Extra Darling

Chapter 16: Skye

I stagger backwards as I take in the sheer amount of blood on the fairy's body, although right now he looks more like a normal person. This fairy is a boy, and he looks young, maybe a few years older than me. His hair is cropped short and is a dark blond, and on his blood spattered face I see an array of brown freckles. The boy writhes on the bed, arching his back, as he bites down a scream. There are deep scratches along his abdomen that bleed a dark color and smaller cuts scatter around his face.

I hold a hand to my mouth when I notice his wings crumpled beneath him. They are definitely not the type of wings I expected fairies to have. I expected these frail, iridescent, shimmering wings that looked something like a dragonfly's. But I was wrong. This fairy's wings reminded me of a bird's. They were long, and sturdy, and consisted of glossy black feathers. As the boy twitched on the bed, his wings rustled the sheets.

I didn't know what to make of the situation. I felt frozen in place, partially out of fear and partially out of shock. What was the boy doing here? How did he get here? Why did he come to me?

There was a pause in his pain, and he tilted his lolling head towards me. His dark eyes were filled with pain and when they saw me, I saw them flood with relief. He raised a hand, trying to reach me, and I felt compelled to take it.

I rushed over to him and held his hand, using my free one to put it against his forehead.
"You poor thing! What happened to you? Where did you come from?"

The fairy (was he a fairy?) boy clenched my hand and squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing a passing wave of pain. When he opened his eyes again, he was able to choke out two words.
"Help... me."

And then he went limp.

I panicked. How could this be happening? Did this boy just die right before my eyes? Did he die asking me for help? Why me? Who was he? What could I do to help him?

"No, no no no!" I urged, gently shaking his head and trying to wake him up, "Don't you die on me. You need to answer quite a few questions!"

He didn't respond and I began to panic even more. His pale head rolled easily on his shoulders as I tilted it and placed my fingers on his neck. I almost doubled over in reassurance when I was able to feel his pulse. It beat rapidly in his chest, but I didn't have to guess to know what was causing him to pass out. The gashes on his open chest were gushing with blood. I released his hand and looked down at them, suppressing the urge to vomit when I studied them.

They looked like claw marks. Three sharp talons that dug through his skin like it was gelatin. His blood pooled off his chest and soaked through the sheets on Arthur's bed. In that moment of terror, I realized what I had to do. All at once the methods came to my mind and I sprung into action.

"First step," I said to myself, "Stop the bleeding."

I looked around the room for anything to stop the bleeding. Bandages wouldn't help. The blood would soak right through them. I needed something to act as a pressure to help clot it. Something to tie around him.

The bed sheets!

I frantically ripped off the bedsheets, being careful not to toss the fairy boy off the bed. I bunched up the one of the sheets and pressed it against the wounds in his chest, and I wrapped the other around his body. I tried not to be disturbed by his... wings... as I worked around them and secured the absorbent ball of sheet into place. I also tried to ignore the blood that stained my hands and to focus on saving this fairy.

"Good. Okay, step two," I spoke again, pacing the room, "Something to clean it with and a more permanent solution to the bleeding."

For that I figured I would need something strong like alcohol, which this ship had plenty of, and I would need a needle and thread to stitch his cuts. Could I do that? Could I play doctor and stitch up the boy? Well, I supposed it was just like stitching up an old dress, except this subject's life was depending on me.