Lost To The Zone

29 - Aleksandra

Aleksandra had no idea how much time had passed when she woke up again. She was disoriented and parched. All she could think about when she woke up was water. She needed to drink something. It took her a while to realise that she was somewhere inside, staring at a ceiling. It was a familiar ceiling - was she at Yanov station? She had to be. This was definitely Yanov.

Aleksandra tried to sit up, but as soon as she moved she felt a terrible pain in her side that quickly spread throughout her entire body. She wanted to scream, but all that came out of her mouth was a pained squeak. She could hear some movement from beside her and then Pavel's head showed up above her. She was trying to remember why she was in so much pain, but she felt pretty dizzy.

"Sasha? You're awake?" Pavel asked her. Aleksandra wasn't even sure how to answer that. Was she awake? Technically, yes, but she didn't feel very awake if she was honest. All she needed right now was water.

"Water..." she finally managed to get out. Pavel's head disappeared quickly and she could hear him pouring water from somewhere. Soon he was back at her side, showing her the glass of water.

"You'll have to sit up for this. Can you do that or do you need help?" Pavel wanted to know. Aleksandra shrugged. She tried sitting up again, but the pain was too much. Thankfully, she didn't have to tell any of that to Pavel. He just put the glass of water down and helped her to sit up, putting some squished up jackets and bedrolls behind her back, since there weren't many pillows around.

"Here, is that okay?" he asked. Aleksandra nodded and glanced over at the glass of water that was once again in Pavel's hands. He handed it to her and Aleksandra took a slow and careful gulp. She didn't want to be too quick with it and choke on it, after all. The water was much colder than she had expected, so she was glad that she was taking it slow, even though her body was screaming for more. It took her a while to empty the glass, but it made her feel a little more awake.

"Thank you." she said. Her side was hurting with every little movement, but it wasn't too bad when she was talking. She handed the glass back to Pavel and her mind returned to why she was here and why her side hurt so bad. Things were a little patchy in her memory at the moment.

"Bonesetter gave you some heavy anaesthetic before he got that bullet out of you, I'm surprised you're awake already." Pavel told her. Anaesthetic? Bullet? What the fuck was going on?

"Wouldn't call it awake..." Aleksandra mumbled, which made Pavel laugh. Aleksandra took a look at her body underneath the thick woollen blanket she was covered with. She was dressed in her pants and a man's shirt that was cut off halfway. Shit. Did that mean that Bonesetter knew that she was a woman now? Probably. Below the shirt was a thick bandage wrapped around her waist. There was a tiny dark spot shining through on her side - the side that hurt.

Well, that probably explained it. She must have gotten hit by a bullet and then... and then what? Aleksandra tried to remember what she had done before this. She was out with Pavel and they had been looking for supplies. There was a bandit camp, but that's where her memory got a little fuzzy. Maybe this was due to the anaesthetic. She hoped that that was the reason.

"When are we going to Pripyat?" Aleksandra asked and yawned. She was feeling so tired and exhausted.

"I don't think you're going to Pripyat any time soon. You got shot, Sasha. You had to get the bullet fished out of you and you had to get stitches. It'll take a while to heal and hopefully the wound won't get infected." Pavel replied. Aleksandra grimaced. She had been looking forward to going to Pripyat. Or so she thought, at least. Had she been looking forward to it? God, she hoped this anaesthetic would wear off soon...

"What are you, a doctor or something?" she muttered, angry at the prospect of having to spend some amount of time in bed by herself, before she could head out to Pripyat. Pavel laughed again.