"Chapter Fourteen:
A Helping Hand
As the days passed, Spark's arm got worse and worse. The red turned a sick yellow and began giving off a nasty smell. At first, we ignored it. We could do nothing else. We were hiking over rough terrain and we hadn't passed any towns or villages in days. I had spotted the occasional cottage but Spark would look at their front doors and shake his head. What he was looking for I didn't know.
Five days later, Spark collapsed. His head was hot with fever. Panic rushed through my veins and I had no way of quelling it. I knelt beside him and tried calling his name, to no avail. I knew that I needed to find help. It was foolish not to stop before. I brushed Spark's hair away from his eyes, my hand felt seared from the action. "Spark, wake up. We need to keep moving, we need to find somewhere safe to stay." He didn't respond to my pleading, I knew he wouldn't.
With a great effort, I grabbed his arms and began pulling him. We were far from the main road, but we were on an obviously well worn path, I had to get him far from sight. We couldn't afford to get caught. I pulled him under the dense bristles of a pine bush. The ground below it was covered in a cast of needles, brown and yellow ones that showed their decay.
I wished now that I hadn't given Jo the cloak. The weather here was still cold, and from what I remembered of fevers, it would be best if Spark were covered. I cursed myself internally, hating that I had made another hasty decision. I took off the bandage covering Spark's arm. It came away sticky, a yellow film marking where the wound had been. It needed washed. Everything needed washed.
It didn't surprise me that an infection had set in. We should have been more careful. I should have known to treat the wound. I should have been more prepared. I laughed, bitterly. There had been no alternati..." http://wattpad.com/story/120948
