me? I am terrified. "You are bleeding and obviously have been injured… if you do not want me to be worried, tell me what happened and let me take care of it for you,"

Thankfully he finally gives in. "Ok…the doctors gave me extra dressings for my wound. They're in my bag."

Nothing is easy to find in Wheeler's bag, he just shoves everything in and forces the zip closed. When I manage to retrieve what I need I tap the bed. "Sit,"

He follows my instructions and I move to stand in front of him, between his legs so that I can reach easily. "Arms up."

He does as he is told but I can see that it hurts him, and my concern makes my next words more like a scold than I intended. "If you had told me you were injured, I would have been gentler when I hugged you."

"I didn't mind," He winks… only Wheeler would flirt now! It makes me feel a bit better though.

As I begin my task, I ask him for an explanation, hopefully he will feel he can be honest now. "And you should not have lifted me! So what happened?"

I should have known that there would be a girl involved… though I do believe he is telling me the truth, he was not interested in her. When he gets to the point where her boyfriend stabbed him though, I practically scream at him. "YOU WERE STABBED?"

Typical Wheeler tries to make light of it. "It wasn't serious."

"Wheeler! You were stabbed, of course it is serious!" The sight of his wound brings me back to the present though, there will be time enough to set his thinking straight later. "You popped your stitches. I will clean this up as best I can, but we will need to get you to the doctor to stitch you up again."

"No, no doctors." He sounds like me! "I don't wanna leave Hope Island…I've already been away too long."

I do not want him to leave either, what if they want him to stay there? But this is too important, I must not be selfish. "But you need to get that closed up."

"You do it." He says stubbornly.

He needs better care than that! "I am not a doctor, Yankee! Besides, look at my hands. I cannot hold them steady; there is no way I could do it. And even if I did agree to do it, you need anaesthetic to numb it before it is stitched…"

"Just use butterfly stitches." Is he trying to be macho?

I shake my head in frustration, knowing he is not going to give way. "You are so stubborn!"

"I learned from the best!" He retorts and I do not know whether to be flattered or insulted.

"Lay down!" I snap at him.

He waggles his eyebrows suggestively. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to say those words to me Babe?"

"Too bad you are hurt!" I tease in return, though if I am honest… if he really wanted to be macho I would be tempted to… nyet I am being selfish again. His health has to come first.

I do my best to clean the wound and remove the broken stitches without hurting him. He does not cry out but he winces every so often and I wish with all my heart I could take the pain away. I put a clean pad on the wound and apply pressure to stop the bleeding, just as I have been taught but despite my efforts, when I take a closer look at the gash I cannot but be disturbed.

"This looks horrible!" I tell him.

He keeps trying to reassure me. "It's not that bad. My rib stopped it from even going in that far… fortunately."

"Nyet, that is not what I mean…it is all red and puffy. It is infected. Did they not give you anything for it?" He needs to go to a proper doctor…

"Yeah, I got some antibiotics." That is something at least but…

"But how did they treat you? Did they flush and cleanse the wound properly?"

He shrugs. "I don't know Babe. I was unconscious. I remember fighting with the guy, we were struggling on the ground, some people pulled us apart, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a cot in the clinic that the Red Cross had set up."

"So your treatment was subpar?" I am becoming alarmed though I try to keep myself at least seeming calm…

"Well, compared to your standards…yeah, I guess." I should have been with him! This is Kwame's fault!

I am here now though and I am going to look after him. "How are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy actually." He admits.

"You have already lost a lot of blood from the initial wound, I am sure…and now you have lost more, and it is infected. I am going to go get you some orange juice. You need sugar and iron to make up for the blood you have lost. I will ask Ma-Ti if he can come up with something to help with the pain and speed up the healing. The bleeding has stopped for now. Do not move."

"Yes ma'am." He replies, still trying for humour.

Wheeler is asleep when I return and that worries me. He should see a doctor but he really is so stubborn!

I sit on the edge of the bed and watch him for a moment, wondering if I should let him sleep, his body needs it to heal... but it will not heal with an infection and I need to finish treating him.

Gently stroking his cheek, I call softly, "Wake up Jason."

He murmurs but does not open his eyes. That is not as worrying as it sounds, he is always like this when he sleeps during the day. "I know you want to sleep Lyubov but you need to drink this."

"You should be in a hospital," I say as he comes to, and then when he is ready, I hold the glass of orange juice to his lips.

