After having walked for a few hours, we had to stop since the sun was coming out of the clouds and we were taking Tomioka's words to heart about not letting Nezuko out in the sun after all we had no idea what would happen to her if she was in the sun.
"How are your wounds?" Tanjiro asked, sitting next to me from where we had a fire, to try and warm us up since it was winter so even the days were cold.
"They could be better, but I have to change the bandages and I should try and sew the wound on my chest up if not it will never heal properly. I have an elixir that will numb the skin around it and another elixir that will starve off infection but because of the angle I won't be able to sew it up myself" I said looking at Tanjiro who gulped.
"You want me to do it?" Tanjiro asked to clarify what I was asking of him.
"Yes, all you have to do is start it off and I can finish, it won't hurt me but if we don't do this, I run the risk of it continuing to bleed out and there is a high chance that I will get an infection" I said. I could see the fear, worry, horror and sadness in his aura, but I also saw determination.
"I'll do it, but I don't...I don't know how to" Tanjiro started trying to think of the words that he should use.
"It's just like if you are repairing a kimono, don't worry I will be here with you" I said ruffling his hair before struggling to get the haori and top of the kimono off, making Tanjiro rush to help me so that I didn't hurt myself anymore.
"In my bag that I brought with me there should be a small metal box, it should have some medical thread in it as well as the needle we are going to need" I groaned as I motioned for Tanjiro to pass me the bag which he did with no questions. I took the small tin out and I also grabbed a container out and a bottle that was filled with liquid.
"What are those for?" Tanjiro asked while he helped me take the bandages off making me hiss when they stuck a little to the wound.
"The paste is what is going to numb the wound, so I won't feel as you sew the wound shut and the liquid is going to make sure that the wounds don't get infected" I said as we finally got my bandages off, including the ones on my face. I had a large slash from my right temple to the left of my chin going over my nose, there were two cuts on my right cheek, one to the left of my forehead and finally a tiny cut that ran from the bottom of my nose over my lips and to my chin. Thankfully the last cut wasn't big enough to actually cut straight through the lip, but it was still deep enough that I knew it would be a scar.
"Don't you dare start to pity me" I snapped seeing the pity creep into his aura.
"Right, I just.... If I had been there" Tanjiro started, he was the only one that knew about my unique ability to see things that other people could, but he also had his weird sense of smell, so we didn't judge each other.
"We can't dwell on what could have been, all we can do is walk forward and live a life that those we have lost will be proud of as well as make sure that, that Oni regrets what he done" I said before tipping the liquid into the large wound on my chest and I clenched my hand that wasn't on the bottle and bit into my lip making the cut burst open again but I couldn't help it. Once the pain had calmed down, I put the paste on the edges of the wound and massaged it into the skin until I couldn't feel anything around that area anymore.
"Okay Tanjiro this is it, I have already threaded the needle and everything all you have to do it pinch the skin so that the needle can go through it and then pass it threw the skin and continue doing that on both sides of the wound just like I showed you" I said handing him the needle and he nodded still looking ill but his hands weren't shaking which was good. Even with the skin around the wound numb I still felt the pain a little bit but not enough to make me show any outward reaction as I watched Tanjiro start to sew the wound shut. Once he got a certain amount threw the wound I took over and continued to sew my wound up until it was finally all finished, and I tied the thread off before getting Tanjiro to cut it.
"See it wasn't too bad now, was it? And it is nearly time to start walking again now" I grinned though it came out as more of a grimace as I put the liquid over the wound once more before bandaging my chest up being sure to have the bandages tight to set my broken rib then used the liquid on the wounds on my face before bandaging them up as well.
"I never want to do that again" Tanjiro whispered, trying not to be sick as he washed the small amount of blood on his hands.
"Thank you, Tanjiro, for doing that even though you didn't want to" I said as I got to my feet, taking it easy so as not to bust a stitch. After getting some directions we continued on our journey during the night hours with Nezuko holding our hands as we walked.
