Buzzkill (A Lesbian Story)

15: I Love Her

  My footsteps echoed on the tile as I made my way to the first aid department. My knuckles stung and they were most likely bleeding, but I kept going. My heart was beating out of my chest and my head felt like someone had hit it with a sledge hammer. I couldn't just let that guy stab Max. I had to do something and that something was black out and just start swinging. I've never punched anyone in my life. I've never attacked a human being. Of course I don't feel remorse for attacking him after he very much deserved it due to his intent of killing Max and I certainly was not going to allow that. No way in hell.

  Letting out a loud breath, I changed my mind to the thought of needing first aid stuff. Thinking once more, we most likely had first aid supplies in our pile of stuff, but I needed to walk for a bit. I needed to get out of that situation of Blake just being knocked out on the ground and his friends tying him up. I think he should be tied and then pushed into a horde of those things.

  Better thoughts, Ashley.

  I grabbed a pack of gauze, tape, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and a sewing kit. It's a good thing I took the intern nursing program seriously. Max was hurt, sure she wasn't absolutely on death's door, but she was still hurt and that wound could be infected very easily and that will make things worse for her. We don't need that, do we? Nope.

  I was about to walk back to our area when I looked at the sewing kit again. This was going to hurt her. She needed something to dull that pain and I doubted that they has anesthetic in that pharmacy. I wouldn't even know which one it was.

  Knowing that something is better than nothing, I quickly made my way over to the liquor aisle.

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  Back at our little camp, it was quiet. Blake was just laying on the ground, still sleeping. Chase and Andrew sat close to him, eating food and just keeping an eye on their friend. Steve and Max were sitting together, talking quietly about something. Ricky laid under Steve's feet, his eyes on the three new people and he had good reason to.

  I quickly walked over to Max and sat the supplies by her. "How is it?"

  Max shrugged with her good shoulder, "It's okay. Throbbing and kind of bleeding still. I'm all good."

  All good? There was a giant blood stain on her white v-neck. No doubt she was trying to play it off. I saw the slight pain in her face, however. I pulled up a chair in front of her and grabbed the supplies, "Take your shirt off." I paused for a second after hearing what I said. My cheeks tinged red slightly. "Or like pull it down so that I can put the bandage on."

  Max looked over at the guys then stood. She grabbed my hand and pulled me passed an aisle. She had us go behind the movie aisle so it separated us from the other guys. "I don't want to take my shirt off in front of those guys." With that, she took her shirt off, carefully peeling the bloodied shirt off of her wound.

  I diverted my eyes from her before setting the supplies on the shelf. I took the small bottle of whiskey out of my pocket and held it out to her. "Here. You're going to need stitches and it's not going to be pleasant."

  "Don't mind if I do." Max grinned at my soft glare and twisted the cap off. She took a seat with her back to the aisle and drank from the bottle. She coughed slightly and her cheeks turned red instantly, the tale-tell signs of her buzz. It was almost comforting to see that most things never change. "Damn, that is really strong."

  "Good." I knelt next to her and started getting to work. I took the ruined shirt she used for the pressure and put that under the wound before grabbing the hydrogen peroxide. I poured it onto the wound to flush it out of anything. Max inhaled sharply and grabbed my side, gripping it tight to keep herself grounded. "Sorry, sorry, sorry." I whispered as I patted the area gently.

  "It's fine." She hissed out, taking another swig of whiskey. "If I react this way to a cleaning agent, then I'm fucked with stitches."

  "I think you'll be okay." I said and took the rubbing alcohol. I poured some of it on gauze and then dabbed again to clean the outside. Breathing in softly as her hand gripped me tighter, I wiped the needle down and the thread with it. This wasn't going to be a good experience. I looked up slightly to see Max's eyes boring into mine. She had a look of slight panic. "Max, you're going to be okay."

  "I just can't believe you're the one sewing me up." Her voice shook slightly and so did her fingers as she took another sip. "However, you're the one who went towards nursing so I feel better."

  I couldn't help the smirk that appeared on my lips as I held the needle up. "You don't trust me?" That just made her go, "Uhhh." I laughed and tilted my head to look at her. "Max, it's going to be okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you." Slowly, I let my hand trace her face gently. "Talk to me. Just talk. Anything if you like."

  "Okay..." Max inhaled deeply. "So, the two guys told us what's happened to them in the passed few days." She took a sharp breath, her hand gripping my waist again, as I started. "Um, apparently-apparently they've been on the road for three days. Blake hasn't been able to sleep in those three days, but that's not- fuck!- that's not an excuse to go all Michael Myers on me." She cleared her throat as her voice cracked a bit. I kept doing what I was doing, letting her know that I was almost done and she needed to speak still. Max took a deep breath. "Maybe we should- son of a!- talk more about what happened earlier. I mean, you don't a have to talk right now obviously since you're working a needle through my skin, but I'll just keep talking. So, I once again would like to apologize about all those years ago. I guess i just wasn't a good friend. I should've fought for your friendship, but I didn't and that was a fault in my side. I'm just- I'm just sorry, Ash."

  I was finished halfway through her talking about that. I had almost forgotten that I admitted everything to her right before those guys appeared. Funny how something crazy happened after all of that talk. It didn't exactly go how I have pictured the many scenarios of me telling her. That certainly was not one of them. I kept my eyes down as I poured a little bit more of peroxide on her wound. I then took the gauze and put it onto her wound, taping the edges to keep it down. Max winced at the pressure. I let out a breath and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, "Alright. All done, Max. Just take it slow and be careful. We can also get some Aleve to take some of the pain away, if you want."

  I tried to stand, but Max's hand was still on my waist. I paused and looked down at her. That was the first time that I fully noticed that she had her shirt off. Her torso was toned and tan from her softball years and also those summers of her being a lifeguard at the local pool by our subdivision. My cheeks flared up again as I carefully got out of her grip, "I'll get you a fresh shirt or something."

Author's Note: I thought a lil Ash point of view will be interesting. I might do the rest of the book like this or maybe go on and off. Max is hate and Ashley is love. Perfect match yeah? Tell me if you like it or not, guys. Don't forget to vote if you like it! xoxo