He takes a drink and then says. "You can take care of me just as good as any nurse… besides, I'd rather have you taking care of me."

I would be lying if I said his assertion did not please me but... "But this is my fault."

"That's weird, I don't recall you being the one to stick a knife in my side," He says sarcastically.

"When I hugged you…" I am sure he knows what I mean.

He is inclined to argue though. "You did not pop my stitches when you hugged me Babe!"

"But you should not have lifted me!" I counter.

He comes back with. "Yeah, so it's my fault, not yours."

Good point but… "If I had known you were injured…"

"I know Babe… but you didn't know. It's not your fault. I'm glad you didn't know…or else I would've never gotten that big of a hug. I'm fine…really," I try to stop him but he sits up, I guess he is done playing patient, his stubborn streak is showing again. "But how are you?"

"Fine." What does it matter how I am? His condition is more serious now!

"Yeah, but how are you really?" He puts his hands on my shoulders and probes the muscles.

I know what he will find, though I think the worst of the tension is worry about him, rather than a sign of withdrawal. When he starts rubbing the muscles the relief causes me to let out a small moan… I had forgotten how good that feels.

"That bad huh?" He asks.

"I guess I did not realize how bad it really was." And it just feels good having his hands on me… bozhe 'moy, I need to get a hold of myself!

I lean forward so that he can get to my neck… I meant him to massage it but maybe his thinking is as clear as mine is right now because, instead of his fingers I feel the tender warmth of his lips.

Raising my eyes to his, I pause for a moment still wondering what all this means and then return my attention to his wound, gently caressing the skin around it. "I am supposed to be the one taking care of you now."

"We can take turns," He offers.

I nod but cannot bring myself to look up, the ugly gash in his side is holding my attention, it is so terrible seeing him cut open… vulnerable.

"Thank God for that rock hard body we've been talking about huh? Coulda been pretty bad if that knife had actually gone in." Why does he have to joke about something like this? I try to smile but I am closer to crying than laughing.

I move my hand a little higher, and whisper. "Two more inches."

"Huh?" He asks, not understanding.

"Two more inches higher and it would have been your heart." My voice sounds hollow to my ears as I lay my hand over the vital organ.

He shakes his head and covers my hand. "Wouldn't have mattered, my heart wasn't with me. It was back on Hope Island."

I smile, this time genuinely because I know it is his way of telling me that he cares and trying to make me feel better, but it does not change the facts and the reality of the situation is beginning to hit me. "That is sweet of you to say, but unfortunately, still not possible. If that knife had been just a little higher…"

"Shush…no 'ifs'," He tells me, pressing his fingers to my lips to keep me silent before tenderly wiping away my tears. "All that matters is that it wasn't. I'm fine. I had to be. I had to come back to you… and I did."

My heart is trying to break through my chest as our eyes meet and we are locked together for a brief eternity. I feel as if he can see into my soul and for once I do not mind, I want to be as open with him as he is being with me.

We lean towards each other. The moment is perfect, my doubts are gone…

"Linka I have the medicine you asked for!" Ma-Ti says as he enters the room.

I pull away and get up to greet our friend as all my insecurities come rushing back.

"Jesus, doesn't anyone around here knock?" Wheeler growls.

We both ignore him as I take the bowl Ma-Ti is holding out to me, thank him and ask for directions. The interruption was for the best, Wheeler was right earlier… he said none of this would be happening if I had not gotten sick and the same applies to him. Neither of us are thinking clearly, we are just responding to the stress of the situation.

I listen to Ma-Ti's instructions carefully, memorising them. We are lucky to have him.

I am pleased when Wheeler thanks Ma-Ti too, but then he makes it clear that he wants him gone and that does not please me at all.

"Wheeler! That was rude!" I say after our young companion's hasty retreat.

"Sorry… must be the pain talking," He lies.

It is a lie, even Ma-Ti could see through that one. "Mmm hmm."

Trying to be all business, I order him to lay down and sit beside him on the bed. He is watching me, I wish I knew what he is thinking… probably wondering if he can take things back to where they were before Ma-Ti came in, but he cannot, I will not allow it.

"I will try to be gentle, he did say it should help numb it too." I offer as I dip my finger in the bowl.

Wheeler sighs and stares up at his ceiling. "Whatever."

My heart constricts, I hate it when he is mad at me, but I need to keep a clear head… I nearly lost him! Does he not realise what that means… Two inches higher and the Earth would have lost two Planeteers. I am not being dramatic, it is a fact, I simply could not cope without him.

