I looked down at his bleeding side and nodded. “Do you think you can keep climbing?”
“I will do what I must.” That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but it would do.
We made our way up the rock wall to a cave that was high enough to be almost completely dry. I crawled in first and then helped Brexl crawl in after me.
He was looking even more pale than before, which wasn’t good.
“Here, lean against this wall.” I propped him up and reached into my pockets for the gauze and salve I’d found on the ship.
“I’m going to take off your vest, okay?”
Brexl swallowed hard, and after a brief hesitation, nodded his head.
His vest was held together with a long strip of thin leather woven down the center like a shoelace. I untied it from the bottom and started to unlace it. When I got to the middle of the vest, he let out an involuntary, high-pitched whine. Heclamped his hand on top of mine as he held his eyes tightly shut and breathed through the pain.
“Sorry. I bet that shifted the knife. I’ll go slower.”
He nodded his head and let go of my hand.
I slowly undid the rest of the laces and Brexl let out a grunt as the vest fell open, revealing a dark blue chest and torso full of pale scars. There were so many of them. They were like a tapestry weaved together on his skin, telling his story. I wanted to trace each one with my finger and let him know his future would be much happier than his past.
Brexl
The pain was excruciating, but having Taylor this close to me more than made up for it. I could feel her breath on my skin and her hair lightly tickling my chest as she helped me remove my vest.
Each movement shot a new wave of pain through my side, and I wanted nothing more than to get this knife out of my skin.
I leaned back against the wall and Taylor sat back on her heels, assessing the situation. I loved the way she looked when she was concentrating on something. Sometimes she bit her bottom lip, sometimes she’d bite one of her nails, but she always furrowed her brow. She was adorable.
I’d gotten lost in her gaze and didn’t hear a question she’d asked.
“Brexl, can you hear me? Oh dear, I think you’re more light-headed than I realized. Well, we better get this over with then.”
She pulled out her medical supplies from her pocket and a thread and needle from my bag. My hands grew clammy at the thought of being stitched up, but there was nothing to be done for it. It was that or bleed to death.
“I’m going to pull the knife out now, okay? I’ve got the needle ready, along with the salve and gauze.”
She bit her bottom lip again, and all my nervousness melted away.
“Okay,” I nodded my head.
Taylor inched closer. She placed her left hand on my skin next to the knife and put her right hand on the hilt. I closed my eyes and held my breath, preparing myself for the worst.
In one smooth movement, Taylor removed the knife. I grunted as the pain washed over me and winced as she pressed a clean cloth to my wound to stop the bleeding.
“I’m going to hold this here until the bleeding stops.”
She was so close to me now. I could feel the warmth of her skin on mine. I almost didn’t mind the wound, the pain, or even the circumstances that brought us here. I just wanted Taylor to be close to me. I shouldn’t want that. I was no good for her. But I wanted it all the same.
It would be useless for me to try to stop wanting her. As long as I never acted on my feelings, everything would be okay between us. She said she didn’t want me, and I couldn’t blame her for that. I wouldn’t want me either.
Taylor dipped her body impossibly closer to mine as she pulled the cloth from my skin and inspected the wound.
“I’m going to put this salve on your gash. It might sting a little.”
With gentle fingers, she spread the sticky ointment on my skin. I sucked in a sharp breath as soon as she made contact.
“Sorry,” she chewed her bottom lip and gave me a distressed look.
