“I hope I got it all out,” he said after spitting the last bit to one side.He grabbed a water bottle from the backpack and rinsed his mouth really well.“Come on, let’s go to the bus.”
“What?”I asked.“I don’t think I can—”
Knox took me in his arms, cutting off my protest.
“I’ll carry you and then come back for the backpacks.The bus is still here,” he said.
And even though I was shaking and still in shock, his calm voice had a positive effect on me.My heart rate went down.He was in control of the situation.Nothing bad was going to happen to me.I was safe.Knox was keeping me safe.
I put my head on his shoulder, trying to mimic his deep breathing so I could calm down too.
“I’ll tell the driver to take us to the nearest town.He said he’d go back to San Diego in an hour, after he’d stretched his legs a bit.We’re lucky it happened now.”
“I don’t feel very lucky,” I groaned.
He kissed my forehead.“That was a bad choice of words.Relax, Amy.I’m taking care of you.Everything will work out.”
Even though my leg was still burning, I believed him.I closed my eyes, forcing myself to take deep breaths.I opened them when he started talking to the driver.He was looking at my leg with a shocked expression.
“I was about to get on the bus and start the journey back.The nearest town is two hours away.”
“What the fuck?”Knox said.
The driver winced.“Sorry, man.That’s the best I can do.”
Knox cursed under his breath.“Fine.”
“Oh, our backpacks,” I murmured as he climbed onto the bus with me.
“I’ll just put you down and then go grab them.And I’ll tell Vanessa and Gregory what happened so they can take over.”
“Thank you.”
He put me down on the seat right behind the driver.I blinked and tilted slightly forward to take a good look at my leg, then almost fainted.It looked horrible.The skin around the bite was red and inflamed, and the two punctures were deep red with blood trickling from them.
“I have a first aid kit,” the driver said, rummaging in a drawer to the right of the wheel.“Here it is.”He opened it and said, “Right.What’s the first aid for a snake bite?”
His hands were shaking.Clearly, he was as much of a snake person as I was.
“Disinfecting it?”I asked, my voice still unsteady.
He took out some white cloth and a small bottle of liquid but then said, “I can’t do it.”
I felt too uncomfortable to bend and do it myself.“Just let it be.”
Knox returned a few minutes later with the backpacks.
“We’re ready to go.”He looked at my leg and then at the box.“A first aid kit.Good thinking,” he told the driver, who hung his head.
“Yeah, but I couldn’t force myself to help.”
Knox nodded.“I’ll do it.”He kneeled in front of me, poured some liquid onto the white cloth, and then looked up at me.“It might hurt a bit.”
“That’s f-fine,” I stuttered.
My leg was throbbing anyway, and I couldn’t imagine it would be worse than him sucking out the venom.I dug my fingers into the sides of the seat, bracing myself, but it wasn’t too bad.It just stung a bit.Nothing compared to before.
I was vaguely aware that the driver had already started the bus and was making a U-turn out of the camping lot.From the corner of my eye, I noticed a few of the students.
