Wild Side [h.s au]

Chapter 59

Elena

I feel strong pain all over my body, my throat dry and burning. I force my eyelids to open, letting out a groan as my eyes adjust to little light present in the room I'm in. My eyebrows furrow in confusion when I realise I'm not in a room at all, a cloth surrounding me instead of walls, appearing like I'm in a tent of some sort. When I lift my head, my suspicion is confirmed, a small gap between the tent folds being the entrance, letting the sunrays seep inside.

I try to push myself into a sitting position, but my muscles ache, dull pain coursing through my left shoulder. I know that pain very well, I had it when I had dislocated it a few years ago during training and it sometimes hurts after I strain my muscles too hard. I lift it up, hissing slightly, but it appears it's luckily not dislocated again nor broken. My eyes suddenly widen as I realise I still have no idea where I am or how am I alive in the first place.

I notice a few bandages over my legs and right arm, one covering the area on my lower stomach, my skin littered with little purple bruises and healing scratches. I reach for the bandage around my bicep, pulling at the hem and hissing at a stinging sensation, realising I have a burn wound there, right where my flame tattoo should be. The skin on my back also burns, making me believe the whip wounds there have reopened. I can't help but wonder how the hell am I still alive.

"No lo toces pendeja, va a infectarse," (Don't touch it dumbass, it's going to get infected.) a familiar voice says, making my eyes snap up, seeing Lia standing at the entrance, shaking her head.

"What are you doing here?" I ask with a frown, using my hands to push my upper body, grimacing from the pain, but managing to do it after all. "What is this place? I'm dead. . . yes, this must be hell, I knew it."

Lia sighs and walks toward me, sitting on the bed beside me, grabbing latex gloves from a box on a cart aside. "You're on the West, on Wildfire's territory." She grabs a few medical utensils, turning to me. "Lie down, I'll rebandage your wounds."

I just stare at her blankly. "You've got to be kidding me, right? Why am I here and most importantly, why are you my nurse or whatever? If this is some sick joke, I'm ready to cut a bitch-"

"Ugh calm down, you talk too much." She rolls her eyes. "Look, you're here because someone wanted you here. You're here with Wildfire deserters in a makeshift village with nothing but kilometres of land and forest surrounding you. We'd send you to the proper hospital, but we were told not to do it, so I suggest you let me do my job here."

"Told not to? By who?" I watch as she reaches for the bandage around my arm, wetting it with water since it's sticking to my skin then slowly cutting it.

"You'll see. I can't believe I'm doing this either when I was the one giving you injures all those months ago." She snorts and I give her a look. "My job was to keep H safe or let's just say I was supposed to report about him to Wildfire. But then you and your brother came from Vortex and I was scared my mission will be jeopardised, so I took certain measures to get you away from Hazard, but I guess you charmed your way into staying."

"Reporting to Wildfire?" I look at her in anger and disbelief. "You're working for my uncle?"

"What? No, I'm not the one working for him," Lia says flatly. "Your uncle is not the leader is he?" She smirks slightly, making me realise who is she talking about as she removes the bandage from my skin.

I glance at the nasty wound, two layers of my skin are missing, a patch of red, burned area being there instead. It's so damaged my tattoo is now completely gone, a small rush of satisfaction coursing through me. I don't care I'll have more ugly scars all over my skin, they'll be a reminder whose side was I fighting for.