Since it’s unlikely I’ll be able to stop him from whatever he’s doing, I move over to the water’s edge, carefully picking my way between the sharp rocks. Crawling with a bare cock is really not fun. Once I reach the water, I start washing myself. Adam’s blood is sticky, dark purple rather than red, and I’m positively coated in it. God, he must have lost so much of it. He’ll need a long rest to recover, and hewillrecover. There’s no other option.
The wound on my calf comes next. As I scrub the blood off, for once grateful that I don’t have any feeling in my legs, I notice faint black lines spreading from the bite. Venom? The lines are thin and don’t spread far, but their presence alone is alarming. Is that why Adam freaked out when he saw the wound?
Pushing on the edges of the wound, I try to squeeze the venom out, but only blood comes out. The venom must have already spread through my body. I briefly consider removing my leg altogether, since it’s not like I’m actually using it, but self-amputation isn’t exactly within my skill set, and the shock, blood loss, or potential infection would probably kill me anyway.
Since the black lines don’t seem to be spreading anymore, I force myself to calm down. I’ll either die or I won’t. There’s no point in freaking out about it. What I need to do now is wash Adam’s wounds and find something to bind them with. Make him drink water and rest up. He’s the most important person here.
As if thinking about him summoned him, Adam skids to a stop next to me, carrying…a millipede? Yup, that’s definitely an alien millipede, black with bright blue markings along its back. I’m definitely not eating that.
Straightening my leg, Adam breaks the millipede in half with a nauseating crunch, then squeezes its insides over my wound like freaking toothpaste.
“Oh my god. Please, tell me you have a good reason for doing this because now it will get infected for sure.”
Adam whimpers as he carefully spreads the millipede’s innards over the black lines on my skin, then massages them deeper into the bite.
“Antidote?” I ask. “Or some form of local disinfectant?” There’s no way to know, but I’m betting it’s an antidote. It’s probably something worth remembering. Black millipedes with blue markings work for six-legged panther bites.
Satisfied with how he treated my wound, Adam struggles to stand up. His legs give out and he falls back to the ground, but immediately starts trying again.
“Okay, stop,” I say, putting enough command into my words that he actually stops to look at me. “Stay.” I point to the ground. “Understand? Stay. Here.”
His pained whimper goes straight through me. “It’s okay,” I tell him softly. “You’ve done great. You need to rest now. Let me help.”
His four eyes blink out of sync as they watch me scoop up water and begin washing him. He doesn’t seem to have any bites, thank god, but his body is covered in cuts. The worst one is on his stomach, right between his bottom arm and top leg pair.
“Ideally, this would need stitches,” I murmur as I gently wash blood and gravel from the soft scales on his underbelly.. “But I’m not sure we’ll find anything useful here, so let’s hope it closes on its own. I bet you have some crazy alien healing abilities, anyway.” Judging by the number of old scars on his body, he must heal fast, otherwise he’d already be dead.
When I’m done washing his wounds, I look around to assess the situation. The sky is orange as the sun rises, and the already high temperature climbs with it. Soon, it’ll beat down on us mercilessly. “Okay. You can’t stay out here in the open. Can you move over there, under that rock outcropping?”
Blearily following my gesture, Adam reaches for me as if to carry me. I push his hands away. “Nope. Just you, buddy. I’llfollow, don’t worry. Go.” At my urging, Adam starts moving, the dozen or so steps taking him long minutes as he crawls almost as badly as I do. My heart aches for my poor alien and I’m even more determined to make myself useful. Once Adam flops into the shade, I run my hands over the uninjured parts of his body. “Shh. Sleep now. It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of you.”
With a soft whine, he reaches for me with a trembling hand. I move closer, curling into him, feeling his body relax as he inhales my scent. As I lie with him, waiting for him to fall asleep, my mind runs through various plans. I might not be best suited for jungle survival, but I’m here, so I better fucking start dealing with it. Adam’s been taking care of me and now it’s my turn to take care of him the best I can. I refuse to be a burden anymore.
Chapter 16
Adam
Everythinghurts.Everypartof my body hurts, even parts I didn’t know could. My stomach is the worst, pulsing with my heartbeat, but my back and arms are close behind. My legs, my tail, even my damned eyes. Why does everything hurt so much?
A sweet scent fills the sleeping spot. Not fresh, but familiar enough to drag everything that happened back into my mind at once. Terror clenches my aching stomach. Jaime. It’s his scent, soft and sleepy, but he’s not here. Where ishere?
Opening my eyes takes effort. They’re gritty and too dry, and so are my maw and throat. How long have I slept?
I’m in a small hollow under a rocky outcropping. Yes, I remember crawling here, barely awake. I couldn’t even carry Jaime anymore. He had to crawl after me, the sharp rocks no doubt hurting his soft skin.
Huge leaves, laid against the rock, shield one side of the hollow. I don’t remember them being there, and I can’t guess their purpose. Not that it matters. Jaime is the only thing that matters, and he isn’t here.
Groaning and whimpering, I crawl out, pushing a few leaves aside. Sunlight assaults my eyes, making me blink rapidly. It’s morning?
The sun was just rising when the venomfang attacked us, but this can’t be the same sunrise. Did I sleep through a whole day and night? It wouldn’t surprise me, my body sleeps when it’s hurt, but what about Jaime? What trouble has he gotten into alone for a whole day and night? What if he’s hurt and needs my help? What if his venomfang bite got worse and the venom started spreading again? I don’t think it would. Youngling venomfangs have less venom, but Jaime is small and frail. Who’s to say even a youngling’s bite won’t hurt him? He doesn’t know how to find the right manylegs to treat it. Or how to find food. At least we’re near water, so he won’t go thirsty, but he still has to crawl over sharp rocks to get there.
Oh, no. What if he fell into the water again?
Panic sends me scrambling onto my shaky arms and legs. Even with all eight limbs, I can barely take a step without stumbling. My vision swims, everything in front of me appearing four times over. Shaking my head only upsets my empty stomach.
I’m in no shape to search for Jaime, but what else can I do? He needs me. I need him.
Water first. The water’s edge feels hundreds of body lengths away, even though it’s only two or three. Despite sleeping for a whole day and night, I’m exhausted again by the time I reach the lake and slake my thirst. I can’t give up now, though. I need to find Jaime.