As Ma-Ti directed, I massage the medicine in around the wound, gently pushing the skin together as the balm dries. It is a slow process but I do not mind, however gruesome I am grateful for the contact.

After a while I rest my free hand on Wheeler's stomach, it is a more comfortable position amongst other things. His temper must be calming because he lays his hand on top of mine again and I can feel his eyes on me.

"What does Lyubov mean?" He asks quietly, causing me to meet his gaze in surprise.

"Love. Why? Where did you hear it?" I ask, wondering for a ridiculous moment if I have a reason to be jealous and feeling it anyway.

A grin stretches across his face and his grip tightens on my hand. "You called me that, twice."

I feel like my face is going as red as his hair and I immediately look back down at my task. "It is a term of affection, where I come from it is something a friend or relative would say."

I am still refusing to look at him, I have no idea if he believes me… I did not even know I had said the word out loud.

"Yeah." He says after a moment, releasing my hand. "That's what I thought."

For once I cannot tell from his voice what his mood is, but he is not the only who can be stubborn.

I finish pressing the wound together and watch as the medicine dries and holds it in place, just as Ma-Ti said it would. "You will have to be very careful, it seems to be working but it might be easier to pull apart."

I put a clean pad over it and ask Wheeler to sit up carefully while I bandage it in place. He does as he is told but he is being uncharacteristically quiet. I do not know if it is from the pain, or because of our conversation but I want him to say something, anything, to let me know he is okay.

"How does that feel?" I ask when I am done, finally risking a glance up into his eyes.

He closes them and turns his head away. "It hurts like hell. Worse than any pain I've ever felt before."

"The medicine is not helping?" I ask, worried that I have made it worse.

"They don't make a medicine strong enough," He says.

That is not good, perhaps the infection is worse than I thought… "Perhaps you should see a doctor."

"I'M NOT GOIN' TO A DOCTOR!" He yells. "Just…I just want to be alone."

Alone… without me? "I do not think that is a good idea…if you start bleeding again…"

"Well, I'm going to sleep. So you can just go do…whatever…no need to babysit me." He sounds annoyed.

Is he really going to send me away? I know he is hurting but we promised to look after each other… Is this because of the pain or something else? "You do not want me to stay?"

"And do what? Watch me sleep?" His sarcasm is unnecessary and needles me into responding in kind.

"What else am I going to do? No one will let me do anything around here." I stand up and move towards him, at least we can comfort each other and maybe his pain will ease off after a while, we did aggravate the wound after all. "Maybe I will also take a nap."

"Alright. I'm pretty tired, so I'll probably sleep through the night. See you tomorrow." He turns his head away.

I feel like he just punched me in the stomach and for a few moments I cannot move, not forward, not back. Speaking being impossible, I turn to leave. I try telling myself that it is the pain talking and that he does not mean it, but that does not stop the tears.

"Linka wait…" He calls out.

I stop, feeling a little dizzy, and quickly wipe my face, he cannot see me cry. Trying hard to stop my voice from cracking, I answer without turning round. "Da?"

"Will you stay with me? We don't want our nightmares coming back do we?" I guess his temper has calmed down.

I turn to face him and do my best to smile, then as he moves over, join him in the bed. He is lying on his back because of his wound so there is not much room. I have to lay on my side so I choose to face him, since I would not feel right lying in his bed with my back to him, I just hope I got all the traces of my tears.

I am right on the edge but I cannot get any closer or we will touch. I know that sounds stupid after all we have been through – I am not worried about his wound, I would be careful – it is just that I am too afraid that he might push me away.

"Hey Linka?" He whispers, still staring at his ceiling.

I still do not entirely trust my voice. "Hmm?"

He moves his hand to take mine, lacing our fingers together. "Thanks for taking care of me Babe."

I have no control over the smile that spreads across my face, I feel like I can breathe again, though I had no idea I had been holding my breath. "We take care of each other, that is how it should be."

I squeeze his hand in return and then wriggle closer so that I can rest my head on his shoulder. I place my free hand on his arm, both to increase our contact and to stop me rolling over onto his wound. "Sweet dreams Yankee."

"You too Babe," He kisses my head and then his breathing begins to deepen and he falls asleep.

To be continued…

A/N: And don't forget, to get the full affect of the story, you HAVE TO read Wheeler's side of the story in Becks7's Co-dependents Chapter 32! Let us know what you think!