Camille and Raina had to help Ori and I, but together we got him settled facedown on the table. The wound on his thigh had gotten worse during the drive. Red lines radiated from it, his jeans hiding how far they spread. Green pus clung to the deeper side and my stomach churned. I swallowed it back and averted my eyes, determined not to leave his side.
“What do we do?” I asked and even I could hear how close I was to crying.
The woman glanced at me, blue eyes shockingly bright against her dark skin. “Stay by his head and hold his hand. Stay out of our way.” She said it gently but firmly, leaving me no choice but to obey. Camille and Raina joined me, pressing against my back as I held onto Donovan’s hand.
Ori disappeared the moment we’d gotten Donovan settled and returned now with a tackle box. “I have antivenin, but it might not be enough. The tail looked like a scorpion.”
“It can’t hurt,” the woman agreed. “Slowly, though. I will try a poultice to draw out the poison.”
While she did something at the kitchen counter, throwing herbs and things I had no name for into a flowered mixing bowl, Ori pulled an IV bag, of all things, out of their tackle box.
“Alex, get his jacket off of him,” they said, eyes focused on whatever they were doing with the bag and an uncomfortably large needle.
“Pants, too,” the woman called. “There is a blanket on the couch to keep him warm and covered. Settle him and wash the wound.”
Raina steadied Donovan while I unzipped the jacket and peeled it off, trying not to jostle him. Dropping it on the floor to deal with later, I got his jeans off, wincing at how far the lines of red had spread across his leg. Donovan didn’t react at all, and his lips had taken on a blue tinge. Camille ran to the living area, coming back a moment later with a plaid blanket in her hands.
“Oh, God,” she whispered, voice shaking when she got her first look at the wound.
“He’ll be fine,” Raina said. I might have believed her if there hadn’t been tears in her eyes. Still, she took the blanket from Camille and draped it over Donovan’s hips, allowing him a modicum of modesty.
“If you have a weak stomach or hate needles, look away now. You’re not going to like this.” Ori’s firm voice cut through the fear and Raina immediately turned away. I desperately wanted to, but I refused to leave Donovan. Still, when Ori touched the needle of the IV to the side of Donovan’s neck, my stomach churned alarmingly and I had to close my eyes.
“Done,” they announced, and I hesitantly opened one eye, trying not to gag when I saw the needle inserted in the vein there.
“Why there?”
“It was that or the bottom of his foot and with antivenin, the closer to the heart, the better.” They slid the bag onto what looked like a folding tripod, modified with a hook.
“That means he’ll be fine, right? It’ll stop the poison and he’ll be okay?” I hadn’t let go of Donovan’s hand the entire time and I squeezed it tighter now, hoping for some kind of response, but his fingers were limp in mine.
“I wish I could say. I don’t know what that thing was and we’re just doing the best we can. I’m sorry.” Ori grabbed a kettle off the stove as they spoke, pouring the hot water into a basin and grabbing a cloth, immediately setting to work cleaning the wound.
“Move,” the woman said, nudging Ori out of the way with her hip as soon as they finished, the bowl balanced in one hand. The concoction within was a dark green mess of herbs and smelled like a swamp, making my eyes water. She nudged the edge of the blanket up to expose the full length of the wound. It looked a little better now that it was clean, but his skin was still red and swollen and the lines had spread down to his knee and up to the small of his back.
Without hesitation, she reached into the bowl and smeared a thick layer of the mess across the tear from end to end, then added another handful, covering it completely.
“With any luck, the poultice will draw out enough poison to allow the antivenin to neutralize the rest,” Ori murmured.
“How long will it take to know if it’s working?” I asked.
“The IV will take roughly an hour to administer. Once it’s done, we can reevaluate.” They went to a small dining table tucked against the wall and grabbed a chair, sliding it up behind me so I could sit by Donovan’s head.
“Thank you.” The adrenaline crash hit me like a tsunami, washing away every bit of energy I possessed.
“I should call Will,” Camille murmured. “I don’t know what to tell him, though.” Now that the immediate emergency had passed, she was looking a little white around the gills, shock settling in. Raina didn’t look much better, slumped against the wall and holding Donovan’s jacket.
I glanced up at Ori and found them watching me.
“They saw everything,” I confirmed, and they sighed.
“I assume Will is Detective Dodd?”
I nodded.
“And I assume he knows about you, too, and you’ll be telling him about this as well?”
I nodded again, too exhausted for more words.
