Amery is not supposed to be on the dropship.
She isn't one of the hundred delinquents being sent down to a radiation-soaked planet. She's just a Zero-G mechanic making some last-minute adjustments to a project nobody will tell her anything about.
I...
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✧】xi. holy shit【✧
[ his sister's keeper ]
trigger warning: blood
SHE CAN'T EVEN form a word, can't seem to shape his name on her lips as she falls to the ground at his side, hands flying to find the wound and coming away drenched in red.
"No," she whispers, breathing hard. "No, no, nonono—"
"Pressure on the wound," Kip gasps, collapsing beside Amery and throwing both hands onto Cash's side. "Cash. Cash? Cash, stay with me, stay awake—"
"KIP! AMERY!" Finn is shouting, but Amery hardly hears it over the roaring in her ears, rushes of internal sound washing over her like waves, and then Bellamy is there, hovering over Cash— god, Cash— and shouting something at the others.
Footsteps sound on the packed dirt as Zoe and Finn haul the tent over, draping it over the entire search party as they crowd around Cash, whose breathing is becoming short and shallow. Amery hardly registers the suddenly muted sunlight— only that the canvas stains everything more red.
So much red.
The blade has carved a nasty slash in his side, a tear through jacket, shirt, and skin spanning from the boy's collarbone to about halfway down his ribcage. The blood won't stop.
He saved my life.
Cash saved my life.
"Cash, stay with me," Kip is saying, hands drenched in red as they cup Cash's face desperately, leaving fresh blood to stain his otherwise pale cheeks. Cash lets out a shuddering breath and whimpers in pain, the sound twisting Amery's heart in her chest. She's not sure when she started crying.
He saved my life.
Kip takes his jacket off and presses it to Cash's side as Zoe dumps her backpack in the dirt and starts frantically pressing the parts of the tent nearest to Cash into the dirt to prevent the fog from seeping through.
"K-K—" Cash's attempt to speak is interrupted by a harsh coughing fit, and the boy squeezes his eyes shut in pain.
"Hey, it's okay," Kip murmurs. "I'm here."
Amery remembers the dagger falling uselessly from her hand. Why did she think she could do this?
Cash is dying, and it's her fault.
She doesn't know what to do, so she reaches out and takes his hand in hers. Both of them are shaking, but Cash squeezes her hand weakly.
"Fuck," he mutters through clenched teeth, and the curse word actually makes Amery feel just the tiniest bit better— he's coherent enough to speak, at least.
