From The Ruins

Chapter 18 (Oryon)

Whatever previous definition I'd learned for pain was wrong. A lie. The truth was considerably more violent. This pain acquainted itself with every cell in my body, burrowing and enveloping to further its reach. It burned, it battered, it bruised wherever it could. Ensuring that I knew with the utmost confidence of what pain truly is.

I wanted to beg for release, unconsciousness if that was the only way to make it stop. But swallowed up whole by this agony, I couldn't move. My lips were numb, my tongue thick and heavy in my mouth. My eyelids sealed and limbs insensate. I was a bundle of nerves caught on fire with nothing to do but burn.

Between the stretches of foggy darkness, there were moments where I could hear voices. Landon's deep, burly tone speaking words I couldn't make sense of. And James' quick paced speech slurred together. Everything was mushy and incomprehensible. Everything but the pain.

***

I felt my eyes open but it was as though I was looking through cheesecloth. Nothing was in focus. It took my weary body a moment to register the pain. No longer did I feel it buried in veins but rather localized on my left leg. As I grew more aware, so did my nerves.

The ground beneath me was moving, swaying, pulling a strange squawking noise from me. 

"We're almost there."

It was James who spoke, I was sure of it.

I closed my eyes to keep the nausea at bay, but confirmed my response with the slant of my lip. I felt hands grip my butt as I was hoisted onto his back. My cheek burrowed into the base of his neck, his hair tickling my nose.

"I've got you. Just hold onto me," Landon said in a voice almost too gentle to belong to him. I nestled closer, hooking my trembling arms around his neck.

"Just like that, love. We're almost there."

If I could reply I'd have said something snarky or made fun of his sudden use of sweet nothings. Or maybe I would have said the right thing and thanked him. Instead, I relinquished myself to the now familiar sensation of slipping and fell headfirst into oblivion.

***

This time I awoke on something soft but solid. It took my brain a long moment to realize I was laying on a mattress staring up at a wooden ceiling. The haze was slowly easing as I got my bearings.

My body felt stiff and sore and my leg throbbed but it was just bearable. I let my head loll to a side and saw Hershey curled up on the floor next to me, her big brown eyes trained on something outside my view.

I could see a chair and table set that looked strangely familiar but it wasn't until I heard the screech of the door that I knew we were back at Kenai's cabin.

"You're up," James said.

His face popped into view, expression strained with worry. He placed a hand on my cheek, lifting my head.

"I need you to drink some water okay Ryon? Can you do that?"

I let out what I hoped sounded like a groan of agreement.

His hand dropped below my neck, elevating my head. I braced for the shockwaves of pain but thankfully the throbbing didn't intensify.

James tilted the water bottle against my lips and I felt the cold water splash in my mouth. I swallowed thickly, causing me some mild discomfort but I welcomed the water to quench my thirst. I hadn't realized how dehydrated I was until now.

"Better?" he asked, pulling the bottle away.

"Yeah," I croaked.

James placed the bottle aside and then sat at the edge of the mattress, his knees pulled up to his chin. Exhaustion had warped his face. The bags beneath his eyes had grown in shape and color, and his cheeks were sunken due to weight loss. His eyes were weary and his skin weathered. His appearance was gaunt and my heart ached at the sight of him. In the few days since he'd found us, he'd been stripped of his vitality and all that remained was a hollow shell.